BalancingEffects.json

{
  "pattern_name": "Balancing Effects",
  "description": "Rules and effects in games that lessen the differences of value used to measure competition between players.",
  "content": [
    "For games where players play against opponents, the players need to feel that they can affect the outcome of the game. If a game is designed with a certain game time or amount of gameplay, and players feel powerless, these players have to two possibilities: endure gameplay that is uninspiring or suffer that gameplay breakdown due to the players desire to stop playing. To avoid these situations, games can have [[Balancing Effects]] built into them so that all players are more likely to feel that they have a chance to win over their opponents until the intended conclusion of the competition."
  ],
  "using_the_pattern": [
    "[[Balancing Effects]] can be designed in a game to be preemptive or correcting. Preemptive [[Balancing Effects]] try to maintain [[Player Balance]] so that imbalances do not occur, while correcting [[Balancing Effects]] try to correct imbalances when they have occurred. An alternative to [[Balancing Effects]], which can be used together with them, is [[Limited Foresight]]. This also gives players a [[Perceived Chance to Succeed]] but in this case, it may only be an [[Illusion of Influence]].",
    "[[Handicaps]] are preemptive [[Balancing Effects]] that are put into effect before gameplay begins. Making [[Extended Actions]] into [[Interruptible Actions]] is a form of preemptive [[Balancing Effect]] as other players can interfere with the actions, especially if they do not have any effect before they are completed. [[Delayed Effects]] in general have a certain [[Balancing Effect]], as they give players the possibility to prepare for the effects. Other ways of creating preemptive [[Balancing Effects]] consist of designing [[Illusionary Rewards]], requiring [[Tradeoffs]], allowing players to choose [[Selectable Sets of Goals]] that best fit their abilities, or providing [[Diminishing Return]] to players that otherwise could become clear leaders. If the effects are direct, these effects can ruin the [[Illusion of Influence]] for players and even make them avoid trying to achieve what should be goals for them. Having [[Balancing Effects]] affect the players indirectly can solve this, for example through [[Character Development]] or making [[New Abilities]] additions to those already used with [[Budgeted Action Points]].",
    "Examples of correcting [[Balancing Effects]] include giving [[New Abilities]] or [[Improved Abilities]] to disadvantaged players and giving [[Ability Losses]] or [[Decreased Abilities]] to advantaged players. The classic case used in [[Races]] is a [[Decreased Ability]] in the form of [[Movement Limitation]] giving a lower maximum speed. To avoid players losing [[Illusion of Influences]], the positive effects are usually [[Rewards]] to the disadvantaged players for completing goals, while the negative effects are usually [[Penalties]] to the advantaged players for failing goals. The evaluation function that determines the [[Balancing Effects]] is for the same reason often hidden from players, for example, by making all [[Pick-Ups]] look the same though they have different effects, or by hiding the actual rolling of [[Dice]] to be able to fudge the results. Another example of a correcting is to decide the order of [[Turn Taking]] so that disadvantaged players give the most advantageous positions.",
    "[[Transfer of Control]] can also be used to correct imbalances, but these are often linked to the [[Rewards]] or [[Penalties]] of any of the players. A common solution is to have forced [[Shared Rewards]], so that the player who gains the [[Reward]] must share it with someone else, typically the most disadvantaged player. Controlling how [[Spawning]] occurs can also be corrective, either placing disadvantaged players at [[Strategic Locations]] or placing advantaged players at bad locations.",
    "Games with more than two teams or players competing against each other automatically have some corrective [[Balancing Effects]]. Players in these games perceived as leading may be the starting point of [[Mutual Goals]] for [[Uncommitted Alliances]], which have the intentions of ganging up against the leader. This is common in games with [[King of the Hill]] goals but can also be found in games that allow [[Player Decided Results]] and [[Player-Decided Distribution of Rewards & Penalties]]. Sufficient [[Game State Overviews]], for example, public [[Scores]], so players can notice leaders, are required for this form of [[Balancing Effect]] to occur.",
    "[[Game Masters]], as [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] that have constant access to the complete game state and can enforce their own [[Player Decided Results]], can perform both preemptive and corrective balancing effects during gameplay.",
    "Games using primarily [[Randomness]] to judge outcomes can easily be designed to have [[Balancing Effects]] over time or when considering several game sessions together. However, games with [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] can fake the [[Randomness]], for example, the results of [[Dice]] rolls, to explicitly create [[Balancing Effects]] during gameplay."
  ],
  "consequences": [
    "The presence of [[Balancing Effects]] strengthens or prolongs players' [[Perceived Chance to Succeed]] but lessens the [[Perceivable Margins]] of the game and removes feelings of [[Game Mastery]] in the game. [[Balancing Effects]] often provide the [[Right Level of Difficulty]] and [[Smooth Learning Curves]] in games by making challenges sufficiently difficult.",
    "[[Balancing Effects]] are used in [[Multiplayer Games]] to avoid too large differences of [[Asymmetric Abilities]] between players. They can achieve [[Player Balance]] or [[Team Balance]] during gameplay, often to maintain [[Tension]] as long as possible in the game and to allow [[Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses]]."
