What exactly is "in the spirit of the game"??

[Dieter]

Taken from the HELP! DM/Player Issues thread.

There are players out there who will only argue rules if they are in their or their party's favor. Even if it is a rule that they know is fair and in the book but would hurt them or their party, they won't even speak up. Those players aren't playing in the spirit of the game. I think there is a name for those type of players: Munchkins.

In your honest opinion:

1) Just what the heck is "in the spirit of the game"?

2) How can the spirit of the game "go munchkin"?

 

[Crothian]

The Spirit of the game, for me, is what the game is intended for. Fun. I don't agree with that particuliar definition, but that's not important right now.

 

[Mort]

FUN

The "spirit of the game" should be anything that promotes fun for the players and DM. Is an ultracompetative atmosphere, where the players never help the DM and vice versa (KODT is the best if farsical example I can think of) in the "spirit of the game"? If the players and the DM are having fun then yes, if not then it's violating the spirit of the game.

Personally, I DM a very laid back group and an ultracompetative atmosphere would never be tolerated, but to each his own.

 

[nopantsyet]

well, the spirit of the game i think has two answers. the first, oft-repeated, and obvious is to have fun. but the clarification/qualification of that is whatever your groups consensus on what fun is.

the munchkin debate is even more subjective in my opinion. i have a player who disagrees with my opinions on this poing. he does not feel that it is munchkin to take levels of any class gives him the bonuses he wants or to skip the non-statistical requirements of prestige classes.

as dm i allow the first, but not the second. the effect is that his several classes have spread his advancement across too many classes and made his character significantly less effective in most situations, especially combat, than the other characers in the party. at the moment he's in a crisis because he doesn't know how to advance his character to make it more effective.

so if munchkin is as munchkin does, i guess he's not. but if munchkin is the aspiration of the ultimate min/max, he is. in my opinion, it does not violate the spirit of the game unless it prevents the players+dm from having fun.