Welcome once again, friends, foes and followers alike, to Game Theory, where I take a few moments out of my schedule to discuss the ins and outs of game mechanics and the industry at large. Today we are going to take a look at the gruesome ways that someone can suffer or deal bodily harm in real life, so that we can better understand the ways they bleed over into the gaming world, pun heavily intended.

 Every member of the human race, no matter what skin tone you have, accent you speak with, or creed you follow, has at least one key thing in common: We are all remarkably fragile. It takes so little to damage our bodies, that frankly I am surprised that we have managed to survive this long as a species. From minor cuts and scrapes to spontaneous human combustion, there are a m

If there is anything that practically every major RPG has in common, as well as plenty of games outside the RPG genre, it is the concept of an "inventory". Every world we explore seems to be brimming with an ever increasing amount of stuff, and it is the inventory system that allows us to take some of this stuff along with us. While the concept of carrying multiple items along with us on our adventures is often taken for granted by the players, there are quite a few important, game impacting decisions that go into designing an inventory system that is not only practical and efficient, but is also appropriate for the feel of the game world the designer is trying to convey. Once again, I ask you to take a moment with me to look a little deeper into the game mechanics we see every

 Greetings all, and welcome to Game Theory, a little slice of MMOsite's Quest! that I call my own. I am your honored and humble host, Arthur E. "Arturis" Orneck.

 It is in this column that I plan on taking the time to wax poetic on the inside mechanics and behind-the-curtain philosophies of RPGs and the game industry at large. As an aspiring Game Designer, I find that just playing a game is no longer as satisfying to me as understanding how and why the game acts as it does. Why does a longsword do more damage then a scimitar? Why cant my hunter tame a Zebra as a pet? Would a spell called "Acid Fist" do Nature damage, Crushing damage, or both? These are the kind of things I like to ponder, and I will do so (at great length) here for all to see and reply to. As a fore warning, though, some aspects of what I discuss in this and future columns might be too technical for some readers, while other topics or opinions my be too genera