Sniffnoy comments on Rationalist Hobbies - Less Wrong Discussion
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It also illustrates the gap between what rules directly allow/prohibit, and what they actually incentivize doing. It requires that bit of economic thinking - what incentive systems are your rules setting up? What feedback systems does this result in?
Edit: Actually, it requires careful clear thinking about human biases in quite a few other things too! In order to even do what I wrote above, you have to avoid obvious biases in playtesting, if you want to figure out what a good player will do. But then you also have to account for the fact that most players will probably not be seriously focused on winning, and you will have to consider what their biases will lead them to do instead, so you can make sure the game is fun for them as well.
Yes, and game design also provides some very good examples where people not thinking broadly enough can lead to serious problems. One good example of this is Dungeons and Dragons 3.0, where the play testing occurred with characters all playing as certain archetypes (the fighters hit, the wizards throw fireballs, the clerics healed in combat). As a result, no one noticed that minimal amounts of tactical sense could make the wizards and clerics massively outshine the other classes.
And, of course, Fun Theory!