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An Odd Thought Occured to Me about RPG's.
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<blockquote data-quote="Sunseeker" data-source="post: 5325811"><p>A "true neutral" GM will never happen due to the fact that GMs are humans, not machines. Maybe you're VERY good at it, but I'm willing to wager when there are moments when you're partial to your giant monster and smile as he bashes your PC's heads in. Likewise I'm betting there are moments where a good play by a player will make you chuckle.</p><p></p><p>Impartiality to the numbers? Very doable. But the goal of every game is to have fun, as such, your impartiality should be, at best, utilitarian. Be as impartial as possible, until you realize that just because the game says that X should happen because Y just happened, it's going to make for a very bad gameplay experience.</p><p></p><p>ie: In WoW on a pvp server, you WILL get griefed. Because they rules say that they can and there's nothing you can do about it because you're too low level. To take this to D&D, an arch-demon from the 9th circle of hell can show up and massacre your lvl2 party because they happened to kill a young succubus he was about to get it on with. This however, is dumb and not fun. Therefore, most high-powered monsters show up, do something flashy, taunt the players, laugh and then run away. Which is generally considered to be fun.</p><p></p><p>So yes, I agree you should stay impartial to the numbers, but only as long as you are not remaining impartial to goal of the game, which is to maximize fun.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Originally, "winning" was fun, sports were more friendly competition and less hardcore money-grabs.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Well, to an extent the goal is to win. The players are trying to overcome the challenges, and the DM is trying to overcome the players with the challenges. But it's a much friendlier competition, and yes, competition can, and IMO should exist between players. ie: the Gimli-Legolas orc-killing competition.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I agree, I think generally the group(DM included) is victorious in the game provided that everyone had a good time.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sunseeker, post: 5325811"] A "true neutral" GM will never happen due to the fact that GMs are humans, not machines. Maybe you're VERY good at it, but I'm willing to wager when there are moments when you're partial to your giant monster and smile as he bashes your PC's heads in. Likewise I'm betting there are moments where a good play by a player will make you chuckle. Impartiality to the numbers? Very doable. But the goal of every game is to have fun, as such, your impartiality should be, at best, utilitarian. Be as impartial as possible, until you realize that just because the game says that X should happen because Y just happened, it's going to make for a very bad gameplay experience. ie: In WoW on a pvp server, you WILL get griefed. Because they rules say that they can and there's nothing you can do about it because you're too low level. To take this to D&D, an arch-demon from the 9th circle of hell can show up and massacre your lvl2 party because they happened to kill a young succubus he was about to get it on with. This however, is dumb and not fun. Therefore, most high-powered monsters show up, do something flashy, taunt the players, laugh and then run away. Which is generally considered to be fun. So yes, I agree you should stay impartial to the numbers, but only as long as you are not remaining impartial to goal of the game, which is to maximize fun. Originally, "winning" was fun, sports were more friendly competition and less hardcore money-grabs. Well, to an extent the goal is to win. The players are trying to overcome the challenges, and the DM is trying to overcome the players with the challenges. But it's a much friendlier competition, and yes, competition can, and IMO should exist between players. ie: the Gimli-Legolas orc-killing competition. I agree, I think generally the group(DM included) is victorious in the game provided that everyone had a good time. [/QUOTE]
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