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Message: <blockquote data-quote="loresjoberg" data-source="post: 4720995" data-attributes="member: 60903">I think of an RPG as being like a bar where the barkeeper -- the GM -- and the other patrons -- the players -- are all friends of yours. Roleplaying, in this analogy, is like dancing.Say the bar you're in doesn't have a jukebox, or a DJ, or any sort of sound system. But it does have plenty of open space.The funny thing about this particular bar is that there's nothing to discourage you from dancing. The bartender doesn't mind, your friends might very well cheer you on and clap to help you keep time. Maybe the barkeep pulls out a harmonica and improvises a tune. You might dance the night away without ever hearing a note of professionally-recorded music.On the other hand, you might say "Screw this, if I'm going to dance I want some music playing." So you go to another bar, also full of your friends, one that has music playing all the time and a crowded dance floor. Maybe this is a perfect bar for you and you dance for hours. Or, you might say "Man, this sucks. They keep playing songs I don't like and I don't have as much room to twirl. I want to go back to that other bar, where I can dance the way I want to and the music isn't telling me what to do."The reason people disagree on what system elements encourage or hinder roleplaying is that people are encouraged and hindered by different things. Some people see a lack of rules as a wide open space where they can roleplay as they please. Others see it as just a big blank nothing. Some people see a detailed social combat section as a strong motivation to play a character as a dashing diplomat rather than a combat monster, but others just see numbers and dice standing between them and playing their character the way they want to.</blockquote>

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