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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 9061738" data-attributes="member: 22779"><p>Look I’ll admit I’m being aggressive here. Probably too much so so I’ll try to dial it back. </p><p></p><p>But the whole “you aren’t really role playing if you use mechanics” schtick needs to die in a fire. It’s an argument as old as time. “Real” role players just play through it. You shouldn’t need to use mechanics if you just engage “player skill” and make the game more “immersive”. </p><p></p><p>The entire argument is grounded in the huge bolus of condescending goop. Gamers sneeringly looking down their noses at the proletariat who just don’t know what real role playing is. </p><p></p><p>So yeah. I get a bit shirty. Decades of this exact same rhetoric being presented as “oh well it’s just my preference” as if telling people they’re not really playing the game right uneless we engage in the one true way is perfectly reasonable. </p><p></p><p>See because here’s the difference. Myself and others are saying, well as long as what the player is attempting is clear, who cares how they phrase it? And then we’re being told, oh no you must not phrase it referencing mechanics because that’s bad. For very vague, undefined reasons. </p><p></p><p>IOW for some reason, “I look around the room carefully” is qualitatively better than, “I look around the room. Perception 18”. Oh wait, if I take it a step further and say, “I look carefully at the chest” I don’t even need to roll (presumably because I’ve somehow satisfied the dm in some poorly defined way) and I automatically succeed. </p><p></p><p>But because I said chest and not floor, I automatically fail to spot the illusion and fall in the trap. </p><p></p><p>And this is somehow more immersive and better role play than, I look around the room, perception 17. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/rant.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":rant:" title="Rant :rant:" data-shortname=":rant:" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 9061738, member: 22779"] Look I’ll admit I’m being aggressive here. Probably too much so so I’ll try to dial it back. But the whole “you aren’t really role playing if you use mechanics” schtick needs to die in a fire. It’s an argument as old as time. “Real” role players just play through it. You shouldn’t need to use mechanics if you just engage “player skill” and make the game more “immersive”. The entire argument is grounded in the huge bolus of condescending goop. Gamers sneeringly looking down their noses at the proletariat who just don’t know what real role playing is. So yeah. I get a bit shirty. Decades of this exact same rhetoric being presented as “oh well it’s just my preference” as if telling people they’re not really playing the game right uneless we engage in the one true way is perfectly reasonable. See because here’s the difference. Myself and others are saying, well as long as what the player is attempting is clear, who cares how they phrase it? And then we’re being told, oh no you must not phrase it referencing mechanics because that’s bad. For very vague, undefined reasons. IOW for some reason, “I look around the room carefully” is qualitatively better than, “I look around the room. Perception 18”. Oh wait, if I take it a step further and say, “I look carefully at the chest” I don’t even need to roll (presumably because I’ve somehow satisfied the dm in some poorly defined way) and I automatically succeed. But because I said chest and not floor, I automatically fail to spot the illusion and fall in the trap. And this is somehow more immersive and better role play than, I look around the room, perception 17. :rant: [/QUOTE]
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