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Waibel's Rule of Interpretation (aka "How to Interpret the Rules")

The only CORRECT interpretation is the one I say! :eek::cool::p The sooner the rest of the world gets that, the sooner we can all sit down and have fun...and end all fantasy rpg forum arguments everywhere. :lol: heheheh. [Seliousry though, nice chart. :) ]

The only CORRECT interpretation is the one I say!
:eek::cool::p
The sooner the rest of the world gets that, the sooner we can all sit down and have fun...and end all fantasy rpg forum arguments everywhere.
:lol:
heheheh.

[Seliousry though, nice chart. :) ]
 

Celebrim

Legend
my whole point in this thread was that there are reasons why players and DMs collapse into problems, and that a final little detail can be a symptom of a larger lack of communication.

Ok, we can agree on that point.

then why do you think the DM in question thinks he was in the wrong?

Because it is Hussar.

unless you have been raised somewhere very different then the world we live in you should understand telling people they are wrong, and they are like children, and they are argueing about nothing, and that there way of having fun is not fun at all or they are bad at things they are being good at... will make them mad. You are pushing buttons and I don't know why...

so I will ask one more time... How should I take being compaired to a 9 year old you would scould?

You should take it like someone who decides to learn to control their temper.

we now find something else we disagree on. I feel Anger is a natural response and can be used to good cause...

That's pretty obvious.

so if someone tries to punch me, and that angers me, that makes me evil? I really don't understand you at all...

No, I'm afraid you don't.

my anger was justified

No it wasn't.

and used to impress how you are impacting people

I know why you decided to make a display of anger. I know what anger is for socially. I even said as much. Point is that if you admit you have a use for it, then you decided to be angry. You decided you had cause and where justified, and boy was I going to hear it from you.

it is a thing you could take as a learning experience and be nicer... but since you now belive me evil you will not...

I could always learn to be nicer. But as for thinking you evil, I certainly don't. Making mistakes doesn't make one evil. And a fleeting anger is hardly cause for damning anyone. But that doesn't justify your anger or make the anger less wrong. However, this is all a bit of a side track. I don't need to convince you to relinquish anger or convince you that you have no right to be angry. The point I intend to make which is relevant to what was brought up in the thread is that a player who is playing skillfully, has first recourse to playing the game, and only resorts to metagame when that avenue is unfruitful. You yourself admitted that there are times that the DM is entitled to hide information from metagame queries, and that you expect your players to trust you enough to allow you to do so. Having admitted that point, the rest of your anger isn't really about disagreement, but the fact that feeling belittled because I claimed that metagaming was poor play, you imagined I directing harsh criticism at you and so by gosh you are going to put on a big threat display about how angry you are. And the fact that I'm actually describing this to you probably feel patronizing to you and makes you even more angry. And I wish you'd choose to not be angry, but I can't choose for you.

so I can deal with players, and I do so in a different way... why do you think you can declair witch way is right?

Because again playing the game is superior in all sorts of ways to metagaming. And I've already listed lots of reasons regarding the lowered likelihood of arguments, the greater show of trust, the lowered likelihood of imparting knowledge that would better remain for an in game reveal, the greater degree of engagement it shows, the reduced chance of ulterior motive influencing your actions, the greater pleasure it affords, and the greater entertainment value in observing the play, and so on and so forth. And that judgment I have more of a right to than any one ever has to being angry because they think they've been insulted.

you could have used non insulting words... it isn't that you disagree, it's that you insult.

One thing that is very difficult for me is appearing to be sympathetic, especially when I'm not. In particular, I have a tendency to say things that coming from other people are intended to hurt and belittle, but which coming from me are intended to help. And I have a little idea what to do about that. Because from my perspective, people are just weird about how they don't like to know what other people are thinking and they'd prefer to be lied to or have information withheld from them or their own potential failings not called out. "You're not saying it nice" is not only perfectly true, but of course I can see you think that. So why not say it?

you have told me my way of running games is wrong...

I don't think I've gone so far as that any more than I have said you are evil. But I have said that metagaming a DM is playing less well than it could be and many similar things of the sort.

you have compaired me to a 9 year old in a bad light

You have displayed yourself in a bad light; the comparison is unflattering but apt.

you used the word evil to describe something I did

And I've also used the word evil to describe things I did and do. Getting angry in defense of your person is wrong. We've all done it.

hitting my head on the table is a tantrum?

And again, this is harsh, but I don't think most people have to be told the answer to that. I don't know any less harsh way to answer that question. The problem is you think it is a rhetorical question and you don't really want to hear my answer, so I can't answer it gently.

yes the same way I would emphasise those words in real life... those are important words that need emphasise...

Anger is no way to go around telling people how you are feeling. If anger has a purpose, it's not to emphasize how important you think something is. It is to gear the body for valorous action in the defense of someone else, and even then the anger is a bit superfluous most of the time I think.
 

