Having fun with unknowns

[Nooki]

I have to enjoyed a multitude of different paradox games over the years and some of the more enjoyable moments has been when unexpected things has happened and you have to rethink your plan.
In this I think some parts of it is also that I don’t know what is happening next which means I need to prep for everything.

In recent years paradox games has gone more in the direction that you know exactly what number will change what meaning you don’t really need prepare for horrible things to go wrong, it is just a statistic away to see what to expect.
It would be nice if some things are more hidden or perhaps more random in the sense that you don’t really what will happen with your next action or what your neighbor will do to counter your move.. to keep the balance.

this could tie nicely into spying and bureaucrats (efficient one that is) enable you to know more accurately what will happen, how many pops do what if you build a factory etc. You even play with the idea that a high authoritarian regim might not always get right numbers sent to them.

 

[Grim Deadman]

I have to enjoyed a multitude of different paradox games over the years and some of the more enjoyable moments has been when unexpected things has happened and you have to rethink your plan.
In this I think some parts of it is also that I don’t know what is happening next which means I need to prep for everything.

In recent years paradox games has gone more in the direction that you know exactly what number will change what meaning you don’t really need prepare for horrible things to go wrong, it is just a statistic away to see what to expect.
It would be nice if some things are more hidden or perhaps more random in the sense that you don’t really what will happen with your next action or what your neighbor will do to counter your move.. to keep the balance.

this could tie nicely into spying and bureaucrats (efficient one that is) enable you to know more accurately what will happen, how many pops do what if you build a factory etc. You even play with the idea that a high authoritarian regim might not always get right numbers sent to them.

I, too, would like to simulate the unknown, however, consider this: in Victoria you're not exactly the government, you're sort of this Zeitgeist that guides the political elite, so I'm not sure it would be entirely appropriate for you not to know stuff. I would definitely play a period game where you were just the government and had to deal with unknown, with corruption and incompetence.

 

[Nooki]

I, too, would like to simulate the unknown, however, consider this: in Victoria you're not exactly the government, you're sort of this Zeitgeist that guides the political elite, so I'm not sure it would be entirely appropriate for you not to know stuff. I would definitely play a period game where you were just the government and had to deal with unknown, with corruption and incompetence.

Absolutely but I also don’t want to play a Zeitgeist RPG but rather have as much fun as possible.

Perhaps I’m being a bit romantic about the earlier paradox titles but the games I remember are the ones where I where able to overcome something difficult which was often created by something unknown. I don’t like the idea of knowing everything beforehand, rather needing to react to the world around you.

 

[Grim Deadman]

Absolutely but I also don’t want to play a Zeitgeist RPG but rather have as much fun as possible.

Perhaps I’m being a bit romantic about the earlier paradox titles but the games I remember are the ones where I where able to overcome something difficult which was often created by something unknown. I don’t like the idea of knowing everything beforehand, rather needing to react to the world around you.

You can recall also that earlier Pdx titles also had the problem of obscure consequences. Yes, you had to face the unknown, however it was also often the case that the actions you took to tackle the said unknown would yield something entirely different from what you were trying to achieve. I know, unintended consequences are a big thing historically, but occasionally you would get nothing but unintended consequences, which is a bit too far out there. The move away from this system comes with it's own pros, IMO, but it obviously has the cons that you've described earlier.

 

[Rhazzaz0r]

I think the player should know the cause of the actions that he takes. Otherwise the game is just really hard to play in some circumstances for no reason really. This unpredictability should come from interference from outside countries or events or even fractions within your country not from something you can willingly do.

 

[ImperatorLJ]

I agree that randomness and fear of not knowing something can be tons of fun, but I'm afraid that probably won't happen too much.

I had a thread about this a while ago, and I quickly learned there is a group of players who are fanatical about knowing and controlling everything at all times. Long as that mindset has voice, I don't think there will be much hope for mystery.