Interessante Diskussion auf BGG
Permanent Death Versus Fail Forward, A Clash Of Paradigm
Mit noch interessanterer Antwort von ITU.
Thanks for the article, Jmcdg! I really like the discussion that's been going on too, especially the talks about synergies between designers and players.
What does it mean for AT:O? We, at ITU, like consequences and stakes. We subscribe to the philosophy that a game is a game only if it allows you to fail. Otherwise it's an 'experience'; and enjoyable as it may be, it's more akin to a rollercoaster ride than true participation.
And so, AT:O has 'permadeath'. However, it's not really what you think. Everything in the game is based on a 'fail foward' philosophy, a lot more than some of the examples you give. You lose a Battle? The game goes on. You full wipe? The game goes on. An Argonaut dies? The game goes on. The story, too, doesn't have 'dead ends'; it's always moving forward, even if you're making things worse for the world. You won't get stuck on some pesky test that you keep failinig 3 rounds in a row. You won't be forced to feel your way around a trial and error story designed like a 90s adventure game.
The permadeath in AT:O comes from failing too much. The best comparison that comes to mind is XCOM. In XCOM (the new ones and the old ones) you can lose soldiers, lose battles, lose whole countries. But when you reach a critical mass of failure, there is no way to climb up from the hole you dug yourself into.
At this point 'permadeath' is a mercy kill. This is also true of AT:O. If you fail Battle after Battle, dragging you along for the whole campaign would be a disservice, as the game difficulty will only get higher. With a fail forward mechanic that doesn't account for your skill/tactics, sooner or later you'd feel you're cheating, you'd lose the sense of stakes or challenge, you'd start thinking the game mechanics are only smoke and mirrors or are there just for you to grind at them.
On the other hand, chains of Battle/Economy/Adventure failures are extreme rare. If you keep your head in the game, you'll be able to right the ship even after a crippling defeat. If you're losing too much resources, you'll be able to heavily invest in 'Carving' Gear that lets you harvest more Primordial parts. If you're losing Titans left and right, you'll lean into the Titan Breeding part of the Tech Tree - of course at the cost of delaying other research.
The game offers you many tools to build on your failures or to close the gaps in your tactics/strategy. It's for you to use them. AT:O is about overcoming obstacles through careful planning and adaptation. We want you to succeed. But for that you need to be allowed to fail.
PS:
Die Serie Blood of Zeus aka Gods & Heroes hat einen (teilweise) AT:O "Vibe" (mir gefällt der Stil sowie der Plot nicht, jedoch vielleicht einem von euch).