Game System Player
A passive player controlled by the game system.
Games are constructed around the idea that players will be playing them. In some cases all these players are not humans but either artificial intelligence programs or complex rule sets, but they should still seem to have agency and make actions that seem to have the intent of make that player more likely to win. A Game System Player is in contrast a player run by the game system with a predictable or at least fixed rule-based behavior that is difficult to interpret as having agency. It can however win over the other players so they need to take the actions of the Game System Player into consideration while playing.
Contents
Examples
Players use rolled dice to place bets in the game Las Vegas but some of these dice belong to the bank player. Given that each other player has some bank dice, these other players together determine the actions the bank does during a round. This bank player can under rare circumstance make more money than the other players and thereby win. Player of Genesis controls angels but the game also includes a dark angel that follows a deterministic public algorithm and which can win if the players work against each other too much. The barbarians that threaten the players in The Republic of Rome can be seen as a Game System Player, but this is a weak example since they are only part of the challenges that face the players (others are famine, internal unrest, and economic crises).
Anti-Examples
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Using the pattern
Can Be Instantiated By
Diegetic Aspects
Interface Aspects
Narration Aspects
Consequences
Can Instantiate
Cooperation, Enemies, PvE, Symbiotic Player Relations
A Game System Player is typically not seen as an Agent since their model for behavior is rule-bound and completely open to investigation.
Relations
Can Instantiate
Cooperation, Enemies, PvE, Symbiotic Player Relations
Can Modulate
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Can Be Instantiated By
Can Be Modulated By
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Possible Closure Effects
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Potentially Conflicting With
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History
New pattern created in this wiki.
References
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Acknowledgements
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