"Modifier" tag?

Question

I noticed we have quite a few questions about architecting systems that can add/remove temporary buffs/debuffs/localized exceptions to rules layered on top of the normal behaviour of a game actor.

This includes eg. gaining stat increases or special abilities from equipping an item in an RPG (lost when unequipping), or using a potion/buff spell (lost after a max duration or on a cancellation condition), and also applies to card effects in a trading card game that modify other cards.

Some example questions that fall in this vein:

• Effect Replacement System
• What's a way to implement a flexible buff/debuff system? And its duplicates:
  • How to implement buffs / debuffs / temporary stat changes in an RPG?
  • Architecture design in "buff-heavy" game?
  • c++ RPG - Handling buffs / equipment stats
  • How to implement a property with a base value and a changed value?
  • TCG Game Architecture
• OOP implementation of BUFFS and Stats. Suggestion
• How to implement status-changing effects for attack class in turn based RPG?
• Design patterns for effects between actors and technology
• Simultaneous events in a realtime system, where processing order causes different outcomes
• A way to create a variable that includes a modifier that should be checked every step [Gamemaker]
• How do I set up my modifier system without casting?
• Database for a diablo 2 like item system?
• Stat Multipliers: from Base Value or Iterative
• Pluggable modifiers to game engine -Words to describe stat stacking behavior?
• How to implement expiring and self-refreshing buffs in an RPG?
• In a Tower defense game, how to do buffs/debuffs
• C++ Entity Component System: Diverse Behaviours
• Designing a fluent API for card effects
• How to implement trading card game's "special effects cards"?

(While some of these not currently marked as duplicates could probably be folded under "What's a way to implement a flexible buff/debuff system?" I think there are also distinct questions here, including investigations of stacking rules, and narrower questions about a specific implementation or problem)

To me, this topic of modifiers looks like a well-defined subject in which a developer could become an expert, with substantial applicability to different types of games.

Uniting these questions under a common tag could make it easier to browse the topic for insights from previous Q&As, identify duplicates, and help users with experience in these systems spot questions they can help with.

But the fact that we don't already have a user-created tag uniting these questions suggests that a term for these questions might not be immediately obvious/intuitive to our community.

So, I wanted to gather consensus on Meta about how best to approach this:

Is this a well-defined topic that should have a tag?

If so, what should the tag be called?

Answer 1

Yes, this topic should have a dedicated tag, but "Modifier" is too vague a name.

The tag should be called "Effect-Modifier" to emphasize that it refers to changing the gameplay effects of items/entities/rules in the game.

Proposed tag info:

An effect modifier is a modular rule that changes the behaviour of other game content, like a buff/enchantment that makes a character stronger (or debuff/curse that makes them weaker), adds new gameplay abilities & behaviours, or changes how an existing rule works.

To make the tag easier to discover, we should define "Buff" as a synonym, since RPG-related questions frequently use this particular flavour.

Answer 2

Yes, we should add a tag "Modifier"

Proposed tag info:

Modifiers can be applied to game entities during play to (temporarily or conditionally) change their behaviour, including stats ("+1 Strength"), special abilities ("Invisible when Stationary"), or other exceptions to the normal game rules.

To make the tag easier to discover, we should define Buff as a synonym, since RPG-related questions frequently use this particular flavour.