Fix them again

ludology/appeal-developers/index.md

@@ -23,6 +23,6 @@ Having your games be played can be incredibly motivating, and the community make
 
 ## Monetization
 
-I'd like to clarify that everything I've said above mainly applies to _web-based incrementals_. Incremental games are also _incredibly_ popular on mobile, but with a much different culture and community. Many mobile gamers will still participate in the web-focused community _for_ the culture. This web-focused community has a culture that has been criticized for being "anti-monetization". Ads, IAPs, and similar forms of monetization are often criticized, mainly due to the abundance of completely non-monetized games available from hobbyist developers. There are exceptions, like paid games often being considered fine, like Increlution or Stuck in Time, or donation ware games like kittens game, but even popular games that have IAP see some level of regular criticism, like NGU Idle, Idle Skilling, or Idle Pins. A large part of this can be explained by the community being hyper-aware of the [addictive](../appeal-gamers#addiction) nature of this genre and its susceptibility to exploiting players.
+I'd like to clarify that everything I've said above mainly applies to _web-based incrementals_. Incremental games are also _incredibly_ popular on mobile, but with a much different culture and community. Many mobile gamers will still participate in the web-focused community _for_ the culture. This web-focused community has a culture that has been criticized for being "anti-monetization". Ads, IAPs, and similar forms of monetization are often criticized, mainly due to the abundance of completely non-monetized games available from hobbyist developers. There are exceptions, like paid games often being considered fine, like Increlution or Stuck in Time, or donation ware games like kittens game, but even popular games that have IAP see some level of regular criticism, like NGU Idle, Idle Skilling, or Idle Pins. A large part of this can be explained by the community being hyper-aware of the [addictive](../appeal-gamers/index.md#addiction) nature of this genre and its susceptibility to exploiting players.
 
 On mobile, however, monetization is the norm and expected. If an incremental game is available on mobile, it almost _certainly_ will be monetized, and mobile players are aware and accepting of that. Mobile incremental games, due to their addictive nature, tend to make a _lot_ of money. It's very lucrative, and therefore these games are quite abundant on mobile storefronts.

ludology/appeal-gamers/index.md

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ This is something that has been discussed and analyzed by many people, and to so
 
 ## Numbers Going Up
 
-This is a very common response to why people enjoy incremental games, although it's not one I find compels me personally, and I suspect it might be a stand-in for [progression](../appeal-gamers#progression) or [content](../content). But reportedly, some people do just like _seeing_ big numbers. I must reiterate I suspect the actual cause is seeing big numbers _in context_ though - if you start at 1e1000 of a currency and get to 1e1001, that isn't going to feel as satisfying as going from 1e10 to 1e100, and in any case, I don't think a button that just adds a zero to your number will feel quite satisfying - I believe its the sense of having made progress, and comparing where you are to where you started and feeling like you've earned your way here that is enjoyable.
+This is a very common response to why people enjoy incremental games, although it's not one I find compels me personally, and I suspect it might be a stand-in for [progression](../appeal-gamers/index.md#progression) or [content](../content/index.md). But reportedly, some people do just like _seeing_ big numbers. I must reiterate I suspect the actual cause is seeing big numbers _in context_ though - if you start at 1e1000 of a currency and get to 1e1001, that isn't going to feel as satisfying as going from 1e10 to 1e100, and in any case, I don't think a button that just adds a zero to your number will feel quite satisfying - I believe its the sense of having made progress, and comparing where you are to where you started and feeling like you've earned your way here that is enjoyable.
 
 ## Progression
 
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ If you look at the higher-level play of most games, you'll see them perform diff
 
 ## Addiction
 
-A lot of these reasons for why incremental games appeal may have reminded you of why _gambling_ appeals to people, particularly those prone to addiction. Indeed, incremental games are quite often criticized for their similarity to a [skinner box](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWtvrPTbQ_c). Some have gone as far as to say incremental games as a genre are commenting that [all games are skinner boxes](../definition#incrementals-as-parodies). The argument goes that some games are not fun, but rather condition players into continuing to play without actually getting anything from the experience. When tied to real-world money this is seen as predatory, and to a lesser extent, even free games may be feeding the addictive sides of people and making them more prone to seek out gambling or micro-transaction heavy games.
+A lot of these reasons for why incremental games appeal may have reminded you of why _gambling_ appeals to people, particularly those prone to addiction. Indeed, incremental games are quite often criticized for their similarity to a [skinner box](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWtvrPTbQ_c). Some have gone as far as to say incremental games as a genre are commenting that [all games are skinner boxes](../definition/index.md#incrementals-as-parodies). The argument goes that some games are not fun, but rather condition players into continuing to play without actually getting anything from the experience. When tied to real-world money this is seen as predatory, and to a lesser extent, even free games may be feeding the addictive sides of people and making them more prone to seek out gambling or micro-transaction heavy games.
 
