[Finding the fun is] the designer's job.
Thats is where we disagree ...
In my opinion:
Designer's job is to presume what will be fun for me and give me options to have it ... the more options, the better chance he will hit the right spot.
And my job is to explore those options and use those, that will give me fun i wanted.
Well, we will have to agree to disagree. I can see we sit on opposite ends of the gameplay focus spectrum with GTA on one end and Pro Evolution Soccer on the other. You're obviously on board with GTA 's design philosophy and I can respect that. I've played GTA V and Saints Row IV and they were sweet! Let me tell you, though, there's great value in a game knowing exactly what it wants to be and delivering on it as best it can. For as much praise as I could heap on those two games, I will never play thousands of hours of either of them as I have with PES 2016. That game had one mission and wasted no time making yellow cards optional, or whatever.
You don't have to use that option, it's just there for those that like it.
I understand the stance that options, by definition, can't detract from a game's appeal. But I do believe they have a cost, particularly for new players. They need to learn that the options exist, then understand what they do, then recall them when the appropriate time comes. There are a number of threads on this forum where the OP is furious because the hotbar fills up automatically with random arrows and scrolls. Then someone points out that the option exists to change that behavior. But the button for it is lost among a bunch of other options, in a menu new players have probably never seen. Every additional option, valuable though it may be, compounds this problem.
Conclusion : In my immaculate opinion, designers of a game need to nut up and pick a way for their players to play. Video games are art, and art suffers no compromise. Unless a moderator steps in.
