Out with the old (Game design traditions we should let go)

[Jd Smith1]

I stopped in to see how my sacred cows were holding up. Looks like they haven't been in danger for several pages now. But I'm sorry Jd, I can't let this one fly.

There's a certain amount of irony going on here. "Mechanic" is one of two things: a "mechanism" and used correctly, or a "rule" and used incorrectly. The irony is that I believe in many cases, "mechanic" is the lazy man's version of " mechanism, " because it's shorter by one syllable. Why the lazy man (don't worry, he's a friend of mine) doesn't just say "rule," because it's shorter still, is beyond me.

 

[GMMichael]

I know MMO players use "mechanic" and "mechanics" as slang for things that occur during boss fights.

I wouldn't rely on the grammar of the typical Leroy Jenkins. Nor would I rely on the grammar of the person (character?) who said this: "so lot of men went to the house an' try all sort of mechanic; the chil' wouldn't talk."

Words get invented and/or get new meanings all the time, it's just how language evolves.

Indeed. Sometimes it's an evolution. Sometimes it's just slang. Gamers haven't always been on the forefront of language evolution. I mean, we use "chainmail" to mean "mail." "Stat" means anything on a character sheet or in a monster description. And some players have no idea what "hidden" means anymore.

 

[Reynard]

Nothing signals the end of the productive part of the discussion quite like pulling out the OED.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Nothing signals the end of the productive part of the discussion quite like pulling out the OED.

Mod Note:

This kind of comment serves no useful purpose. Do better going forward.

 

[loverdrive]

Synchronized understanding? That’s literally what Session Zero is for. They still take place. And if there’s an asynchronous moment in game then you pause and talk, just like you’d have to with rules disputes.

No number of sessions zero can make someone who doesn't understand the genre familiar with it enough to play it.

I know only two things about mexican soap operas: jack and s##t. I can still play Pasión de las Pasiones just fine.

 

[Bluenose]

I wouldn't rely on the grammar of the typical Leroy Jenkins.

There's also the MMO players who spend years learning and analysing the system and publish their assessment of how to improve the healing rate of <Class> by a whole 1.4% over any other healer build. Computer gamers are perfectly capable of very detailed analysis of the games they(I too) play, whatever the genre.

More generally on the thread, there's not really any mechanic I think should go entirely. Most have a place in the right setting/system. There's a lot of games using rules that aren't so good for what they claim to be trying to do, though I think naming them is unfair.

 

[Jd Smith1]

No number of sessions zero can make someone who doesn't understand the genre familiar with it enough to play it.

Nonsense. I've had countless players over the last 45 years who not only didn't grasp the genre, but who had never played an RPG before, but they picked it up quickly. This is not that complicated of a hobby.

 

[loverdrive]

Nonsense. I've had countless players over the last 45 years who not only didn't grasp the genre, but who had never played an RPG before, but they picked it up quickly. This is not that complicated of a hobby.

...genre as in genre of the story. What you can or cannot do and what kind of character you can or cannot create in a slasher flick is very different from a game that tries to capture the feeling of a Hong Kong action cinema. The consequences of the same action would also be different.

 

[overgeeked]

No number of sessions zero can make someone who doesn't understand the genre familiar with it enough to play it.

I know only two things about mexican soap operas: jack and s##t. I can still play Pasión de las Pasiones just fine.

Right. Either the ashcan edición or the Kickstarter PDF taught you enough about the genre to play it. Importantly, that game isn’t the singular source of information about that genre. You could watch a lot of them, some are utterly fantastic btw. Read up on the genre from a non-gaming source. Read up on the genre from some other gaming source (if there is one). Etc. It can be safely assumed that the person who designed the game knows a lot about the genre. Now imagine someone with that level of familiarity at your table running a game of Mexican soap operas for you and your group. You wouldn’t need the game book to teach you the genre. The person with that knowledge at the table could guide you through it.

 

[loverdrive]

Right. Either the ashcan edición or the Kickstarter PDF taught you enough about the genre to play it. Importantly, that game isn’t the singular source of information about that genre. You could watch a lot of them, some are utterly fantastic btw. Read up on the genre from a non-gaming source. Read up on the genre from some other gaming source (if there is one). Etc. It can be safely assumed that the person who designed the game knows a lot about the genre. Now imagine someone with that level of familiarity at your table running a game of Mexican soap operas for you and your group. You wouldn’t need the game book to teach you the genre. The person with that knowledge at the table could guide you through it.

Yeah, but reading a book takes an evening at worst, reading my playbook is barely five minutes, and watching even a single TV series is a couple of dozens hours at the low end.