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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 4454300" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>Yes, I've read them. I've never really got an "endgame" vibe from the paths to immortality, but I imagine they could be played that way (as could the stronghold rules from 1st ed AD&D, I guess).</p><p></p><p>Fair enough. I find the major essays reasonably clear, myself. As is fairly typical for criticism, the definitions tend to emerge in the course of use rather than in the glossary. The glossary is in my view not all that helpful.</p><p></p><p>Mearls I find quite clear, especially in the old Monster Makeover columns. Rob Heinsoo I don't find all that clear. W&M I found pretty clear, but I don't know who wrote that.</p><p></p><p>I guess for me, the bottom line about the Forge essays is that they give me a framework better than any other that I know for understanding my own gaming preferences (mostly "purist for system" simulationism in action resolution, but vanilla narrativism supported by character build rules and a high degree of player participation in shaping the story of the campaign - hence, despite all its flaws, RM has for a long time been my main RPG) and how various sorts of mechanics work for or against those preferences, for understanding new games, and for working out where people are coming from in the 4e design debates. When a framework for analysis pays off, I keep using it.</p><p></p><p>I know you didn't use the language of "insult", but I'll say something about that as well. I play one of the most hardcore simulationist games out there, namely, Rolemaster, and I've never felt remotely insulted by Ron Edwards' essays on the relationship between mechanics and payoff from gaming. Perhaps its because of the vanilla narrativism my group uses RM for - I don't know. But I find this "insulting" thing strange.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 4454300, member: 42582"] Yes, I've read them. I've never really got an "endgame" vibe from the paths to immortality, but I imagine they could be played that way (as could the stronghold rules from 1st ed AD&D, I guess). Fair enough. I find the major essays reasonably clear, myself. As is fairly typical for criticism, the definitions tend to emerge in the course of use rather than in the glossary. The glossary is in my view not all that helpful. Mearls I find quite clear, especially in the old Monster Makeover columns. Rob Heinsoo I don't find all that clear. W&M I found pretty clear, but I don't know who wrote that. I guess for me, the bottom line about the Forge essays is that they give me a framework better than any other that I know for understanding my own gaming preferences (mostly "purist for system" simulationism in action resolution, but vanilla narrativism supported by character build rules and a high degree of player participation in shaping the story of the campaign - hence, despite all its flaws, RM has for a long time been my main RPG) and how various sorts of mechanics work for or against those preferences, for understanding new games, and for working out where people are coming from in the 4e design debates. When a framework for analysis pays off, I keep using it. I know you didn't use the language of "insult", but I'll say something about that as well. I play one of the most hardcore simulationist games out there, namely, Rolemaster, and I've never felt remotely insulted by Ron Edwards' essays on the relationship between mechanics and payoff from gaming. Perhaps its because of the vanilla narrativism my group uses RM for - I don't know. But I find this "insulting" thing strange. [/QUOTE]
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