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The Essentials articles are atrocious.
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<blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 4994480" data-attributes="member: 3424"><p>I don't think categorizing player types is "dumb". If nothing else, it's an exercise in thinking about what different players might want out of an RPG. I will admit that Timmy/Johnny/Spike/Vorthos/Melvin is more mechanics-focused and less extensive than Robin Laws' Tactician/Power Gamer/Butt Kicker/Specialist/Method Actor/Storyteller/Casual Gamer categories, but it does present insight into (for example) why some players prefer high-damage powers even if it can be shown mathematically that the extra damage is wasted most of the time, and another lower-damage power is the better choice in the long run. Playing an RPG isn't only about mechanical effectiveness to many players, and they (we?) are willing to sacrifice some mechanical effectiveness for other considerations: flavor, or a personal preference for certain types of abilities or to create certain types of effects.</p><p></p><p>Incidentally, the simple reason why player categorizations don't align with G/N/S is that one deals with player types and the other deals with games and game mechanics. It's like complaining that the mammal/bird/reptile/amphibian categorizations don't align with the igneous/sedimenary/metamorphic categories for rocks.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="FireLance, post: 4994480, member: 3424"] I don't think categorizing player types is "dumb". If nothing else, it's an exercise in thinking about what different players might want out of an RPG. I will admit that Timmy/Johnny/Spike/Vorthos/Melvin is more mechanics-focused and less extensive than Robin Laws' Tactician/Power Gamer/Butt Kicker/Specialist/Method Actor/Storyteller/Casual Gamer categories, but it does present insight into (for example) why some players prefer high-damage powers even if it can be shown mathematically that the extra damage is wasted most of the time, and another lower-damage power is the better choice in the long run. Playing an RPG isn't only about mechanical effectiveness to many players, and they (we?) are willing to sacrifice some mechanical effectiveness for other considerations: flavor, or a personal preference for certain types of abilities or to create certain types of effects. Incidentally, the simple reason why player categorizations don't align with G/N/S is that one deals with player types and the other deals with games and game mechanics. It's like complaining that the mammal/bird/reptile/amphibian categorizations don't align with the igneous/sedimenary/metamorphic categories for rocks. [/QUOTE]
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The Essentials articles are atrocious.
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