RPG Buzzwords that have effectively lost their meaning due to poor over-use

[Umbran]

• -punk - this has been a pet peeve of mine for years. Unless it's related to a dystopian worldview and an anti-establishment youth street movement, it's not -punk. Steampunk gets a grudging pass because it's obviously a derivative evolution of cyberpunk, where -punk was actually used correctly. People who think that they're clever talking about hope-punk, or calling Eberron magi-punk do not.

If "punk" were to have a flaw, it is in that it focused on nihilism in the face of dystopia. But, when the establishment is cynical, there's nothing more anti-establishment than hope. In a way, hope-punk is punk... against established punk tropes

 

[SkidAce]

"Diegetic"

 

[Ruin Explorer]

"Diegetic"

I have literally never seen that used as an RPG buzzword. Can you give some examples of how it was misused?

It's a pretty specific term with a precise meaning and generally used correctly in my experience, unlike a lot of other words, even far more common ones. Not always spelled correctly but that's a different issue!

 

[Deset Gled]

I have literally never seen that used as an RPG buzzword. Can you give some examples of how it was misused?

It's a pretty specific term with a precise meaning and generally used correctly in my experience, unlike a lot of other words, even far more common ones. Not always spelled correctly but that's a different issue!

There is one very specific current thread where you will find a small clique of posters using it regularly. The Search function should point you there quickly (without calling out anyone by name). In that thread, jargon and buzzwords have ascended to a level. I'm not going to say a higher level. But definitely a different one.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Star Wars Cantina

 

[Micah Sweet]

When I still cared about academia, when I would listen to someone speaking about philosophy they would typically define what they meant when using a term. But then even when people here define what they mean when using a particular word, there's always pushback from someone else who says they use the word differently. So we end up getting into a big discussion about what the word means instead of however the author defined it for the purposes of having a discussion.

This is because none of us hold anyone in the discussion in more esteem than themselves, and thus none of us feel we need to defer to someone else's definition. Instead, we all just say what we're thinking.

 

[Theory of Games]

This is because none of us hold anyone in the discussion in more esteem than themselves, and thus none of us feel we need to defer to someone else's definition. Instead, we all just say what we're thinking.

Great insight.

Don't they call that Argumentum Verbosum or something?

 

[Wolfpack48]

Liminal.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Liminal.