NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="steenan" data-source="post: 5123726" data-attributes="member: 23240">They are, maybe not strictly, but nearly exclusive, when applied, as the Big Model theory does, to players' agendas, not to the game system. When people play with different agendas, conflicts often arise, as what one seeks detracts from the fun of another. For example, narrative-minded player may willingly complicate the situation in game by his failures to make it more interesting and irritate the gamist as it lowers the chance of success. Gamist may ruin simulationist's fun by doing what is tactically optimal, but stylistically inappropriate or psychologically nonsensical.Of course, when I characterize someone as "gamist" or "simulationist" here what I mean is particular player's approach to the particular game. It is perfectly possible - and I think that's what most people do - to play with different agendas, depending on game system and GM.When seen as traits of a system, gamism, narrativism and simulationism may easily coexist. Many traditional RPGs support all three. Strong focus on one style of play is quite new, with many indie games aiming for narrativism and new editions of D&D aiming for gamism.Finaly, I'd like to correct two statements in the OP that I perceive as misinterpretations - or maybe just unclear wording - of creative agenda definitions.Narrativism focusing on addressing a premise through character choices; asking questions and answering them by in-game actions. Freedom of choice - and willingness to accept the consequences - is crucial here. It is as far as it goes from storytelling (storytelling as in "the GM has a predefined plot for PCs to participate in; he tells a story").Gamism does not focus on game mechanics. It focuses on achieving goals and defeating challenges, on "winning" in a wide sense of the word. It is perfectly possible to play with gamist agenda and no mechanics at all (for example, with a setting like Agata Christie detective stories, that are solved by attention to details and a good feel of human psychology - player skills).</blockquote>

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