Powergaming

Powergaming (or power gaming) is a style of interacting with games or game-like systems, particularly video games, boardgames, and role-playing games, with the aim of maximising progress towards a specific goal, to the exclusion of other considerations such as storytelling, atmosphere and camaraderie. Due to its focus on the letter of the rules over the spirit of the rules, it is often seen as unsporting, un-fun, or unsociable. This behaviour is most often found in games with a wide range of game features, lengthy campaigns or prize tournaments such as massively multiplayer or collectible games.^[1]

Role-playing games

Powergaming in roleplaying games can take several forms. One form is the deliberate creation of optimal player characters (PCs), with the aim of maximising the power the player wields in the game world by way of their avatar. This is known as min-maxing, due to the practice of balancing the PC's abilities through maximising desirable or "powerful" traits while minimising underpowered or unuseful traits. Such characters often draw criticism for not fitting the theme and tone of the game world or for being difficult to develop appropriate challenges for. Another form of power-gaming involves a focus on acquiring power during game progression, often by acquiring powerful equipment or unusual abilities. This lends itself to gameplay which is materialistic (and often, in the context of the game world, arguably amoral) and can frustrate other players who are looking to interact with the game world, score points, and not merely acquire game resources.^[2]

Online role-playing

In text-based online environments such as MUCKs, MUSHes, and other role-playing (RP) games that emphasize role-play over acquiring levels or skills (as opposed to most MUDs), a player can be described as a powergamer if he or she presumes or declares that his or her own action against another player character is successful without giving the other player character the freedom to act on his or her own prerogative. They may also be a player who tries to force others 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.^[3]

In such games, in which a sense of community and rapport between players is seen as crucial and conducive to the game's overall well-being, powergaming is generally regarded as extremely offensive behaviour if it is not stated in the rules as being a bannable offense, which it is in the majority of text-based role-playing games. It is often seen as synonymous with twinking or godmoding.

Video games

In video games, powergamers enjoy being at the bleeding edge of progression of their selected game, taking part in every activity that yields the fastest progression, and bypassing the "lesser" activities or any other secondary job/trait/skill.^[4] This is a wide generalization however. A gamer that likes to maximise all aspects of the game and do so in an expedient manner is also classified as a powergamer, often seeing more of the world and or game than the "average" player would.

See also

• Gamesmanship
• Munchkin (role-playing games)
• Optimization (role-playing games)
• Powerleveling
• Min-maxing
• Twinking

References

External links

• Roll-playing vs. Roleplaying on TopMudSites, by Wes Platt. An article on the basics of role-play as opposed to 'roll-play' in text-based environments.
• A Powergamer's guide to Life, a satire in which real life is treated as an online game to be powergamed.