So I’ve been playing this little game called ‘Fallout 3′ and something I’ve been really enjoying is that they define the nature of a consequence (i.e., hacking that computer is a ‘bad thing’) but they don’t define what is going to happen if you fail. Generally speaking though it involves me being chased out of town, who knew? But I did know that whatever happened it was unlikely to make me any friends.

I think this is important. As designers in this modern age, and especially as our game worlds grow more open ended, we must let our players know what type of consequence is going to result from their actions, but we can’t or shouldn’t simply tell them what happens next. Appropriate and well constructed pre-decision feedback is going to be key to opening up more than just being good or evil in these open world choice filled titles going forward, and while I don’t think Fallout 3 is necessarily unique or first in this regard I believe the emphasis placed is important to note.