Gaming Lessons

Veil of Secrecy: Quit Clutching Your Gameplays

The truth of the matter is, while it might seem that there’s an extreme level of openness at the top of the pro circuit, with nearly all friends with one another (and with all the team switching, it seems like they’ve all teamed with each other at one point), a veil of secrecy still exists, covering all.

Let’s Use an outside Example

If you don’t know by now, I’m a debater. And, if you know a debater yourself, you know how fiercely competitive we can be—willing to put everything else on line in order to secure for ourselves that one advantage—argument, card, whatever have you. But even with the incredibly extent of competitiveness amongst each others, debaters are willing to disclose not only the arguments they are going to run in advance, but also their citations (the authors cited) within those cases.

In fact, you can hop online and find wikis with hundreds of case outlines: everything you need to know exactly what’s going to be run.

Beyond that, even though it isn’t common on the college circuit (especially with parliamentary debate, my personal joy), disclosure of cases is not only common, but expected to disclose before a round. Even during rounds, you’ll find debaters scribbling down cites so that they can pull the cards (our term for evidence) down on their own after rounds.

But why?

If the focus is competitiveness, why would we want anyone to know what we’re going to run? Wouldn’t it be better to keep the trap shut, whip out an obscure case that the opposition has no clue about, and beat them over the head with it?

In truth, no. Why? Because the element of surprise is but one advantage, and a number of variables come into play that effectively neutraize it. And so, rather than hope that surprise can win rounds, debaters are perfectly willing to focus on letting other advantages and skills control direction, rather than an off-chance hope that they might run up against someone whose confusion will guarantee a win.

And, it certainly helps them—in that sense, everyone disclosing ensures higher quality debate for all with more specific argumentation.

Getting back to Halo

Debates are one thing, you say, but what about Halo?

The truth is, the same benefits hold true for Halo as they do for debate: surprise is an awfully flimsy mistress to rely on. So why bother?

First, Is what you’re doing really so original?

More often than not, I’d say no. It’s not. Actions that are so creative that they haven’t been discovered in the millions of games played these past few games, and most importantly, could change the results of the game, just don’t exist.

Sure, it’s possible that random glitches and semi-creative approaches of the micro level will come about, but to be frank, the benefit is next to nill.

So, put the “I’m creative on a micro level” card away, and try again. What about on a macro level?

While it is certainly possible that original strategies will come about, this argument ignores the sheer power of the in-game situation when it comes to shaping strategies on a macro level. As such, no strategy will ever be used in the same way in two different games.

What happens throughout the game, those little things that you don’t think twice about, shape how a strategy is utilized.

So, even if opponents were to watch your games, they still can’t apply what they gleen perfectly to the next level. Yes, benefit can be had, that still isn’t a big enough reason for the veil.

Second, They’ve already seen it

Halo 3 makes storing gameplay videos incredibly easy. That you can then take everyone into the game after, and see everything from all perspectives (including the wonderful bird’s eye perspective), chances are, no stone will be unturned if given the opportunity.

But the problem is, you all have this opportunity. Every time you LAN, every time you play a match on Xbox Live, your strategies are already recorded—and they’ll be used.

Yet people are still scared of posting gameplay videos online. Why?

Third, it ignores the situational game

Halo 3 strategies rarely get implemented exactly the way we want them to be. Based on the action in the game—and when you have 8 people making separate distinct decisions, there’s a lot of action—strategies shift and morph.

By trying, in what is already destined to be a failed attempt (since the moment you implement one, and it is revealed and recorded to all, someone such as myself, 8thful, or even any player, will be able to break it down and analyze it from top to bottem) to protect your macro level strategies, you are embracing a mindset that limits yourself in terms of potential.

The game is all about in-game interactions and how they then shape and relate to the macro-level strategies. You’re constantly in an OODA loop, and as you progress through the loop, again and again, the strategy is shifting and changing.

By trying to protect macro strategies at all costs, you’re ignoring the effect that this can have. And that’s huge.

Finally, the Benefits Outweigh

Let’s look at this in terms of a simple cost-benefit analysis. For the purpose of the analysis, let’s just ignore the earlier arguments.

With regards to costs, you have one: you’re making things visible. In a sense, this should be huge: it’s like showing your hand in poker, right?

But, the cold hard truth is this: Halo 3 isn’t poker. We’re constantly aware of the changing variables in the game, and the assumption that the other team can’t see the same, what we think is hidden, is incredibly foolish.

Strategy, real strategy, isn’t about how to march in a game or take action X. It’s about everything that is behind action x. The thoughts, the way in which we orient ourselves before making a decision, and the manner in which we draw on past experiences, is what gives meat to strategy.

For much the same reason as you cannot hand over a debate case to a team and expect them to win, the empty shell of a strategy isn’t going to guarantee your own demise.

Show your hand: it doesn’t show your mind.

When we recognize this, and acknowledge that beneits can be had with a wealth of gameplay at our fingertips come to light: they offer us the ability to analyze and think strategically. As everyone will then have the ability to do the same, the fears you had, about people stealing your strategies, begin to disappear, and in their stead, rise the opportunity to allow other variables, far stronger ones with far greater potential, to dictate the course of games.

So let’s face it: even if I were to grant you that your strategy will surprise everyone and leave them bedazzled, the fact of the matter is that such surprise will last no longer than one match (and in many cases, not even a full one at that). But the benefits from gameplay video archives, such as the one we’re building here at Gaming Lessons? Well, that’s significantly greater in size and scope.

And those are the sort of benefits that allow you to dominate throughout a tournament, and not just win one game in a series. After all, I don’t think any of us would agree that just getting it up is enough.

The Point

Getting to the point, don’t be afraid that people might “see” your secrets. It isn’t as big a deal as you might think. So instead of clutching onto them, in an attempt destined to fail, and keeping yourself from fully implementing them and understanding them yourself, let it go. Run them. Try them. Ditch them. Rethink them. Run them again. Tweak. Continue, on and on and on.

Ultimately, the only person the veil of secrecy hurts is the individual trying to hide behind it: this goes for pro players and amateurs alike. So why bother?

About the Author: Bluestrike2