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Message: <blockquote data-quote="innerdude" data-source="post: 6999073" data-attributes="member: 85870">I read through [MENTION=6703801]PrometheanVigil[/MENTION] 's response. The tone is fairly representative of "that other RPG forum site" that I generally refuse to frequent, specifically because most of the conversation is in this general vein. But aside from that, I also have to disagree generally with most of the stated opinions.It seems in his opinion that power gaming is the "true" way to game, that "roleplaying" serves only a secondary (at best) function to the actual point of roleplaying which is to "bring the awesome, ALL THE TIME!!!!!!!"  (Because obviously, playing an arms race with your GM is the truest way to gaming satisfaction.)His response to [MENTION=20564]Blue[/MENTION] here: feels narrow-minded at best, and actively hostile to players looking for character-driven play at worst.But ultimately, as [MENTION=20564]Blue[/MENTION] said upthread, these are fundamentally separate axes, or spectra, or continuums. The quality of play in one axis really has absolutely no bearing on the quality of play in the other axis, and the only thing stopping the two from excellently coexisting is the attitude that A) they fundamentally cannot coexist, and anyone claiming that they can is already setting up a game for failure, or B) that making allowances for one axis or the other somehow "diminishes" the fun for the other.That said, it's been my experience that the "power gamers" are generally more hostile to changing their ways than the "roleplayers." I think this stems (once again, just from my own experience) from "roleplaying" players' general view that their brand of fun can coexist in a multitude of ways across a variety of RPG experiences. Most "roleplaying" gamers I know are more open to changing systems, trying new things, while still being open to increasing their mechanical effectiveness if the situation calls for it. "Power gamers" in my experiences have been much more rigid---they're highly opposed to changing systems regularly, because it diminishes the value of their system mastery. Typically a power gamer has latched on to one, maybe two systems that they know inside and out, and generally will not play outside of them. Their "fun" only comes from a single locus within the game, and doing anything that disrupts that locus feels onerous and is pretty much a non-starter.Given the choice, I'd much rather have a table full of "roleplayers" that need a little help becoming more mechanically effective than a table full of "power gamers" that need help creating more well-rounded characters. Because once a "roleplayer" character becomes more effective, they've by default become more effective in both axes. As [MENTION=29398]Lanefan[/MENTION] said, just because you give a "power gamer" a well-rounded character doesn't mean they're going to take on the attitude, or philosophy of playing that character in like fashion. But then of course, the best players are those that are good at both.</blockquote>

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