Do you play more for the story or the combat?

[RFisher]

I don't think it breaks down so simply. Why is the meteor an antagonist? The meteor(ite) is hunk of dead matter that landed nearby. It has no will, and thus does not antagonize anything.

I dunno, but I know they always list “man v. nature” as one of the conflicts, and I don’t think this is any different from any other “man v. nature” conflict.

As far as the man vs. whatever, thats a very humanocentric way of viewing what a story is. If a tale were told of a mighty battle between the Greek gods and the titans, would it be a story? It doesn't involve man at all.

I’m very tempted to say that the protagonist of any story is given a healthy dose of human qualities whether they’re human or not. Except maybe in some avant garde story that most of us wouldn’t really enjoy anyway.

In any case, it always seemed clear to me that “man” was shorthand for “protagonist”.

 

[Hussar]

I'm of an opinion that any definition of role play as it pertains to RPG's that dissassociates RPG's from improv theater doesn't work. If you do so, then LARP'ing suddenly stops being an RPG. Whether or not you like LARP'ing, I think most gamers would admit that it is role playing. It's not role play that particularly interests me, but, I would certainly never try to claim that it isn't role playing.

Now, it is true that the purpost of role play in most fields is pedagogical. You teach through role play. Pretty much every classroom on the planet does it from time to time. But, the purpose of that role play is completely different from what occurs in an RPG. The point of engaging in role play in an RPG is to have fun. You're not trying to learn anything by pretending to be Thugdar the Barbarian. You're simply assuming a role in an unfolding story and, to a greater or lesser degree, acting out how you think that character would react to that situation.

That's why I reject HowandWhy's definition of role play. He wants a single definition of role play that applies both to the classroom and to gaming. It doesn't work though. You don't role play in a class room simply for fun. (not that there's anything simple about fun) As a teacher, you set up a role play in a class room to drive a certain teaching point home to the students. The DM (or GM or Storyteller or whatever) isn't trying to teach anything to the players though. There's no pedagogical purpose.

So, while yes, we use the same word "role playing" as is used in teaching circles, the definition is not the same.

 

[resistor]

I'm definitely more of a story person. I'm the kind of guy who plays video games on the easiest difficulty (or with cheats). I'm not interested in playing for a challenge, I play because I want to find out (or determine) what happens next.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

I'm the kind of guy who plays video games on the easiest difficulty (or with cheats).

To be precise, you're the kind of guy who plays video games on the easiest difficulty (or with cheats) and also has no problem announcing that fact to the general public.

 

[Aeolius]

To be precise, you're the kind of guy who plays video games on the easiest difficulty (or with cheats) and also has no problem announcing that fact to the general public.

What grabbed my attention was:

I'm definitely more of a story person.... I play because I want to find out (or determine) what happens next.

And that is exactly the sort of player anyone should covet.

 

[Studio69]

An equal mix of both.

 

[Zil]

Definitely story. Sure, my players like a good combat, but it has to make sense in the context of the advancing story.

I think that the shared story-telling experience is the one thing that will keep D&D (in all its offshoots and editions) going in the face of things like Warcraft. Warcraft (IMO) focuses far too much on combat, grinding, and somewhat tedious (after a while) quests like gather 20 limping red wombat gallstones - followed up by gather 13 leprous wombat eyeballs, etc etc.

 

[pweent]

I ain't choosin'.

Games of pure combat with no (or threadbare) story are just dull. On the other hand, if combat is minimal to the story, D&D is not the system I'm going to use for the game.

 

[resistor]

And that is exactly the sort of player anyone should covet.

For what it's worth, story-motivation is what keeps me playing pen and paper RPGs rather than MMOs. Every MMO that I've tried was a grind-fest with a little story tacked onto the end. Single player computer RPGs (on easy!) are much more satisfying for my inner story-monger.

This also tends to backfire when I get suckered into reading novel series long after they've stopped being good just because I need to know what happens next!

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

And that is exactly the sort of player anyone should covet.

I covet the sort of player who wants to roll dice, make big piles of dead bad guys, and brings beer with him.

On the other hand, if combat is minimal to the story, D&D is not the system I'm going to use for the game.

Ding ding ding!