Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="JPL" data-source="post: 2744254" data-attributes="member: 1964">Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.&nbsp; Me?&nbsp; I am a veteran GM with a bachelor's in English.&nbsp; I don't know squat about real fighting, but I know quite a bit about narrative.&nbsp; In some sorts of games [or movies, or other fiction], a greater degree of attention to real-world tactics, physics, and physiology is called for, but I'm never trying to simulate &quot;real life&quot; in a game --- I'm trying to keep a good story going.[Rant on]Because you know what?#1.&nbsp; Real-world violence generally sucks.&nbsp; As an ex-public defender married to a cop, I understand that now a lot better than I did ten years ago, when I was just another idiot who had never been in a real fight but was a damn nerd expert on the subject.&nbsp; When there are men younger than me, and braver than me, experiencing the real thing in Iraq, I am not gonna sit around rolling dice and thinking that what I'm doing is anything more than storytelling.&nbsp; #2.&nbsp; Simulationist RPGs generally suck.&nbsp; They suck as simulations, and they suck as RPGs.&nbsp; You cannot simulate fear and adrenaline and confusion, and I've come to think that maybe that's what it's really all about in a real fight.&nbsp; Combine the aforementioned nerd hubris with a supposed emphasis on &quot;realism&quot; and you end up with a supposedly &quot;Smart Hero&quot; accidently sawing his own arm off with a chainsaw.Keep the emotions real, and the action cinematic.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="JPL, post: 2744254, member: 1964"] Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. Me? I am a veteran GM with a bachelor's in English. I don't know squat about real fighting, but I know quite a bit about narrative. In some sorts of games [or movies, or other fiction], a greater degree of attention to real-world tactics, physics, and physiology is called for, but I'm never trying to simulate "real life" in a game --- I'm trying to keep a good story going. [Rant on] Because you know what? #1. Real-world violence generally sucks. As an ex-public defender married to a cop, I understand that now a lot better than I did ten years ago, when I was just another idiot who had never been in a real fight but was a damn nerd expert on the subject. When there are men younger than me, and braver than me, experiencing the real thing in Iraq, I am not gonna sit around rolling dice and thinking that what I'm doing is anything more than storytelling. #2. Simulationist RPGs generally suck. They suck as simulations, and they suck as RPGs. You cannot simulate fear and adrenaline and confusion, and I've come to think that maybe that's what it's really all about in a real fight. Combine the aforementioned nerd hubris with a supposed emphasis on "realism" and you end up with a supposedly "Smart Hero" accidently sawing his own arm off with a chainsaw. Keep the emotions real, and the action cinematic. [/QUOTE]

Verification