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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celtavian" data-source="post: 6793956" data-attributes="member: 5834">Here is an answer from Gary saying it's not story-telling as normally presented. I can agree with that. It is not a pre-scripted story. It's a mix of things that very much includes elements of story-telling, which he always included in his modules. Whether Gary intended it or not, D&D has strong elements of story within it. The game plays much better when such elements are included in the game. The designers that were drawn to the game tend to love story-telling. It is a game that is very attractive to people that like telling or participating in stories, even if not in the traditional scripted manner.Gary: Insightful, that question, and allow me comment on it a bit before answering.I do not, and I stress NOT, believe that the RPG is “storytelling” in the way that is usually presented. If there is a story to be told, it comes from the interaction of all participants, not merely the Game Master–who should not be a “Storyteller” but a narrator and co-player! The players are not acting out roles designed for them by the GM, they are acting in character to create the story, and that tale is told as the game unfolds, and as directed by their actions, with random factors that even the GM can’t predict possibly altering the course of things. Storytelling is what novelists, screenwriters, and playwrights do. It has little or no connection to the RPG, which differs in all aspects from the entertainment forms such authors create for.As false to the game form as the pre-scripted “story,” is play that has little more in it than seek and destroy missions, vacuous effort where the participants fight and kill some monster so as to gain more power and thus be able to look for yet more potent opponents in a spiral that leads nowhere save eventual boredom. So pure hack and slash play is anathema to me too.Tactical, and strategic, play is a fine addition to the RPG, and if it is in-character, something I see as desirable, In this category fall such things as exploration, economics, politics, and even intrigue.The LA RPG was designed to accommodate any and all styles and play approaches, and hopefully so presented as to encourage an amalgam of all the elements of the game form. That encourages varied adventures, different challenges from time to time, and well-rounded characters (and players) that find the game has long-term interest for them. In short, I agree with you in that all aspects of the RPG should be presented and played.Now, as to the LA MMPO game, I have not yet had the opportunity to really get into anything like what actual online play will be. We have discussed that a good bit, naturally, and soon I expect to be adventuring about with an Avatar in more than just a general environment, as has been the case up until now. What is particularly exciting to me about that is the new facets of play that will be presented thus, things not now contained in the LA pen-and-paper game.Here is another interview with Gygax with the man himself admitting how strongly influenced he was by fiction including Tolkien: <a href="http://archives.theonering.net/features/interviews/gary_gygax.html" target="_blank">http://archives.theonering.net/features/interviews/gary_gygax.html</a>Whether Gygax believes his game is story-telling or not is irrelevant. The story-telling influences on the game are clear. He created a game where a group of people could participate in a story. It is obviously not in the traditional scripted sense, but an open-ended, cooperative story in a fictional world with outcomes decided by game mechanics and dice.</blockquote>

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