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Sandboxes? Forked from Paizo reinvents hexcrawling
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<blockquote data-quote="Melan" data-source="post: 5124914" data-attributes="member: 1713"><p>That is another good point. It is a common criticism of sandboxes that they are "false" if they</p><p>a) would not function as internally consistent worlds on closer scrutiny.</p><p>b) do not encompass the entirety of the playing area (i.e. the GM is "just playing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_and_Hobbes#Calvinball" target="_blank">Calvinball</a>")</p><p>(See <a href="http://www.the-prussian-gamer.de/index.php?topic=1796.0" target="_blank">this thread</a> on Hofrat for examples of both pro and con arguments, including a pessimistic view on how some people use <strong>Wilderlands of High Fantasy</strong> in their games);</p><p></p><p>But this is really only a problem in the critics' minds. Most people who run sandbox games do not want <em>total</em> internal consistency from their games, nor the <em>totality</em> of information on their sandbox settings (in fact, they tend to want the opposite - loose ideas to inspire them). The playstyle/genre of D&D ("adventurer fantasy") establishes what sort of information may be interesting for actually playing. I do not need information on the workings of a market in a fantasy city to run a good game set in it: I need an image of how it looks like, and if the players ask something that I did not think of previously, I can come up with an informed guess based on the image, my imagination and some basic common sense. It is possible to introduce questions to a detail where the setting stops making sense, but the proper response to that issue is that the players shouldn't be asking <em>those</em> questions - they should be asking adventurer questions. The thing that matters is that the actions of the players should <em>always</em> result in more adventure being created, and the sandbox should encourage and accommodate that. But my signature here sums it up better than I just did:</p><p></p><p></p><p>In this interpretation, sandbox gaming is not realistic, but maybe impressionistic - it makes sense as a place to have adventures. I see how this answer can be unsatisfactory for many people, or theoretically inconsistent, but from a practical standpoint, it is serviceable.</p><p></p><p>With respect to point b), I will cite myself from the Hofrat thread:</p><p></p><p></p><p>(Naturally, not even the Wilderlands is a full sandbox - e.g. it tells you what is in Byrny, but only in extremely brief notes. If you are a theoretical purist, this <strong>will</strong> drive you up the wall, which, mind, serves you right.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Melan, post: 5124914, member: 1713"] That is another good point. It is a common criticism of sandboxes that they are "false" if they a) would not function as internally consistent worlds on closer scrutiny. b) do not encompass the entirety of the playing area (i.e. the GM is "just playing [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_and_Hobbes#Calvinball"]Calvinball[/URL]") (See [URL="http://www.the-prussian-gamer.de/index.php?topic=1796.0"]this thread[/URL] on Hofrat for examples of both pro and con arguments, including a pessimistic view on how some people use [B]Wilderlands of High Fantasy[/B] in their games); But this is really only a problem in the critics' minds. Most people who run sandbox games do not want [I]total[/I] internal consistency from their games, nor the [I]totality[/I] of information on their sandbox settings (in fact, they tend to want the opposite - loose ideas to inspire them). The playstyle/genre of D&D ("adventurer fantasy") establishes what sort of information may be interesting for actually playing. I do not need information on the workings of a market in a fantasy city to run a good game set in it: I need an image of how it looks like, and if the players ask something that I did not think of previously, I can come up with an informed guess based on the image, my imagination and some basic common sense. It is possible to introduce questions to a detail where the setting stops making sense, but the proper response to that issue is that the players shouldn't be asking [I]those[/I] questions - they should be asking adventurer questions. The thing that matters is that the actions of the players should [I]always[/I] result in more adventure being created, and the sandbox should encourage and accommodate that. But my signature here sums it up better than I just did: In this interpretation, sandbox gaming is not realistic, but maybe impressionistic - it makes sense as a place to have adventures. I see how this answer can be unsatisfactory for many people, or theoretically inconsistent, but from a practical standpoint, it is serviceable. With respect to point b), I will cite myself from the Hofrat thread: (Naturally, not even the Wilderlands is a full sandbox - e.g. it tells you what is in Byrny, but only in extremely brief notes. If you are a theoretical purist, this [B]will[/B] drive you up the wall, which, mind, serves you right.) [/QUOTE]
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