#three pillars

[loosergremlincore]

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[homiciderat420]

The Homelessness Industrial Complex - A Tentative Concept

A simple way of viewing many things happening in the United States or across much of the world I presume, is to look at things as government and businesses. This is certainly a valid and helpful way to view problems with how homeless people are dealt with by our society, but I have an alternative view which is more specifically tailored to the homelessness problem.

What I have tentatively called the homelessness industrial complex is made up of three "pillars": the nonprofits/"charities," the police along with the security institutions, and the healthcare institutions. These three sets of institutions nearly completely govern every aspect - all of the variables - of homeless life. At least, shelter- and street-homeless life. And discrimination from people working in these sectors is most painfully felt by homeless people. Sickly old women being kicked out of shelters in the middle of the night into deathly frigid weather on the whim of shelter staff who didn't like the inmates ahem participants getting uppity or daring to be emotionally escalated after being repeatedly traumatized by people with power over them, of which this was yet another similar interaction. I have witnessed this many times with multiple women in the shelters I have lived in. Sickly old women being kicked out of hospitals for being delusional or emotionally escalated, even though they clearly have legitimate medical concerns that need to be addressed (including being delusional - which they somehow treat as reason to be turned away from treatment if you're homeless??). Bad treatment from the people who are supposed to be taking care of your physical health can and does lead to death. I have witnessed this once, as well as a similar medical neglect/discrimination incident in which an old woman was kicked out of the hospital and put on a random bus when she was not capable of getting herself home, and her wearing only hospital scrubs into the cold night. Are these medical professionals deliberately killing homeless people? Also, so many times I have seen, (often elderly) people with substance use in their medical history are treated like shit by doctors. Imagine, having an addiction dealt and over with seven years ago, and therefore you aren't allowed to have painkillers now. Cruel and unusual punishment for inmates certainly, and yet perfectly acceptable to treat homeless people this way. And it is self-evident to all homeless people that police & security employees' main purpose is to harass and fuck with homeless people as much as possible, and it is self-evident to all who pay attention that it is also their purpose to kill people of color and/or mentally ill people, communities which face disproportionate rates of homelessness.

That is all. Discuss.

[feelgigglethink]

Three pillars

[vinescreens]

Stardew Valley

[vinescreens]

Stardew Valley

[luftgames]

Want to take a breif moment to consider something we've all seen before, in designing and even just playing RPGs: The Three Pillars.

We've all heard of them before - "gameplay can be split into three pillars; Combat, Exploration, and Roleplay." Combat is where you beat up whoever is getting in the way, Roleplay is when there's noone to beat up, and Exploration is getting from one Combat or Roleplay encounter to the next. Sometimes the edges of these blend a bit, but this is the general understanding of the pillars.

We use these pillars and how prominent they are to judge wether or not a game is for us, or even a good game in the first place. If the Combat's too simplified, why bother getting in fights - if the Roleplay's weak, wouldn't it be better as a boardgame - if the Exploration's not well explained, how do we decide what we're doing? If your three-legged stool is missing a leg, not only is it actually a ladder, but it can't stand up on its own either.

But while these are important things to consider, I believe we've been ignoring a potential fourth leg to the stool: The Metagame. Roleplay, Combat, and Exploration are all events that happen within the game world itsself, but Meta is what goes on outside of the game world. The game itsself, and how you interact with it.

If I may make an over-long example, take baseball.

Considered by many to be a boring game, on the surface, Baseball is simple. Hit the ball, run, score. Do this more than the opponent and win. Let's apply the three pillars, and say the pitch is our Roleplay, hitting is our point of Combat, and then running the bases makes up our Exploration - just like that, we've made a functional game.

...but there's a lot more field out there than just the batter's box and pitcher's mound. And out in that field is where the game comes to life - with the Meta.

In Baseball, a pitch is not just throwing a ball at a target - it's a mind game. What's the pitcher's ability? What kinds of throw can they manage? Who's the hitter? Do they hit better with high balls or low? Where do they hit to on average? Are there people on base? Will that change the tactics, with a bunt or a sacrifice play? And once the ball is in the air, a whole new load of considerations are in play - how fast are the runners? Is is better to make a long throw to stop a point, or make a shorter one for an easy out? And on the recieving end, is the person ready and able to catch the throw, and what will they do with it?

People who enjoy baseball don't just watch it - they study it. They keep statistics in real-time. They know averages by heart. They study lineups, and follow seasonal drafts like paparazzi. All this because baseball has a very rich Meta surrounding the simple premise of 'hit ball, run fast.'

So going back into RPGs, Meta is everything around the specific actions of the Three Pillars. It's the brain-tickling "crunch" that many players tout in their favorite games. It's player expression, not through talking or beating up baddies, but through studying and beating the game itsself.

So, to build the Meta pillar of a game, there needs to be rules that satisfy that creative and puzzle-solving side of the players - often, character creation being the first and foremost example.

Imperium Maledictum (just one table of which is above,) has a number of levels to character creation - home planet, faction, traits, and Role all affecting the character you play with - but it also has another layer - all of these things can be randomized... For XP. The interplay between choice of stats and an initial stat boost make for an interesting system to play with.

Savage Worlds has a system of traits - you start the game with a number of trait points, and can pick character benefits with them. But there's a wrinkle: You can choose negetive traits to give yourself additional trait points. This allows the choice to be selectively weak in order to be stronger at something else, right from the start - and works wonders for Roleplay as the game goes on.

I would dare to say one of the largest games in the industry owes its entire existence to the pillar of Meta. Pathfinder is, are its core, a riff on Dungeons and Dragons. It holds the same focus on combat, Roleplay encounters are largely handled by skills, and hex-crawl Exploration is nothing new. But where it stands out is options. The very races you play as are diverse, and replete with options. Classes can be built a multitude of ways, and even the combat system allows more actions, creating a vast web of potential that players can delve into for ages before even rolling a single die.

And the enjoyment of Meta doesn't end with character creation - having tools and tables for exploration, item generation, and world building are all great tools to engage players and occupy GMs for months at a time.

In direct contrast stands Powered by the Apocalypse: A simple, stripped-down version of the RPG, that features pre-set characters, with pre-set moves. Construction is minimal, and details are vague - Gamma World has charts for weapon damage, classification, and how much fatigue sets in from using it. Apocalypse World simply asks how much harm is dealt when you "exchange harm."

While this is clearly enjoyed by a great many due to the flood of PBtA titles in the past decade, this simplicity is also a horrifying anathema those who love the crunch of old-school RPGs. One is not superior to another, but just as with the classic pillars, a focus (or lack thereof) on Meta changes the balance of a game, and who the intended audience will be.

So, at length; Consider the Meta when building a game. What systems exist that will allow for the game to be enjoyed, even when not at the table? How can the mechanics themselves be used as a tool of self-expression and engagement? Are the rules themselves simply what defines the gameplay, or are they to be played with?

And most importantly, as with any game design, consider: Who is the game for? If your answer is to engage the hyper-fixated nerds among us, then perhaps Meta should be the strongest leg of the four-legged stool.

Anyways, it's a thought.

[wineninja]

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