What follows are a short list of some funny DL comics around one general tenet of game theory - "suspended disbelief." This theory was first developed in literary theory (as many game theory concepts are) to describe the understood agreement between author and reader. In vernacular you could call it "going with the flow" or "selective amnesia"- basically it means the reader/gamer/user doesn't question the underlying structure of the work, and accepts the world as it is, and allows the story to unfold from the point of this arbitrary agreement. This could also be considered "artistic license" in literature - the reader just going along with the choices made by the author. In gaming, this frequently takes the form of gamers ignoring repetition or ridiculousness as a structural necessity of the game. Something as simple as killing a monster and watching it respawn and killing it again requires a certain level of "suspension" of common sense. Were this a "real" world and not a virtual one a number of commonplace occurances would not be possible.
For example, high level NPCs asking you to go pick some flowers or recover some tablets that they could easily enough obtain themselves, multiple players performing the same quests making your labor effectively unnecessary, and dailies - complete and recomplete the same quest every day (some newer dailies actually poke fun at this in the quest dialogue, too) are all instances that require suspension of disbelief. These are commonplace in RPG video games, and the gamer "agrees" to look the other way and simply accept the structure of the game as an ends to whatever means - gaining money, items, or experience.
But this "suspended disbelief" is a part of any game because it effectively asks you to forget the repetitive nature of gameplay (especially in "rinse and repeat" type games such as the Diablo franchise, where players bounce between games to clear a certain level repeatedly). It floats beneath the surface of every exchange and interraction, and is easy comic fodder because even gamers not versed in game theory can recognize that this agreement between game designer and consumer occurs.
Instead of turning a blind eye to the repetition of questing, the first comic turns the tables, and sees a new possibility for gathering wealth! The rest are semi related instances of quest humor based around repetition and multiple players.
Entrepreneurial Gnome
Stupid Quest Mechanics
Questing
Quest Drops - I also ask myself often "how come I get one spider leg off a spider (some of the time), shouldn't I be able to get up to 8 from each?"
Relearning talents probably would have consequences. Brain wipe!
Ouchies
Also, suspending disbelief when science fiction meets fantasy.
Dranei Invasion!
Data mining:
Wowhead + Armory
Finally, arbitrary reputation/faction interractions. Thankfully there are fewer factions in WotLK than there were in BC, and the reputation grind is generally less restrictive.
Rep Up!
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