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Message: <blockquote data-quote="eyebeams" data-source="post: 5477994" data-attributes="member: 9225">All of those *are* models, however, and all of them say something about the internal logic of the worlds they create, regardless of whether the designer wants you to pay attention to those things. It doesn't really matter if these things fall under the framework of "physics" or "narrative." The difference between the two is arbitrary.HeroQuest is pretty straightforward, as one could advance an argument that Glorantha is pretty effectively simulated by the rules, as gods and the assumption of mythic roles is embedded into Glorantha's world logic. In the case of Nicotine Girls, we learn about the dynamics of a very constrained world based on what a middle class man believes about poor women.(Note: This kind of analysis isn't going to make you any friends.) These models cover some things, but not others, and players will eventually find the constraints of each. Now if you're an indie type person, this is where you start spouting about "social contracts" and advocate doctrinaire obedience to keep the game working. In Mike Mearls' conception of D&D, this force is rendered subtly around what he at one time called D&D's "core story" and which has now developed into the notion of an "essence" -- the idea that there is a set thing D&D is about.The problem is that there really is no "essence." Game designers find it useful to have a structured set of ideas about what games are and aren't, but players don't. It's popular to pretend that they ought to, but this is really a sort of self-serving argument from game designers. Players pursue various impulses that change from game to game and moment to moment, and frequently contradict each other.There's no real fix here. We just need to accept that there are limits to how satisfying a game design can be, and take responsibility for our relationship with the game. The best game designers can do is explain what they want to do, and take into account the reality that people will want to do something different.</blockquote>

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