Writing about gaming, and fairness

So far I've written four major pieces about the underlying theory behind video games, with two more hopefully on the path to publication. I've written two concerning adventure games, discussing them in terms of interfaces and puzzle-solving, I wrote one piece concerning game music and its potential in adapting to gameplay, and most recently I had a piece published talking about issues of fairness and balance in multiplayer games. My future writings relate to storytelling in games among other things, but I'll talk more about that when I get there.

My scope in talking about these things has gradually broadened, I started out just trying to describe a particular genre of game I was familiar with and delve into its underlying concepts and pitfalls, and I've gradually broadened my scope to include other genres of video games, multiplayer games, and eventually came to talk about other types of games aside from just the electronic variety.

Sometimes my writing will be based upon a sudden insight in understanding a particular area, or the fruits of researching a topic and considering all of its aspects, but this most recent essay on fairness is borne of frustration. My own frustration in dealing with unbalanced or skewed gameplay, and my complete dissatisfaction with some of the other pieces I've seen written about this issue, which were largely self-congratulatory and considered the purpose of gaming to be winning at all costs, which I think is missing the point. And rather than vent my grievances through outward displays of emotion or retreat by escaping from my preferred mode of escapism, I chose to channel my angst into marketable prose.

If you've never had the pleasure of dealing with an unbalanced gameplay experience or endured the gloating of uncharitable players, I'd encourage you to hang out in an online game for a while and further your understanding of man's true nature. And for those of you who can relate to feeling like you haven't been dealt a fair hand, my basic goal was to discuss and dissect the issues surrounding fairness in gaming without falling into the trap of showing the arrogance of a winner or the axe-grinding of a loser. And to do that you have to sit back and think about what would be fair to everyone, no matter where they're coming from. It's probably the most widely applicable topic out of all the ones I've covered, I think the feedback on this piece could be the most interesting yet.

Every time I sit down to talk about games and analyze a particular area, I feel the urge to follow up on my tangents and extend the conversation further. A lot of these issues are connected, and just talking about how people relate to multiplayer games has me think of a number of other social and psychological factors that relate to games. Having spent so much time in "research" in this area, I'm glad that I still feel like I have plenty of things to say.