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<blockquote data-quote="Snarf Zagyg" data-source="post: 8195739" data-attributes="member: 7023840">I really like this part from the linked blog post from [USER=6981190]@Mark Sabalauskas[/USER] -That being said, I believe the trend in the RPG creation community is imbalanced in valuing game mechanics over narrative design. Story, adventure, setting, and art direction are more than equal partners in creating meaning. Luckily, we can all make the games we want, and it is easier than ever to make them available to people.I cannot speak for everyone, but when I think of my favorite games ... I don't reminisce over the rules. I don't think about the system.Instead, the system is often incidental; it might have somewhat helped (or hindered) the game. But the meaning that I remember is tinged with so many other aspect (&quot;equal partners&quot;). The story, the adventure, the setting, and the art direction, as pointed out.The totality of the experience is so much more than the rules. Few people would reminisce about Gygaxian 1e by saying that the RAW were the best and most conducive system; but many remember how the fantastical line-art drawing, the purplish Gygaxian verbiage, the sketches of mysterious adventures as presented in the modules, the settings, and, of course, even the byzantine bespoke rules combined to make something that was more than the sum of its parts. For that matter, a similar case could be made for the more elegant rules in Moldvay/Cook- both sets of rules, both sets of adventures, both settings promising something different.The elevation of system to the detriment of the other important aspects in creating meaning is something that I think is too often overlooked; and I appreciate the thoughtfulness that went into this.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Snarf Zagyg, post: 8195739, member: 7023840"] I really like this part from the linked blog post from [USER=6981190]@Mark Sabalauskas[/USER] - [I]That being said, I believe the trend in the RPG creation community is imbalanced in valuing game mechanics over narrative design. Story, adventure, setting, and art direction are more than equal partners in creating meaning. Luckily, we can all make the games we want, and it is easier than ever to make them available to people.[/I] I cannot speak for everyone, but when I think of my favorite games ... I don't reminisce over the [I]rules[/I]. I don't think about the [I]system[/I]. Instead, the system is often incidental; it might have somewhat helped (or hindered) the game. But the meaning that I remember is tinged with so many other aspect ("equal partners"). The story, the adventure, the setting, and the art direction, as pointed out. The totality of the experience is so much more than the rules. Few people would reminisce about Gygaxian 1e by saying that the RAW were the best and most conducive system; but many remember how the fantastical line-art drawing, the purplish Gygaxian verbiage, the sketches of mysterious adventures as presented in the modules, the settings, and, of course, even the byzantine bespoke rules combined to make something that was more than the sum of its parts. For that matter, a similar case could be made for the more elegant rules in Moldvay/Cook- both sets of rules, both sets of adventures, both settings promising something different. The elevation of system to the detriment of the other important aspects in creating meaning is something that I think is too often overlooked; and I appreciate the thoughtfulness that went into this. [/QUOTE]

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