How Real Should Games Be?

Hey folks, SinSynn here.

When it comes to most things in our hobby, I have little to no problem deciding whether or not I like it. Usually I have one of two reactions. If something is cool, I'm all like 'ermahgerd,' and if something is lame I'm like 'ihateit'sstupid.'
Easy peasy.
One thing I can never really settle on is exactly how much reality I'd like in my games. Do I want my games to accurately reflect life as I know it? Heck no. Blah, in fact.
That's one of the reasons I play games, pretty much. To get away from...all of this. Pretty sure that's what games are for, amirite?

Take 'morale,' for instance; it features into many mini-games in a big way. OK, well...getting shot at is entirely unpleasant, fer sure. In reality.
But...this is a game, right? So how much should getting shot at affect our imaginary lil' troopies? Suppression that prevents reactions, movement, or any basic function? Fear and panic, and whatever could possibly result from these conditions (some of which could possibly be pretty amusing)? Running away?

*Aaaaand....the French held the castle successfully*

Morale is one of those things that vex me when I'm the one getting the short end of the stick, I'll admit. My troopies should be like Spartans, after all (just less...oiled up. Eesh). On the other hand, I can tell you that whenever I kill a couple of the Ultimate Rival's dudes I'm shouting, 'Morale check, sucka!'
....maybe I do a lil' dance....

Don't you judge me! I bet you do it too. Nyah.
...and then the Ultimate Rival looks at me and says, 'You killed like one guy. What morale check?'
Sigh.

I've won games and lost games because of morale, and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I'm positive it should affect enemy forces, however.
-_-

Then you have those things where the reasoning goes something like, 'well that's how it is/was, or how it could/should/would be.'
Even in historical games, my bold, brave, very Spartan-like troops (with exceptionally less oil) are sort of an abstract concept, after all. They're models on a gametable. We're playing a game, blah blah blah.
So, how much reality should apply? Where do the lines between fun and balance get drawn?

*Reality also continues to ruin my dice*

With any given game, everything from the core ruleset to the system for building one's army, creating characters or whatever has to be carefully constructed to provide an experience that is not only immersive, but hopefully fun.
If you crunch everything down, all games can be boiled down to a bunch of statlines, and a handful of rules explaining how they interact with each other. So it makes sense to add a bit of reality not just as a baseline for 'how things work,' but so we can get a handle on the whole thing as players.
That means that someone has to assign values to all those abstract concepts, and do it in such a way that works and makes sense. Hopefully.
So why does this vex me?
CUZ HOW FRIGGIN' HARD COULD THIS BE?

Ugh. Game balance. Overpriced units. Low risk, high reward mechanics. The list goes on and on.
Just because something shoulda, coulda or woulda, that doesn't necessarily translate to 'fun.' On the other hand, sometimes I shake my head at how far divorced from reality some aspects of my games can be. Whenever I have a 'what's this I don't even' reaction to something, I get vexed.

*Then I totally act like this guy*

Reality is a funny thing (literally, in a lot of cases). Too much, or too little, and a game just isn't fun, or doesn't work right. It has on odd way of creeping into our games, just as it has an odd way of being absent when you'd like it most.
I know that, as a hobbyist, I have this strange need to find a perfect game. I'm kinda wacky that way. I'm just as sure there's no such thing as a perfect game. It is what it is.
Sigh.
Reality sucks. Waddayagonnado?
We gotta live with it (for the most part), but it's inclusion (or lack thereof) has an incredible (or tragic) influence on the games we play. I find myself loathe to prioritize balance over fun, or vice versa. I'd like both, thank you very much.

Some part of me thinks that when game designers hear phrases like that, they roll their eyes and go, 'friggin' players want everything.'
:D


Until next time, folks- Exit with catchphrase!

SinSynn