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Gygax on Realism in Game Design
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<blockquote data-quote="Argyle King" data-source="post: 6010169" data-attributes="member: 58416"><p>The answer -for me- lies (ironically enough) in Gary's own rant against realism; in his own words.</p><p><em></em></p><p><em><span style="font-size: 12px">While science fantasy does have some </span><span style="font-size: 12px">facts and good theories <u>to logically proceed from</u>, so that a semblance </span><span style="font-size: 12px">of truth can be claimed for those works which attempt to ground themselves </span><span style="font-size: 12px">on the basis of reality for their future projections, the world of </span><span style="font-size: 12px">“never-was” has no such shelter.</span></em></p><p></p><p></p><p>If we can look at technologies which do not exist in science fiction and draw conclusions about how something might work based upon the world we know in the here and now, why is it impossible to do the same when considering dragons, magics, and elves? </p><p></p><p>Do I accept that my conclusions may not necessarily be the same as those arrived at by someone else? I certainly do. The question I then get in many of these discussions is which 'logic' for 'realism' is correct. Is it mine or that of someone else?</p><p></p><p>Quite obviously, the first answer to that would be mine if I am at my table and somebody else's at their own table. However, I am willing to believe that -while there certainly will be differences- there will generally be a ballpark area of similarity between my conclusions and those of someone else in most cases (if we're using realism as a baseline.) </p><p></p><p>It is that generally shared ballpark which is important for a game which is intended to be shared among a community; among a group of friends sitting around a table rolling some dice. Yes, fantasy involves a world that never was, but I still feel there are are things which fit into a ballpark of 'realism' which would be more acceptable to the majority of those looking at realism as a goal, and I likewise believe there are things which would not fit into that same ballpark for the majority of those who want realism -or at least conclusions which resemble the plausibility of what we are familiar with- to be given a nod from fantasy.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Argyle King, post: 6010169, member: 58416"] The answer -for me- lies (ironically enough) in Gary's own rant against realism; in his own words. [I] [SIZE=3]While science fantasy does have some [/SIZE][SIZE=3]facts and good theories [U]to logically proceed from[/U], so that a semblance [/SIZE][SIZE=3]of truth can be claimed for those works which attempt to ground themselves [/SIZE][SIZE=3]on the basis of reality for their future projections, the world of [/SIZE][SIZE=3]“never-was” has no such shelter.[/SIZE][/I] If we can look at technologies which do not exist in science fiction and draw conclusions about how something might work based upon the world we know in the here and now, why is it impossible to do the same when considering dragons, magics, and elves? Do I accept that my conclusions may not necessarily be the same as those arrived at by someone else? I certainly do. The question I then get in many of these discussions is which 'logic' for 'realism' is correct. Is it mine or that of someone else? Quite obviously, the first answer to that would be mine if I am at my table and somebody else's at their own table. However, I am willing to believe that -while there certainly will be differences- there will generally be a ballpark area of similarity between my conclusions and those of someone else in most cases (if we're using realism as a baseline.) It is that generally shared ballpark which is important for a game which is intended to be shared among a community; among a group of friends sitting around a table rolling some dice. Yes, fantasy involves a world that never was, but I still feel there are are things which fit into a ballpark of 'realism' which would be more acceptable to the majority of those looking at realism as a goal, and I likewise believe there are things which would not fit into that same ballpark for the majority of those who want realism -or at least conclusions which resemble the plausibility of what we are familiar with- to be given a nod from fantasy. [/QUOTE]
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