View source for Asymmetric Starting Conditions

[[Category:Patterns]]
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[[Category:Patterns created on the Wiki]]
''That players do not begin their game sessions with the same possibilities.''

Even if many games strive to provide players with equal chances, few actually provide the exact same conditions in the start of the game. This may be because one player begins before another, because they are given different resources due to randomness, or because they have themselves created their own setups. In all cases this leads to them having [[Asymmetric Starting Conditions]].

=== Examples ===
Classical [[:Category:Board Games|Board Games]] have [[Asymmetric Starting Conditions]] simply because they are turn-based and being the starting player is usually advantageous. [[Chess]] solves this in tournaments by letting players play several times and take turns which side they play. [[Go]] usually does this as well but can make use of compensation stones, called Komidashi in Japanese, for the white player that plays second; Based upon statistics this handicap has been set at 6.5 stones when using Japanese rules (the half point is to avoid ties). It has been proven for the more modern [[Hex]] that the first player has a winning strategy (the short proof is part of its Wikipedia entry<ref name="hex"/>); it is however non-trivial determining what it is. 

Since historical battles in practice never have had identical conditions for all involved sides, it is not to surprising that practically all [[:Category:Wargames|Wargames]], e.g. [[Advanced Squad Leader]] and [[Rommel in the Desert]], have [[Asymmetric Starting Conditions]] for their various scenarios. Not all these are intended to be balance and for these one may need to play multiple times with changed sides to determined the most skilled players; [[Memoir '44]] is an example of a game that explicitly suggests this.

Games where players put together their own set of components to use, e.g. armies in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]] or decks in [[Magic: The Gathering]], have [[Asymmetrical Starting Conditions]] in all but the most implausible case (that of the players independently having selected the exact same set up). 

Although their exists a standard setup for playing [[Settlers of Catan]], experienced players often randomize the hex tiles of the game to provide variation. Regardless, the bidding system to place starting settlements and roads cause the players to have [[Asymmetrical Starting Conditions]] since these settlements will be producing different resources (the main point with the standard setup is to guarantee that more or less balanced setups between the players are possible).

Players of [[:Category:Roleplaying Games|Roleplaying Games]] such as [[Dungeons & Dragons]] or the [[Storytelling System]] have characters with varying abilities, skills, and personalities that they play. That these may be more or less powerful in any given situation is typically not a problem since the gameplay is cooperative most of the time and roleplaying the struggle against great challenges can be more important than actually succeeding.

== Using the pattern ==
[[Asymmetrical Starting Conditions]] only make sense in [[Multiplayer Games]] since in [[Single-Player Games]] there can be not asymmetry between players. 
In some cases it may be more or less impossible to avoid them, it for example exists in any game allowing [[Late Arriving Players]] and in any [[Turn-Based Games]] where only one player does actions during a turn or their exists a priority ranking for resolving outcomes.

When intentionally designed into games, they can be achieved in three main ways: they can be designed and fixed by the game designers before gameplay begins, they can be created during setup through [[Randomness]], or they can be the effect of [[Player-Decided Results]]. These ways can be used independently or together to reach various levels of asymmetry, and do not so much differ in which others patterns they make use of as what effects is wanted on an overarching level for the game.

Designing the asymmetry is typically used to set up specific [[Alternate Reality|Alternate Realities]], e.g. the historical battles portrayed in [[Advanced Squad Leader]] or [[Memoir '44]], but can also be done to guarantee [[Player Balance]]. The latter is possible since fixed asymmetries can be play tested sufficiently many times so that one can be statistically sure no imbalances exist. Using [[Randomness]] during setup is done to provide [[Replayability]] through having [[Varied Gameplay]] between game instances. Letting player create the asymmetry is most often done to let them have [[Creative Control]] in addition to [[Replayability]] through having [[Varied Gameplay]], and one way to achieve this is to use [[Heterogeneous Game Element Ownership]]. That players can randomize the tiles in [[Settlers of Catan]] can be seen as an example of how player control can be mixed with [[Randomness]].

