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Someone once wrote up a stunning essay on how Street Fighter was a fundamentally better game, but I don't have the patience nor the blood alcohol level to find it atm.
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http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20...irlin_01.shtml
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Good article. David Sirlin writes good stuff. I wish the gaming magazines put out stuff anywhere near as interesting as this. They're almost entirely ridiculously fluffy.
I like this bit at the end especially:
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There are mountains of rules in the terms of service that tell you that you shouldn't do things that you totally can do in the game if you want. Why they don't just alter their design and code so you can't do these things is beyond me. But this mentality is drilled into the players to the point that they start believing that it's ok. They start believing that it's not ok to experiment, to try out anything the game allows in a non-threatening environment.
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One of the things that makes games, whether FPS, RTS, or RPG, fun for me is figuring out the puzzle of them, and especially trying to do less with more. It's hugely gratifying to figure out how to take on a monster by yourself that usually takes at least a few people to do, for instance. Or godly equipment to do. Or both. Unless there's truly something broken going on in the encounter -- in which case they really should just fix it instead of whining at players for catching them with their pants down -- players should be allowed to be as creative and skilled as they can manage to be. Endless paranoia and bickering about rules and GM decisions and appeals don't really need to be in a game. Being clever in a game is an adventure in itself, and the opportunity to do should never be discouraged.
Random Example: "Kiting" certain monsters -- having them run after you or some dude while you or he or a whole group beats or spell casts or sics pets on them, while they trail behind you like the tail on a kite, is banned in certain games entirely or only against certain monsters. While kiting a monster over the top of someone so it kills him can be a problem, it's the player behavior that is the possible problem, not the mechanism of kiting itself. You don't need to ban an act, just a player who uses it solely in order to wreck up the other players. If you even need that. Figuring out how to use your abilities to their best effect in a game is the whole point, though, so that should never be discouraged. Just change the game mechanics, if you don't want people to discover, use, and enjoy them to the full.