Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 8311617" data-attributes="member: 6790260">There's also the aforementioned network effects, and people...well, for lack of a better term, staking part of their identity on the form of the game.The bitter and acrimonious debates, particularly over what is permitted to count as &quot;D&amp;D,&quot; speak to a vein of identity that is bound up in being &quot;a D&amp;D player.&quot; In effect, for some, I think it flat doesn't matter whether the game tries to be more enjoyable, nor whether it tries to solve issues with its design. For these folks, the only thing that matters is having their identity validated, an identity built in some small way on a specific conception of D&amp;D's essence and fundamental nature.I want to be clear that I absolutely do not think this is a universal opinion. But I also think people who sincerely hold it (whether or not they are aware of it) really exist and have for some time. Frex, the folks who got upset about the removal of THAC0 because it meant anyone could play D&amp;D, not just those &quot;smart&quot; enough to calculate with descending AC. The lines are usually a hell of a lot more fuzzy than that, though, so I don't really want to call out any specific position or person today; the THAC0 example is just conveniently blatant and explicit.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 8311617, member: 6790260"] There's also the aforementioned network effects, and people...well, for lack of a better term, staking part of their identity on the form of the game. The bitter and acrimonious debates, particularly over what is permitted to count as "D&D," speak to a vein of identity that is bound up in being "a D&D player." In effect, for some, I think it flat doesn't matter whether the game tries to be more enjoyable, nor whether it tries to solve issues with its design. For these folks, the only thing that matters is having their identity validated, an identity built in some small way on a specific conception of D&D's essence and fundamental nature. I want to be clear that I absolutely do not think this is a universal opinion. But I also think people who sincerely hold it (whether or not they are aware of it) really exist and have for some time. Frex, the folks who got upset about the removal of THAC0 because it meant [I]anyone[/I] could play D&D, not just those "smart" enough to calculate with descending AC. The lines are usually a hell of a lot more fuzzy than that, though, so I don't really want to call out any specific position or person today; the THAC0 example is just conveniently blatant and explicit. [/QUOTE]

Verification