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Message: <blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 6235811" data-attributes="member: 3192">There does seem to be some discrepancy among responders. That's normal as people play lots of different kinds of games. D&D is a traditional game, a game that tries to do what games actually are about. IOW, it's a game about recognizing patterns in a field of play in order to achieve certain predetermined objectives. It's a strategy game.  Other games don't necessarily include all the elements of a full game, but a lot do. Think of games like: sports, feats of strength or athleticism, trivia, puzzles, feats of memory, and so on. Then there are things called games which aren't actual games at all. Stuff like painting a picture, singing, talking to your friends (unstructured, of course), taking a nature hike, or even telling stories. Game rules aren't necessary for any of those things, but they could be put into a game and improved according its design.What RPGs began as were games and many still play them that way. That is, strategically to achieve objectives. But there are storygames too where a game is played, either competitively or cooperatively, in order to create a story secondary to the game play. Or an artwork. Or design a building. Create a business plan. Or any number of unrelated ideas. I believe the problem for Billy is, he recognizes that in order to engage in pattern recognition in D&D or any other RPG the person running the game cannot make up anything after the game has begun. To play a fair, balanced game the rules need to be consistent throughout. A GM is just like if someone were running a boardgame for you and your friends at a convention. They are not there to create rules for you, they run the game while you play. You might learn the rules from that person as you go along, but your ability at the game is improved by actually trying to play the game well when playing it. I think Billy just inherently understands these things as the OP has said, he has played lots of games, but not had much experience with RPGs or storygames.</blockquote>

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