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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 9198223" data-attributes="member: 6696971">1)  I don't know why you keep going back to "best practices" and implying that they have anything to do with my preferences (about anything).  I can only assume this is a total misread of my earlier post on the subject?  The concept of "best practices" has nothing to do with my preferences and is specific to a given game.A particular game will tell you what its "best practices" are:* Don't build an archer using a character with Dex as a dump stat and who isn't proficient in bows.* Don't turtle when the game explicitly says "go boldly into danger" while (a) rewarding you for doing so and (b) giving you tools to manage it.* Don't play a slow midrange deck when you're facing off against an aggro deck.* Don't expose your neck against someone who specializes in chokes.Etc.2)  My contention is that that discord and dysfunction tend to follow games that don't say what they do and/or don't do what they say.  If its a parlor game/boardgame/TTRPG then people get confused and frustrated and either gracefully quit-out or opt-in and express their confusion and frustration with their voice/negative demeanor (either passive-aggressively or overtly) and with their play (which is some combination of game-stalling inefficient or game-wrecking awkward filled with qualitative or quantitative, unintentional misplays).  If its a ball sport game or otherwise physical (like grappling or climbing), then play will tend toward being outright dangerous for the participants.[HR][/HR]If we stick to TTRPGs alone, the only solve for this that I know of is a very narrow brand of heavily GM-led games where GMs control all substantive content introduction, mediate all aspects of play, and, through that, effectively own all gamestate/fiction trajectory (maintaining that via overt or covert manipulation of the gamestate/fiction as necessary).  Because of this, player contribution/responsibility is mostly affectation and color while the GM moves the Ouija planchette around the board.That is one particular solve of the kind of discord and dysfunction I'm pointing at and its for one particular brand of play.Which is fine.  Its a solve.  And its a playstyle.  But it would be nice if it was transparent about what it is if for no other reason than the participants involved (a) know what their commitment level entails, what their overhead and responsibilities to play are and (b) to sharpen their skills at what they're contributing while not wasting time on superfluous things.  So in the above mentioned style of play, players should be working on their social confidence/subverting shyness to achieve some level of equality of performative contribution, being vigilant for GM cues, being wary and respectful of/deferential to other player contributions of color and affectation, honing their own affectation and color contribution capabilities, and having a passable knowledge of system so that you're not a liability when you do system-ey stuff (which the GM is apt to covertly manipulate if things go awry so the burden here is not too great); these would constitute "best practices".</blockquote>

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