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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Emoshin" data-source="post: 8944063" data-attributes="member: 7040377">This is a + thread <img class="smilie smilie--emoji" alt="🙏" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f64f.png" title="Folded hands    :pray:" data-shortname=":pray:" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" />The purpose of this + thread is to learn if cognitive dissonance happens if/when playing our favorite game, and what if anything we’ve done about it.What is cognitive dissonance?Cognitive dissonance is (and hopefully this is an accurate summary):<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Perceiving contradictory information, like two ideas that are inconsistent with each other</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">and feeling some amount of mental stress as a result</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">and usually trying to find a way to resolve the contradiction to reduce the mental discomfort</li> </ul>To reduce cognitive dissonance, we have various coping strategies, like:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Adjusting one's behavior or attitude (for example, eat less junk food if concerned about a healthy diet)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Rationalizing or justifying the behavior or belief that creates the dissonance</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ignoring or denying the info that creates the dissonance</li> </ul>Cognitive dissonance can result in frustration and confusion. Sometimes it can ultimately lead to personal growth, if the discomfort drives us to re-evaluate our beliefs and adjust behavior accordingly.Cognitive dissonance in RPGs?I propose that many of us have and/or continue to experience some amount of cognitive dissonance in roleplaying games. It can be mild or intense, it can divide us into many different sides, and sometimes we invest a good amount of time and effort arguing and/or resolving it.From alignment to XP, upon reading or in play, potential sources of cognitive dissonance could be very general (like hit points) to very granular (why do druids not use metal armor but do use metal weapons?). The mental discomfort could be negligible or minor or major. Reducing the dissonance could vary from ignoring it to switching to a new system altogether and everything in between.But why use that term?I personally like the term “cognitive dissonance”, because it's:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">a formal theory in psychology</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">more precise than “I don’t like this”</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">experiential (it doesn’t try to assign an objective formal characteristic to a rule or fiction)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">subjective (it's not a criticism of someone else's experience with the game)</li> </ul>For exampleFor example, in my favorite RPG (currently 5E), I see PC hit points as primarily a reserve of heroic resilience and good fortune (until it drops into, say, the 10s to reflect more physical endurance). However when, say, a fireball fills up an empty room and the PCs take massive amounts of fire damage, it’s hard for me to see cinematically what happened. Do they have first degree burns? Do the PCs manifest untold defensive powers? I try not to think about it too much. My group is not interested in trying out other systems at this time, so that's not currently a solution. However, as the PCs keep rising in levels, I’ve been thinking about introducing an in-fiction explanation that supports levels and hit points as part of the world-building."In my game..."To facilitate a productive discussion, be as subjective ("in my game...") as possibleLet's NOT make assertions:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">About other people or their experiences or games we’ve barely played</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">That if you don't like X, stop playing your favorite RPG</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">That X isn't a problem or "should" not be a issue for somebody else</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Using Forge-talk, if only because of the baggage and to be as inclusive as possible in a general forum</li> </ul></blockquote>

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