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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 9040032" data-attributes="member: 42582">Upthread, the issue of Middle Earth and simulationism was raised. It seemed to be suggested that there could be a simulationist game set in Middle Earth.Everything in Middle Earth is authored to meet some dramatic need or serve some thematic purpose.Now it is being posited that this is &quot;unrealistic&quot; and hence at odd with simulationism.I'm lost.If a &quot;world truth&quot; means something the GM has made up in their notes that the players never learn about, then it's separate from play, and in my view of little interest.If a &quot;world truth&quot; means something that we can imagine happening that is independent of the events the PCs participate in, then every RPG with some minimum degree of sophistication has this. Eg in my BW games there are shops, soldiers, guards, sailors, etc and its obvious that all these people have lives and families and so on that don't have any relevance to or bearing on the PCs.If a &quot;world truth&quot; means something that the GM makes a focus of play that is not connected to the players' evinced concerns for their PCs, then what we're talking about in my view is not &quot;realism&quot; but rather who gets to decide what play is about.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 9040032, member: 42582"] Upthread, the issue of Middle Earth and simulationism was raised. It seemed to be suggested that there could be a simulationist game set in Middle Earth. Everything in Middle Earth is authored to meet some dramatic need or serve some thematic purpose. Now it is being posited that this is "unrealistic" and hence at odd with simulationism. I'm lost. If a "world truth" means something the GM has made up in their notes that the players never learn about, then it's separate from play, and in my view of little interest. If a "world truth" means something that we can imagine happening that is independent of the events the PCs participate in, then every RPG with some minimum degree of sophistication has this. Eg in my BW games there are shops, soldiers, guards, sailors, etc and its obvious that all these people have lives and families and so on that don't have any relevance to or bearing on the PCs. If a "world truth" means something that the GM makes a focus of play that is not connected to the players' evinced concerns for their PCs, then what we're talking about in my view is not "realism" but rather [I]who gets to decide what play is about[/I]. [/QUOTE]

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