We need a cool new name for character optimizers...

[Cthulhudrew]

You cannot create a name for a group, and expect it to stick - the fashion of names doesn't work like that.

Aw, krutz!

 

[Doghead Thirteen]

That's munchkinism.

Powergaming's just playing for power. The spotlight hogging and gamewrecking is separate.

You can be a powergamer and a deep imersion roleplayer at once.

We've always used 'munchkin' to refer to players who very literally cheat - for example, increasing the EXP total on their character sheet. It happened repeatedly in a LARP campaign I was unfortunate enough to be involved in; I left as soon as I did the math and discovered that one player had very literally ten times the EXP he should, especially since I mentioned it to the GM and got told to stop talking nonsense.

I guess there's multiple uses for the term 'powergaming' like with a lot of other terms, neh?

Meh, we need three terms here - for the high-power people, for the game-wreckers and for the out-and-out cheats.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Stat Grinders?

Sheet Junkies?

Number Jockeys?

Happy Cows? (It's usually where all the good cheese comes from, or so I'm told.)

If you're going to GenCon, I must buy a beer for that one (or whatever your age allows to imbibe)

 

[Thunderfoot]

How about - "out of touch and out the door"

 

[Psimancer]

Yes, because when you find the self-selected group that call themselves optimizers, roleplaying is what they've got on their mind.

Actually, in this case, Yes; Role-playing is one of my main motivations.

Maybe I erroneously label myself as an Optimizer… but to me there are some major differences between a Power-gamer and an Optimizer.

Power-gamers optimise their characters for power/combat. Optimizers do so for to embrace a specific concept or purpose.

Power-gamers normally do not role-play, and during the rare occasions during which they do so, it is frequently clichéd or cheesy. Optimizers on the other hand, have a tendency to role-play to the nth degree, knowingly making detrimental decisions because it is in keeping with their concept or purpose.

So, maybe what I call an Optimizer is different to what you would label as such…

 

[EyeontheMountain]

Munchkin is neither cool nor a proper term for optimizers as a group, as munchkins are a subsection of optimizers that powergame to the detriment of the rest of the players. )

Can you really call 99.9%a subsection?

 

[Lalato]

If you seek ultimate power, wouldn't that mak you a NINJA!?!

--sam

 

[lukelightning]

How about - "out of touch and out the door"

I just don't understand the hatred of "powergamers." What's wrong with a character trying to be the best at something? That is an incredibly common motivation in literature and real life. Wizzy the Wizard didn't spend all those years as an apprentice with the hopes of becoming a mediocre mage. He wants to be the best.

What about other games? Is it wrong to try to get Boardwalk and Park Place in Monopoly? It is against the spirit of gaming to try to get a full house in poker?

 

[Doghead Thirteen]

I just don't understand the hatred of "powergamers."

In my case, it's not 'hatred'. It's a mixture of confusion and annoyance.

And before anyone asks, I'm talking about the people who treat role-playing more like a wargame. In my books, if your main concern is how fast you can kill monsters you'd be better off with a copy of Diablo II than a copy of D&D.

Being 'the best' isn't the problem. It's treating an RPG as a competitive game when it is no such thing. Everyone involved having a good time is the whole idea, whereas many of these players treat it as their job to 'beat' the other players and the GM.

I dare say there's some 'power gamers' out there who do no such thing. I'd like to suggest the following terminology split;

Munchkin - An out-and-out cheat.

Cheese Weasel - Someone who game-wrecks by power gaming without breaking the game rules.

Optimiser - The guys who get a kick out of optimising their character but have the bandwidth and maturity to do so without wrecking the game for everyone else.

And let's use 'powergamer' as a catch-all to describe anyone who min/maxes.

I shall from now on be using these terms myself.

 

[zen_hydra]

All of us compulsive optimizers out there need a cool name. "Optimizers" is a label applied to us, and it sounds OK. However, I have come up with a much, much cooler name.


I am now a proud member of the Ur-priesthood.

I nominate the name "flumph"