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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 8418114" data-attributes="member: 6785785">Sure, it very well could be. Absent that principle, many folks may go the route that [USER=86653]@overgeeked[/USER] has described. I agree with him in that when presented with a game and here are the rules and this is the goal, people are going to try to achieve the goal through the rules, and part of that will be in testing the rules or seeing if they can be usurped or subverted in some way. I think this is why having such principles clearly stated for the players and not just for the GM can be a big mitigating factor toward the kinds of issues that have been described, i.e. gaming the system, optimizing the fun away, etc. I think it also depends on what the goal of play may be. In D&D, it's to win. We often say that's not the goal and talk about how there's no winners or losers in the game.....but that's kind of BS. The goal in D&D is to win....to beat the monster, to navigate the dungeon, to get the treasure....and so on. That's been so conditioned into players that the idea of seeking any and all advantages may become their default approach. Hence, 10' poles and door protocol and <s>trap-springers</s> hirelings and so on. These are all born of the need to win. These are all part of the game world, but they largely exist and were so common because of the game. So I think that it really is a combo of many things that may lead to the kinds of concerns we've been discussing.Right. This is the question I posed.....what makes the GM so capable of being neutral and trustworthy while the players are considered incapable of it? I do think that we can hold all participants to some kinds of play standards. Some would be universal and some would be specific to the role of GM or player. And although they may not be as codified as rules....they may fail at times or we may fail to achieve them in some instances of play....I think they go a long way.</blockquote>

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