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"Hot Take": Fear is a bad motivator
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<blockquote data-quote="Fox Lee" data-source="post: 8294612" data-attributes="member: 4346"><p>I couldn't agree more. I have zero time for games where the GM considers it their job to be the adversary of the players (rather than to operate a narrative/world space that contains adversaries) and that includes the idea that they need to strike fear/paranoia into the hearts of the players or "keep them on their toes".</p><p></p><p>I realise that's how a lot of groups have their fun, and good for them! I am a particular extreme on this scale—I'm so disinterested in fear/thrill as a core appeal that I don't even enjoy it in non-game media, like horror movies. So, a GM trying to make me feel afraid is a GM I would choose not to play with.</p><p></p><p>I also don't enjoy play styles heavily coloured by fear/paranoia (the old "check every door/chest/corridor for traps"/"grill every NPC to see if they're lying") or an overall story primarily about/motivated by fear. To me, those are just boring ways to play. I came to play as a hero (or as a GM, I came to facilitate a story of heroes) and "paranoid grave robber" ain't it. I prefer a game where a player can have their character do something reckless and stupid, that's also fun and interesting and moves the story along, without being afraid of punishment.</p><p></p><p>It's a big reason I still play 4e, which is <em>very</em> open about wanting to tell big flashy hero stories, and makes it quite difficult for PCs to die, even at low levels. (Like some other posters here, I won't ever kill off PCs without consent—but also I have literally never had it come up in a game.) That's the style I'm here for!</p><p></p><p>Also, a slightly more objective consideration; In my experience, the high-paranoia/adversarial GM games also tend to exacerbate metagaming and rules-lawyering, since players are highly motivated to use every last scrap of their game mastery to keep their character alive. I don't actually think either of those things is bad in moderate amounts, but I find that the more pressure a player is under, the more these behaviours approach problem levels (defined here as "making the game not enjoyable any more"). Again, not going to be a problem for every group, but it's certainly something to keep in mind if you don't enjoy these behaviours.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Fox Lee, post: 8294612, member: 4346"] I couldn't agree more. I have zero time for games where the GM considers it their job to be the adversary of the players (rather than to operate a narrative/world space that contains adversaries) and that includes the idea that they need to strike fear/paranoia into the hearts of the players or "keep them on their toes". I realise that's how a lot of groups have their fun, and good for them! I am a particular extreme on this scale—I'm so disinterested in fear/thrill as a core appeal that I don't even enjoy it in non-game media, like horror movies. So, a GM trying to make me feel afraid is a GM I would choose not to play with. I also don't enjoy play styles heavily coloured by fear/paranoia (the old "check every door/chest/corridor for traps"/"grill every NPC to see if they're lying") or an overall story primarily about/motivated by fear. To me, those are just boring ways to play. I came to play as a hero (or as a GM, I came to facilitate a story of heroes) and "paranoid grave robber" ain't it. I prefer a game where a player can have their character do something reckless and stupid, that's also fun and interesting and moves the story along, without being afraid of punishment. It's a big reason I still play 4e, which is [I]very[/I] open about wanting to tell big flashy hero stories, and makes it quite difficult for PCs to die, even at low levels. (Like some other posters here, I won't ever kill off PCs without consent—but also I have literally never had it come up in a game.) That's the style I'm here for! Also, a slightly more objective consideration; In my experience, the high-paranoia/adversarial GM games also tend to exacerbate metagaming and rules-lawyering, since players are highly motivated to use every last scrap of their game mastery to keep their character alive. I don't actually think either of those things is bad in moderate amounts, but I find that the more pressure a player is under, the more these behaviours approach problem levels (defined here as "making the game not enjoyable any more"). Again, not going to be a problem for every group, but it's certainly something to keep in mind if you don't enjoy these behaviours. [/QUOTE]
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"Hot Take": Fear is a bad motivator
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