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better gaming through chemistry
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<blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 2693841" data-attributes="member: 19675"><p>IMHO, one of the best ways to improve as a DM or Player is actually quite simple:</p><p></p><p><strong>Play a lot of different RPGs. </strong>Too much familiarity with a single game leads to memorizing rules exploits and other kinds of metagaming and overall conceptual laziness. And lazy gamers can quickly become bored gamers who then become bad gamers</p><p></p><p>When you are unfamiliar with a game, you get forced outside of your comfort zone. You make different choices than you would in a system you know inside and out:</p><p></p><p>1) You don't know what a good PC looks like, so you may be satisfied with a sub-optimal PC and still have fun. Imagine playing the equivalent of a Halfling Paladin with 10 as his high stat...</p><p></p><p>2) You can't min/max or exploit rules as easily, so you make due with what you get.</p><p></p><p>3) You minimize rules lawyering.</p><p></p><p>4) You get forced into trying out unfamiliar roles. There is a guy in my current group who always plays a Ranger...even when we played RIFTS. Sure, he's happy, and he plays a good Ranger, but he's stunted as a gamer. How would he react to playing an RPG without an equivalent concept? (My guess- he might quit.)</p><p></p><p>5) Since you're "in unfamiliar territory with unfamiliar equipment," you'll have to rely more upon teamwork to achieve goals.</p><p></p><p>6) You think differently about the rules themselves- why have levels (or classes, or even dice)? Much of the change to D&D over the years is based on its designers' responses to the way other game developers handled certain things. The plethora of PC races in the current incarnation probably would not exist had it not been for games like Taliantha, GURPS or HERO.</p><p></p><p>I'm speaking from personal experience.</p><p></p><p>I played only 3 RPGs for the first 10 years of gaming- AD&D, Champions/HERO, and Traveller. I picked up a few along the way (Universe, Space 1889, Paranoia, Shadowrun, etc), but those were the only ones I PLAYED.</p><p></p><p>It wasn't until I was living in Austin and going to Law school in the 1990's that I was forced to play anything outside of my comfort zone.</p><p></p><p>Due to the dynamics of the group I found at Alan Hench's house, I was forced to play games like Mekton, ACE, RIFTS, MechWarrior, and GURPS...<em>LOTS</em> of GURPS. We even dusted off some of the games I (and others) had collected over the years.</p><p></p><p>Because nobody was familiar with all of the games, there was always a period of learning the rules- but it also meant that nobody could min /max every PC they played.</p><p></p><p>It improved my RPG play immeasurably. Even my fantasy PCs are different now from the first ones I created.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dannyalcatraz, post: 2693841, member: 19675"] IMHO, one of the best ways to improve as a DM or Player is actually quite simple: [B]Play a lot of different RPGs. [/B]Too much familiarity with a single game leads to memorizing rules exploits and other kinds of metagaming and overall conceptual laziness. And lazy gamers can quickly become bored gamers who then become bad gamers When you are unfamiliar with a game, you get forced outside of your comfort zone. You make different choices than you would in a system you know inside and out: 1) You don't know what a good PC looks like, so you may be satisfied with a sub-optimal PC and still have fun. Imagine playing the equivalent of a Halfling Paladin with 10 as his high stat... 2) You can't min/max or exploit rules as easily, so you make due with what you get. 3) You minimize rules lawyering. 4) You get forced into trying out unfamiliar roles. There is a guy in my current group who always plays a Ranger...even when we played RIFTS. Sure, he's happy, and he plays a good Ranger, but he's stunted as a gamer. How would he react to playing an RPG without an equivalent concept? (My guess- he might quit.) 5) Since you're "in unfamiliar territory with unfamiliar equipment," you'll have to rely more upon teamwork to achieve goals. 6) You think differently about the rules themselves- why have levels (or classes, or even dice)? Much of the change to D&D over the years is based on its designers' responses to the way other game developers handled certain things. The plethora of PC races in the current incarnation probably would not exist had it not been for games like Taliantha, GURPS or HERO. I'm speaking from personal experience. I played only 3 RPGs for the first 10 years of gaming- AD&D, Champions/HERO, and Traveller. I picked up a few along the way (Universe, Space 1889, Paranoia, Shadowrun, etc), but those were the only ones I PLAYED. It wasn't until I was living in Austin and going to Law school in the 1990's that I was forced to play anything outside of my comfort zone. Due to the dynamics of the group I found at Alan Hench's house, I was forced to play games like Mekton, ACE, RIFTS, MechWarrior, and GURPS...[I]LOTS[/I] of GURPS. We even dusted off some of the games I (and others) had collected over the years. Because nobody was familiar with all of the games, there was always a period of learning the rules- but it also meant that nobody could min /max every PC they played. It improved my RPG play immeasurably. Even my fantasy PCs are different now from the first ones I created. [/QUOTE]
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