Dudes- seriously no worries about the new suggestions. The paper is finished and published, but more examples are always awesome to hear. I'll have to look into this concept of yarikomi.

Woah, insanely old post ressurection! But I think it's for a good reason.

So many months later, the article is complete and published in Loading... Journal, a peer-reviewed journal put out by the Canadian Game Studies Association. If you're so inclined, you can open a free account and read it here:

http://journals.sfu.ca/loading/index.php/loading/issue/current

Thanks again for your input, TIGSource. Very much appreciated!

I guess the whole tower defense gametypes and DOTA (or whatever the acronym is) from WC3 count, but then again, tower defense is only available since the map's ruleset is designed for that type of game.

That's right, and it sort of precludes most kinds of RTS custom gametypes- if you're adding the rules using an in-game editor of some kind, it's not what I'm looking at specifically.

Rocketjumping, like Jeepjumping (you know, planting grenades under the jeep in Halo and watching it fly) crosses the line into what I'm talking about when it's formalized as a contest- who can get the jeep/corpse furthest/fastest/to a specific location.

Lackey, could you elaborate on the rules to Zombies, Tremors and Braveheart?

That's very cool Robotacon, but I have to point out that it's not the same thing. You've crossed the line from player to "user" of the software- you've changed the game on the level of its programming, rather than using the programming from within to create new ways of playing. It's an important distinction.

Yes, there's a lot of space in Film Studies for all kinds of media criticism, and usually Film departments have good inter-disciplinary relationships. What school are you studying film at? I also got into the universities of Cambridge, Nottingham, Sussex and East Anglia for my MA, but the fees for foreign students are just exorbitant, and I couldn't afford it.

I think the term you're looking for is "metagaming," but I could be wrong.

One of the most obvious ways to metagame is to limit yourself in ways that the game does not enforce.

Metagaming is actually a term I'm deliberately avoiding, because much like "emergent gameplay" it's just too broad, and includes a wide variety of diverse concepts. What I'm talking about is exactly as you put it, those ways in which gamers limit themselves outside of the enforced rules of the game. I tend to refer to these(at this stage, at least) as imposed rules/rulesets.

Atomic, the Smash Bros. edge game is borderline, because it's not really adding any new limitations to the game, nor is it formalized in any significant way. Certainly it's an example of emergent play/metagaming, but that's case in point why I'm avoiding those specific words. The rocket race could be a good example, though.

You're absolutely right, however, in saying that all gamers do this in just about any game, and that's an important point I'm trying to make. There's more to my research than just compiling ways in which this occurs- I'm just at that early stage right now. It's very important to my thesis that average gamers do this, not only eccentric ones.

Tr00jg, could you elaborate on the Diplomacy Treasure Chest example you mentioned? Leatherball is another very good example, though, I'd forgotten about that one.

As for River City Ransom baseball, it works like this. One player picks up the bat or just a stick) and the other player picks up the baseball (or just a rock). You find a secluded area, and one player pitches the ball at the other player, who tries to hit it back before it cracks him in the face. Bonus points if the batter manages to hit the pitcher with the ball and/or rock. If you wanted to get really fancy, you could have the batter run "bases" across a level while the other player tries to nail him with the ball.

The most awesome thing about this stuff is that it shows players (and their internalizations of the systems we design) are inherently a part of those systems.  We can't forget that players aren't necessarily abstract things that just come in and "play" our games, they're as much a part of our systems as anything we put into it.

Absolutely right, and in a way that's the ultimate angle of my project: sort of a valorization of video games as a [mass] art which creates meaningful and significant aesthetic experiences.

Multiplayer examples tend to exist more in context of real-world presence (LAN parties, console split-screen) but as you say, knife/pistol/shock paddle-only servers do engage in the same sort of rule-making. Even "no-swearing" servers change the experience.

The Oblivion/Morrowind example is valid only when the player is imposing limitations (all rules are, after all, limitations) on what his character can do, but it's also a good point.

Hi there, my name's Felan. I'm a Pix Fu/Derek Yu stalwart and a longtime TIGSource reader. I used to post on the old forum but life caught up to me.

So, I've just begun my Master's in Film Studies at Carleton University, and I'm doing a directed reading/independent study on the thrlling topic of video games and video game studies.

A significant portion of my proposed project is about the rules and rule sets which gamers impose upon themselves. This is sometimes considered a facet of "emergent gameplay." Some examples include Jeep Jumping in Halo, playing a specific alignment in a role-playing game which does not enforce alignment behaviour, speed runs, River City Ransom baseball and Cat and Mouse in certain racing games.

Let me stress that I'm not talking about creative solutions to in-game problems, nor am I talking about modding. I'm interested in rulesets which exist only in the minds of the players, implemented entirely within the game. Any instance in which the player imposes his or her own rules onto the game and onto themselves.


An example from my own experience is Halo Jeep Tag. The players start with a basic Tag-style multiplayer match, with vehicles enabled and all rocket launchers, and the extra rules go like this:

- The player who is "it" must be in a jeep, and can only kill people (and thus score points) by running over the other players.
- The other players, equipped with rocket launchers and frag grenades (sticky plasma grenades are not allowed) must try to stay alive and kill the player who is "it."
- If the "it" player is ejected from his jeep and survives, nobody is allowed to shoot him until he re-enters the jeep and two seconds have passed (in order to give him a fair head start).



What other examples have you guys seen or experienced? You will obviously get credit for your contribution if this paper goes as planned. (Also, if this got a mainpage nod, I'd be much obliged. )