View source for Dedicated Game Facilitators

[[Category:Patterns]]
[[Category:Needs revision]]
''Programs, machines, or people who perform book-keeping actions and/or control various agents to provide gameplay to players.''

All games require some effort to maintain and update the game state. This may be as easy as tallying scores but may also require extensive preparing, the management of information that should be hidden from all players, the impartial judging or performing of actions, and resolving complex algorithms during gameplay. Since letting players perform these may distract from the gameplay and may be difficult or impossible to do (e.g. managing secret information) a common solution is to assign these activities to other people, giving them roles as umpires, referees, judges, or game masters. With the advent of computers, these have also been 

=== Examples ===
The umpire or referees of sports are all examples of people acting as [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]]. In many cases (e.g. [[Soccer]] and [[Ice Hockey]]) these referees are supposed to ensure that the rules are being followed, but for others (e.g. [[Boxing]] and [[Figure Skating]]) the referees also have to grade performances to determine winners. Although not part of the definitions of board games and card games such as [[Chess]], [[Go]], [[Contract Bridge]], the [[Pokémon Trading Card Game]], and [[Magic: The Gathering]], referees are used in tournaments and organizations take responsibilities of maintaining 'official' tournament rules and providing referees. The board game [[Space Alert]] uses an audio track to control the development of gameplay during its first of two phases (although the players need to do the actual manipulation of game elements), so it can be considered using a [[Dedicated Game Facilitators|Dedicated Game Facilitator]] for part of its game instances.

All computer or console based games have the computers as [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] (see the categories of [[:Category:Computer Games|computer]] and [[:Category:Console Games|console]] games on this wiki for examples). For computerized versions of existing card or board games, these [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] show the trans-medial nature of games<ref name="Juul"/>. The work load is shared between many computers in the case of online games, typically with one server in control of maintaining and updating the game state and many clients showing the game state to the players and collecting input from them to pass on to the server (e.g. [[Ultima Online]] and [[World of Warcraft]]]. Although this seems to put the main workload on the server (except for the graphical presentation), clients used for real-time online games such as the [[Counter-Strike series]], the [[Quake series]], and the [[Left 4 Dead series]] include advance prediction systems to be able to show where opponents are predicted to be in order to avoid having lag<ref name="Lag"/>. The AI and Music directors used in the [[Left 4 Dead series]] can be seen as a [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] distinct from the game system itself even if it is part of the same code since it acts upon the game system as if it is another system.

Game masters in roleplaying games such as [[Dungeons & Dragons]], [[GURPS]], [[Basic Role-Playing]], and the [[Storytelling System]] are another type of [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]]. These need to be knowledgeable in both the rules of the game and the fictive world in which the gameplay occurs, as well as handle all characters and monsters not under the players' control. Computer-based roleplaying games such as the [[Witcher series]] or the [[Fallout series]] replace people with computers (quite logical since the computer already needs to be a [[Dedicated Game Facilitators|Dedicated Game Facilitator]] for the underlying support such as maintaining the game state). For the complex events that can occur in massively multiplayer online games such as [[Ultima Online]] and [[World of Warcraft]], it is typical to have both computers and people involved in the game facilitation so there are human game masters to help handle rare exceptions or social conflicts.

== Using the pattern ==
The primary choices when designing [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] is what functionality these should facilitate and whom should be the facilitators.

One very common task for [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] concerns information handling. This can be keeping track of all information of the game state simply so players' can have [[Imperfect Information]] (e.g. through [[First-Person Views]]) but it can also be keeping track of [[Secret Goals|Secret]] or [[Unknown Goals]]. Controlling that [[Game Element Insertion]] is done properly is another possible such task. For games whose gameplay is spread over many, not necessarily overlapping play sessions, [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] can be responsible for storing and restoring game state to provide [[Save-Load Cycles]] or to make sure [[Persistent Game Worlds]] exist. Further, the information handling can be to provide the [[Storytelling]] necessary (possibly through the use of [[Cutscenes]]) to unfold [[Narration Structures]] as planned so [[Surprises]] and [[Betrayal|Betrayals]] other wanted effects occur. For games where players don't have [[Unmediated Social Interaction]] or should have [[Limited Communication Abilities]], [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] can supply the proper [[Communication Channels]] (a 'dumb' example of this can be found in the static used sometimes in [[Space Alert]] to hinder player communication). This can also, when they can hide behind [[Handles]], [[Avatars]], or [[Player Characters]], give players a [Possibility of Anonymity]]. Controlling how these are created as well as the [[Communication Channels]] can make this into an [[Enforced Player Anonymity]].

[[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] can make more active use of their ability of have an overview of the complete game state. While they can be used to provide [[Imperfect Information]], they can also provide players with access to otherwise impossible data, either specific data through [[Game State Indicators]] or general one through [[Game State Overview]]. This can be done guaranteeing that what is shown is [[Public Information]] if wanted, but overall one of the most common uses of [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] is to avoid having the complete game state as [[Public Information]].

