Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 6970036" data-attributes="member: 29398">Which to some might be the very definition of powergaming - twisting and squeezing the rules to gain any possible advantage, regardless of the rules' spirit or intent.Yes, this can be a (or greatly add to the) problem.The difference, I think, is between those who don't (or can't, due to ambiguity) know the intent of the rules and thus violate it unintentionally or unknowingly vs. those who know quite well the rules' intent and go ahead and (try to) violate it anyway.&nbsp; However, this is only half the story......and this vaguely hints at the other half: the intent of the individual table.&nbsp; If the intent of a particular table as a whole is to power to the max then a more casual gamer won't likely fit in and may well be seen as a problem.&nbsp; The reverse is also true: a full-on powergamer is likely not going to fit in a more casual kill-the-monsters-and-pass-the-beer game and may well be seen as a problem.&nbsp; And of these two scenarios I rather suspect the second is much more common, thus leading to the bad rap powergamers seem to get.These are examples of rules trying to drive a particular playstyle, which is fine; but a case can also be made that a well-designed game's rules should be neutral (though clear) and thus flexible enough to allow the playstyle to sort itself out and-or allow for - and roughly equalize - vastly different playstyles within the same game.Lan-&quot;the monster's dead now; time for a beer&quot;-efan</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 6970036, member: 29398"] Which to some might be the very definition of powergaming - twisting and squeezing the rules to gain any possible advantage, regardless of the rules' spirit or intent. Yes, this can be a (or greatly add to the) problem. The difference, I think, is between those who don't (or can't, due to ambiguity) know the intent of the rules and thus violate it unintentionally or unknowingly vs. those who know quite well the rules' intent and go ahead and (try to) violate it anyway. However, this is only half the story... ...and this vaguely hints at the other half: the intent of the individual table. If the intent of a particular table as a whole is to power to the max then a more casual gamer won't likely fit in and may well be seen as a problem. The reverse is also true: a full-on powergamer is likely not going to fit in a more casual kill-the-monsters-and-pass-the-beer game and may well be seen as a problem. And of these two scenarios I rather suspect the second is much more common, thus leading to the bad rap powergamers seem to get. These are examples of rules trying to drive a particular playstyle, which is fine; but a case can also be made that a well-designed game's rules should be neutral (though clear) and thus flexible enough to allow the playstyle to sort itself out and-or allow for - and roughly equalize - vastly different playstyles within the same game. Lan-"the monster's dead now; time for a beer"-efan [/QUOTE]

Verification