the first twitch plays pokemon was wild because nobody knew if beating the game was at all possible, and if it were, nobody knew how much time it would take
note that TPP inputs resemble random inputs but aren't! The game is made easier because people could and did collaborate through the chat, and simultaneously made harder because griefers could and did attempt to sabotage the game
the only thing that made progress possible imo was that there is no game over screen, and at death you dont lose anything too important; however there was a clear "winning" ending screen (pokemon is a game where you can win but you can not lose), so the collaborative effort to win the game was at an advantage
random inputs put a bound on the expected time it takes to beat the game, but the time is astronomical. the game was beaten much much sooner than this theoretical bound, which means that collaboration eventually won out. this only happened imo due to social effects: if griefers were more determined and more numerous, perhaps the first iteration would be still ongoing
after the first, it kind of became much easier, because people already knew it was possible in principle
note that TPP inputs resemble random inputs but aren't! The game is made easier because people could and did collaborate through the chat, and simultaneously made harder because griefers could and did attempt to sabotage the game
the only thing that made progress possible imo was that there is no game over screen, and at death you dont lose anything too important; however there was a clear "winning" ending screen (pokemon is a game where you can win but you can not lose), so the collaborative effort to win the game was at an advantage
random inputs put a bound on the expected time it takes to beat the game, but the time is astronomical. the game was beaten much much sooner than this theoretical bound, which means that collaboration eventually won out. this only happened imo due to social effects: if griefers were more determined and more numerous, perhaps the first iteration would be still ongoing
after the first, it kind of became much easier, because people already knew it was possible in principle