Gamer’s Precognition
Last night I had planned on writing about how perception of a game mechanic can be changed when viewed through a lens that takes itself more seriously, but then Bioshock arrived yesterday afternoon and well, productivity went down. Way down. So I’ll visit the perception issue probably tomorrow, because as I played Bioshock I noticed something that I wanted to talk about instead. Don’t worry, I’m not going to discuss spoilers, it will all be rather generic and quite limited.
So far in Bioshock there have been about three sections that I saw telegraphed; spots where I went, “Okay, this is going to happen and then that will happen.” Each time one of these incidents cropped up I hoped I was wrong, but unfortunately I was not. So no, Bioshock while supremely mega-awesome to the tenth degree, is not perfect. Perfection would be being totally blown away at every corner, instead of 97% of them. 
I don’t blame Bioshock though, as this happens constantly in gaming. There are elements of games that as players we just expect to see in a game, and know exactly how they’re going to turn out. No form of gaming is immune from this.
In my decades of gamemastering RPGs this happens far too often than I like. I will have carefully planned out a scenario for the players to enjoy, but upon discovering it they already know what’s going to happen next. Sometimes it’s because of my personal GM style. We are all creatures of habit to certain degrees, and I know that there are things that I like to repeat in my game worlds. Game with me long enough and you’ll probably spot them, too. Another factor is there are typical gaming conventions that get passed down over the years, until they become part of the game’s lore. For example, the chessboard trap. How many times have players groaned when they come across a room patterned in black and white tiles? It may have been a classic in 1977, but in 2007 it’s just played out.
Board gaming suffers from this, too, although it’s typically tied into the game itself. If I’m playing Twilight Imperium and I see one of my opponents amassing a large collection of fighters, it’s safe to say they’ve been building up their fighter-tech. In Wings of War when you’re about to perform an Immelman Turn it’s so blatantly obvious that there’s no need to even keep your maneuver cards hidden.
The way to combat the problem of telegraphing is easy: surprise the player! In every instance it happened in Bioshock I was able to think of ways they could have done it differently, surprising the player’s expectations, and yet keep the plot/story/scenario flowing along just as well. While there is nothing new under the sun, there are ways you can shake up your players. For example, take the chessboard room. Instead of it doing bad things to players, have it do good things and smirk with glee when your players do everything in their power to not touch the floor when encountered.
Of course there’s another thing to consider here. Part of the reason we look back fondly on our old days of gaming is because everything felt fresh. There were surprises to be had. Decades of gaming though sorta kills all that. You’ve seen everything, you’ve done everything. Even if a developer chooses path C, instead of path B, in time this too will become standard fare. Or will it? Can we still be surprised by our gaming experiences, or has that ship sailed long ago?