They can also use this to measure how well players are progressing, applying [[Balancing Effects]] to support [[Player Balance]] or [[Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment]] to help provide [[Smooth Learning Curves]] or [[Challenging Gameplay]]. On a more extreme level they have to be able to handle changes in the number of players, e.g. for supporting [[Late Arriving Players]] or [[Drop-In/Drop-Out]] gameplay, which may require [[Balancing Effects]] or the activation/de-activation of [[AI Players]].

Another common task for [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] is to handle as much [[Excise]] as possible, in the sense of removing if from players. For some games this might simply be practical, but it may be necessary for [[Massively Multiplayer Online Games]] and other games which need to do excessive amount of updates regularly as well as keep track of very large game states.   This may be all the updates that need to be made as a new turn, phase, or round begins in [[Turn-Based Games]], but it may also be keeping track of when those update should be made as is needed in [[Real-Time Games]] and [[Tick-Based Games]] and thereby ensuring that [[The Show Must Go On]]. Related to this is the storing of planned player actions; keeping track of these are necessary for [[Asynchronous Games]] and [[Tick-Based Games]] and typically require the use of [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]]. Resolving evaluation functions are another form of [[Excise]] that [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] can perform. This can be to let players not have to be aware of all rules through making some of them into [[Hidden Rules]], but it may also, for computer-based facilitators, be to avoid [[Downtime]] when making complicated or numerous calculations (examples include [[Combat]] resolutions in [[Turn-Based Games]] such as the [[Hearts of Iron series]] or the update of physic engines in the [[Half-Life series|Half-Life]] or [[Deus Ex series]]).

Controlling [[Enemies]] and [[Non-Player Characters]] to provide opponents in [[Conflict]] or [[Combat]] situations is another frequent task for [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]], especially in [[Single-Player Games]]. Although from a technical perspective this may be the case (as for example in the [[Need for Speed series]] and the [[Left 4 Dead series]]), game designers may wish to design the [[Enemies]] and [[NPCs]] so that they appear to be independent [[Agents]].

As a non-player, [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] are in the position of being trusted third parties. This allows them to function as safe sources to store resources involved in [[Betting]],w ithout bias apply [[Enforced Agent Behavior]], and be impartial when generating results using [[Randomness]] (as is typically the case for [[Roulette]]). The last requires the the action is done publicly however, otherwise players may perceive results as effects of cheating rather than [[Randomness]]. 

The possibility to be trustworthy keepers of [[Gameplay Statistics]] also allows them to provide services between game instances, e.g. statistics to inform how to use [[Handicap Systems]] or keeping track of [[Achievements]], [[High-Score Lists]], and [[Speed Runs]].

One high-level aspect of [[Enforced Agent Behavior]] is to control when or how players can perform actions. While this may simply being to force player's to have [[Downtime]] (e.g. having to wait after dying in the [[Counter-Strike series]] rather than [[Spawning|Respawning]]) but for [[Multiplayer Games|Multiplayer]] [[Turn-Based Games]] this can also include hindering players to act out of turn, thereby guaranteeing [[Turn Taking]] is done according to design.

Both computers and humans can used as [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]]. Additionally, the workload can be shared between many computers (as for example in online games such as the [[Quake series]] and [[World of Warcraft]]), many humans (most common for [[Live Action Roleplaying]] games such as [[Prosopopeia]]), or a combination (as for [[Ultima Online]] or [[World of Warcraft]]). While computers can easily handle large data amounts and complex calculations, the use of humans can allow [[Events Timed to the Real World]], [[Evolving Rule Sets]], [[Fudged Results]], improvised [[Storytelling]] and [[Never Ending Stories]]. Human game facilitators are also a way of providing [[Creative Control]] to people who are not players. While humans can both create new things to apply [[Game Element Insertion]] on and determine when they should be inserted, computers can handle the execution of the insertion.

[[Game Masters]] are one specific form of [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]]. These are used in [[Roleplaying]] games to describe the [[Game Worlds]] as the [[Player Characters]] can perceive them, to decide the actions of [[Enemies]] and [[Non-Player Characters]], and to resolve all [[Agents|Agents']] actions and provide [[Effect Descriptions]] for these. They also have the responsibility of storing information about the specific game world instances so that [[Persistent Game Worlds]] can be maintained. For computer-based [[Roleplaying]] games, the distinction between these tasks and the others common to any computer-based game is typically not done and therefore the mention of [[Game Masters]] becomes redundant for them. The exception is when people and computer share responsibility of facilitating the games (e.g. [[DragonMud]], [[Kingdoms]], the [[Neverwinter Nights series]], [[Ultima Online]] and [[World of Warcraft]]), in these cases [[Game Masters]] are people responsible for adapting the [[Narration Structures]] to unforeseen events and resolving conflicts regarding rules or social interactions.

The use of [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] is required for [[Zero-Player Games]] since the absence of players make [[Self-Facilitated Games]] impossible.

