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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 3663366" data-attributes="member: 177">I occasionally play larps, and discuss the theory of the games in other forums.&nbsp; In Scandanavia, there's a community of folks who use a &quot;two week rule&quot; - any harm or injury to another player that will heal up within two weeks is legal.&nbsp; And they often claim that all those people who use dice aren't really playing a role-playing game, because the dice prevent the game from reaching true immersion.&nbsp; They say that, due to the fundamental difference between their tools and rules and everyone else's they are the only ones who play real role playing games.Alternatively, I have a former colleague, a 55+ year old VP of Engineering in a software company, who had no RPG experience and started playing World of Warcraft to spend time with his son.&nbsp; It was quite clear that he had created a persona, and made tactical, strategic, and character-build choices based upon the imaginary personality he'd made for his character, rather than pure effectiveness. He could and would tell stories of his deeds without reference to the rules or interface that are not distinguishable from what we see over in the Story Hour forum.&nbsp;Role playing games include a hefty artistic element.&nbsp; They will defy hard classification much like genres of music and literature. If it looks, walks, and quacks like a duck - it is a duck.&nbsp; My colleague was playing a role-playing game, and anyone who says otherwise is too hung up on the methodology of the game to see the results.&nbsp; I think a whole lot of you are confusing &quot;X is a role playing game&quot; with &quot;X is not what I consider a good role playing game&quot;.&nbsp; Others seem to be engaging in willing or unconscious elitism, and I find that highly disappointing in my fellow EN Worlders.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 3663366, member: 177"] I occasionally play larps, and discuss the theory of the games in other forums. In Scandanavia, there's a community of folks who use a "two week rule" - any harm or injury to another player that will heal up within two weeks is legal. And they often claim that all those people who use dice aren't [i]really[/i] playing a role-playing game, because the dice prevent the game from reaching true immersion. They say that, due to the fundamental difference between their tools and rules and everyone else's they are the only ones who play real role playing games. Alternatively, I have a former colleague, a 55+ year old VP of Engineering in a software company, who had no RPG experience and started playing World of Warcraft to spend time with his son. It was quite clear that he had created a persona, and made tactical, strategic, and character-build choices based upon the imaginary personality he'd made for his character, rather than pure effectiveness. He could and would tell stories of his deeds without reference to the rules or interface that are not distinguishable from what we see over in the Story Hour forum. Role playing games include a hefty artistic element. They will defy hard classification much like genres of music and literature. If it looks, walks, and quacks like a duck - it is a duck. My colleague was playing a role-playing game, and anyone who says otherwise is too hung up on the methodology of the game to see the [i]results[/i]. I think a whole lot of you are confusing "X is a role playing game" with "X is not what I consider a good role playing game". Others seem to be engaging in willing or unconscious elitism, and I find that highly disappointing in my fellow EN Worlders. [/QUOTE]

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