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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fenes" data-source="post: 4462283" data-attributes="member: 604">One point that wasn't mentioned so far: Mechanics influence fluff not just during the design phase, but also or even more so during the "Life" of a game. You can see that most clearly in MMOGs, but the PnP games are not too far behind.No matter the mechanics present, the players tend to pick what combo of gear, powers and tactics works "best", which becomes the standard, and sets the flavor. In MMOGs, that's the "tank holds aggro, healer heals, DPS does damage and CC holds the monsters at bay while we kill them one by one" mantra. Usually complemented with specific builds. Anyone who wants to try something different is fighting an uphill battle, and generally won't have many takers when building a group.In PnP games, that's usually not that much the case in individual and house ruled games, where people fiddle until they got the flavor they want, but in RAW games (cons, torunaments, living whatever) it's whatever works best according to the optimising boards.So, mechanics generate their own flavor, even if the designers wanted something else - especially if there are not many "best" variations for character or party builds. If magic trumps swords for dealing damage, or vice versa, then that's what will be used by most, and the game will be flavored accordingly.</blockquote>