The Bill of Players' Right

Read the article from Gamesutra.com called "The Bill of Player's Rights". In this article they basically list out features that they feel all games should have or address.

The Right to Play
Basically less cut-scenes, more play time. I can agree, I love cut scenes as much as the next person, the grand pupbah and inventor being the Final Fantasy series, but the problem know is they seem to have them just to have them rather then for pushing forward a story.

The Right To Win
The game should be winable. Basically, the game shouldn't make it so hard that winning is impossible or done only by a select few. Once again, a solid suggestion. I do get sick of games that basically create this point where nothing less then perfect skills and timing will allow advancement. Thats not fun its just irritating.

The Right to Instructions
Make sure there are clear instructions on what the buttons and menus do. That seems a no brainer to me yet many games do forget that fact. They seem to like to just toss people in the middle of the game, hoping that they suddenly have memorized what every button does. The better games not only have a written instruction book, but in game book and use the first few levels to build up the skills.

The Right to Feedback
This doesn't refer to feedback to the maker but feedback from the game. Basically some way of informing the player whether their approach is wrong or not. If you don't know your making mistakes you can't adjust your strategy.

The Right to Motivation
This is saying give people the "why" for doing what they do in a game. Its an emphasis not only the end goal but the journey. Makes perfect sense to me. The journey is a whole point of a game and often makers just throw in levels and obstacles to make the end important rather then getting to the end.

The Right to Make Decisions
A good game should require the player to decide things. It could be as simple as weapon choice, to which path to take, but at least require the player to engage their brain beyond thumping buttons at a rapid pace.

The Right to a Swift Death
Yes, I so agree with this one. Games that don't let me die when I want are frustrating. Sometimes you know you made a mistake and need to die and try again yet the game will not let you. If forces your to either restart the machine or go on for awhile before can attempt it again. If a game section requires passing it successfully to move further in the game, the game should give the option of death and try again rather then wasting much time only to find out that success was essential.

The Right to Control Cut-Scenes
Yes, another solid one. This is total control like a movie, with pause, skip and replay. Replaying is always a nice feature and is usually lacking in most games. Sometimes a good cut scene just needs to be seen more then once. Sometimes, due to death, repeat playthrough, etc maybe we just don't want to see the cut-scene again. Let us see it or skip it as we see fit.

The Right to Quit, Pause, Save and Resume the Game
Again can't agree more. The player should be able to save the game and start back where left off anytime the mood strikes. If can be in mid swing against the boss, or halfway through a dungeon. We shouldn't get punished because real-world events prevents playing the game or level all the way through. Also, this right extends to being able to create as many save slots as want. Most games seem to leave at three, but let the player decide if they want three or thirty. Its their game and memory, let em use it how they see fit. Mostly though, preventing saves until reach a certain point or goal is a cheap way of making a game hard.

The Right to Choose Not to Save the Game
This doesn't seem to make sense as a seperate right to me. It fits more with the above. If the person has the right to save anytime they want, they should therefore automatically have the right to refuse to save.

The Right to Reconfigure the Input Device
Again a no-brainer to me. This is saying let us set up our controllers, keyboards, etc however the player sees fit. Everyone has their own preference, let them do it how they want. In addition, make sure that configuration is savable.

The Right Not To Be Insulted
Uh not sure what this one is about. I think its reference to some games that "punish" you for dying, losing, etc with insults, noises etc. I do think doing that is silly and waste of time but it shouldn't be a gamers right.

So what do you think? Need more rights? Take away more? Either way I do like alot of the ideas presented. Some of the best games unknowingly follow the above rights so something could be said about them being helpful in designing the better game.