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Hey, I just wanted to point out that it's not really fair to jump back and accuse the other side of calling your playstyle "baswrongfun" but then tell them they're missing out on something and are playing the game poorly. Either there is a right way to play the game and we fight over what it is or we accept each other's diversity. You don't get to protect yourself but still go after others. We can either decide to accept each other's experiences at face value, or ignore their stated experiences and substitute our own experiences instead.

This entire thread was started by a flow chart to me seems to serve no purpose other than to dismiss the experiences and concerns of a large section of the community. Then when those who take issue with the approach spelled out in the flowchart responded, making it clear they were annoyed at the dismissive attitude, they were told they're doing it wrong and are missing out on the point of d&d.

This is why we can't have nice things.

I also find it weird that [MENTION=80342]morris[/MENTION] would promote this in a place where we normally think is a judgment free zone...
 

Celebrim

Legend
I acknowlade the lengthy argument, but not what was said or who was at fault... do you have any reason to not continue to belive Hussar when he says he handled it badly... not the player the DM?

Yes, 10+ years of talking with Hussar and reading his opinions.

He may well have handled it badly. That doesn't however imply that he was wrong to have placed a manticore in the forest, or that because he handled it badly that the player was less wrong for making him handle the situation in the first place.

Hussar has been burned a lot. He's also a very demanding player. He's settled for himself on the idea that the solution to all these emotional table conflicts he's told us about over the years - and there are a bunch of them - is simply to accept that the DM is always wrong and to always work with the player. And as far as it goes, it's probably a big improvement from what he was doing or how he as a player had been handled at times.

But the fact that he feels guilty for placing a manticore in a forest, and declares that the player was "100% right". That's just Hussar being Hussar.
 

Sacrosanct

Legend
Hey, I just wanted to point out that it's not really fair to jump back and accuse the other side of calling your playstyle "baswrongfun" but then tell them they're missing out on something and are playing the game poorly. Either there is a right way to play the game and we fight over what it is or we accept each other's diversity. You don't get to protect yourself but still go after others. We can either decide to accept each other's experiences at face value, or ignore their stated experiences and substitute our own experiences instead.

This entire thread was started by a flow chart to me seems to serve no purpose other than to dismiss the experiences and concerns of a large section of the community. Then when those who take issue with the approach spelled out in the flowchart responded, making it clear they were annoyed at the dismissive attitude, they were told they're doing it wrong and are missing out on the point of d&d.

This is why we can't have nice things.


Why won't anyone think of the rules lawyers!
 

Sacrosanct

Legend
I also find it weird that [MENTION=80342]morris[/MENTION] would promote this in a place where we normally think is a judgment free zone...

despite accusations implying otherwise, the intent of my post and flowchart was really nothing more than, "don't let yourself get hung up on rules if it prevents you from playing the game and having fun."
 

Yes, 10+ years of talking with Hussar and reading his opinions.

He may well have handled it badly. That doesn't however imply that he was wrong to have placed a manticore in the forest, or that because he handled it badly that the player was less wrong for making him handle the situation in the first place.

Hussar has been burned a lot. He's also a very demanding player. He's settled for himself on the idea that the solution to all these emotional table conflicts he's told us about over the years - and there are a bunch of them - is simply to accept that the DM is always wrong and to always work with the player. And as far as it goes, it's probably a big improvement from what he was doing or how he as a player had been handled at times.

But the fact that he feels guilty for placing a manticore in a forest, and declares that the player was "100% right". That's just Hussar being Hussar.

I wonder if [MENTION=22779]Hussar[/MENTION] agrees with that assessment?

for my own part I assume the DM is as likely to be wrong as anyone else at the table, but has enough control of the game to gloss over minor issue... but players are no different then DMs really, I mean DMs are just a player taking a different role in the game
 


despite accusations implying otherwise, the intent of my post and flowchart was really nothing more than, "don't let yourself get hung up on rules if it prevents you from playing the game and having fun."

the only accusation made was that it is dismissive of issue some people have found, and a style of players that like RAW...

for the record before we get even more off track, I don't personally believe in RAW but it is no less a playstyle just because it isn;t mine.
 


Celebrim

Legend
I wonder if [MENTION=22779]Hussar[/MENTION] agrees with that assessment?

No, of course he doesn't. So?

for my own part I assume the DM is as likely to be wrong as anyone else at the table

If anything the DM is more likely to be wrong than anyone else at the table. After all, the DM is doing far more than anyone else at the table and has far more things to be wrong about. And he has by far the harder job. Probably 90% of the mistakes at a table are made by the DM.

So? You aren't actually contradicting me here, which is why I can happily agree with you and even take it further than you. We aren't dealing with the question of whether or not a DM can be wrong. Of course they can. This isn't the either 'the DM is always right' or else 'the DM is always wrong' you seem to be casting as when you bring this up as if you thought it would contradict my opinion.

but players are no different then DMs really, I mean DMs are just a player taking a different role in the game

Absolutely, I completely agree. And as a player taking a different role in the game they are entitled to at least the deference you'd give a player. More in my opinion, and for the same reasons that DMs are more often the ones in the wrong.

None of that defends our argumentative rules lawyer in the slightest. Quite the contrary.
 

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