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Message: <blockquote data-quote="deleuzian_kernel" data-source="post: 8703254" data-attributes="member: 7036985">I see!I definitely haven't given this particular point much thought before. You've given me an incentive to read up some more and talk to people about this! Here's how I think about it currently:In AW's text Vincent never says: "Every time the MC opens their mouth, a move has to come out." or "If you don't make a move right now, I swear I'll come to your table with a hatchett."As you said, MC moves seem to merely serve as pointers and reminders to say what Vincent suggests are "more things, a wider variety of things" to say. But I would say that more than that, they provoke you to say one of those things.I don't think there's more to that with regards to any possible other "mechanical functions" that they might serve with regards to the conversation. They are, essentially, quite a simple and straightforward mechanic.Where complexity, depth, and importance arise, I think, is when you consider the power that such a tool gives you when it comes to pursuing your agendas without the need to think too hard about whether or not you should be doing that or something else instead. Suddenly you have a very simple and straightforward answer to the question "How do I contribute meaningfully to the fiction when it's my turn while pursuing my agendas and principles?"In the last couple of months, I've seen a trend in 5e forum threads of people engaging in conversation about how often we downplay the high cognitive load that running a game entails. I think MC Moves are a tool that comes to our rescue in this regard. They free up space for us to think, to wonder about other aspects of the game...more room for the MC to play to find out.I think over the years people thought of MC moves and said: "Sure...but this isn't too different from what I've been doing all along". I think they were missing part of the point of the mechanic. Right, they were already saying a wide variety of things that included some of those things, some of the time...but was it as clean and straightforward as MC moves provoke them saying those things? Did they have the confidence that, as long as they were aiming at an agenda and were misdirecting, barfing forth, being a fan, they would be fine?Apocalypse World is very actively deceptive about most of its stuff. It is, in a way, a reaction to other "narrativist" systems where an in-orderly amount of focus was placed on meta-situational discussions and concerns of interesting situation, conflict, kickers, bangs, escalation etc... MC moves are a way for the MC to play instead of manage the game. I think that's powerful.I also think this also plays a big part in my disagreement with the other user. I just don't think that Apocalypse World in any way, shape or form, expects you or encourages you, the MC, to manage all of these concerns about framing, and conflict-neutralness and GM fiat...specially not while you're playing. It frees you from that with the tools it gives you! It tells you, straight to your face: when it's your turn to say something, you know, pick one of these. (Small parentheses: One tool to make sure there is no conflict-neutralness in your Apocalypse World is threat creation in between sessions. A small bit of management to make sure you can get back to playing with fresh new things to say next session.)As to whether or not they are "optional" or "essential", or if am I playing AW or I'm not depending of whether or not use MC moves. I really don't have a definitive answer other than what Vincent has extensively discussed in conversations like this one: <a href="http://lumpley.com/index.php/anyway/thread/23" target="_blank">anyway: Periodic Refresher</a>[HR][/HR]Yeah! I agree with [USER=6696971]@Manbearcat[/USER] in that pacing is another emergent quality of the structure and interplay of moves. Vincent doesn't really disagree with you in that respect, I think, in the same <a href="https://lumpley.games/thebarf/index.php?topic=9238.0" target="_blank">post</a> he contends that:</blockquote>

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