Suspension of disbelief and gamers

[Goddess FallenAngel]

I think that a good part of it is simply the gamers you play with. I have been in a group that I simply didn't bother to use my imagination for because every time someone started *gasp* roleplaying the rest of the group became bored and fidgety, wanting to "get on with the game". At the same time, I have played in a group where we had 1 battle every 4-5 game sessions at the most, instead of 1 or more per game session, because we were so into the roleplaying.

Different people have different levels of belief suspension. If you aren't happy with the group you are with, try another.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

I have seen gamers who say, "If it isn't in the rules, you can't do it, and you must follow all the rules."

One of my plaerys is like that. He argues about the littlest thing. I need to kick him out, but i cant. He is really hypocritical, because he argues against me when the rules do not support him. But goes with them when they do.

 

[Liolel]

Gamers are a varied group. While some gamers may not be able to suspend their disbelief others can do it quite well. A lot of the time when someone says they can't suspend their disbelief it is just for one particular thing that bothers them which could be different for other gamers.

 

[frankthedm]

I love minis, but they can kill S.o.D. IF the DM just draws the floorplan and forgets to descibe things to the PCs.

 

[DragonLancer]

The only instances of suspension of disbelief has come when a player turns to the GM and complains that this story idea was ripped from (Insert Film/TV Show/Comic/Novel/Take your pick) .

 

[AeroDm]

Suspension of disbelief is a real problem in a lot of games. I find that gamers hve excellent imaginations but are usually to picky to give up that disbelief. To a limited degree, it almost seems as though they believe their imagination to be of a higher quality than others, and thus it takes a stronger story for them to allow that suspension to occur. Of course, my experiences are fairly limited, so that most just holds true for those i've met/gamed with.

 

[AeroDm]

The only instances of suspension of disbelief has come when a player turns to the GM and complains that this story idea was ripped from (Insert Film/TV Show/Comic/Novel/Take your pick) .

Every time one of my players tries to pull that on me I want nothing more than to ask him what he thinks is so special about his hackneyed-cliche-played-it-ten-times-before character that they feel immune to the same criticizm. To date I never have.

 

[Arnwyn]

Well, i have noticed that out of all people. Gamers seem to have the most trouble suspending their disbelief for anything. It seems to me that gamers have the poorest imaginations i have ever seen.

Thankfully, I (personally) have never seen any evidence to suggest this is the case. (Though I admit that my experience with other gamers outside of my group is minimal.)

To date I never have.

Unfortunate. You're a better man than I.

 

[Quickbeam]

Sorry to hear that's been your experience. Overall, I'd say gamers score high marks in the area of imagination, and having been to numerous Cons and Gamedays my experience is reasonably broad. That said, it is certainly true that some gamers rely too heavily on the picture laid before them, whether it be minis or maps or a book scenario. But thankfully that type of occurence seems to be the exception, not the rule.

 

[KenM]

I do think that most RPGer's think about situations alot, anaylize things too much. Take LotR, I feel that in the LotR novels, JRRT should have explained why the ealges could not have helped out more and carried them into Mt. Doom. Because this is not explained, to me its a logic hole in the story and then the story does not work for me, so I have trouble accpeting the story.
Please don't take this as a hijack, I was just trying to make a point.