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Message: <blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 6299162" data-attributes="member: 3192">When is something definitively a depiction?Games are about enabling game play for players. Football players aren't trying to vicariously behave like some other depicted reality. Chess lovers aren't specifically attracted to it because pieces on the board have real world counterparts. They love it because the design -the game- is awesome in and of itself. Dungeons & Dragons is a game first too. And fans love it because of its design, not the story it may result in. Players may enjoy pretending to be an elf, but telling players that's what they were "really" doing in D&D in the 80s was a derogatory remark and everyone knew it. Pretending to be someone else wasn't role playing then and it's not the role playing that lead to the revolution of D&D.D&D is about playing a game, not enjoying some depiction. Just like almost every story lover most game players could care less how well what they are experiencing matches up with some preconceived notion a story is supposed to be. Stories are about discovering the story the author has written (if a fiction, then always about fantasy. If a non-fiction, then a depiction of reality). Games and game play OTOH are about deciphering the patterns they are to achieve objectives within them. Games aren't good or bad because of how well they depict something else. They are good or bad because of the quality of game play they offer. Ironically, games that have historically been considered badly designed are ones which allow for short-circuiting of game play lending to unfair outcomes and "always win" strategies. "The two teams struggled on the field for hours scoring point after point against each other. Evenly matched, the game inspired players to struggle to levels of excellence rarely if ever seen. Then one side yelled 'we win!' apropos to nothing and the game was over."-contrived outcome rules in action. IOW, the outcome is in no way derived by past actions by the players.Stories are labelled fiction and non-fiction. Those labels are irrelevant to games. Heck, a fictional game isn't a game at all as it doesn't even exist in the imagination. It's like too many storygames, a label with no referent.</blockquote>

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