Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 6597336" data-attributes="member: 996">No, I'm looking for an objective definition that can be applied dispassionately.&nbsp; Otherwise, 'dissociative mechanics' is strictly identical with mere, wholly subjective, dislike.&nbsp; Which would be fine, if it weren't presented as a reason (rationalization) for dislike. &nbsp;So you determine if a mechanic is dissociative based on a fallacious appeal to popularity, even as you have no means to gauge that popular opinion beyond looking at edition war threads and applying confirmation bias.That is, also, a meaningless way of applying the label.&nbsp;Lack of connection between mechanic and character action is mere abstraction.&nbsp; A TTRPG necessarily has a lot of abstraction.&nbsp; I think you'd be better served looking at the kind of mechanics that receive the complaint, and finding commonalities.&nbsp; For instance, in the case of 4e, the 'dissociative mechanic' label was primarily applied to martial dailies, and exclusively to martial exploits, healing surges, and closely related mechanics.&nbsp; No power of any other Source ever attracted the label.&nbsp; That's a pretty clear correlation.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 6597336, member: 996"] No, I'm looking for an objective definition that can be applied dispassionately. Otherwise, 'dissociative mechanics' is strictly identical with mere, wholly subjective, dislike. Which would be fine, if it weren't presented as a reason (rationalization) for dislike. So you determine if a mechanic is dissociative based on a fallacious appeal to popularity, even as you have no means to gauge that popular opinion beyond looking at edition war threads and applying confirmation bias. That is, also, a meaningless way of applying the label. Lack of connection between mechanic and character action is mere abstraction. A TTRPG necessarily has a lot of abstraction. I think you'd be better served looking at the kind of mechanics that receive the complaint, and finding commonalities. For instance, in the case of 4e, the 'dissociative mechanic' label was primarily applied to martial dailies, and exclusively to martial exploits, healing surges, and closely related mechanics. No power of any other Source ever attracted the label. That's a pretty clear correlation. [/QUOTE]

Verification