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Beyond Old and New School - "The Secret That Was Lost"
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<blockquote data-quote="ExploderWizard" data-source="post: 6226979" data-attributes="member: 66434"><p>This is exactly the opposite of what I'm looking for in a game of the imagination. Lets take a look at whats happening here. The GM describes the situation; <em>player nominates method. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p>Lets examine that bit for a moment. The player essentially chooses a programmed action from an available list. Its like a list of possible responses menu that the Terminator calls up. The player in this case is using an automated mechanical response and is interacting with the game mechanics instead of the game world. </p><p>The player selects a menu item and presses a button, presumably one that has been determined will have the greatest impact upon the present situation due to a variety of mitigating factors, all mechanical in nature. The button is pressed and the player watches the result to see if he/she will be rewarded with a success treat. </p><p></p><p>The game world and what is happening is a distant secondary concern being overriden by the grinding mechanical gears deciding on the best choice based upon how "the engine" runs. </p><p></p><p>This style of play is unsatisfying to me. Once the vehicle has been constructed (the character "build" is complete) the actual play of the game is largely an automated process. All that is needed to then play is a body to roll dice with some knowledge of rules interactions. The game world itself is a two-dimensional overlay "skin" draped over the mechanical engine. The biggest irritating thing about the whole process- <em>nothing of consequence takes place without a mechanical process. The byproduct of such play is a group interacting with the resolution mechanics almost exclusively. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em>Why bother listening to descriptions of world elements if you can't really interact with them? Does it really matter about the details if, at the end of everything, all will come down to "make skill check X"? Players pick up on that quickly and cut to the chase with the ubiquitous "what do I need to roll'? </p><p></p><p>The end result of such a system is an automated process with little soul and no heart. The DM doesn't really need to adjudicate because the rules cover so much. The players don't need to interact with much because the resolution mechanics handle everything. The game practically runs and plays itself. I have better things to with my time than participate in games that don't really need me to function. </p><p></p><p>The best analogy the OP dicussed that relates to this issue is the hand drawn vs computer drawn art. Old school games are like the hand drawn art. They have a warmth created by the increased required human element that is simply missing in the automated programmed response systems. </p><p></p><p>All of this is of course, my subjective opinion based upon extensive personal experience. YMMV and all that.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ExploderWizard, post: 6226979, member: 66434"] This is exactly the opposite of what I'm looking for in a game of the imagination. Lets take a look at whats happening here. The GM describes the situation; [I]player nominates method. [/I] Lets examine that bit for a moment. The player essentially chooses a programmed action from an available list. Its like a list of possible responses menu that the Terminator calls up. The player in this case is using an automated mechanical response and is interacting with the game mechanics instead of the game world. The player selects a menu item and presses a button, presumably one that has been determined will have the greatest impact upon the present situation due to a variety of mitigating factors, all mechanical in nature. The button is pressed and the player watches the result to see if he/she will be rewarded with a success treat. The game world and what is happening is a distant secondary concern being overriden by the grinding mechanical gears deciding on the best choice based upon how "the engine" runs. This style of play is unsatisfying to me. Once the vehicle has been constructed (the character "build" is complete) the actual play of the game is largely an automated process. All that is needed to then play is a body to roll dice with some knowledge of rules interactions. The game world itself is a two-dimensional overlay "skin" draped over the mechanical engine. The biggest irritating thing about the whole process- [I]nothing of consequence takes place without a mechanical process. The byproduct of such play is a group interacting with the resolution mechanics almost exclusively. [/I]Why bother listening to descriptions of world elements if you can't really interact with them? Does it really matter about the details if, at the end of everything, all will come down to "make skill check X"? Players pick up on that quickly and cut to the chase with the ubiquitous "what do I need to roll'? The end result of such a system is an automated process with little soul and no heart. The DM doesn't really need to adjudicate because the rules cover so much. The players don't need to interact with much because the resolution mechanics handle everything. The game practically runs and plays itself. I have better things to with my time than participate in games that don't really need me to function. The best analogy the OP dicussed that relates to this issue is the hand drawn vs computer drawn art. Old school games are like the hand drawn art. They have a warmth created by the increased required human element that is simply missing in the automated programmed response systems. All of this is of course, my subjective opinion based upon extensive personal experience. YMMV and all that. [/QUOTE]
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