 > While incremental games can be fun and even healthy in certain contexts, they can exacerbate video game addiction more than other genres. If you feel like playing incremental games is taking priority over other things in your life, or manipulating your sleep schedule, it may be prudent to seek help. See [r/StopGaming](https://www.reddit.com/r/StopGaming) for resources.
 
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ Since incremental games are often built on extrinsic motivations in the form of
 
 ## Strategy
 
-Incremental games could be considered a subset of [strategy games](../definition#incrementals-as-parodies), and inherit the appeals of strategy games. This includes the appeal of feeling like you've found a good solution to a puzzle, or that you're learning more about the game and are improving at making decisions within it. This applies to Vampire Survivors specifically, where you're learning about evolutions and synergies and what kinds of enemies can spawn under what conditions, and how best to handle them.
+Incremental games could be considered a subset of [strategy games](../definition/index.md#incrementals-as-parodies), and inherit the appeals of strategy games. This includes the appeal of feeling like you've found a good solution to a puzzle, or that you're learning more about the game and are improving at making decisions within it. This applies to Vampire Survivors specifically, where you're learning about evolutions and synergies and what kinds of enemies can spawn under what conditions, and how best to handle them.
 
 Note that strategy games are not all the same difficulty, as well. Vampire Survivors is still easier to play than Starcraft 2, and Cookie Clicker is probably somewhere in between (once you progress sufficiently). Vampire Survivors being so successful may indicate that "easier" strategies may have their separate appeal to harder strategy games - players like to feel smart and that they figured the game out and have optimized or mastered it, and the game being easier doesn't detract from that sense of accomplishment as much as it allows more and more users to be able to reach the point where they gain that sense.
 
@@ -47,12 +47,12 @@ Let's start by giving an example of a mechanic I think can be easily and strongl
 
 To contrast with an example I think is _bad_ game design, let's talk about shields in souls-likes. This is a bit of a famous example, and I highly recommend [this video essay](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC3OuLU5XCw) which spends quite a good bit of time on this topic. Essentially, the argument boils down to players of earlier games in the souls games using shields too much - playing slowly, conservatively, and ultimately having less fun. Players wanted to feel safe, so they ended up playing in a way that ruined the experience for them. The developers solved this by removing shields, apart from an intentionally bad one effectively mocking the playstyle, and it did its job at getting players to play more aggressively, and often have more fun.
 
-To bring the conversation back to incrementals, I'm _incredibly_ opinionated on what makes a _good_ incremental game, which I'll discuss in the [game design](../../design/introduction.md) section. Suffice it to say, incremental games rely more on good game design than other genres, due to not having much to distract from bad game design. This helps (although imperfectly - gamers are a bit too tolerant of bad game design!) well-designed games rise to the top within the genre.
+To bring the conversation back to incrementals, I'm _incredibly_ opinionated on what makes a _good_ incremental game, which I'll discuss in the [game design](../../design/introduction/index.md) section. Suffice it to say, incremental games rely more on good game design than other genres, due to not having much to distract from bad game design. This helps (although imperfectly - gamers are a bit too tolerant of bad game design!) well-designed games rise to the top within the genre.
 
 ## Artistic Merit
 
 The Vampire Survivors video made me think back to the old arguments about whether games are art, and whether they ought to be. The video seems preoccupied with attaching value to games solely based on their mechanics and the depth thereof, to the point of arguing Vampire Survivors is a waste of time due to its lack of depth. However, even setting aside the fact that if players are having fun then it's not time wasted, I think games can have artistic merit that supersedes the necessity of having (any / engaging / "deep") gameplay. I think the consensus online is that games are definitively art, although I could see the argument that some genres, like incremental games, might be a bit in a grey area. Let's talk about Vampire Survivors first though - It has a story to tell, with lore and many characters, that drive the player and encourage them to continue exploring the game and discovering things within it. Like any walking simulator, it is no less legitimate of a game or the "art" label because of any lack perceived lack of depth. For what it's worth, most art can be consumed with more ease than VS - any painting, movie, sculpture, etc.
 
-A lot of incrementals have a narrative context that can similarly qualify them as art. Cookie Clicker is, as has been pointed out numerous times before, commenting on excess and increasing production beyond any reasonable limits - devolving into increasing production for its own sake. Indeed, a lot of incremental games are written to comment upon various concepts like capitalism or tropes in games, as discussed when [defining Incrementals](../definition#incrementals-as-parodies). However, I'd like to argue _most_ incremental games are still art, even without any narrative context. "Art" as a concept is pretty nebulous already, but I personally like those who define it as an act of expression more than any physical result. The creator and the context within which they created the art, and any meaning they put into it, are all relevant and a part of the art itself. Most incremental games have artistic merit from things like _why_ the creator made it, why they chose to make it an incremental game, and why they made any particular design decision. Hell, even if you play through an entire incremental game without a single thought or feeling, that very fact it elicited nothing can itself be artistic merit!
+A lot of incrementals have a narrative context that can similarly qualify them as art. Cookie Clicker is, as has been pointed out numerous times before, commenting on excess and increasing production beyond any reasonable limits - devolving into increasing production for its own sake. Indeed, a lot of incremental games are written to comment upon various concepts like capitalism or tropes in games, as discussed when [defining Incrementals](../definition/index.md#incrementals-as-parodies). However, I'd like to argue _most_ incremental games are still art, even without any narrative context. "Art" as a concept is pretty nebulous already, but I personally like those who define it as an act of expression more than any physical result. The creator and the context within which they created the art, and any meaning they put into it, are all relevant and a part of the art itself. Most incremental games have artistic merit from things like _why_ the creator made it, why they chose to make it an incremental game, and why they made any particular design decision. Hell, even if you play through an entire incremental game without a single thought or feeling, that very fact it elicited nothing can itself be artistic merit!
 
