Competitive games require stiff handling to ensure that no one is exploiting the system to gain an advantage, but can we loosen the reigns a bit with cooperative games?
A big part of how I design a game is by writing the rulebook and then revising it a billion times as I go along. So I wrote a seemingly obvious rule for my co-op adventure game that basically said "other players and their allies cannot be the targets of player attacks."
But then I got to thinking about how one of the available characters rages when he takes damage... wouldn't it be cool if one player could set him off by hitting him with an attack, instead of waiting for an enemy to do it? I don't know about you, but if I was walking down the street with Bruce Banner and a couple of muggers told me to put my hands up, I'd immediately start beating on Bruce with my umbrella until he saved the day!
So why not let the players have these fun interactions? I can think of many examples where this would be a cunning use of one's abilities and it could certainly provide players with some memorable moments. But of course, this comes at the risk of some jerk coming along and basically flipping the table by killing his comrades for fun. I only play solo or with friends, so I don't know how much of an issue this actually is.
THE QUESTION:
Is it our job as designers to protect players from themselves, and make sure they can't degrade the game into something unintended, or is it safe to assume that in co-ops players won't exploit this freedom to kill each other and ruin the game?
...and he'll find his way home. The leeway is good, I think, but you do bring up a good point about first impressions.
Thinking of your game, I was trying to come up with examples of how other games handled this. I was just playing the World of Warcraft Board Game the other night, and that game allows you to roam freely, much like the video game.
What they did was have the initial setup include the lowest level quests available. When a faction completes a quest, they may choose which deck to draw a new one from - easy, medium, or hard. Completing a quest before having to make that choice gave me a point of reference as a new player, and I just intuitively realized that I would want to tread carefully and not jump into the higher quests, without any specific guidance to that effect.
Also, there is a reference card that shows the stats for all monsters. So after fighting a monster, I could look at the higher level ones and realize I wanted no part of them.
Not sure if any of that helps, but it's always useful to know what other people have come up with.
I'd be interested to know how you would handle this specific situation -- the one about a rule stating that only enemies may be targeted by attacks. Of course, if the game broke out into a PVP brawl it would destroy any co-op; but honestly, I don't remember if the co-ops I've played explicitly stated that I could not to do this... the thought of doing so never entered my mind.
It's a fantasy adventure game in the same vein as Pathfinder ACG. These players are very familiar with the RPG party-of-heroes idea, but still, players do play with strangers in game groups sometimes, and some people are annoying and exploitative...
What would you do?