Does everything about gaming HAVE to be fun?

[Mark]

So, does everything about a game HAVE to be fun, or can you play a game that is just mostly fun?

I see a lot of threads debating different aspects of the game and there seems to be some leeway for what some folks will consider worthwhile restrictions and rules...until someone plays the "fun" card. Everyone who plays that card seems to have a different line in the sand at which point they drop it into the discussion and say if a game has to have such and such, they simply don't think it would be fun and they simply will not play that way.

So where's your breaking point? What rule have you changed because it ruins the game for you otherwise? What new rule will make it so you will not convert to the new rules? If you sat down at a table to play where people claimed to being playing D&D, what rule being used would have to be changed for you not to say that you just can't play under those conditions because it isn't fun that way?

 

[Stalker0]

For me the system and it rules have to have the following:

1) Be believable. By that, I don't have to feel that its real, but logical enough that it makes it easy to work with and adapt.

2) Be easy to use. AOO's are for the most part fairly easy to use. Using the jump skill is a terrible pain in teh butt.

 

[3d6]

Fun isn't everything, it's the only thing.

 

[ergeheilalt]

I dont think the rules overtly detract from D&D or RPGs in general. If you want to have fun, it is up to the participants to make the game fun. The DM can choose adventures that suit the group's ideal for fun; or the players can create characters independant of statistics that create a fun atmosphere.

Even with rules that dont float my boat, there is always a way to have fun.

Erge

 

[BenBrown]

No, not everything has to be fun, but the fun:not fun ratio has to be such that overall, things are fun.

Otherwise, what's the point. Might as well take up knitting. That way, even if it's not fun, you still end up with a muffler.

 

[Breakstone]

Personally, I try to make fun of any situation, game or not.

But I know of people who just don't have fun when rules aren't going their way.

 

[Buttercup]

From my perspective, it isn't the rules that get in the way of fun. You can have fun with any rule set. Other players can ruin the fun, or the DM can ruin the fun.

 

[shilsen]

What ergeheilalt and Buttercup said. It ain't the size of your rules - it's what you do with 'em that counts.

 

[Olive]

From my perspective, it isn't the rules that get in the way of fun. You can have fun with any rule set. Other players can ruin the fun, or the DM can ruin the fun.

I'm not sure about that, i'm sure i can imagine rules that would just be no fun to play with.

Unless you mean that players and DMs being sticklers for the rules can ruin the fun.

Anyway, I can't really nswer the poll, because although I can imagine rrules that would be unplayable with, i can't think of any, and there isn't really a poll option for that.

 

[GruTheWanderer]

I'm not sure about that, i'm sure i can imagine rules that would just be no fun to play with.

Unless you mean that players and DMs being sticklers for the rules can ruin the fun.

Anyway, I can't really nswer the poll, because although I can imagine rrules that would be unplayable with, i can't think of any, and there isn't really a poll option for that.

To some extent any game (chess, polo, D&D, politics) is about accepting a certain set of restrictions in order to challenge yourself (either in competition or in cooperation with others). If rules ruin the fun, it might be because one of the players didn't agree to the restrictions, didn't understand them, or interprets them differently. I agree that rules themselves do not ruin the fun.