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Is RPGing a *literary* endeavour?
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7620702" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>[MENTION=6786839]Riley37[/MENTION], you didn't answer my question as to what you think it adds to the thread to insist that [MENTION=6787503]Hriston[/MENTION] said something that he didn't, on the basis of attributing a meaning to his words that they were not intended to bear, and which no reasonable reader of them in the context of their production would impute to them.</p><p></p><p>As to your question about light, light isn't an endeavour of any sort. It's a natural phenomenon. Unlike RPGing, which <em>is</em> an endeavour; and which is framed in the OP as an aesthetic endeavour (subsequent posts have noted classic dungeoncrawling as an exception; as best I recall no poster has disputed that framing or the exception), and which therefre has goals and features that contribute to quality, success, etc.</p><p></p><p>Unlike the case of <em>light</em>, it's therefore not a category error to ask whether RPGing is literary endeavour, any more than it would be a category error to ask whether theatre or film-making is a literary endeavour, and whether the qualities that make for good theatre or cinema are essentially literary qualities.</p><p></p><p>On speaking loud enough to be heard: of course if one can't be heard at the recital, it will not succeed. That doesn't make adequacy of volume a literary quality. If it rains and the noise of the rain on the roof drowns out the speaker, or the roof leaks and the audience all leave as a result, that will also cause the event to fail; but that doesn't make architecture or roofing a literary quality.</p><p></p><p>The general points are (1) that not all necessary or faclititive conditions for the success of a literary endeavour are, in virtue of that, lliteary qualities; and (2) that not all necessary or facilitative conditions for a successful RPGing session pertain to the character of RPGing as an aesthetic endeavour. And - as per my example of mathematics teaching not far upthread - the converse is true, also. Teaching mathematics doesn't become a literary endeavour just because doing it well requires thinking about words in something like the way a writer might. RPGing can be more fun with snacks; that doesn't make RPGing a culinary endeavour.</p><p></p><p>Anyone who thinks that RPGing is sui generis as an aesthetic activity of necessity agrees with the "no" answer in the OP, although perhaps not for the same reasons.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7620702, member: 42582"] [MENTION=6786839]Riley37[/MENTION], you didn't answer my question as to what you think it adds to the thread to insist that [MENTION=6787503]Hriston[/MENTION] said something that he didn't, on the basis of attributing a meaning to his words that they were not intended to bear, and which no reasonable reader of them in the context of their production would impute to them. As to your question about light, light isn't an endeavour of any sort. It's a natural phenomenon. Unlike RPGing, which [i]is[/i] an endeavour; and which is framed in the OP as an aesthetic endeavour (subsequent posts have noted classic dungeoncrawling as an exception; as best I recall no poster has disputed that framing or the exception), and which therefre has goals and features that contribute to quality, success, etc. Unlike the case of [I]light[/I], it's therefore not a category error to ask whether RPGing is literary endeavour, any more than it would be a category error to ask whether theatre or film-making is a literary endeavour, and whether the qualities that make for good theatre or cinema are essentially literary qualities. On speaking loud enough to be heard: of course if one can't be heard at the recital, it will not succeed. That doesn't make adequacy of volume a literary quality. If it rains and the noise of the rain on the roof drowns out the speaker, or the roof leaks and the audience all leave as a result, that will also cause the event to fail; but that doesn't make architecture or roofing a literary quality. The general points are (1) that not all necessary or faclititive conditions for the success of a literary endeavour are, in virtue of that, lliteary qualities; and (2) that not all necessary or facilitative conditions for a successful RPGing session pertain to the character of RPGing as an aesthetic endeavour. And - as per my example of mathematics teaching not far upthread - the converse is true, also. Teaching mathematics doesn't become a literary endeavour just because doing it well requires thinking about words in something like the way a writer might. RPGing can be more fun with snacks; that doesn't make RPGing a culinary endeavour. Anyone who thinks that RPGing is sui generis as an aesthetic activity of necessity agrees with the "no" answer in the OP, although perhaps not for the same reasons. [/QUOTE]
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