Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
OPTIMIZING WORDPLAY
The emergence of theorycraft is telling about the
WoW
playing community,
but also of ers key insights into wordplay. Theorycraft indicates the
WoW
community is robust and develops approaches to play that change how
they interact with the game. It shows players are interested in the process of
metagaming and are interested enough in the game to pursue lengthy dis-
cussions outside of it. Beyond the bounds of
WoW
, there are three keys to
what theorycraft presents: a changing notion of the forces shaping a game,
a rearticulation of procedure and process constructed through both game
design and paratexts, and an expression of the achieving mentality.
Most clearly, the development of theorycraft forms what counts as
knowledge and 'good' play. Theorycraft changes how play occurs, shifting
it from sifting through a sea of choices to a search for the optimal solution,
resulting in what are often called “cookie-cutter builds.” This changes the
way
WoW
works, as it ceases to be a dynamic role-playing world that is
ventured through with friends and becomes a series of math equations to
be solved and lists of buttons to push. Although this may not be a change
felt by every player and some could resist dominant norms, all are impacted
when getting into certain groups requires specifi c choices or when game
design is altered to please the vocal contingent of theorycrafters. Beyond
the game, theorycrafting changes how discussion occurs, as math equations
are often a search for the ultimate correct answer, rather than a discussion
of the relative merits of dif erent options. This means that debates are often
framed in terms of 'right' and 'wrong,' rather than focusing on the relative
merits of a number of dif erent decisions with a focus on better and worse.
This is a lesson that could apply to other games, as the increasing role of
statistical analysis in sports and the presence of similar kinds of activities
in games like
Civilization
and
SimCity
transforms the way the games are
played and need to be studied. The single-minded pursuit of a best or an
optimal approach reshapes notions of play and redefi nes game design.
Theorycraft also illustrates how wordplay encompasses both the para-
texts and processes of games. Theorycraft drives design and consumption
of various encounters in
WoW
. Top guilds expect new recruits to be fl uent in
theorycraft, and game designers expect the same of guilds. This relationship
expands the surfaces for wordplay as a critical tool. Although the processes
of games are persuasive, they are not the only consideration of wordplay. In
this case, theorycraft rearticulates what counts as knowledge about
WoW
and how
WoW
is played. In the case of iterative games this relationship is
especially dynamic, as they are regularly in a state of development. Player
behaviors dictate future processes, which require looking beyond the strict
boundary of game procedures to understand the discourse of video games.
Theorycraft could not be executed without the game, as there would be
nothing to develop theory for, but for a dedicated theorycrafter, it is dii -
cult to imagine the game of
WoW
without the theories designed to optimize
