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Message: <blockquote data-quote="eyebeams" data-source="post: 4265948" data-attributes="member: 9225">A good theory needs the creator to do the following:1) Admit IncompletenessInstead of trying to vacuum everything up and define it, you're better off identifying the heart of what you want to talk about and admitting that you can't bring everything under one banner. Trying to do everything and worse yet, refusing to admit that this doesn't work, is why theory is in its current, wretched state, and why lots of people hate it.2) Admit Your Focus and BiasRelated to the first point, clearly state what you theory deals with the most, speculate on what it deals with the least, and link its execution to the kind of productive work you want to do and the issues/problems you think need exploring. People will know what you intend and look at the ends, as well as the heart of your ideas.3) Be MultidisciplinaryThe mistake everybody makes is refusing to examine roleplaying in light of a larger look at contemporary culture, and looking at how examinations of other media might apply. Read some books. There is nothing worse than someone trying to develop a theory whole cloth out of some desire to be the Nerd Aristotle. And if you go too far afield (by using metaphors from biology), realize that the burden on you to justify your decision is that much greater.4) Return to the ConcreteYour ideas should be applicable to real games and real processes. Do not confuse convincing thought experiments or what you read on the Internet with this. Have you ever taken notes as a nonparticipant third party in a game session? If not, maybe it's time to start. (I've done it myself quite a few times, actually.) Podcasts -- *unedited podcasts* are a new way to get a more authentic look at gaming, though you're necessarily missing many of the nonverbal elements.Plus, not to put too fine a point on it, people lie about their experiences -- and their gaming -- online all the time. A few years ago, one of the vocal guys in the theory community admitted he didn't even play any more, and one one occasion when I challenged a a bunch of folks to post pictures of them gaming in a group, most of them posted convention or Meetup pictures.</blockquote>

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