[arg_discuss] Topic of the Week Aug. 17: Ghost Players

[Christopher Amherst]

I'll side with Steve on this topic.

To me, "Ghost Players" are a technique that is just a workaround to a
problem that could have been resolved on the design side of the
equation rather than in the implementation side.

The technique comes across to me as:
1) Failing to understand one's audience (in terms of buy-in and puzzle
complexity)
2) Failing to build redundancies into distributing across the game's
social network
3) An inability to adapt or be flexible to the changing nature of the
game 'stage'.

#1 and #2 are issues that can be resolved in the early stages of
design, with the understanding that
they will evolve as a function of time.

#3 is an issue that needs to be accounted for prior to run-time and
addressed as part of any contingency design.

Signed,
Christopher