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Saying anything is 100% completely anything is setting the bar a bit high logically, regardless of the subject. I think there's some reason to be skeptical about your ability to confidently put these issues into the categories that you do, and I'll try to explain why below. What if it doesn't...

Ok, I think I see - the example I used was misleading then because I don't have a strong opinion about what specific bonuses should be. I like the idea of some general guidelines about monster design that mimic player design, but having the guidelines and being forced to use them are two...

Perhaps as a tangent - I don't "throw away" plots or keep plots. I'm of the "the plot is what happens in the game" game philosophy. The issue for me is not whether or not I roll behind the screen. The issue is whether the parameters and chance of success are well defined. If, for example, we...

I don't think my issue has anything to do with that. As I understood the "succubus seduction" example, the rules were going to propose a complete lack of rule framework for that ability - anything beyond flavor text. It wasn't a matter of the rules saying "you (the DM) decide on what the Will...

That really wasn't my point though - I didn't think anyone was making that case about tree climbing in 4E. Maybe I've misunderstood this issue. I'm using the example of a ranger climbing a tree because it seemed to be a standard example back in the "1E vs. 3E" days and I thought folks would...

As I recall, back in the time of the edition wars, grognards bemoaned the loss of "DM power" that resulted from 3E having rules for things that formerly were undescribed in the game. "I can just *decide* whether or not a ranger can climb a tree based on how I'm feeling that day - rather than...

Years ago I used to drive by this guy walking along the side of the road every morning on my way to work. His schedule was so regular that I could figure out whether or not I was late based on where he was when I passed him. One morning I got to work and someone told me that this guy had been...

Well I guess that stands to reason because as best as I can understand this I'm a simulationist. Now I understand the goals of a power-gamer, even if I'm not particularly entertained by playing that way. But the narrativist thing on the other hand I just don't get. I can't image why an RPG...

There seem to be three example play styles in the paragraph above, but the last two seem to be "simulationist" examples, in spite of my suspicion that you intended the last one to be narrative. Or at least it's "sim" based on what other folks are saying because the "reasoning" of the imaginary...

No problem, I did asked the most coherent questions I could think of. It's hard to ask a good question when you don't understand what's going on. I don't think there's a problem with your English at all, I just think the words and phrases that people are using have a 'technical" definition...

I find the bulk of what you're saying to be somewhat hard to follow. You're speaking English but the words that you're using seem to assume some definitions that I don't know. So if I seem dense, that's my best guess as to why. It's like me saying "the bagel is orange". I know what bagel...

You mean about not helping the cleric with his orphanage? That example was an example of simulation or narrative? It seemed to be simulating the effects of poverty striking a community. Granted, the DM made a lot of decisions about how things were going to be without using dice. For example...

Well, obviously I was trying to be funny/light at the beginning but at the root of the humor was a serious statement about the stuff I don't get. My point was basically this - keeping track of what happened in the past, assuming that NPCs react to you according to some sort of world logic and...

Wasn't a troll. I was serious. I haven't seen 24 but I suppose there are no other examples? Narration where the character tells you how they feel about something would be like you telling your fellow players at the table? And that's what is meant by "exploration?" I'm surprised, not only...

In honor of the "death of simulation", here's a transcript of the last time I'll ever play an RPG: DM: You walk into a tavern and they're selling soup, you're really hungry and if you don't buy some I'll take away Con points. Me: Ok, one bowl of soup it is. DM: That'll be 8,590 gp. Me...

The 3.5 SRD is more specific IIRC: "Common meals might consist of bread, chicken stew, carrots, and watered-down ale or wine." So perhaps: > 1/2 lb loaf of bread = 2 cp > chicken stew = ? a whole chicken is 2 cp. Why not take that as an upper limit. > carrots = ? Say vegetables are...

Endless debates? If you've discovered the secret of time travel please share. I predict all these debates will eventually end. As for "hearsay", I'll take as an example of that a statement that supposes that there's a group of people out there who are being "hysterical" in a way that's...

Ok. Good point. I need to be clearer about what I mean. People are much more invested in time and energy for their current game system (including other RPGs) than with computer games, for example. I can't just go to another RPG and play it that night - they don't work like that. For one...

Really? I don't remember it that way at all. The "percentile strength" system of AD&D wasn't partiulcarly better suited to simulation (edit: or freeform/freedom of design) than the 3d6 scores of DnD for example. In fact, what's "freeform" about every elf having to be both a wizard and...

But why begrudge the 4E system and designers the ability to create helpful guidelines just because they are used inappropriately? (If I understand you correctly.) The rule system IMO isn't "taking power away from the DM" in the cases where the DM won't stand up and exercise reasonable...