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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 4886248" data-attributes="member: 177">As is your right.  I believe we have had much the same conversation before.  Shall we have it again for the edification of those who missed the earlier iteration?You greatly overstate the case, as if it were not possible to feel these particular words are problematic without finding all language to be problematic.  Well, here's the thing - this is largely my point.  The actual gaming styles are not a dichotomy.  So much (or little) so that there is no actual natural division between them.  If there's no natural division, there should not be a sub-genre distinction, IMHO.  One can draw much understanding from comparing and contrasting genres, but drawing arbitrary lines in the sand confuses more than it enlightens.  However, the chosen terms, and their practical use on these forums, try to impose dichotomy.  The terms "old school" and "new school" have been in use for decades outside of gaming, and they are used to express dichotomy (what was done before, as opposed to what is done now).  If you lack a demonstrably operational time machine, and try to tell me that "old" and "new" are not supposed to be a dichotomy, I am going to have to call you a ninnyhammer, and stop discussing this at all with you, as you will have proven the point that language is, in fact, useless.If the intent was to discard the dichotomy, those terms should not have been chosen.  Instead, I submit that they were deliberately chosen for that very purpose, as follows...The terms have disproportionate amounts of bickering associated with them.  Rather like edition wars.  That should not be surprising.There are some few posters trying to engage in constructive analysis on these lines, and I thank them for it.  However, both historically and in practical terms, the OS/NS divide is primarily yet another variation on edition warring, with the edition numbers scraped off and general timeframes taking their place.  It is less immediate, and so less vitriolic, than edition warring, but the logical character is the same.  More division, less searching for commonalities.</blockquote>

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