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General Tabletop Discussion
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RPG Evolution: Are RPGs Art?
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<blockquote data-quote="Clint_L" data-source="post: 9016247" data-attributes="member: 7035894"><p>lol. No. The confidence is impressive, though.</p><p></p><p>RPGs are 100% art, in several different ways.</p><p></p><p>When we sit down at a table and play as our characters, building a story and an aesthetic, that is obviously art. If you don't consider that art, then you don't consider, say, improv theatre art.</p><p></p><p>I will argue that the games are also art <em>in themselves</em>. Typical rules books are aesthetically presented works of imagination. I have spent untold hours reading texts such as the Monster Manual, lost in considering the descriptions, illustrations, and implications. The rules in themselves have an aesthetic. Some are cluttered and technical, others elegant and sparse.</p><p></p><p>Art is, by its nature, subjective, but most would agree that it is a creative expression that has an aesthetic, intended to provoke thoughts and feeling. RPGs are creative expressions, they have an aesthetic, and they are intended to provoke thoughts and feelings. Ergo art, as it is conventionally defined.</p><p></p><p>Edit: I am talking about specific games, of course. As a genre, RPG is a genre of art (or medium, if you prefer). But honestly, this topic is like asking whether novels, songs, films, etc. are art.</p><p></p><p>Edit 2: I suppose there could be RPGs that are not art in themselves, if for example, they just consist of a completely didactic set of instructions, like a user manual. I suppose in that case they would only become art when played. I have never seen such an RPG, but I can imagine it.</p><p></p><p>Edit 3: Because this is the internet, I now brace for an onslaught of pedants eager to argue that <em>technically</em> books themselves are not art, it is the words and illustrations within that are the art, and so on. If that is you, then feel free to score all the imaginary internet points you wish and consider yourself the winner.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Clint_L, post: 9016247, member: 7035894"] lol. No. The confidence is impressive, though. RPGs are 100% art, in several different ways. When we sit down at a table and play as our characters, building a story and an aesthetic, that is obviously art. If you don't consider that art, then you don't consider, say, improv theatre art. I will argue that the games are also art [I]in themselves[/I]. Typical rules books are aesthetically presented works of imagination. I have spent untold hours reading texts such as the Monster Manual, lost in considering the descriptions, illustrations, and implications. The rules in themselves have an aesthetic. Some are cluttered and technical, others elegant and sparse. Art is, by its nature, subjective, but most would agree that it is a creative expression that has an aesthetic, intended to provoke thoughts and feeling. RPGs are creative expressions, they have an aesthetic, and they are intended to provoke thoughts and feelings. Ergo art, as it is conventionally defined. Edit: I am talking about specific games, of course. As a genre, RPG is a genre of art (or medium, if you prefer). But honestly, this topic is like asking whether novels, songs, films, etc. are art. Edit 2: I suppose there could be RPGs that are not art in themselves, if for example, they just consist of a completely didactic set of instructions, like a user manual. I suppose in that case they would only become art when played. I have never seen such an RPG, but I can imagine it. Edit 3: Because this is the internet, I now brace for an onslaught of pedants eager to argue that [I]technically[/I] books themselves are not art, it is the words and illustrations within that are the art, and so on. If that is you, then feel free to score all the imaginary internet points you wish and consider yourself the winner. [/QUOTE]
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