False dichotomies and other fallacies RPGers use

[M.L. Martin]

The Edition War Excluded Middle: The assumption that any critic of 4E must be a 3.X/Pathfinder fan, or vice versa. (This one seems to be shifting a bit as the OSR gains prominence, but there's still a number of gamers who don't fall in to any of the three categories.)

 

[Fifth Element]

The Edition War Excluded Middle: The assumption that any critic of 4E must be a 3.X/Pathfinder fan, or vice versa. (This one seems to be shifting a bit as the OSR gains prominence, but there's still a number of gamers who don't fall in to any of the three categories.)

And its alternate form, that any fan of 4E must hate older editions, and vice-versa.

 

[blargney the second]

The Edition War Excluded Middle: The assumption that any critic of 4E must be a 3.X/Pathfinder fan, or vice versa.

In that case, could they be called the Edition XORs?

 

[The Ghost]

The one fallacy I really enjoy seeing is "I have never seen it done before therefor it cannot be done."

 

[Fifth Element]

The one fallacy I really enjoy seeing is "I have never seen it done before therefor it cannot be done."

Or "it's never happened at my table therefore it does not happen."

(And similarly, "That's what happens at my table therefore that's what happens at everyone's".

 

[FireLance]

Appeal to Authority: Gygax said to do it this way, therefore you should do it this way.

Yes, but more broadly. This could apply to any respected figure, too.

Throwing out the baby with the bathwater: Too much of X is bad, so any amount of X is bad. X could be simulation, game balance, fudging, railroading, etc. (EDIT: I guess this is an example of ignoratio elenchi, also known as irrelevant conclusion or irrelevant thesis).

And my #1 pet peeve: Expressing subjective opinion as if it was objective fact. IMO, anyway.

 

[blargney the second]

And my #1 pet peeve: Expressing subjective opinion as if it was objective fact. IMO, anyway.

Is that similar to "I like X, therefore X is true" or "I dislike X, therefore X must be false"?

 

[FireLance]

Is that similar to "I like X, therefore X is true" or "I dislike X, therefore X must be false"?

Excellent question. I guess it would cover several other fallacies including the one you mentioned, as well as the one raised by Fifth Element, i.e. "It's never happened at my table therefore it does not happen."

It probably occurs in its purest form during alignment arguments, when the line between subjective opinion and objective fact becomes even more blurred.

 

[ggroy]

I've seen a variation on the Gambler's Fallacy come up at the table quite frequently: "my d20 rolled a 1 right off the bat, now there are no more 1s in there for the rest of the night!"

A lot of gamers I've met and known over the years, are not familiar with the "law of large numbers".

Law of large numbers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Stormonu]

It probably occurs in its purest form during alignment arguments, when the line between subjective opinion and objective fact becomes even more blurred.

And the use of the polymorph spell.