The Difficulty with Difficulty

Scott Hardie | May 28, 2008
Today's goo, Cinema (1255), has inspired some controversy in private messages. I won't go into further detail here until the goo expires and I ask that you do the same, but the discussion did have one larger effect on the game that is long overdue, the removal of the difficulty label on each goo.

Regardless of the other points, one player did make an (imo) indisputably valid point about today's goo: "Beginner" is way off. Gerald Ford and other goos this round have also defied that label like so many other goos before them, and I'm done with it. The damage that it does to the game and the controversy that it generates are not worth the quirky eccentricity that it brings from being wrong so often, or the insight that it provides to some players who are able to intuit what it means. Switching from calling it "difficulty" to "skill level" helped, but not enough; it's still wrong too often.

We've discussed removing it in the past, and even some of its biggest detractors talked me into keeping it. You're welcome to try again if you like, but for the moment, my mind is made up. If I suck at something this much and don't improve after years of effort, it's time to throw in the towel, especially if it's something insignificant and the game can go on without it. That probably makes it sound like this decision is about me, but it isn't, any more than the problem has been my doing for ten years. It's about doing the right thing for the game, and removing something that frustrates players and even sometimes disrupts gameplay. It's also about removing a longtime source of criticism; I'm not always made of stone when it comes to site traditions. Hell, at this rate I might even allow anonymous user handles in another 25 years.

Amy Austin | May 28, 2008
"...anonymous user handles in another 25 years."

!!!

I don't know if you count me as a detractor, Scott -- I know that I have chided you on more than one occasion, but I sincerely hope that you've never considered it as anything more than my playful way of asserting what I already know to be true, and that is... that I am perfect... especially when it comes to the Goo Game ;-DDD -- but I do think I have made the argument before that I find this particular label helpful more often than not... even when I do sometimes disagree and have to temporarily bear some hurt feelings over missing an "intermediate" (formerly known as my despised "Medium" ;-D). Am I incorrect in assuming that the messages generated in this case are from players who are relatively new to the game? No offense intended, of course, but I think it does take a little bit of "seasoning" to find relevance in these "skill level" ratings. Looking back at my very first guess, it's a little embarrassing that I didn't "get it"... but that's only because I'd not yet developed a feel for how you write clues, which did become apparent to me very quickly. Once I'd caught on, I thought the ratings both fair and useful, if not 100% accurate. Expecting that from something so subjective is just asking too much, and I really hope that nobody has gotten seriously pissed over it! Certainly, I have never felt so strongly... and I apologize profusely if I have ever seemed like it -- to me, it's never been anything more than an occasional nuisance (never an obstacle, I'm pretty sure). In fact, I've come to rely on it in somewhat the same way as one relies on a weather forecast... especially here in New England! Damn if they can predict the weather with consistent accuracy, but it sure is awfully nice of them to try... and even if we may call the meteorologists fools for trying, it's still nice to have that "expert" opinion -- even the worst critics still pay attention to what the weatherman says! There's just something comforting in that, even when the predictions are way off... and I think most people agree, or else why would we still have the weather report.

Please don't take away my forecasts... I, for one, do appreciate it -- and I don't hold the "quirkiness" against you... for long... ;-)

Steve West | May 28, 2008
I like them, myself. And as you've seen already with goo requests I've presented, they're always rated with "intended difficulty" ratings. That caveat works for me.

Shawn Brandt | May 28, 2008
Another vote in the "keep them" category here. I think players who have been through a round or two know that the difficulty is not always perfect, but I like it as both a starting point, and as a sanity check when I'm submitting my guess. The trouble with the one today (no, Amy, I was not the one to PM Scott) is a unique situation that's best discussed after it expires.

Amy Austin | May 28, 2008
Ditto on the sanity check!

Tony Peters | May 28, 2008
I noticed they were gone I don't really care as the difficulty levels never seem to apply to me anyway...except maybe the MASTER level and even then ....well I've missed more beginers goo's from having no clue than SWAGing masters goos

Lori Lancaster | May 28, 2008
[hidden by request]

Erik Bates | May 28, 2008
[hidden by request]

Amy Austin | May 28, 2008
That's an interesting suggestion, Erik.

Scott Hardie | May 29, 2008
Good idea, Erik. I thought about automatically re-calculating the skill level after the goo was over, based on how many players got it right out of the total players at the time. But that doesn't really help with current goos, which are the only controversial ones.

Steve Dunn | May 29, 2008
I like Erik's idea, but I suggest a five-point numerical scale so you can express the running average as a number.