Unpopular opinions go here

[Tony Vargas]

I'd say its quite a bit worse than PvP, as social mechanics influence how other characters behave, and players often have a bigger problem with being "controlled" than being punched in the face.

The way I've always felt about social-"pillar" mechanics used on PCs, is that, like everything else, they inform player decisions rather than dictate them. I guess I picked that up from the way the 1e excused PCs from morale checks.
I'll use the mechanics to determine if an NPC tells an undetected lie, comes off as more dangerous than he actually is, makes a persuasive argument, or whatever - but the players ultimately have to decide what their characters would do in the face of that. That rests on the supposition that a player in a TTRPG is there to play an RPG, of course....

Of course, few games took social mechanics as far as the 3.x Diplomancer, so it's rarely an issue, anyway.

 

[Faolyn]

In as-written 1e, what you say makes sense; even though 1e does have in its RAW a "max spells knowable by level" which is directly tied to Intelligence.

But that's what I was talking about not liking--that's the maximum number of spells you can have in your spellbook, which makes no sense. I mean, the rule stating you have to have Int X to learn spells of a particular level makes a lot of sense even without lore to support it. Spells are hard and require a lot of specialized knowledge and mental strength, which are represented by the Intelligence stat. Some people just aren't smart enough, have the education, or just have the right mindset for high-level magic, in the same way that most people won't be able to grok really high-level math or physics.

But maximum number of spells in your spellbook? Again, there's no lore saying why that is, which is why I don't like it. I can make lore, but I shouldn't have to make up a justification for a nonsensical rule. To integrate an strange rule, sure. But a nonsensical one that's only there for meta-reasons? Nah.

In either case it means a mage is studying every (or almost every) spell in her book each morning, not just a select few; and so the cap not only makes sense, it becomes rather important.

Well, that's simple--do what 5e does and limit the number of spells a person can memorize at a time. That way, even if you use a point-based system, they're not studying every spell in their book.

 

[Aldarc]

In my experience, players HATE it above all other things. This includes charm and compulsion, but also capture.

Maybe, but I suspect that's often because players have so little control in D&D other than declaring actions for their characters and there are so many ways to strip players of their agency in the rules. In my own separate experience from yours, many of my same players who hated social mechanics in D&D have absolutely no problem with them in games with more robust social mechanics like in Fate, Cortex Prime, and a variety of PbtA games (e.g., Stonetop, Monsterhearts, Urban Shadows, etc.). But there tends to a little more give and take and nuance to social mechanics in these games that amounts to more than "roll to auto-win."

 

[Faolyn]

Better to hold the door for anyone that happens to be there.

This exactly. Speaking as a woman, I'd rather you hold the door for me because you're a decent person than because I've got lady parts. The first is kindness, or at least following social niceties; the second is condescending, as if I either can't do it myself or need to be catered to.

 

[Faolyn]

I am about to nerd out here at a level that I can only hope causes Snarf to say, "Damn, son. You really need to tone it down."

As far as I can tell, the idea of Starfleet being anything other than a military organization originated after the original series stopped production. In the original series, Kirk refers to himself as a soldier, there's an episode literally called "Court Martial," there's the rank system and organization you point out, and most importantly it's Starfleet who prosecutes wars on behalf of the Federation. Nobody watching "Errand of Mercy," "Arena," or "Balance of Terror" in the 1960s ever thought Starfleet was anything other than a military organization.

Despite the disappointing box office return of Star Trek the Motion Picture, Paramount gave the greenlight to a sequel but they did not want Gene Roddenberry in charge. They didn't use Roddenberry's script which involved the crew of the Enterprise going back in time to the 1960s to foil a plot by time traveling Klingons. So they made Roddenberry a consultant so they could put him out of the way without pissing off Trekkies. Roddenberry hated the script for Wrath of Kahn beliving it to be too militaristic in tone. There is some speculation that Roddenberry was the one who leaked details of Spock's death to the public out of spite.

It wasn't until The Next Generation that the idea that Starfleet wasn't a military organization was floated. In 1991's 2nd season episode "Peak Performance," the Enterprise is assigned to a training exercise as part of Starfleet's effort to figure out how to handle the new Borg threat. From the very beginning, Picard and Riker consider it a waste of time as the captain says, "Starfleet is not a military organization, its purpose is exploration." Keep in mind that just a few episodes earlier the Enterprise got their rear end handed to them by the Borg losing several crewmembers in the process only surviving because Q interfered.

And ever since then there's been an insistance that Starfleet wasn't really a military. Nevermind the whole Dominon War arc on Deep Space 9. I remember Nichelle Nichols insited Starfleet wasn't a military organization, they were more on par with the U.S. Coast Guard. I guess she didn't know the USCG was one of the braches of the United States Armed Services same as the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. The remake of Wrath of Khan has a scene where Scotty rhetorically asks Kirk if "they were a military now?" Yes! Yes you are! You've got an admiral that's about to start a war. You're a military.

I don't care if Starfleet's main job is exploration, science, and diplomacy. They're also the organization that defends the Federation and is the one that fights the wars that need to be fought. That makes them a military.

I'd say it's because of the idea (erroneous or not) that military = war. In Star Trek, the military exists first to protect the explorers, scientists, and diplomats and secondly to protect Federation space. The Federation doesn't go around declaring war on people in order to control them or their territory, after all, and only declares war when faced with a severe outside threat and all other attempts at peace have failed. So for most people, that means it's an exploration organization with military aspects, not the other way around.

 

[Reynard]

This exactly. Speaking as a woman, I'd rather you hold the door for me because you're a decent person than because I've got lady parts. The first is kindness, or at least following social niceties; the second is condescending, as if I either can't do it myself or need to be catered to.

How can you tell the difference?

 

[Gradine]

Actually in many cases, having a door held open for you can feel like an obligation to speed up. It's kind of annoying to hold a door open for someone unless their hands are full, honestly.

 

[Cadence]

Actually in many cases, having a door held open for you can feel like an obligation to speed up. It's kind of annoying to hold a door open for someone unless their hands are full, honestly.

If they're several steps back I can see your point (and speed up myself for that reason). If it's just a couple steps I certainly hold it and it feels rude to me that someone wouldn't.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

If they're several steps back I can see it (and speed up myself for that reason). If it's just a couple steps I certainly hold it and it feels rude to me that someone wouldn't.

Huh.

Meanwhile, I am frantically pushing the "close door" button on the elevator so that other people won't get in.

Sorry! I just didn't see you.

 

[Cadence]

Huh.

Meanwhile, I am frantically pushing the "close door" button on the elevator so that other people won't get in.

Sorry! I just didn't see you.

I mean, holding the door I can always choose not to follow them into the building as I stand outside holding it. The elevator would require me to be spry enough to jump out.