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<blockquote data-quote="haakon1" data-source="post: 6025377" data-attributes="member: 25619"><p>There's inclination, selection, and practice.</p><p></p><p>Think of it with sports.</p><p>1) People who are physically gifted are more likely to be inclined to try sports, and to be good at what they try.</p><p>2) Being good is fun = try more sports, and try more often</p><p>3) People who are physically gifted and do sports more are more likely to be SELECTED by teams.</p><p>4) People who are selected by a team may well get a coach or a trainer to teach them more, and they get more practice. The coaching helps maximize the use of the innate talent, and the practice improves both the ability to maximize (muscle memory, balance, etc.) and the actual ability (more speed and strength from actually growing muscles).</p><p></p><p>A guy I work with is trying out for a winter Olympic sport. I played kickball with him once, and I realized he's really nothing like a normal guy. He's driven, he's strong, and he's accurate -- even at a sport that's "just for fun". The tools and the honing of them were obvious, even though it's an almost completely unrelated sport.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I figure D&D is kind of the same way:</p><p></p><p>1) People who are intellectually gifted are more likely to try a game that's mental, and to not be intimidated by it.</p><p></p><p>2) They'll likely do better at these games, and try more of them, and enjoy them. It's fun to do well, at anything.</p><p></p><p>3) People who have a knack for the game and like to play it are more likely to be invited to play. D&D, after all, is a team sport, even if the opponent is just imaginery. Everybody likes to do well.</p><p></p><p>4) D&D is mental exercise. You may learn vocabulary, narrative skills, problem solving skills, team/cooperative skills, history, probability & statistics, and mythology. Some of this you may get warped views of, but probablity, for instance, you're likely to learn much better than the average guy.</p><p></p><p>The D&D player knows a 95% probability is a super dangerous thing to risk your life on (well, the AD&D player does, anyhow), whereas the average person has no feel for how often a 1 actually comes up (or that 1/20 = 5%, I'd bet).</p><p></p><p>Think of the routine probability & statistics you juggle in your head playing D&D:</p><p></p><p>-- What's the average damge for Magic Missile for a 7th level caster? 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, so 4 missiles. Damage is 1d4+1, so 1+4/2 = 2.5+1 = 3.5 each * 4 = 14 hp. Calculating time for you? I'm guessing under 2 seconds. Average man on the street . . . I'm guessing he'd give up rather than trying to figure it out, and would get it wrong if he tried.</p><p></p><p>-- What if you Maximize it? Duh, 5*4 = 20 hp.</p><p></p><p>-- How does that compare with Fireball from a 7th level caster? 7d6= 7*3.5 = 24.5. So Fireball is better than Maximized Magic Missile, even though it's a 3rd level spell and Maximize MM is 4th . . . but Fireball gets saves, and damage reduction versus fire is common. So it depends on the opponent, eh? <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/laugh.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing :lol:" data-shortname=":lol:" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="haakon1, post: 6025377, member: 25619"] There's inclination, selection, and practice. Think of it with sports. 1) People who are physically gifted are more likely to be inclined to try sports, and to be good at what they try. 2) Being good is fun = try more sports, and try more often 3) People who are physically gifted and do sports more are more likely to be SELECTED by teams. 4) People who are selected by a team may well get a coach or a trainer to teach them more, and they get more practice. The coaching helps maximize the use of the innate talent, and the practice improves both the ability to maximize (muscle memory, balance, etc.) and the actual ability (more speed and strength from actually growing muscles). A guy I work with is trying out for a winter Olympic sport. I played kickball with him once, and I realized he's really nothing like a normal guy. He's driven, he's strong, and he's accurate -- even at a sport that's "just for fun". The tools and the honing of them were obvious, even though it's an almost completely unrelated sport. I figure D&D is kind of the same way: 1) People who are intellectually gifted are more likely to try a game that's mental, and to not be intimidated by it. 2) They'll likely do better at these games, and try more of them, and enjoy them. It's fun to do well, at anything. 3) People who have a knack for the game and like to play it are more likely to be invited to play. D&D, after all, is a team sport, even if the opponent is just imaginery. Everybody likes to do well. 4) D&D is mental exercise. You may learn vocabulary, narrative skills, problem solving skills, team/cooperative skills, history, probability & statistics, and mythology. Some of this you may get warped views of, but probablity, for instance, you're likely to learn much better than the average guy. The D&D player knows a 95% probability is a super dangerous thing to risk your life on (well, the AD&D player does, anyhow), whereas the average person has no feel for how often a 1 actually comes up (or that 1/20 = 5%, I'd bet). Think of the routine probability & statistics you juggle in your head playing D&D: -- What's the average damge for Magic Missile for a 7th level caster? 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, so 4 missiles. Damage is 1d4+1, so 1+4/2 = 2.5+1 = 3.5 each * 4 = 14 hp. Calculating time for you? I'm guessing under 2 seconds. Average man on the street . . . I'm guessing he'd give up rather than trying to figure it out, and would get it wrong if he tried. -- What if you Maximize it? Duh, 5*4 = 20 hp. -- How does that compare with Fireball from a 7th level caster? 7d6= 7*3.5 = 24.5. So Fireball is better than Maximized Magic Missile, even though it's a 3rd level spell and Maximize MM is 4th . . . but Fireball gets saves, and damage reduction versus fire is common. So it depends on the opponent, eh? :lol: [/QUOTE]
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