Suppose you have a game where poor play by one opponent gives another player a large advantage of some sort. Or the reverse of that problem, through poor play of a certain player another player is severly disadvantaged.
Would you consider this a flaw in the design of the game? Or is it just something players have to deal with?
I'm interested in your opinions on this matter.
- Rene Wiersma
No. It wouldn't be a flaw in the design. It's called being a bad player.
Say if you are playing Chess and you move your queen in front of the other player's queen. Then your opponent takes your queen. It isn't flaw in the game, it is just called having a bad strategy.
Actually, I can't think of an example in which bad game design would give one player a big advantage over another. So how about a pretend one, eh?
Say you are playing a game where you have to get a certain amount of money to win, but you also need a certain amount of food, water, and building supplies each turn or else you get some of your money taken away to buy the supplies you need. Now, if you have to get some food and you want to trade with the other players you might offer, say, 10 gold for five pieces of food. If the player declines, and you need the food, you might keep offering and offering untill you get the food. Now, this could leave you with a big problem in the game. This would be an example of bad game design, in my opinion.