[zanny]

> it's still supposed to be enjoyable. Clearly homeless people in the game are impeding some peoples enjoyment and it's a problem that is not obvious to solve.

This tough boss is impeding my enjoyment of this RPG because I can't mindlessly beat it.

This tough level in an FPS is impeding my enjoyment of later levels because I can't beat it.

I can't place first in this tough racing track and that is impeding my ability to enjoy it.

Homelessness is a challenge to approach however you want. It only becomes a problem in huge cities with rapid middle and upper class expansion, ie, the late game. So if you get stuck and have a skill wall in front of you to overcome but can't, that is not a deficit of the game, that is the whole reason the game exists, to impose challenge and difficulty to overcome.

[popeshoe]

I basically agree, it's more of a problem if the rampant homelessness is due to bad code that makes it too common (as opposed to imperfect design of your city), which given the history of the game isn't beyond the realms of possibility, eg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g418BSF6XBQ

[mikeash]

Your statements could be totally reasonable. Difficulty in a game can be good or bad, it all depends on why and how it's difficult. If that tough level is hard because it's well designed as an interesting challenge and you can get past it with practice and thought and it remains interesting while you do that, it's good design. If that tough level is hard because it's unpredictable and requires excessive luck to get past and forces you to go through lots of tedious replays when you fail, it's bad design.

I have no idea which category this falls into, just pointing out that your examples can be legitimate.