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<blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 6382352" data-attributes="member: 59082">Again, it is the inner, cognitive experience of imagination. Think of it this way: In a video game, your awareness is focused on the screen; in a tabletop RPG, your awareness is focused both at the game table and the &quot;theater of mind.&quot; There is no, or very little, theater of mind in video gaming (at least from what I can gather). I agree and what you are pointing at sounds great, as long as this isn't advertised as the &quot;right way to play&quot; - but as one approach along a spectrum. I think the GM authority approach is also valid and can include creativity and imagination on the parts of the players.I agree and haven't suggested otherwise. I was using an analogy of life, not suggesting that the DM write all that stuff for the players. I have always taken the approach that the player and DM co-create and &quot;negotiate&quot; a character background, and that it really depends on to what degree the player wants to actively participate. Most players, I find, just want to show up and play a &quot;dwarf fighter&quot; or an &quot;elf wizard.&quot; Some want to envision a backstory, and some even want to co-create a place or culture of origin. But I think the key, as DM, is to be flexible and accommodating, but also with an eye of artistic integrity (e.g. I usually protest when players want to name their characters something intentional goofy that doesn't make sense in the context of the setting, like &quot;Bubba Jones&quot;).Well this is exactly what I was saying - every player is different and will want to engage to varying degrees. Most, though, actually prefer a more passive &quot;I just want to be a character in the story&quot; approach.I think you're a bit hung-up on the term &quot;improvisational jazz&quot; and stretching it far further than I had intended, creating a bit of a straw man of it, actually. First of all, I wasn't using that as a selling point for 5E but rather contrasting it to pop music as an analogy for the more imaginatively participatory nature of RPGs vs. video games. Maybe I should have contrasted improvisational jazz and classical music, where there is more individuality and self-direction in the former and the latter is more about playing perfectly, &quot;doing it right.&quot; Just so, RPGs involve a kind of inner engagement that I see largely lacking in video games.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mercurius, post: 6382352, member: 59082"] Again, it is the inner, cognitive experience of imagination. Think of it this way: In a video game, your awareness is focused on the screen; in a tabletop RPG, your awareness is focused both at the game table [I]and [/I]the "theater of mind." There is no, or very little, theater of mind in video gaming (at least from what I can gather). I agree and what you are pointing at sounds great, as long as this isn't advertised as the "right way to play" - but as one approach along a spectrum. I think the GM authority approach is also valid and can include creativity and imagination on the parts of the players. I agree and haven't suggested otherwise. I was using an analogy of life, not suggesting that the DM write all that stuff for the players. I have always taken the approach that the player and DM co-create and "negotiate" a character background, and that it really depends on to what degree the player wants to actively participate. Most players, I find, just want to show up and play a "dwarf fighter" or an "elf wizard." Some want to envision a backstory, and some even want to co-create a place or culture of origin. But I think the key, as DM, is to be flexible and accommodating, but also with an eye of artistic integrity (e.g. I usually protest when players want to name their characters something intentional goofy that doesn't make sense in the context of the setting, like "Bubba Jones"). Well this is exactly what I was saying - every player is different and will want to engage to varying degrees. Most, though, actually prefer a more passive "I just want to be a character in the story" approach. I think you're a bit hung-up on the term "improvisational jazz" and stretching it far further than I had intended, creating a bit of a straw man of it, actually. First of all, I wasn't using that as a selling point for 5E but rather contrasting it to pop music as an analogy for the more [I]imaginatively participatory [/I]nature of RPGs vs. video games. Maybe I should have contrasted improvisational jazz and classical music, where there is more individuality and self-direction in the former and the latter is more about playing perfectly, "doing it right." Just so, RPGs involve a kind of inner engagement that I see largely lacking in video games. [/QUOTE]

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