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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Composer99" data-source="post: 8592065" data-attributes="member: 7030042">I don't think Colville has said anything particularly controversial.First, I think people on this thread are overstating the commonalities between gaming tables. To pick up on the wine analogy used upthread, there are pretty obvious differences - night-and-day, in fact - between, say, a <a href="https://www.lcbo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/lcbo/white-14006005-1/henry-of-pelham-special-select-late-harvest-vidal-2019-395228" target="_blank">white dessert wine</a> and, say, <a href="https://www.lcbo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/lcbo/trius-red-303800" target="_blank">Trius Red</a> (a wine I'm very familiar with because that's one of the signature wines produced by the vintner my late wife used to work for). And I am perforce obliged to disagree with the sentiments expressed upthread: there often are tangible differences in flavour between two vintages of the same brand of wine (or two wines of the same varietal produced in different places, for instance - think pinot noir produced on the Niagara escarpment versus pinot noir produced in Napa Valley), because of differences such as:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">overall sunlight</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">rainfall</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">soil chemistry and microflora</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the barrels used in aging</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the yeast used in fermentation</li> </ul>These changes can be subtle, and perhaps even indistinguishable if you're not used to them. But that does not mean they don't exist, and it is mistaken to assume that's the case.Gaming tables, to my mind, work very similarly. Some can have very big differences between them; in others, these differences may be more subtle - to the point where such differences may be indistinct to outsiders. But subtle is not the same as nonexistent. Differences can include (but are not limited to):<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">native English speakers vs English as an alternate (second/third/etc.) language</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">cultural geography</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">family life and attitude towards RPGs</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">individual player personalities (consider, for instance, the player "traits" discussed in the D&D 5e DMG pg. 6, which are elaborated upon in ENWorlds own LevelUp "DMG")</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">access to "IRL" gaming communities (here I appreciate Colville's discussion of historical Avalon Hill wargames and why suitability for solitaire play was often such a concern)</li> </ul>Second, to my mind, DMing/GMing is a compromise between:(1) Delivering the gameplay experience assumed/aspired to/aimed for/defaulted to by the game you are playing. (D&D, Call of Cthulhu, and Paranoia each aim to deliver a very different gameplay experience, for instance).(2) Delivering the gameplay experience you want to deliver. (This is how you, the DM/GM "play" the game, as it were, in that capacity.)(3) Delivering your players the gameplay experience they want to have, individually and/or as an aggregate.I say compromise because these all won't always be in perfect harmony, if indeed they ever are or can be.Things like adjusting monster stats on-the-fly or fudging rolls are well and good - when done in the service of these three elements in an open and honest way. Problems arise - with respect to DM/GM conduct - when DMs/GMs aren't willing to engage in this compromise, or are misleading about the kind of gameplay experience they want to deliver.(I should note that it's not always the case that a game is clear about the gameplay experience it aims to deliver, whether as a result of the designers being coy or as a result of the designers not having a clear idea themselves. D&D 5e strikes me as just such a game. Likewise, DMs and players don't always have a clear idea of what they want out of a game, and therefore what gameplay experience they want to deliver or be part of - in fact I suspect that's more often the case than not. This is why open and honest discussion and self-reflection are important.)</blockquote>

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