No one is talking about requiring anything. We're saying it would be super great of these people to explain exactly what they mean, rather than relying upon everyone understanding a common meaning for a made-up word that no one agrees on the contextual meaning of.
I'm going to quote Transbot9 (the original poster) from a post he made in this thread, with a bit more than I find relevant, but enough to leave the context clear. I'm going to add emphasis, so that I might make a point following the quote. I do not intend for this to affect the reading of the following quote:
Here's the problem: Typically, what is said is "I don't like x because it is too much like a videogame." Very little exposition is typically given as to 1. Why it feels like a videogame and B. Why feeling like a videogame in this instance is a bad thing.
Now, some of the posts in this thread do go into it and break it down. But when the phrase "I hate it because it feels like a videogame" tossed around and treated like an insult to a particular product (which happens in the edition warring that goes on), it lacks the exposition needed to place the phrase in a context that makes any sense beyond just ragging on something.
So what we have is a "sound-bite" that becomes an oft-repeated reason for why something sucks. If there is a lack of additional context, it just becomes an insult that implies any influence from videogames to P&P RPGs is a bad plan and ruins the roleplaying experiance.
From the first area I've emphasized, I'd like to point out that his reasoning is not completely aligned with the post of yours I quoted. Yes, he thinks that additional information would be helpful for communication, as you do (if I've read your posts correctly in this thread).
However, Transbot9 goes on to say that he also feels it is an insult at video games. I don't believe this is true, as I noted on my previous post in this thread (one page back now). Even Transbot9 uses the phrase "I hate it because
it feels like a videogame" in his example, which, as I pointed out, is not inherently negative or insulting. I'd put forward the idea that getting away from taking something descriptive (whether or not you think it's adequately so) as insulting is probably a good thing, especially when someone can claim it is so without actually meaning any insult at the comparison.
As an example, I heard complaints (some time ago, so this isn't
that contemporary) that the new Metal Gear games felt too much like movies. I know for a fact that the people who made the complaint do not dislike movies (as we've watched movies together on many occasions over the years), and yet their complaint communicated a feeling.
Yes, there's usually a few things that cause this feeling. However, at the end of the day, it's still a feeling, and as such -for better or worse in practical dialogue- it transcends conventional logic. Something can have a certain feel to it that just rubs you the wrong way. I can dislike D&D for the feel it gives in one incarnation of the game, and like D&D for the feel it gives in another incarnation. It does not mean that I dislike the other things that I may compare it to.
That's the disconnect, I think. There are statements that saying something "feels too much" like something else implies that the subject compared to is somehow bad. It's not, inherently, and I think that taking offense or insult when it is used as a comparison is probably illogical. That's okay, to an extent, as the person saying something "feels" a certain way is also being illogical, to an extent.
Yes, you can discuss the specifics of the problem. However, the likely answer in the end -even if you speak about things completely logically- is that something still "feels too much like" something else. It's about a theme, really, that someone feels when they play something, and then how much that theme resonates with them and their style and preferences.
These things are subjective, and people see things in different ways. At the end of the day, play what you like
