ABSTRACT
This chapter presents common design problems in proposed pattern produced by the experienced designers. Some of the pattern exercises explicitly start with identifying a design problem. Others start with a mechanic, then have the designer identify games that use that mechanic, then look for the problems solved by the mechanic in those games, and then find a pattern. Many students are reluctant to state their observations prescriptively. When they observe a pattern, they try to describe it passively as a thing that exists, rather than stating how to use that thing to produce well-designed games. "Many designers, when creating role-playing games (RPGs), design areas that offer players many quests." Some patterns may conflict with others. That does not make either pattern “wrong,” it just means that those two patterns are working to either solve different problems or to solve a problem in mutually exclusive ways.