  ],
  "relations": {
    "Instantiates": [
      "Player Balance",
      "Smooth Learning Curves",
      "Team Balance",
      "Tension",
      "Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses",
      "Right Level of Difficulty",
      "Perceived Chance to Succeed"
    ],
    "Modulates": [
      "Character Development",
      "Penalties",
      "Asymmetric Abilities",
      "Multiplayer Games",
      "Transfer of Control",
      "Improved Abilities",
      "Ability Losses",
      "Decreased Abilities",
      "Spawning",
      "Rewards",
      "Dice",
      "Pick-Ups",
      "Turn Taking"
    ],
    "Instantiated by": [
      "Extended Actions",
      "Player Decided Results",
      "Movement Limitations",
      "Interruptible Actions",
      "Illusionary Rewards",
      "Budgeted Action Points",
      "Handicaps",
      "Diminishing Returns",
      "Dedicated Game Facilitators",
      "Game Masters",
      "Tradeoffs",
      "Player-Decided Distribution of Rewards & Penalties",
      "Delayed Effects",
      "Randomness",
      "Score",
      "Shared Rewards",
      "Rewards",
      "King of the Hill"
    ],
    "Modulated by": [
      "Game State Overview",
      "Uncommitted Alliances"
    ],
    "Potentially conflicting with": [
      "Perceivable Margins"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [
    "Power-ups in Monkey Race 2 in Super Monkey Ball 2 give speed boosters only to the players that are not leading the races. Further balancing effects can be added by players through the option that makes the leader have a lower maximum speed than the other players.",
    "Multiplayer online first-person shooters often have possibilities to force teams to be balanced in numbers. Some, such as Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, have functionality that can automatically reassign teams based on experience to try and balance the teams further."
  ],
  "label": "14. Game Design Patterns for Game Mastery and Balancing",
  "pattern_links": [
    {
      "name": "Turn Taking",
      "file": "TurnTaking"
    },
    {
      "name": "Player Decided Results",
      "file": "PlayerDecidedResults"
    },
    {
      "name": "Tension",
      "file": "Tension"
    },
    {
      "name": "Handicaps",
      "file": "Handicaps"
    },
    {
      "name": "Delayed Effects",
      "file": "DelayedEffects"
    },
    {
      "name": "Game State Overview",
      "file": "GameStateOverview"
    },
    {
      "name": "Decreased Abilities",
      "file": "DecreasedAbilities"
    },
    {
      "name": "Character Development",
      "file": "CharacterDevelopment"
    },
    {
      "name": "Dice",
      "file": "Dice"
    },
    {
      "name": "Smooth Learning Curves",
      "file": "SmoothLearningCurves"
    },
    {
      "name": "Game Masters",
      "file": "GameMasters"
    },
    {
      "name": "Interruptible Actions",
      "file": "InterruptibleActions"
    },
    {
      "name": "Player-Decided Distribution of Rewards & Penalties",
      "file": "Player-DecidedDistributionofRewards&Penalties"
    },
    {
      "name": "Spawning",
      "file": "Spawning"
    },
    {
      "name": "Budgeted Action Points",
      "file": "BudgetedActionPoints"
    },
    {
      "name": "Perceived Chance to Succeed",
      "file": "PerceivedChancetoSucceed"
    },
    {
      "name": "Movement Limitations",
      "file": "MovementLimitations"
    },
    {
      "name": "Perceivable Margins",
      "file": "PerceivableMargins"
    },
    {
      "name": "Improved Abilities",
      "file": "ImprovedAbilities"
    },
    {
      "name": "Transfer of Control",
      "file": "TransferofControl"
    },
    {
      "name": "Uncommitted Alliances",
      "file": "UncommittedAlliances"
    },
    {
      "name": "Higher-Level Closures as Gameplay Progresses",
      "file": "Higher-LevelClosuresasGameplayProgresses"
    },
    {
      "name": "Illusionary Rewards",
      "file": "IllusionaryRewards"
    },
    {
      "name": "Randomness",
      "file": "Randomness"
    },
    {
      "name": "Team Balance",
      "file": "TeamBalance"
    },
    {
      "name": "Right Level of Difficulty",
      "file": "RightLevelofDifficulty"
    },
    {
      "name": "Player Balance",
      "file": "PlayerBalance"
    },
    {
      "name": "Penalties",
      "file": "Penalties"
    },
    {
      "name": "Dedicated Game Facilitators",
      "file": "DedicatedGameFacilitators"
    },
    {
      "name": "Shared Rewards",
      "file": "SharedRewards"
    },
    {
      "name": "Rewards",
      "file": "Rewards"
    },
    {
      "name": "King of the Hill",
      "file": "KingoftheHill"
    },
    {
      "name": "Diminishing Returns",
      "file": "DiminishingReturns"
    },
    {
      "name": "Multiplayer Games",
      "file": "MultiplayerGames"
    },
    {
      "name": "Extended Actions",
      "file": "ExtendedActions"
    },
    {
      "name": "Pick-Ups",
      "file": "Pick-Ups"
    },
    {
      "name": "Asymmetric Abilities",
      "file": "AsymmetricAbilities"
    },
    {
      "name": "Score",
      "file": "Score"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ability Losses",
      "file": "AbilityLosses"
    },
    {
      "name": "Tradeoffs",
      "file": "Tradeoffs"
    }
  ],
  "pattern_id": "BalancingEffects",
  "playable_concept": "Not available yet",
  "metadata": {
    "version": "1.2.2.2",
    "date_processed": "2025-04-26",
    "source_file": "BalancingEffects.htm",
    "converter_version": "1.2.2.2"
  }
}