[[Abstract Player Constructs]] and [[Characters]] can be used both for letting game designers or players creating asymmetry; for the latter game designers need to have included rules for the construction of [[Player-Created Characters]].

Common ways to vary starting conditions between players include giving them [[Asymmetric Goals]] or [[Asymmetric Information|Information]], making [[Game Worlds]] have [[Asymmetric Resource Distribution]], and giving [[Asymmetric Abilities]] to the players [[Units]], [[Characters]], or [[Avatars]]. These in many cases introduce asymmetry to [[Scenarios]] or [[Game Worlds]], and for this reason [[Asymmetric Starting Conditions]] can be said to modulate them.

[[Asymmetric Starting Conditions]] easily ruin the possibility of [[Player Balance]] unless additional adjustments are made to the game design, and there exist some options. The most obvious one is [[Balancing Effects]] but another is to use either [[Back-to-Back Game Sessions]] or [[Rotating Starting Player]] since they remove imbalances by ensuring that all players have had all starting conditions. Note that [[Player Balance]] may not be a problem in games based upon [[Cooperation]] - here it may be more important that all players feel that they can contribute and that they have individual areas in which they have chances to excel.

That [[Player Balance]] does not exist between [[Abstract Player Constructs]] and [[Characters]] created by game designers does not need to be a problem - it can be seen as a way of providing [[Difficulty Levels]] (the choice of country in the [[Europa Universalis series|Europa Universalis]], [[Victoria series|Victora]], and [[Hearts of Iron series]] can be seen as examples of this).

=== Diegetic Aspects ===
Since few events that occur in the real world where several agents are interacting are done with completely equal conditions, having [[Asymmetrical Starting Conditions]] is actually a way to make [[Alternate Reality]] more plausible. This can be seen as a basic requirement for being able to have [[Thematic Consistency]], since having symmetry is thematically difficult to explain.

=== Narrative Aspects ===
As for the diegetic aspects, [[Asymmetrical Starting Conditions]] may be vital to create [[Alternate Reality]]. This is especially true for those games wishing to base their [[Game Worlds]] or [[Scenarios]] on historical events and situations.

== Consequences ==
[[Asymmetrical Starting Conditions]] is likely to make [[Player Balance]] difficult to achieve in games, unless modulated by [[Balancing Effects]] or having extensive play testing to ensure that no imbalance actually exists. However, this imbalance may be desired as part of a [[Handicap Systems|Handicap System]]. In games with [[Cooperation]] or [[Teams]], [[Asymmetrical Starting Conditions]] is likely to give [[Asymmetric Roles]] to the players.

Since the pattern can give players different starting conditions for each time they play a game, [[Asymmetric Starting Conditions]] offers [[Replayability]] to experience the [[Varied Gameplay]] these starting conditions provides.

== Relations ==
=== Can Instantiate ===
[[Alternate Reality]], 
[[Thematic Consistency]], 
[[Handicap Systems]], 
[[Replayability]], 
[[Varied Gameplay]]

==== with [[Cooperation]] or [[Teams]] ====
[[Asymmetric Roles]]

==== with [[Abstract Player Constructs]] or [[Characters]] ====
[[Difficulty Levels]]

=== Can Modulate ===
[[Game Worlds]], 
[[Multiplayer Games]],
[[Scenarios]]

=== Can Be Instantiated By ===
[[Abstract Player Constructs]], 
[[Asymmetric Abilities]], 
[[Asymmetric Goals]], 
[[Asymmetric Information]], 
[[Asymmetric Resource Distribution]], 
[[Asymmetric Roles]], 
[[Characters]], 
[[Late Arriving Players]], 
[[Player-Created Characters]], 
[[Player-Decided Results]], 
[[Randomness]], 
[[Turn-Based Games]]

=== Can Be Modulated By ===
[[Back-to-Back Game Sessions]], 
[[Balancing Effects]], 
[[Rotating Starting Player]]

=== Possible Closure Effects ===
-

=== Potentially Conflicting With ===
[[Player Balance]]

== History ==
New pattern created in this wiki.

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="hex">Wikipeidia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hex_(board_game) entry] for the board game Hex.</ref>
</references>

== Acknowledgements ==
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