Having a player intentionally drag out a game like that is pretty rare. But games like Demigod, where the game drags out long past the ability of other players to catch up, are pretty common. It's caused by a snowball effect, where you become more powerful at the same time as you weaken your opponent, so you have not only a score advantage, but a strategic advantage that makes it harder for your opponent to catch up. Like, imagine how baseball would play differently if every time you got a homerun, your team got to throw smaller balls and use bigger bats, while the opposing team had to use narrower bats and pitch larger balls.
I think the way to address this is not necessarily to nuke the snowball effect, but to make one team win when there's a level/score disparity. So instead of the game being "first to reach 10,000" you have it as "first to gain a 3000 point lead". Have the game measure factors like level or items gained, and if one side gets a huge lead on those factors, then give them the win.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2009-06-04 06:53 pm (UTC)I think the way to address this is not necessarily to nuke the snowball effect, but to make one team win when there's a level/score disparity. So instead of the game being "first to reach 10,000" you have it as "first to gain a 3000 point lead". Have the game measure factors like level or items gained, and if one side gets a huge lead on those factors, then give them the win.