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<blockquote data-quote="Guest 6801328" data-source="post: 7625701">Mmm...I think you're making some assumptions about why other people do things.That seems...broad.&nbsp; Maybe you have access to data I don't, but I can only speak to the vanishingly small number of games I've personally witnessed, plus maybe what I've heard anecdotally about another vanishingly insignificant data set, which is that I've seen/heard of two distinct flavors of this DM behavior:1) The DM wants to preserve their carefully prepared plot.2) The DM is trying to enforce preferences for how the game should be played.Now, I can see how in some ways these are similar, that in terms of restricting outcomes #1 is &quot;macro&quot; and #2 is &quot;micro&quot;, so if you wanted to you could subsume both phenomena under the same term.&nbsp; But there *is* a difference between controlling what actions a character is allowed to make (or what thoughts he/she is allowed to have, etc.) and preventing those actions from affecting the plot.&nbsp; And I think it's an important distinction (not &quot;important&quot; on the scale of global warming or institutionalized racism, but in the context of RPG philosophy) because they are symptoms of different DM...&quot;issues&quot;, have different implications for game design, and probably have different remedies.Just as an aside: no, I'm not.&nbsp; Anyway...Maybe I'm missing something subtle, but this strikes me as a bit of semantic sleight-of-hand to demonstrate that two different things are the same.&nbsp; Like using chemistry to show that physics and biology are really the same science.&nbsp; Sure, you can make those connections, but why is that useful?&nbsp; &quot;The existence of twilight does not disprove the difference between day and night.&quot;&nbsp; Etc.Um, yeah.&nbsp; The bold part is pretty much exactly what I said, and the rest of it is in the same spirit as what I meant.&nbsp; Maybe you're just agreeing with me, and expanding on the idea?&nbsp; It's hard to tell, because your posts tend to come across (to me, at least) like you're lecturing to a pupil, not discussing with a peer.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Guest 6801328, post: 7625701"] Mmm...I think you're making some assumptions about why other people do things. That seems...broad. Maybe you have access to data I don't, but I can only speak to the vanishingly small number of games I've personally witnessed, plus maybe what I've heard anecdotally about another vanishingly insignificant data set, which is that I've seen/heard of two distinct flavors of this DM behavior: 1) The DM wants to preserve their carefully prepared plot. 2) The DM is trying to enforce preferences for how the game should be played. Now, I can see how in some ways these are similar, that in terms of restricting outcomes #1 is "macro" and #2 is "micro", so if you wanted to you could subsume both phenomena under the same term. But there *is* a difference between controlling what actions a character is allowed to make (or what thoughts he/she is allowed to have, etc.) and preventing those actions from affecting the plot. And I think it's an important distinction (not "important" on the scale of global warming or institutionalized racism, but in the context of RPG philosophy) because they are symptoms of different DM..."issues", have different implications for game design, and probably have different remedies. Just as an aside: no, I'm not. Anyway... Maybe I'm missing something subtle, but this strikes me as a bit of semantic sleight-of-hand to demonstrate that two different things are the same. Like using chemistry to show that physics and biology are really the same science. Sure, you can make those connections, but why is that useful? "The existence of twilight does not disprove the difference between day and night." Etc. Um, yeah. The bold part is pretty much exactly what I said, and the rest of it is in the same spirit as what I meant. Maybe you're just agreeing with me, and expanding on the idea? It's hard to tell, because your posts tend to come across (to me, at least) like you're lecturing to a pupil, not discussing with a peer. [/QUOTE]

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