 I'm not an art major, and I may be taking a somewhat extreme take on what is art and what has artistic merit, but I'd argue the overall point stands that games, and incremental games specifically, _can_ have artistic merit, which appeals to many gamers.

ludology/definition/index.md

@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ To understand what that means, think of how a casino uses skinner boxes to emoti
 
 > While incremental games can be fun and even healthy in certain contexts, they can exacerbate video game addiction more than other genres. If you feel like playing incremental games is taking priority over other things in your life, or manipulating your sleep schedule, it may be prudent to seek help. See [r/StopGaming](https://www.reddit.com/r/StopGaming) for resources.
 
-This "undressing" tends to go hand in hand with a reduced focus on aesthetics, often just printing the game state directly to the screen as text. This makes incremental games much easier to develop, particularly for those with programming skills but not art skills, but that's a tangent for why [Incremental Games appeal to Developers](../appeal-developers).
+This "undressing" tends to go hand in hand with a reduced focus on aesthetics, often just printing the game state directly to the screen as text. This makes incremental games much easier to develop, particularly for those with programming skills but not art skills, but that's a tangent for why [Incremental Games appeal to Developers](../appeal-developers/index.md).
 
 Before I continue, I'd like to make my stance clear that I love games and incremental games, and do not think they should be considered inherently bad or manipulative with the above logic. Skinner boxes are just a way of manipulating behavior _via rewards_. The games are still fun - that's the reward! I'd believe the real criticism here is that it is "empty fun", or "empty dopamine", that doesn't offer any additional value or sense of fulfillment. I don't think that's inherently bad in moderation, although it can become a problem if the game is manipulating you for profit-seeking, or if you play the game to the detriment of the other parts of your life.
 
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ I chose a variety of games here, biasing towards newer games, purposefully to av
 
 The Paradigm Shift is probably the _highest_ possible value factor for an incremental. It's so common that for a while people referred to incrementals that exhibit this trait as "unfolding" games, to the point of trying to _replace_ the term incremental due to their popularity. Paradigm shifts refer to when the gameplay significantly changes. There are too many examples to list here, but notably, every single reset mechanic is typically going to be a paradigm shift. Examples of games with paradigm shifts that _aren't_ tied to reset mechanics include [Universal Paperclips](https://www.decisionproblem.com/paperclips/) and [A Dark Room](http://adarkroom.doublespeakgames.com/).
 
-There are many reasons for the appeal of paradigm shifts. Oftentimes each mechanic builds on top of the existing mechanics, increasing the complexity of the game in steps so the player can follow along. They provide a sense of mystery, with the player anticipating what will happen next. They shake up the gameplay before it gets too stale - allowing the game to entertain for longer before the [illusion of content](../content) dissipates. Of the canon games selected above, I would argue _every single one_ contains a paradigm shift (although I could see someone disagreeing with that statement wrt Increlution).
+There are many reasons for the appeal of paradigm shifts. Oftentimes each mechanic builds on top of the existing mechanics, increasing the complexity of the game in steps so the player can follow along. They provide a sense of mystery, with the player anticipating what will happen next. They shake up the gameplay before it gets too stale - allowing the game to entertain for longer before the [illusion of content](../content/index.md) dissipates. Of the canon games selected above, I would argue _every single one_ contains a paradigm shift (although I could see someone disagreeing with that statement wrt Increlution).
 
 I should take a moment to say that while I'm hyping up this specific factor, we cannot just reduce the genre definition to "does it have paradigm shifts". Many games have paradigm shifts that are not incremental, so it's just an _indicator_ of incrementalness. Additionally, it can become quite hard to determine how large of a shift is a "paradigm" shift. Take, for example, any game with a skill tree. In some games, each skill node might have a large impact on how you play with the game, and qualify as a paradigm shift for some players. In other games, each skill node might just be a small percentage modifier on some stat that doesn't really impact much more than a slight bias towards an already established mechanic that's newly buffed. Every single canon game may show that it's common amongst incremental games, but could just as easily indicate that they're common in games in general.