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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bedrockgames" data-source="post: 9244602" data-attributes="member: 85555">Obviously. But prior to playing RPGs, most games didn't give you that space. This is the point. If you played a board game there were rules for what you could do and didn't. My first session was in 1986, and if I were to play even the most advanced video game rpg at that time, which for me would have been one of the kings quests, you could try what you wanted so long as it was pre-programmed. What D&D and what RPGs enabled you to do was go beyond that. To go beyond rules and to try anything you want in the game and to interact as the character in the setting. You can have rules for things, but the spark of what makes an RPG work for me is that open space for interaction with NPCs and the world. And the presence of rules can indeed constrain this. People tend to follow the rules in a game. My experience playing OD&D and 1E to 2E is very very different in terms of interaction with NPCs and the world in those editions than in 3rd for example. I liked 3rd edition but the presence of things like social skills and other parts of the game like Gather Information, made a very big difference in terms of how the game felt (particularly in regard to that open space I am talking about). Now there is nothing wrong with 3rd edition. Lots of people like the way it supports these things. But people are making the point that sometimes having more open space here is also a way to support that area of the game. And you shouldn't judge based on my words. I would encourage you to seek out and read the article. He makes a good argument in terms of argument structure. But I think it is a pretty odd assertion non-the-less. And the only reason I brought it up is because there are echoes of his reasoning here Again, this is an impasse in the debate. We have all made our statements about what it means for an RPG to support or not support an area of play. And where people fall on that discussion is what makes this conversation break down</blockquote>

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