Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
boxes adds depth and a sense of exploration to the game. When every-
thing is known with certainty, you can do things like defi nitively know
the best choice in every situation. Theorycrafting is dead.
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Ghostcrawler resituates theorycraft, emphasizing it is incomplete, but a
good way to understand the game. He posits that theorycraft helps Blizzard
fi nd bugs in the code that could negatively impact the game. Ef ectively, the-
orycrafting is the player's guide to the game, which illustrates how the pres-
ence of theorycraft as a paratext alters design of the game. Sharing some
information is good and lets theorycrafters continue its development by
fostering participation, but given ultimate answers, players would abandon
the refi nement of theorycraft, as the delineation between external text and
internal design would be erased. Failing to maintain that boundary would
leave no need for players to articulate their version of how to best play, as
they would no longer need to investigate the black boxes that obscure the
inner workings of the game.
The fi nal positive association of theorycraft is that theorycrafting can be
fun. In response to a post about what players enjoy about
WoW
, one writes,
“[B]eing a mathematician, I totally get enjoying the theorycraft part. Some
years ago, I tried designing a RPG-esque [role-playing game] system, bal-
rycraft involves a dif erent form of play, one that can be fun in its own
right. Figuring out how things work, like a person who likes to tinker with
things, can be entertaining. Fun in the game is also linked with success.
Losing is less fun than winning and, in optimizing play; theorycraft is fun
because it increases the odds of success.
The positive associations of theorycraft frame the words around it.
Theorycraft is tied with optimization and understanding; it makes players
better within the game and a thorough understanding of it is considered a
requirement for many high-end raiding groups, but theorycrafting can also
be fun in its own right. That said there are limiting elements, as theorycraft
normalizes and structures a particular way of playing the game, restricting
choices by dictating the optimal approach.
THEORYCRAFT: WHY SOME RESIST
Despite all of the positive associations surrounding theorycraft, there is
some vocal opposition to the impact theorycrafting has on
WoW
, espe-
cially when familiarity with theorycraft is perceived as being connected
to success or opportunity. This side of the discourse is best encompassed
in a forum thread titled “Does Elitist Jerks make everything suck?” as it
emphasizes two themes frequently used in critiques of theorycraft, that
it restricts options in the game and can often lead to misunderstandings.
These critiques focus on the ways in which theorycraft is not just a way to
