The Six Cultures of Gaming

[Umbran]

That's an interesting blog post. Some of the cultures listed I've never seen, either in person or online as a unified concept with a dedicated following; I wonder if there are regional differences and I have just not been exposed to them.

The problem with one guy deciding to create pigeonholes is that you get their idea of the pigeonholes.

 

[Umbran]

I mean you could sub zeitgeist, play priorities, or even potato for culture and still get the thrust of the piece.

Yes. The problem with "culture" is the connotations, which people will tend to apply whether you want them to or not.

It’s a well-done, extremely thoughtful, extremely accurate piece in my opinion.

The accuracy is the thing I wonder about. Folks used to think the Forge's Big Model was accurate, until they thought otherwise.

Frameworks like these can be good for teasing out thoughts, but we should stop a few steps short of taking them as accurate depictions of reality - especially given that he himself noted that for any given person, they do not cleanly apply. If we fail to keep attention on that constantly, the human mind will tend to slot people into stereotypes that fit their desired narratives and we end up with yet another way to divide Them, and Us.

 

[Manbearcat]

Frameworks like these can be good for teasing out thoughts, but we should stop a few steps short of taking them as accurate depictions of reality - especially given that he himself noted that for any given person, they do not cleanly apply. If we fail to keep attention on that constantly, the human mind will tend to slot people into stereotypes that fit their desired narratives and we end up with yet another way to divide Them, and Us.

Don’t disagree with any of that. That all looks good to me.

I still think the analysis and research are strong. Given that he is an OSR enthusiast, I’m “supposed to be” situated such that I’m cynical over the issues I noted upthread in his Storygames entry. But I’m not going to be. Just because he hit a routine fly out to Center on his (imo should be) Story Now section, I’m not going to dismiss the piece. Doing that would prevent me from admiring the “Jacks” he hit elsewhere.

We’re never going to get anywhere interesting and enlightening if we dismiss every piece of analysis for a stray (and not terribly impactful) wart (even if it may be a little bit partisan-inspired).

EDITED FOR CLARIFICATION

 

[el-remmen]

Frameworks like these can be good for teasing out thoughts, but we should stop a few steps short of taking them as accurate depictions of reality -

Pretty sure no one, not even the writer himself, said that (or even suggested it). Even in my original post, I said - "Good for reflection" not "the ultimate guide for pigeonholing yourself and others." Seems like a weird place to jump to given what and how it was written.

 

[Undrave]

Spheres?

Aesthetics maybe? Not unlike the Aesthetics of Play?

 

[Umbran]

Pretty sure no one, not even the writer himself, said that (or even suggested it). Even in my original post, I said - "Good for reflection" not "the ultimate guide for pigeonholing yourself and others." Seems like a weird place to jump to given what and how it was written.

Weird? Being concerned that humans will apply stereotypes? That's weird, to you?

Please, what paradise do you live in, where this does not happen with alarming, painful regularity?

 

[el-remmen]

Weird? Being concerned that humans will apply stereotypes? That's weird, to you?

Please, what paradise do you live in, where this does not happen with alarming, painful regularity?

The paradise of the generous reading and the limited use of the skeptical reading without any evidence save "something other people do," I guess. If he leaned on gamer stereotypes to make his points, I think that skeptical reading would have a lot more utility.

 

[loverdrive]

Each time someone describes some very different things and then insists that they fall within the same umbrella, I'm scratching my head.

Wouldn't we all be better off sitting in separate camps?

 

[Arilyn]

I also really enjoyed the article for the bits of history entwined in it as I love reading RPG history.

I don't think analysis is problematic. It can help us find the style of game we prefer, or get into the spirit of a less familiar one.

And maybe an understanding of differing styles can help reduce the US vs. Them?
Okay, maybe way too optimistic...

 

[Campbell]

Weird? Being concerned that humans will apply stereotypes? That's weird, to you?

Please, what paradise do you live in, where this does not happen with alarming, painful regularity?

Even as someone who thinks there were some significant mistakes here I still would rather have visibility and acknowledgement of different cultures of play (a phrase I have always liked) rather than the erasure of my play priorities through the use of normative language I usually encounter. We can work on cleaning up misconceptions once groundwork has been laid. My experience has been without a way to talk about different ways to play only the dominant play culture's priorities get taken seriously.