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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7468442" data-attributes="member: 42582">It also seems to describe all storyteling games, most dolls and similar sorts of toys, etc.RPGs are quite a bit more specific than that.Well, I can't build sandcastles with a RPG; whereas I can with a sandbox. (With at least some RPGs I can pretend to build a sandcastle, but that's not the same as actually building one.)Even if we confine ourselves to storytelling; and even if we build in further assumptions that the story is going to be created not by the players just sitting around telling stories but via the mediation of some process wherein one player establishes an initial situation, and other players bring distinct characters into that situation; and then some process is used to work out how the situation changes from those characters engaging with it; it's still not true that any RPG let's you tell any story that you like.For instance, no version of D&amp;D that I'm aware of lets me tell the story of Jack the Giant-killer (I believe I'm recalling the Blue Fairy Book version): the events of that story aren't able to be generated by D&amp;D combat rules, XP rules or treasure rules.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7468442, member: 42582"] It also seems to describe all storyteling games, most dolls and similar sorts of toys, etc. RPGs are quite a bit more specific than that. Well, I can't build sandcastles with a RPG; whereas I can with a sandbox. (With at least some RPGs I can [I]pretend[/I] to build a sandcastle, but that's not the same as actually building one.) Even if we confine ourselves to storytelling; and even if we build in further assumptions that the story is going to be created not by the players just sitting around telling stories but via the mediation of some process wherein one player establishes an initial situation, and other players bring distinct characters into that situation; and then some process is used to work out how the situation changes from those characters engaging with it; it's [I]still[/I] not true that any RPG let's you tell any story that you like. For instance, no version of D&D that I'm aware of lets me tell the story of Jack the Giant-killer (I believe I'm recalling the Blue Fairy Book version): the events of that story aren't able to be generated by D&D combat rules, XP rules or treasure rules. [/QUOTE]

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