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Gygax on Realism in Game Design
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<blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 6008802" data-attributes="member: 2067"><p>I think Gary missed the point with this particular essay in the same way that a lot of people miss the point here every day on ENWorld:</p><p></p><p>Often, a cry for "realism!" isn't a cry for a better grounding in "reality." It usually falls into one of two camps.</p><p></p><p>The first camp is those who want "realism" because some element of the game breaks their suspension of disbelief. Like <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/325751-opinion-i-dont-like-fortune-middle.html" target="_blank">I pointed out elsewhere</a>, </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>In this case, it's not a cry for a realistic modeling, it is a cry for greater detail and more logical underpinning. This is key, because once you obliterate a willing suspension of disbelief, the game becomes a LOT less fun. The more you're reminded that you're a bunch of folks playing make-believe, the less fun the game is, the less you're able to imagine you're playing an awesome hero in a fantastic world. </p><p></p><p>The second camp are those who want "realism" due to a certain genre expectations. Things like "grim-n-gritty combat rules" and the like go with this. Some folks from day 1 have wanted D&D to be less mythically heroic than it tends to be, and substitute "that's not realistic!" for "that doesn't meet my genre expectations!"</p><p></p><p>While it wasn't nearly as tired a stereotype in the Original's day as it is now, the argument still doesn't hold much water. "It's FANTASY, you can't expect REALISM!" doesn't address the ACTUAL design problems with your game: a weakness of support, or a failure of communication.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="I'm A Banana, post: 6008802, member: 2067"] I think Gary missed the point with this particular essay in the same way that a lot of people miss the point here every day on ENWorld: Often, a cry for "realism!" isn't a cry for a better grounding in "reality." It usually falls into one of two camps. The first camp is those who want "realism" because some element of the game breaks their suspension of disbelief. Like [URL="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/325751-opinion-i-dont-like-fortune-middle.html"]I pointed out elsewhere[/URL], In this case, it's not a cry for a realistic modeling, it is a cry for greater detail and more logical underpinning. This is key, because once you obliterate a willing suspension of disbelief, the game becomes a LOT less fun. The more you're reminded that you're a bunch of folks playing make-believe, the less fun the game is, the less you're able to imagine you're playing an awesome hero in a fantastic world. The second camp are those who want "realism" due to a certain genre expectations. Things like "grim-n-gritty combat rules" and the like go with this. Some folks from day 1 have wanted D&D to be less mythically heroic than it tends to be, and substitute "that's not realistic!" for "that doesn't meet my genre expectations!" While it wasn't nearly as tired a stereotype in the Original's day as it is now, the argument still doesn't hold much water. "It's FANTASY, you can't expect REALISM!" doesn't address the ACTUAL design problems with your game: a weakness of support, or a failure of communication. [/QUOTE]
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