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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 5809283" data-attributes="member: 22779">I was thinking about this thread on my break at work and I was going through, in my head, all the games I've played over the past three decades.  I'm not a huge gaming whore, but, I've hopped a few systems.And, funnily enough, other than AD&D, not a single system that I can think of doesn't have social resolution mechanics.  I played the 007 RPG back in the very early 80's and it had rules for seduction and other interactions based on skills.  GURPS has always had social mechanics.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangenesses (another system we played quite a lot of) has things like Fast Talk skill and whatnot.  Even rules light systems like Star Frontiers had social resolution mechanics.As far as I can think, only AD&D doesn't.But, apparently, every single system out there that isn't AD&D is bereft of role play or heading in that direction.  Really?  You want to argue that Vampire The Masquerade is less of a roleplaying focused game than AD&D because VtM has social resolution mechanics?  That's the argument you want to make?Look, I get that you like freeforming.  I totally respect that.  It's not for me, but, hey, whatever floats your boat.  But, if the metric of a roleplaying game is whether or not it free forms "role play", count me out.  I have zero interest in free forming anymore.  I find it frustrating and boring.  I WANT social interaction mechanics.  I want social interaction mechanics that are as robust and detailed as the combat mechanics.I want to take the idea that you are only roleplaying if you are freeforming and drop it into a deep dark hole.But, then again, if I actually did that, I'd be just as guilty as onetruewayism as MarkCMG, so, I guess I can live with people freeforming.  Not to my taste, but, hey, that's groovy.I have long thought it was utterly mind boggling that a game would have longer rules for determining who goes first in combat than it does social interaction mechanics.  To me, that's ass backward.  If you want the game to be about something, the mechanics should reflect what the game is about.  If your game has no social resolution mechanics, it's not about social interaction.I can free form role play in Monopoly, but that doesn't make Monopoly a good RPG.  For a game to be able to claim to be about something, it actually has to have some set of rules governing that something.Otherwise, how do you like the mechanics for starship combat in AD&D?  I think they're freaking fantastic.</blockquote>

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