Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 3461167" data-attributes="member: 467">This actually has ****-all to do with worldbuilding versus not worldbuilding and applies equally to fiction and gaming: that which doesn't deduct from the enjoyment of the reader/player is not bad.&nbsp; This isn't the same thing as&nbsp; saying that which improves the enjoyment of the reader/player is good.If I, as a writer or setting designer, create a document regarding the ecology of the swamp muffler that is 25,000 words long and goes into extreme detail on the swamp muffler's eating, breeding and defecating habits, and then mention swamp mufflers exactly once in one paragraph while the main characters/PCs travel through a swamp, I haven't stolen anything from them or somehow hurt them.&nbsp; Whether or not I improved their enjoyment is irrelevent.&nbsp; And, I didn't infodump on them.&nbsp; I made a mention.&nbsp; it was significant only in that it made sense with everything else I have designed, all my other worldbuilding.The difference is that in the novel, it was probably extraneous work that only provided me with a sense of pleasure and satisfaction (until my no talent hack of a kid repackages and publishes the Ecology of the Swamp Muffler after my death anyway).&nbsp; As a GM though, I have added to my world in a way that may or may not matter, dependent upon the players.&nbsp; i mean, players do some funny stuff.&nbsp; If I describe the swamp muffler's mating song, one might well go hunting it down.&nbsp; All that work I did -- which was originally for my own enjoyment -- now provides me with the tools to entertain the player who, for whatever reason, wants to catch a swamp muffler.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Reynard, post: 3461167, member: 467"] This actually has ****-all to do with worldbuilding versus not worldbuilding and applies equally to fiction and gaming: that which doesn't deduct from the enjoyment of the reader/player is not bad. This isn't the same thing as saying that which improves the enjoyment of the reader/player is good. If I, as a writer or setting designer, create a document regarding the ecology of the swamp muffler that is 25,000 words long and goes into extreme detail on the swamp muffler's eating, breeding and defecating habits, and then mention swamp mufflers exactly once in one paragraph while the main characters/PCs travel through a swamp, I haven't stolen anything from them or somehow hurt them. Whether or not I improved their enjoyment is irrelevent. And, I didn't infodump on them. I made a mention. it was significant only in that it made sense with everything else I have designed, all my other worldbuilding. The difference is that in the novel, it was probably extraneous work that only provided me with a sense of pleasure and satisfaction (until my no talent hack of a kid repackages and publishes the Ecology of the Swamp Muffler after my death anyway). As a GM though, I have added to my world in a way that may or may not matter, dependent upon the players. i mean, players do some funny stuff. If I describe the swamp muffler's mating song, one might well go hunting it down. All that work I did -- which was originally for my own enjoyment -- now provides me with the tools to entertain the player who, for whatever reason, wants to catch a swamp muffler. [/QUOTE]

Verification