Q8 - In the earliest video games

[mshinners]

Question Type:
Sufficient Assumption

Stimulus Breakdown:
New games make it harder for players to identify with the character they play. Therefore, new games are less compelling.

Answer Anticipation:
"Less compelling" is a huge, new term in the conclusion. For Sufficient Assumption questions, a new term in the conclusion will almost always relate to the gap and show up in the correct answer.

From here, I'd see what concept established in the premises the author thinks is connected to "less compelling". The author states that the players identify less with the characters. While that doesn't establish that the games are less compelling, the author treats it as enough to establish the conclusion.

The gap identified, I'm going to look for an answer stating, "If players don't identify with the character, then they find the game less compelling."

Correct answer:
(D)

Answer choice analysis:
(A) Missing key term. The correct answer will have to attach to the new term in the conclusion, and since this answer is missing a discussion of what's less compelling, it can't be right.

(B) Out of scope. The conclusion is about "this respect", so an answer about "other respects" is out of scope.

(C) Degree. The conclusion compares new games to old on the metric of how compelling they are based on identification with a character. This answer doesn't allow that comparison to be made since it only establishes the new games aren't fully compelling, not that they're less compelling than old games. (This answer would be necessary.)

(D) Bingo. This answer choice also hits the logical force to get to the conclusion (it's actually stronger than the conclusion - "often" vs. "usually").

(E) Reverse. This answer connects the ideas needed for the argument to work, but it reverses the order I need them in. For a conditional answer, the sufficient condition should match the premises, and the necessary condition the conclusion - this answer is the reverse.

Takeaway/Pattern:
Look for new terms in the conclusion of Sufficient Assumption questions! This covers 80+% of the questions in this category, and it can help you narrow down answers quickly. After that, it's a matter of analyzing the directionality.

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