=== Diegetic Aspects ===
[[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] can be instrumental in presenting the [[Non-Player Characters]] and [[Diegetically Outstanding Features]] of [[Game Worlds]] to players. While computer-based variants easily can maintain [[Diegetic Consistency]] if using content design to be such, they may only be able to ensure [[Temporal Consistency|Temporal]] and [[Thematic Consistency]] as well as the rules do. It may be especially difficult to have rules ensuring [[Thematically Consistent Dialogues]] in those [[Roleplaying]] game where players have great freedom of expression and for these it may be necessary with human facilitators, i.e. [[Game Masters]].

=== Interface Aspects ===
Providing a game interface is one possible task for [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] - this may be most apparent for computer and console games but tabletop [[Roleplaying]] games have talking with [[Game Masters]] as the prime interface for the players. One aspect of this is that they can support [[Anonymous Actions]].

=== Narrative Aspects ===
As mentioned above, [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] can hold track of how [[Narration Structures]] develop, either the unfolding of [[Predetermined Story Structures]] or continually creating them as part of supporting [[Never Ending Stories]]. They can also do the actual presentation through [[Storytelling]], including making use of [[Cutscenes]].

== Consequences ==
[[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] support, especially so for computer-based variants, [[Replayability]] on a low level simply because they lessen the amount of [[Excise]] players need to perform as the setup or setdown of game instances. This is also a form of [[Non-Player Help]]. In addition, they can, with the control of the game state, easily enforce [[Ultra-Powerful Events]] as well as allow players to engage in [[Anonymous Actions]].

By definition, [[Dedicated Game Facilitators]] are difficult to combine with [[Self-Facilitated Games]]. While mechanical and computer-based game varieties of the pattern can objectively ensure [[Irreversible Events]] they do not naturally provide [[Free Game Element Manipulation]] - this has to explicitly be supported through intentional design.

== Relations ==
=== Can Instantiate ===
[[Anonymous Actions]], 
[[Achievements]], [[Agents]], [[Asynchronous Games]], [[Balancing Effects]], [[Betrayal]], [[Challenging Gameplay]], [[Communication Channels]], [[Creative Control]],
[[Cutscenes]], 
[[Diegetic Consistency]], [[Thematically Consistent Dialogues]], [[Diegetically Outstanding Features]], [[Downtime]], [[Drop-In/Drop-Out]], [[Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment]], [[Effect Descriptions]], [[Enemies]], 
[[Enforced Agent Behavior]], 
[[Enforced Player Anonymity]], 
[[Events Timed to the Real World]], [[Evolving Rule Sets]], [[First-Person Views]], [[Fudged Results]], [[Game Element Insertion]], 
[[Game State Indicators]], [[Game State Overview]], [[Game Worlds]], [[Gameplay Statistics]], [[Hidden Rules]], [[High-Score Lists]], [[Imperfect Information]], 
[[Irreversible Events]], [[Late Arriving Players]], [[Limited Communication Abilities]], [[Massively Multiplayer Online Games]], [[Never Ending Stories]], [[Non-Player Characters]], [[Non-Player Help]], [[Persistent Game Worlds]], [[Player Balance]], [[Public Information]], [[Real-Time Games]], [[Replayability]], [[Save-Load Cycles]], [[Secret Goals]], [[Smooth Learning Curves]], [[Storytelling]], [[Surprises]], [[Tick-Based Games]], [[The Show Must Go On]], 
[[Temporal Consistency]], 
[[Thematic Consistency]], 
[[Turn Taking]], [[Ultra-Powerful Events]], [[Unknown Goals]], [[Zero-Player Games]]

==== with [[Handles]], [[Avatars]], or [[Player Characters]] ====
[[Possibility of Anonymity]]

=== Can Modulate ===
[[Betting]], [[Combat]], [[Conflict]], [[Game Element Insertion]], [[Handicap Systems]], [[Narration Structures]], [[Randomness]], [[Roleplaying]], [[Single-Player Games]], [[Speed Runs]], [[Turn-Based Games]]

=== Can Be Instantiated By ===
[[Game Masters]]

=== Can Be Modulated By ===
[[Game Masters]]

=== Possible Closure Effects ===
-

=== Potentially Conflicting With ===
[[Downtime]], [[Excise]], 
[[Free Game Element Manipulation]], 
[[Public Information]], [[Randomness]], [[Self-Facilitated Games]], [[Unmediated Social Interaction]]

== History ==
A revised version of the pattern ''Dedicated Game Facilitators'' that was part of the original collection in the book ''Patterns in Game Design''<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004"/>.

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="Bjork & Holopainen 2004">Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) Patterns in Game Design. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.</ref>
<ref name="Juul">Juul, J. (2005). Half-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds. The MIT Press. ISBN 0262101106.</ref>
<ref name="Lag">Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lag entry] for Lag.</ref>
</references>

== Acknowledgements ==
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