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<blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 6287708" data-attributes="member: 6696971">Unfortunately, you've completely got me wrong.&nbsp; I couldn't possibly care less about moderation or &quot;quelling conversation.&quot;&nbsp; I have never, and will never, report a singular post.&nbsp; I'm about competing in &quot;the arena of ideas&quot; (without QC) about as much as you can be.&nbsp; However, I'm also by saying what you mean, meaning what you say and standing by your words.&nbsp; Yes, in the &quot;the whole world is just one big Skinner Box&quot; sense of the phrase, it is non-pejorative.&nbsp; But how you can possibly say that specifically (within context of the user's other utterances) and generally a statement such as &quot;danger that the focus of the game&quot;+ &quot;shifts more towards gaining levels and&nbsp; assorted goodies skinner box style&quot;+&quot;instead of playing out the game&quot;isn't pejorative?&nbsp; Its asserting that (a) the practice is deviant from orthodox.&nbsp; Its asserting that it is (b) &quot;a danger.&quot;&nbsp; A danger from what?&nbsp; Something that is deviant to orthodox and toxic to the interests of the hobbyist.&nbsp; An Operant Conditioning Chamber (true to the source material) is about assuaging primal needs and the propensity for automaton behavior to become manifest when the right stimulus is presented and feedback loop is devised.&nbsp; Your average RPG player takes (at least enough) pride in their gameplay such that they feel that their behavior at the table is not simply that of an automaton unconsciously sating a primal need through a seductive feedback loop.&nbsp; Most players consider their * play to be at least as &quot;high-minded&quot; and intellectually stimulating as reading a book.&nbsp; There is nothing high-minded and intellectually stimulating about being unwarily seduced by a basic instinct and the infrastructure that perpetuates that seduction &quot;instead of playing out the game&quot; (which is not *).How is that even contentious?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Manbearcat, post: 6287708, member: 6696971"] Unfortunately, you've completely got me wrong. I couldn't possibly care less about moderation or "quelling conversation." I have never, and will never, report a singular post. I'm about competing in "the arena of ideas" (without QC) about as much as you can be. However, I'm also by saying what you mean, meaning what you say and standing by your words. Yes, in the "the whole world is just one big Skinner Box" sense of the phrase, it is non-pejorative. But how you can possibly say that specifically (within context of the user's other utterances) and generally a statement such as "danger that the focus of the game" + "shifts more towards gaining levels and assorted goodies skinner box style" + "[U][I][B]instead [/B][/I][/U]of playing out the game" isn't pejorative? Its asserting that (a) the practice is deviant from orthodox. Its asserting that it is (b) "a danger." A danger from what? Something that is deviant to orthodox and toxic to the interests of the hobbyist. An Operant Conditioning Chamber (true to the source material) is about assuaging primal needs and the propensity for automaton behavior to become manifest when the right stimulus is presented and feedback loop is devised. Your average RPG player takes (at least enough) pride in their gameplay such that they feel that their behavior at the table is not simply that of an automaton unconsciously sating a primal need through a seductive feedback loop. Most players consider their * play to be at least as "high-minded" and intellectually stimulating as reading a book. There is nothing high-minded and intellectually stimulating about being unwarily seduced by a basic instinct and the infrastructure that perpetuates that seduction "[U][I][B]instead[/B][/I][/U] of playing out the game" (which is not *). How is that even contentious? [/QUOTE]

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