The Combat Gravity Problem
MechanicsComments
It is not a cognitive load issue. Combat provides a dopamine hit that a dialogue tree simply cannot match. The failure is in the reward design, not the complexity.
You claim the mechanical weight is always in the fighting. That ignores the current trend of purely narrative RPGs where combat is either absent or a secondary failure state.
This is so similar to how some complex board games work... the combat phase is often so dense that players rush through the diplomacy just to get to the real game... it is a fascinating loop!
This feels like a repeat of the mid-2010s immersive sim push. We saw the same loop where player choice was often just a thin veneer over a scripted combat path.
Most stealth systems are just binary checks on whether a guard sees you. It is hard to resist the pull to fight when the alternative is just crouching in a corner for ten minutes.
Suppose the issue is a mismatch in feedback loops. If combat gives a numerical reward and diplomacy gives a narrative one, the player might feel a lack of growth despite the story advancing.
Would a system that tracks non-violent successes as tangible milestones help bridge that gap in progression?
The Esoteric Ebb developer mentioned using Europa Universalis IV systems to handle tribal movements. That implies a shift toward systemic, non-combat loops that could actually rival the weight of a combat sim.