D&D 5E Adjudicating Melee

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I think there's also a tension between doing the most optimal thing and achieving the goals of play. Is it going to lead to a good time for everyone and help create an exciting, memorable story to frequently go for an enemy's eyesight? In my view, probably not. So a player in my opinion needs to temper the desire to do the most optimal thing with the knowledge that the only real way to win at D&D - at least as far as the Basic Rules say - is to achieve the goals of play. If "spamming" the most optimal thing isn't going to get one there, then another reasonable choice must be made.

This is not to say that blinding is the most optimal thing, of course. It's just a stand-in for any trick a player might be inclined to "abuse" in order to win at fights or whatever... while still ultimately failing to achieve the goals of play.

This is where we differ on play goals. We aren't trying to tell a story really. Now once a session ends and we talk about it over a beer I suppose there is a form of story there, but in the end we approach it like a game first, and a storytelling exercise is second. My group isn't the type that would be into a more narrative type rpg.

 

[LostSoul]

I think there's also a tension between doing the most optimal thing and achieving the goals of play. Is it going to lead to a good time for everyone and help create an exciting, memorable story to frequently go for an enemy's eyesight? In my view, probably not. So a player in my opinion needs to temper the desire to do the most optimal thing with the knowledge that the only real way to win at D&D - at least as far as the Basic Rules say - is to achieve the goals of play. If "spamming" the most optimal thing isn't going to get one there, then another reasonable choice must be made.

This is not to say that blinding is the most optimal thing, of course. It's just a stand-in for any trick a player might be inclined to "abuse" in order to win at fights or whatever... while still ultimately failing to achieve the goals of play.

I think that it's possible to design a game where playing optimally means achieving the goals of play. In that case you can avoid the tension and play the game to the best of your ability. One of the questions about "Success at a Cost" then, is "does this mechanic help players achieve the goals of play or does it increase the tension between optimal play (or whatever) and the goals of play?"

I don't know the answer to that.