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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Matt James" data-source="post: 5571187" data-attributes="member: 82885">I just had a very similar conversation with a LARP guy I know back here at home. He seems to think the same way as you. My argument is that as long as a person takes on a persona and develops traits selected to the character, that is roleplaying.Here is where I will concede some valid points that some have used against 4e. Up until the past several months, much of the story behind the powers, places, classes, races, and all subsets of the game, were lacking with description and "fluff". With the shift in how they decided to do business (from what I can tell, this time last year), WotC appears to be focusing on these elements and have really started to ramp it up. Some of my favorite books in 4e thus far have been Open Grave and books like the Manual of the Planes. These offer a lot of inspiring content that does not translate to specific game mechanics. if you look at the new Gloomwrought product and others out recently, they follow this trend and path.Both a game system and the ability to roleplay are topics that are mutually exclusive. That being said, inspiration for affecting each can be important. I really think they have hammered down a solid system, and now more focuses on story will be prevalent.To summarize: A game system cannot inherently produce roleplaying. It comes from the inspiration of the text and guidance from the community (i.e. your group, or friends, or interactions with the game itself). As an example, Monopoly could easily be a RPG if everyone who played it focused on creating characters that worked to purchase various properties. The rules could include a section on this, but it can't inherently induce it without acceptance from the player.We (4e consumers, et al.) need to cultivate an environment that rewards character development, and not one that gets kudos for finding the most math-tastic combinations. That being said, I would be a massive jerk to assume I know best how others should derive their enjoyment.</blockquote>

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