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Message: <blockquote data-quote="clearstream" data-source="post: 9236310" data-attributes="member: 71699">[USER=85870]@innerdude[/USER] [USER=86653]@overgeeked[/USER] [USER=7040941]@Emberashh[/USER] [USER=6785785]@hawkeyefan[/USER] [USER=7026617]@Thomas Shey[/USER]To my reading you've all raised in one way or another a question relevant to neotrad - why can't GM as referee just follow the rules?  Why must they be counted among players? ([USER=86653]@overgeeked[/USER] This is a separate question from - why should we prefer GM as player over GM as referee? - which some of your comments speak to.)That question - Why can't GM as referee just follow the rules? - is one I had in mind while writing. One could picture a sort of "constitution" binding the lawmaker (GM), and indeed you see that in some game texts. For example in PbtA texts, "always say what the rules demand". Such "constitutional" rules can selectively curtail GM powers, without making them a player. One catch is of course the regress: if I need not follow rules, what makes me follow rules about rules? If I can interpret and formulate rules, what makes me interpret the rules in the way designer envisioned, or prevents me formulating an out? One can make appeal to the power of social contracts and other norms, but [USER=86653]@overgeeked[/USER] at least evinces doubt as to their efficacy (i.e. that a referee is in practical cases still required to ensure that players uphold the rules, implying that social contracts and other norms cannot always be relied on.)Another consideration is that perhaps players should be defined as those who both follow rules of play and pursue goals playfully. Suits' comments among others would justify this. GM as referee then may be one who follows rules but does not pursue goals playfully. The rules GM follows being presumably the ones considered ideal for helping players do both of those things. Design moves such as the AW text may be read in this light, too.One could then assume that text such as in Forbidden Lands - "The final player is the Gamemaster" - is simply a mistake... a synonym for "participant". This may also cast doubt on what is meant in AW by - "Choose one player to be the Master of Ceremonies."It was with all of the above in mind that I chose to present a manifesto for neotrad rather than a definition of neotrad.</blockquote>

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