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General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Thinking About the Purpose of Mechanics from a Neo-Trad Perspective
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<blockquote data-quote="kenada" data-source="post: 9216381" data-attributes="member: 70468"><p>Where I was trying to go initially was to push back on the essay author’s suggestion that he should have just called it “OC” and not mentioned neotrad, but I’m coming around to his position. If neotrad is going to pull things back to design, it should be left separate (since the author mentioned these cultures were not about design). What I am suggesting (and I think he is as well) is to view them anthropologically rather than analytically. In effect, these cultures are akin to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persona_(user_experience)" target="_blank">personas</a>.</p><p></p><p>The value of keeping them separate from design is they allow you to use them with different analytical and design frameworks. If I’m using MDA, I can determine the aesthetics for a particular culture and use that to shape my design. If I am using the criteria that Edwards laid out in <a href="http://www.indie-rpgs.com/_articles/system_does_matter.html" target="_blank">System Does Matter</a>, I can adopt the persona of a player in a particular culture (e.g., OC) and then ask myself: does it know its outlook and not waste mechanics on other ones, and is the resolution model appropriate for it.</p><p></p><p>For example, suppose as an OC player, I want a say over my character’s experiences, so I that I can inhabit my conception of it. My game is going to be a hack of Apocalypse World. Is it a good fit?</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The mechanics center play on the characters, so that’s good. There are many ways for me to have a say over my character (e.g., how I answer questions, the moves I make, etc); but</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The resolution method can put the characters to the test on a miss. I may have a say, but I am not guaranteed a say. This can result in my character changing away from my conception.</li> </ul><p>So my Apocalypse World hack is a bad game for an OC player. If that’s the audience I have in mind for my game, then I need to make (potentially major) changes to it to avoid upsetting the players’ character conceptions.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="kenada, post: 9216381, member: 70468"] Where I was trying to go initially was to push back on the essay author’s suggestion that he should have just called it “OC” and not mentioned neotrad, but I’m coming around to his position. If neotrad is going to pull things back to design, it should be left separate (since the author mentioned these cultures were not about design). What I am suggesting (and I think he is as well) is to view them anthropologically rather than analytically. In effect, these cultures are akin to [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persona_(user_experience)']personas[/URL]. The value of keeping them separate from design is they allow you to use them with different analytical and design frameworks. If I’m using MDA, I can determine the aesthetics for a particular culture and use that to shape my design. If I am using the criteria that Edwards laid out in [URL='http://www.indie-rpgs.com/_articles/system_does_matter.html']System Does Matter[/URL], I can adopt the persona of a player in a particular culture (e.g., OC) and then ask myself: does it know its outlook and not waste mechanics on other ones, and is the resolution model appropriate for it. For example, suppose as an OC player, I want a say over my character’s experiences, so I that I can inhabit my conception of it. My game is going to be a hack of Apocalypse World. Is it a good fit? [LIST] [*]The mechanics center play on the characters, so that’s good. There are many ways for me to have a say over my character (e.g., how I answer questions, the moves I make, etc); but [*]The resolution method can put the characters to the test on a miss. I may have a say, but I am not guaranteed a say. This can result in my character changing away from my conception. [/LIST] So my Apocalypse World hack is a bad game for an OC player. If that’s the audience I have in mind for my game, then I need to make (potentially major) changes to it to avoid upsetting the players’ character conceptions. [/QUOTE]
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