Thomas Shey's latest activity

Fair. But I still think you need to stay aware of it when discussing what things like mechanics mean and how much they matter.

Don't count on it.

You can occasionally get mechanical structures that have outlived their functions--there were a few 3e era prereq things that, far as I...

It requires a--particular--view to describe everything that was pulled out of RQ as "cruft". It may not suit everyone's needs, but...

Doesn't that just make it "roleplaying" or "make-believe?" The definition of "game" tends to wander around depending on who you ask (and...

Yeah, I'm not sure rules about structural parts of the (there's probably a better term for this) social process are the same as rules...

I meant it was moot in that if no one is trying to say "But that isn't a roleplaying game" in the discussion, the gatekeeping intent or...

At first I was not up on damage on a miss, but have become pretty ok with it in 5E. HPs have always been "not meat points until they...

I'm willing to particpate as people use a term--I'm a descriptive linguist, not prescriptive--but that doesn't mean I don't think the...

Well, the pitch itself for one, plus all the rules about how you may or may not make contact with other players as you run. Possibly...

So often.

On the other hand, things often evolve in such a fashion where they're so broad they're virtually impossible to define, and even when...

I think as the hobby has evolved "roleplaying game" hasn't been generically accurate for some time now, but terms often outlive their...

More relevant to this discussion, I think both storytelling and performance belong largely to that category. RPGs can be games, but they...

A term I've seen applied the the latter are "passtimes".