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<blockquote data-quote="Thomas Shey" data-source="post: 8784199" data-attributes="member: 7026617">By accepting that there are tradeoffs, and while that design may contribute to that popularity, there could be other things that are perhaps not compatible with it that could do the same.That basically says that D&amp;D is at least a functional game that does as well as it does compared to other functional games with different approaches partly by the approach but partly because it has the combination of first-entry benefit and the networking benefits that go with it.You can, but at that point you have to make an argument that teases out those factors; you can't do the &quot;it wouldn't be so popular if it wasn't so good.&quot;&nbsp; As I said, you can, for example, make a functional argument suggesting that levelling and some other elements of the D&amp;D playcycle are a natural comfort zone for people, so it has an edge there over games that don't do those.&nbsp; I don't think those are an overwhelming argument, but they're at least making an argument about both what's there and what people respond to, that isn't dependent on using popularity as a proof.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Thomas Shey, post: 8784199, member: 7026617"] By accepting that there are tradeoffs, and while that design may contribute to that popularity, there could be other things that are perhaps not compatible with it that could do the same. That basically says that D&D is at least a functional game that does as well as it does compared to other functional games with different approaches partly by the approach but partly because it has the combination of first-entry benefit and the networking benefits that go with it. You can, but at that point you have to make an argument that teases out those factors; you can't do the "it wouldn't be so popular if it wasn't so good." As I said, you can, for example, make a functional argument suggesting that levelling and some other elements of the D&D playcycle are a natural comfort zone for people, so it has an edge there over games that don't do those. I don't think those are an overwhelming argument, but they're at least making an argument about both what's there and what people respond to, that isn't dependent on using popularity as a proof. [/QUOTE]

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