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Thoughts of a 3E/4E powergamer on starting to play 5E
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<blockquote data-quote="HomegrownHydra" data-source="post: 6877819" data-attributes="member: 6775557"><p>Sure, but you said that games typically don't assume either of them.</p><p></p><p>"Flavor" and "feel", as nebulous as they are, can definitely be shaped by the mechanics. That doesn't mean that that is all that is affected by mechanics. Not to mention, what you describe here as flavor suggest a particular play style. "Bold heroes" suggests a proactive, heroic style while "lucky to survive" suggests a more cautious, paranoid style.</p><p></p><p>That a screwdriver can be used for prying open paint cans as well as loosening screws does not mean that a screwdriver was not designed with a specific purpose in mind. D&D obviously can be used in many different ways since people do exactly that, but that doesn't mean that its designers didn't have certain play styles in mind or that the mechanics don't effect how it is played.</p><p></p><p>Why is this a good thing?</p><p></p><p>Okay, but XP isn't the only thing that effects player choices which is why I specifically mentioned something else before that.</p><p></p><p>I've seen commenters on forums remark how other people's reaction to VtM ("It's all about roleplaying and story!") didn't at all jive with its mechanics (a traditional action resolution system) or its advice (which apparently explicitly called for railroading the players). Alas, I have never played VtM or talked about it with anyone who has so I don't know how people play the game, how they view it, or why they hold those views. If I have to hazard a guess, I would say that a big issue is that at that time there weren't any well known games that operated much differently so the expectations were that any system would naturally have a bunch of mechanics and stats about combat. The idea that you could have a system whose mechanics didn't focus on resolving discrete actions or provide specific stats for abilities and equipment was almost totally unheard of at that time. So people may have been very likely to judge games based on their visceral feelings about its themes. They read the fluff, say "Wow! I can play games about vampire politics!" and just assume that that was what the game was about.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="HomegrownHydra, post: 6877819, member: 6775557"] Sure, but you said that games typically don't assume either of them. "Flavor" and "feel", as nebulous as they are, can definitely be shaped by the mechanics. That doesn't mean that that is all that is affected by mechanics. Not to mention, what you describe here as flavor suggest a particular play style. "Bold heroes" suggests a proactive, heroic style while "lucky to survive" suggests a more cautious, paranoid style. That a screwdriver can be used for prying open paint cans as well as loosening screws does not mean that a screwdriver was not designed with a specific purpose in mind. D&D obviously can be used in many different ways since people do exactly that, but that doesn't mean that its designers didn't have certain play styles in mind or that the mechanics don't effect how it is played. Why is this a good thing? Okay, but XP isn't the only thing that effects player choices which is why I specifically mentioned something else before that. I've seen commenters on forums remark how other people's reaction to VtM ("It's all about roleplaying and story!") didn't at all jive with its mechanics (a traditional action resolution system) or its advice (which apparently explicitly called for railroading the players). Alas, I have never played VtM or talked about it with anyone who has so I don't know how people play the game, how they view it, or why they hold those views. If I have to hazard a guess, I would say that a big issue is that at that time there weren't any well known games that operated much differently so the expectations were that any system would naturally have a bunch of mechanics and stats about combat. The idea that you could have a system whose mechanics didn't focus on resolving discrete actions or provide specific stats for abilities and equipment was almost totally unheard of at that time. So people may have been very likely to judge games based on their visceral feelings about its themes. They read the fluff, say "Wow! I can play games about vampire politics!" and just assume that that was what the game was about. [/QUOTE]
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