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Not a Conspiracy Theory: Moving Toward Better Criticism in RPGs
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<blockquote data-quote="MGibster" data-source="post: 8929002" data-attributes="member: 4534"><p>I went to graduate school and some of my favorite classes involved working on theory for both history and anthropology. There's a point in every grad student's life, at least in the liberal arts schools, where he or she looks at all those theories and asks themselves a vital question: Does this really mean anything or is it all bull$%#^? I even remember this exchange form one of my fellow students and our professor in class.</p><p></p><p>Student: So you're basically saying history is a bunch of bull$%#^? </p><p>Professor: Yes. But it's well constructed bull$%#^. </p><p></p><p>At one point, I could talk to you about functionalism, a Marxist interpretation of history, structuralism, etc., etc. intelligently (believe or or not), and use those theories as tools to do my own analysing! But when I talk about RPG theory, my eyes glaze over, and I find that I ask myself a critical question that I still have no answer to: Does this really mean anything or is it all bull$%#^? </p><p></p><p><strong>Criticism, huh, yeah /</strong></p><p><strong>What is it good for? /</strong></p><p><strong>Absolutely nothing, uhh / </strong></p><p></p><p>What is the purpose of criticism? Is it to better understand a particular game or trends in gaming? Help us decide whether a game is right for you and your group? A way to help people improve their game writing skills? </p><p></p><p>How do you criticize a game? I start by trying to figure out what the game creators were trying to accomplish and determine if they succeeded. I'm not going to criticize <em>Call of Cthulhu </em>because it doesn't have rules for Hong Kong style action because that's not what the writers of CoC were trying to accomplish their their rules and setting.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MGibster, post: 8929002, member: 4534"] I went to graduate school and some of my favorite classes involved working on theory for both history and anthropology. There's a point in every grad student's life, at least in the liberal arts schools, where he or she looks at all those theories and asks themselves a vital question: Does this really mean anything or is it all bull$%#^? I even remember this exchange form one of my fellow students and our professor in class. Student: So you're basically saying history is a bunch of bull$%#^? Professor: Yes. But it's well constructed bull$%#^. At one point, I could talk to you about functionalism, a Marxist interpretation of history, structuralism, etc., etc. intelligently (believe or or not), and use those theories as tools to do my own analysing! But when I talk about RPG theory, my eyes glaze over, and I find that I ask myself a critical question that I still have no answer to: Does this really mean anything or is it all bull$%#^? [B]Criticism, huh, yeah / What is it good for? / Absolutely nothing, uhh / [/B] What is the purpose of criticism? Is it to better understand a particular game or trends in gaming? Help us decide whether a game is right for you and your group? A way to help people improve their game writing skills? How do you criticize a game? I start by trying to figure out what the game creators were trying to accomplish and determine if they succeeded. I'm not going to criticize [I]Call of Cthulhu [/I]because it doesn't have rules for Hong Kong style action because that's not what the writers of CoC were trying to accomplish their their rules and setting. [/QUOTE]
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