Talk:Avoiding Dead Ends

'Mechanical Neglect' section?

I was actually thinking of writing something similar to this lol, I'm glad that you've gotten to it. I'd like to add that not giving it any proper mechanical direction can also sink it, although this could fit in the 'unexplained vision' thing too? For example, the cases where the Emperor becomes too enamored with the aesthetic they're aiming for, for the dynasty and neglect mechanical design/direction. I believe that was part of the reason that my Katamari dynasty, Tyguy's Enneagram dynasty, card's Immortal dynasty and Duke's Parallel Universe dynasties failed. They didn't have any central 'game' to play (or it just wasn't fun). Meanwhile, dynasties with very simple but fun central mechanics, with themes that aren't nearly as bohemian or interesting; have thrived.

I know of just one case where the dynasty was getting mechanically boring but it picked up again, and it was Sphinx's dynasty. It started out with 'freezing' rules and other rule-affecting rules but no actual inner meat for the game yet (something I feel happened similarly with Duke's, no inner meat despite the rule-affecting rules being exquisitely developed) until we decided to go off the rails and we Tokyo drifted into a Mafia direction and things got a lot more interesting and engaging.--Cuddlebeam (talk) 07:16, 28 April 2020 (UTC)

I think that's what "Too Much Stuff" covers: those dynasties where a lot of disparate mechanics bloom, but they don't really connect to make a clear game. Which, to be fair, is quite common in any game of Nomic. --Kevan (talk) 10:19, 28 April 2020 (UTC)

Hmmmm, it's neaaaarly that but not entirely, in my opinion. The problem I'm referring to is the lack of a compelling central game loop in general - which does indeed happen when there is 'too much stuff', but it can also happen when there is no proper initial structure to start building around. This does rely on the thought that the Emperor has some kind of responsibility to start the dynasty with a least a faint scent of a proper central 'game', though (which is born from my experience that lack of initial direction doesn't work too well, like in the dynasties I listed before). I'd also find it totally fine that an Emperor chooses that their own dynasty should be deliberately very open-ended, game design wise (I'd be a bit anxious about the dynasty but hey, it's not my dynasty, they can do whatever they want and I can only suggest lol) . Probably just a subjective call here if it should be included or not, but oh well, I figured I'd toss these thoughts in.--Cuddlebeam (talk) 11:15, 28 April 2020 (UTC)