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Why Aren't Designers Using The GUMSHOE System?
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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 7688721" data-attributes="member: 177"><p>Okay, so who gave you the idea that it was intended to be an accurate representation of real-world skill use? </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Who is "we"? </p><p></p><p>Again, as mentioned before, the vignette approach works great for experienced GMs doing their own adventure design, for a one-off. "We" get the experience by *screwing it up*, and seeing the result, and then adjusting. So, this position comes out like, "since an experienced GM can handle this cleanly, we can let the new GM and their players suffer" - kind of like saying that today's doctors should have internships that don't allow them proper sleep, because all the previous doctors suffered lack of sleep, so everyone else should do it the same way. Game design including institutionalized hazing? Really?</p><p></p><p>Remember that the vignette construction is not obvious under most rulesets. In most games, the natural way to set up a mystery is just to apply the nominal skill system of the game - which can leave the party at a loss on bad die rolls. You have to have foresight of the pitfalls in order to come to the vignette solution.</p><p></p><p>In addition, what if you want a *campaign* worth of these things? Then, don't you want a system that supports the desired behavior, rather than having to work around the system for most of your adventures? I should instead use a system that's designed for detailed combat and dungeon crawling, and subvert the game's design to get what I really want? Why not just have a tool that does the job?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This is like saying, "all D&D offers is a whole lot of spells," (because, if you flip through the rulebook, this is something one is apt to notice) and thereby dismissing the game as not having a decent overall structure or mechanics in general. This one mechanical detail is not the whole of the GUMSHOE system. It is merely the most striking one to most folks first observing it. This is only one element of the system, not "everything it offers".</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 7688721, member: 177"] Okay, so who gave you the idea that it was intended to be an accurate representation of real-world skill use? Who is "we"? Again, as mentioned before, the vignette approach works great for experienced GMs doing their own adventure design, for a one-off. "We" get the experience by *screwing it up*, and seeing the result, and then adjusting. So, this position comes out like, "since an experienced GM can handle this cleanly, we can let the new GM and their players suffer" - kind of like saying that today's doctors should have internships that don't allow them proper sleep, because all the previous doctors suffered lack of sleep, so everyone else should do it the same way. Game design including institutionalized hazing? Really? Remember that the vignette construction is not obvious under most rulesets. In most games, the natural way to set up a mystery is just to apply the nominal skill system of the game - which can leave the party at a loss on bad die rolls. You have to have foresight of the pitfalls in order to come to the vignette solution. In addition, what if you want a *campaign* worth of these things? Then, don't you want a system that supports the desired behavior, rather than having to work around the system for most of your adventures? I should instead use a system that's designed for detailed combat and dungeon crawling, and subvert the game's design to get what I really want? Why not just have a tool that does the job? This is like saying, "all D&D offers is a whole lot of spells," (because, if you flip through the rulebook, this is something one is apt to notice) and thereby dismissing the game as not having a decent overall structure or mechanics in general. This one mechanical detail is not the whole of the GUMSHOE system. It is merely the most striking one to most folks first observing it. This is only one element of the system, not "everything it offers". [/QUOTE]
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Why Aren't Designers Using The GUMSHOE System?
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