Powergaming
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Powergaming is a particular way of playing role-playing games in which the emphasis lies on developing a player character that is as powerful as possible. This often involves an expert knowledge of the rules of the game, even (or especially) for exceptional or unlikely circumstances, and knowing how to apply the rules to get maximal results with minimal penalties (often referred to as min-maxing).
Sometimes an active abuse of the rules is implied, when rules that are expected or intended to model a realistic game world (according to some well-understood definition of "realism") are applied in ways that are manifestly at odds with those expectations. For example, a Dungeons & Dragons sorceror might take a single level of the paladin class for the attractive bonuses that come with this, even when paladins are traditionally seen as being devoted to their lifestyle, and the profession is not something you could train in briefly. It is important to note that powergaming, in this sense, almost never implies active cheating or circumvention of the rules, merely using them in ways that are technically legal but frowned upon by those who consider the intent of the game more important than its exact implementation.
The term is often used disparagingly, implying that such players have little to no interest in other aspects a role-playing game may have, like cooperative problem solving or social interaction, and that their focus on their own character (to the point of ignoring anything that is not an opportunity for showing off their character's exceptional skills) makes the game less fun for other players. As an attitude, it is often associated with adolescent males and the desire to be the "best" player in some clear, quantifiable sense.
In many cases the games themselves, especially computer role-playing games, have evolved in ways that make powergaming an easier or more satisfying way of playing than others. Many CRPGs were and are written for single players only, and have combat as their primary focus. Additionally, the automation of the rules and the possibility of using savegames encourages players to experimentally establish the "best" way to play. Multi-player CRPGs are not exempt from this development: Neverwinter Nights is one example of a CRPG that permits players to create many different class combinations that are seen as overly powerful and inconsistent with earlier versions of Dungeons & Dragons, while the online CRPG EverQuest is often seen as encouraging powergaming by emphasizing repetitive quests with little interaction as the primary means of character development.
The term is not exclusively negative, however. Many powergamers often style themselves as such, taking pride in their abilities, with some pointing out that "powergaming" as an optimization problem does not exclude enjoying the game in other ways. Powergaming is simply seen as one aspect of the game, to be mastered like any other. Others take the term as implying only the expert knowledge of the rules, and the ability to create a character that develops completely according to one's wishes. Such a character is not necessarily "maximal" in any sense, and may even be played more realistically than a character whose abilities and limitations are not as clearly understood.
On MUD and MUCK systems that typically emphasize social interaction over role-playing, a powergamer is a player who tries to force others, by his actions, to participate in role-playing they don't want to engage in. For instance, a player who unilaterally describes his character as doing something with (or to) another character that would usually require the other to play along—such as having a fight or a sexual encounter—is considered to be powergaming. Powergaming in this sense is regarded as bad style at best, or abusive at worst.
Related to powergaming is "godmoding", which happens mostly in roleplay-centric games (that is to say statless systems like the MUCK and MUSH). A godmoder will play their character as at once invincible (that is, any attacks launched against it will miss, or be blocked, or if they do strike, the character recovers immediately) as well as possessing ultimate, unblockable and unavoidable powers. The term comes from the god mode cheats in computer games such as Doom and Quake.
See also
External links
- The Official Powergamer Homepage: Real Ultimate Power (http://www.geocities.com/dasjek/pg.htm), a satire on the powergaming concept in the style of Real Ultimate Powerde:Powergamer