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<blockquote data-quote="Doug McCrae" data-source="post: 4804001" data-attributes="member: 21169">Very much so. I've often felt that PCs in rpgs act in an implausibly selfish manner when one compares the way people in the real world, such as gang members or soldiers, act when faced with combat, serious physical danger or an external threat.Rpgs are not doing a good job at making the players feel like those people feel. Players are together for short periods of time, sometimes they may not know one another very well, but these guys spend most of their lives together.Hazing, or initiation rituals, are a powerful psychological trick used by organisations to promote loyalty to the group. The thinking is that because one has suffered to join the group then membership must be desirable. It must be worth a lot because you've paid a lot. I wonder if some sort of hazing ritual could help promote loyalty in an rpg, tbh it would probably just backfire. To be clear, I'm talking about hazing the PCs, not the players.Do you ever notice how so few PC groups have names? It's always really hard coming up with one even in superhero games, where it's a superstrong genre convention. They are practically non-existent in fantasy games such as D&amp;D.All street gangs have names. All military outfits, even small ones, have names. There is clearly a much stronger group identity here than one finds in the typical PC group.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Doug McCrae, post: 4804001, member: 21169"] Very much so. I've often felt that PCs in rpgs act in an implausibly selfish manner when one compares the way people in the real world, such as gang members or soldiers, act when faced with combat, serious physical danger or an external threat. Rpgs are not doing a good job at making the players feel like those people feel. Players are together for short periods of time, sometimes they may not know one another very well, but these guys spend most of their lives together. Hazing, or initiation rituals, are a powerful psychological trick used by organisations to promote loyalty to the group. The thinking is that because one has suffered to join the group then membership must be desirable. It must be worth a lot because you've paid a lot. I wonder if some sort of hazing ritual could help promote loyalty in an rpg, tbh it would probably just backfire. To be clear, I'm talking about hazing the PCs, not the players. Do you ever notice how so few PC groups have names? It's always really hard coming up with one even in superhero games, where it's a superstrong genre convention. They are practically non-existent in fantasy games such as D&D. All street gangs have names. All military outfits, even small ones, have names. There is clearly a much stronger group identity here than one finds in the typical PC group. [/QUOTE]

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