A Resourceful View

The following is an adaptation of a proposal made to the MGS cabal by Jason...

A certain strategy describes how resources are used. The question, then, is: what kinds of resources to players of games have available?

1. presentation of self
2. relationships
3. personal wealth
4. commitment of time and effort
5. mastery of the game
6. freedom of action

We can phrase any of our MGSes as use/target pairs; the player is using one (or more) of these resources and *targetting* one (or more) of these resources in his opponent. Note that "targeting" does not have to convey ill intent; we have some strategies which are designed to aid "opponents."

An example formulation would be something like:

The Drug Dealer

Uses the player's: personal wealth

Targets the opponent's: mastery of the game

For play-time use, this schema would provide a handy scorecard on which to evaluate oneself as well as one's opponents. If your strengths and their vulnerabilities overlap with any of the use/target pairs highlighted by these strategies, you have immediate candidates for consideration.

Also, this scheme may have explorative value. For example we can ask any number of questions which might uncover new MGSes. All we need do is look at one of the empty cells in the matrix and imagine how that use/target pair might take form.