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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6350477" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>I know what Gygax had in mind, but I think even in 1979 that was probably a minority way of playing, and within a year or two, when Moldvay Basic came out, I think that it was cetainly a minority way of playing.</p><p></p><p>More generallly, though, I think that Gygax is emphasising the integrity of the GM's creation over the experience of the players. That's not unreasonable or anything - it was debated in the letters pages and articles of the magazines of that time, and it continues to be debated on these boards today - but it's not a position I agree with.</p><p></p><p>You may be, probably are, right about that. Though I think there is also a heavy emphasis in the AD&D books on the virtues of "official" rules and the threat posed by various alternatives (eg the attacks upon variant combat and spell systems sprinkled throughout the books). I don't think Gygax is clearly distinguishing "the game" as an individual groups play experience and "the game" as a commercial offering from TSR in competition with other systems like T&T, C&S etc, which he clearly is arguing are inferior.</p><p></p><p>Well, in part I was being ironic - or, rather, pointing to what I take to be an irony in giving such forceful instructions about how priorities <em>should</em> be ordered in a passage that tells the reader to prioritise the spirit of things over the written word. (By contrast, when Moldvay talks about "guidelines not rules" he doesn't then go on to say how things <em>should </em> be.)</p><p></p><p>But I did take your post to be an endorsement, to at least some extent, of Gygax's passage. Otherwise why post it without further comment?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6350477, member: 42582"] I know what Gygax had in mind, but I think even in 1979 that was probably a minority way of playing, and within a year or two, when Moldvay Basic came out, I think that it was cetainly a minority way of playing. More generallly, though, I think that Gygax is emphasising the integrity of the GM's creation over the experience of the players. That's not unreasonable or anything - it was debated in the letters pages and articles of the magazines of that time, and it continues to be debated on these boards today - but it's not a position I agree with. You may be, probably are, right about that. Though I think there is also a heavy emphasis in the AD&D books on the virtues of "official" rules and the threat posed by various alternatives (eg the attacks upon variant combat and spell systems sprinkled throughout the books). I don't think Gygax is clearly distinguishing "the game" as an individual groups play experience and "the game" as a commercial offering from TSR in competition with other systems like T&T, C&S etc, which he clearly is arguing are inferior. Well, in part I was being ironic - or, rather, pointing to what I take to be an irony in giving such forceful instructions about how priorities [I]should[/I] be ordered in a passage that tells the reader to prioritise the spirit of things over the written word. (By contrast, when Moldvay talks about "guidelines not rules" he doesn't then go on to say how things [I]should [/I] be.) But I did take your post to be an endorsement, to at least some extent, of Gygax's passage. Otherwise why post it without further comment? [/QUOTE]
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