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<blockquote data-quote="Felon" data-source="post: 2905636" data-attributes="member: 8158">&quot;Is it fair to blame a game system for player and GM decisions?&quot;So basically, the poll is asking &quot;is it fair to blame X for something that's not its fault?&quot;. Which of course it isn't; taken on face-value, voting &quot;yes&quot; on this poll makes one look pretty asanine. Sorry, Hussar, but this question has all the earmarks of a blatant shill, with the goal of offering the illusion of a choice that guarantees a landslide agreement with your point of view. Note how the question is structured to offer up opinion as incontravertible fact: oh, we can debate the fairness of blaming the system for what's really the sole fault of the players and GM, but certainly there is no room for discussing that crticism might legitimately be leveled at the system or its designers. Voting &quot;yes&quot; or &quot;no&quot; is relevant, because simply by voting a person is assenting to that notion.Most of the follow-up comments builds on that foundation of sand by expressing the rather facile and quixotic notion that it's the GM job to be perfect--a flawless filter of anything poorly-designed or abuse-prone that might come out of a sourcebook. Thus, the system's design is completely absolved of all possible criticisims. Roll out your Radiant Servants of Pelor and Fists of Razael, WotC, do your worst; nobody can hold it against you. By this logic, if I work on the chocolate-chip cookie line at Keebler, I can take a dump in the batter with impunity. After all, there's some quality-control guy somewhere whose job it is to decide which cookies find their way into your local supermarket. Criticize his decision when you bit into a turdlet. I'm blameless.Clearly this is a poor rationalization. The designers have an obligation to make sure material measures up with the baseblines that they established. The DM has an obligation to make sure that material is appropriate for his campaign. The players have an oblgation to steer clear of abusing the rules.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Felon, post: 2905636, member: 8158"] "Is it fair to blame a game system for player and GM decisions?" So basically, the poll is asking "is it fair to blame X for something that's not its fault?". Which of course it isn't; taken on face-value, voting "yes" on this poll makes one look pretty asanine. Sorry, Hussar, but this question has all the earmarks of a blatant shill, with the goal of offering the illusion of a choice that guarantees a landslide agreement with your point of view. Note how the question is structured to offer up opinion as incontravertible fact: oh, we can debate the fairness of blaming the system for what's really the sole fault of the players and GM, but certainly there is no room for discussing that crticism might legitimately be leveled at the system or its designers. Voting "yes" or "no" is relevant, because simply by voting a person is assenting to that notion. Most of the follow-up comments builds on that foundation of sand by expressing the rather facile and quixotic notion that it's the GM job to be perfect--a flawless filter of anything poorly-designed or abuse-prone that might come out of a sourcebook. Thus, the system's design is completely absolved of all possible criticisims. Roll out your Radiant Servants of Pelor and Fists of Razael, WotC, do your worst; nobody can hold it against you. By this logic, if I work on the chocolate-chip cookie line at Keebler, I can take a dump in the batter with impunity. After all, there's some quality-control guy somewhere whose job it is to decide which cookies find their way into your local supermarket. Criticize his decision when you bit into a turdlet. I'm blameless. Clearly this is a poor rationalization. The designers have an obligation to make sure material measures up with the baseblines that they established. The DM has an obligation to make sure that material is appropriate for his campaign. The players have an oblgation to steer clear of abusing the rules. [/QUOTE]

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