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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ovinomancer" data-source="post: 8148593" data-attributes="member: 16814">I'm not sure what you mean by defining terms specifically.  I look at what you wrote and clearly read it as "I care about having full authority over the mental states of my character."  This is a fine statement, absolutely nothing wrong with it as a preference, it just doesn't have anything to do with agency because there's nothing at stake to make a choice about -- it's empty calories.  It's also incorrect, in that I'm certain you haven't banned or refuse to play in games that feature Charm, Suggestion, Domination, or other effects/spells which rather forcefully usurp this authority you're referencing.So, no, it's not about redefining things -- I've been very steady in all my used definitions from the start of this thread, and explained their underpinnings.  It's that you're using agency in ways where you just mean you have final authority, except when you don't but those cases are okay because you're used to them.No, they're not real concepts.  Inertia is a concept.  It's not a force.  There's no concept of inertial force.  Physics doesn't use anything like "inertial forces."  Agency is a concept, but this is a hasty generalization.  Agency existing as a concept does not provide any substance to a different claim.Let's unpack this.  The game involves imagination, but it isn't imaginary.  There are rules that are not imagined as part of the game, for instance.  If we want to change the game, ie, that game involving those rules, then we have to act within those rules.  You imagining your character is sad has no weight within any RPG without an action involving the rules.  It is a separate thing.  A different game, which is what I said about this being a meta-game where you entertain your friends but don't invoke the game rules.  Now, if you state that your character is sad, and this imposes a gamestate within the rules that other players can interact with with those rules, then we're in agency land, because we're operating on choices that have consequences.  If it's just you and your friend Bob having a sideline pretend game about your character being sad and Bob saying nice things, that's awesome!  I do that all the time -- one of my fondest memories around games was having a 20 minute in character conversation about whether or not another character made a shot while my character was unconscious -- I played my character as not believing it and the other player tried to convince that it happened.  Twenty minutes, in character, hella fun.  And at no point did it involve any agency.</blockquote>

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