Competence Areas

Game entities have or can develop areas of specialty within a game.

This pattern is a still a stub.

Games where player cooperate with each other or even with the game system often require different types of skills. When players can train on one particular set of skill this allows them to become specialists with their own Competence Areas.

Examples

Class-based multiplayer first-person shooters such as Team Fortress Classic or Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory allows players to play one class and develop their expertise as a member of that class.

In Warhammer 40K, space marine units can have some soldier equipped with missile launchers or flamethrowers to make them better at fighting specific types of enemies. All other armies in the game have similar ways of modifying their forces - or have different types of forces to choice from - so that no army should by default have an advantage over another one.

World of Warcraft

tank healer

Dungeons & Dragons

Using the pattern

A major design choice for Competence Areas is if the game entities with the competences represent different players or are a group of resources available to one player. Another is if the Competence Areas should be present from the beginning of the game or appear as gameplay progress, and in the latter case if players have a say in how these develop and if who has what Competence Area is permanent.

Orthogonal Differentiation and Privileged Abilities are general ways of making different Characters or Units have different Abilities, and thereby Competence Areas. More specific ways of providing different Abilities include using Equipment Slots, Skills, Tools, and Weapons. All these may be present at the beginning of games (as e.g. Warhammer 40K requires) or can develop over time through New or Improved Abilities (Dungeons & Dragons and World of Warcraft are examples of this, and so is the Left 4 Dead series through picking up weapons found during gameplay). Sidegrades is a specific option letting players specialize during or between game sessions and thereby customize their Abilities to gain the Competence Areas perceive to be most beneficial.

Competence Areas require a Multiplayer Game that supports Team Play and Cooperation. Giving players areas of expertise from the beginning of gameplay can be done by Privileged Abilities while Competence Areas can arise from New Abilities or Improved Abilities during gameplay, often implemented as improved or new Skills of Characters. Competence Areas can emerge from open-ended actions such as Construction when they provide Creative Control but is difficult to guarantee by a game design.

When players can affect what abilities they receive during gameplay this allows for Planned Character Development and Team Development, although it might have a negative effect on Team Balance. This allows players to have Varied Gameplay by developing different Competence Areas in different game instances, and can allow Team Balance as players can react to strength of other teams and develop Competence Areas to counter these strengths.

Can Be Instantiated By

Multiplayer Games,

Characters together with Player-Planned Development

Can Be Modulated By

Cooperation

Polyathlons by their nature requires that players master several different Competence Areas, but lets players strive to win by being better at some than other.

Consequences

Competence Areas change the importance of Characters and Units in games since they have functionally specialized abilities; this is only indirect for Avatars since when these are used it is the players that have the actual competence. The possibility of attaining Competence Areas during gameplay give players Gain Competence goals.

In Single-Player Games, Competence Areas between different types of Units or between Characters can support Freedom of Choice between different tactics and allow the possibility a greater variety of Team Combos. In Multiplayer Games, Competence Areas can provide players with Empowerment as well as Game-Induced Player Social Status. When Cooperation exist, the Competence Areas can lead to more formalized Functional Roles between the players.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Empowerment, Gain Competence, Game-Induced Player Social Status

with Cooperation

Functional Roles

Can Modulate

Characters, players, Units

Can Be Instantiated By

Equipment Slots, Improved Abilities, Multiplayer Games, New Abilities, Orthogonal Differentiation, Sidegrades, Skills, Tools, Weapons

Characters together with Player-Planned Development

Can Be Modulated By

Cooperation, Polyathlons

Possible Closure Effects

-

Potentially Conflicting With

Ability Losses

History

An updated version of the pattern Competence Areas that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design.

Acknowledgements

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