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Why Worldbuilding is Bad
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<blockquote data-quote="Bedrockgames" data-source="post: 7415547" data-attributes="member: 85555"><p>I think we keep stumbling into this somehow. People use a word for what it generally means in the hobby, then it gets labeled so broad it encompasses all of roleplaying. I am not really sure how we can proceed here. World building naturally includes characters and groups. All the things I listed. I think the only questionable entries on his list were adventures and stories. But characters, groups, locations, history, culture, institutions, etc. That is pretty much a given and a very basic aspect of world building. If you are ignoring all those things that belong to world building, to argue that world building isn't useful, then you are not making a real argument against world building. Further, if you are arguing that world building=excessive world building. I don't think that is much of an argument either. The reason people are reacting so strongly to this notion by the way, is world building is incredibly useful to most GMs. From my own experience, how much fun and easy to run a given session or campaign is, is almost always directly proportional to the amount of world building I invest into it. </p><p></p><p>I think what people are arguing is "At what point is world building unneccessary or counter productive.". I think the answer to that really depends on your needs as a GM and the needs of your group. But most people probably want enough world building to give a sense of depth to the world, without having too much content that it becomes unwieldy (or at least having content easy to find during play). </p><p></p><p>Personally I think arguments against world building as navel gazing, while they can definitely apply well to fiction, apply less well to gaming. Because in gaming that stuff under the surface that may or may not come up or be relevant, is incredibly important.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Bedrockgames, post: 7415547, member: 85555"] I think we keep stumbling into this somehow. People use a word for what it generally means in the hobby, then it gets labeled so broad it encompasses all of roleplaying. I am not really sure how we can proceed here. World building naturally includes characters and groups. All the things I listed. I think the only questionable entries on his list were adventures and stories. But characters, groups, locations, history, culture, institutions, etc. That is pretty much a given and a very basic aspect of world building. If you are ignoring all those things that belong to world building, to argue that world building isn't useful, then you are not making a real argument against world building. Further, if you are arguing that world building=excessive world building. I don't think that is much of an argument either. The reason people are reacting so strongly to this notion by the way, is world building is incredibly useful to most GMs. From my own experience, how much fun and easy to run a given session or campaign is, is almost always directly proportional to the amount of world building I invest into it. I think what people are arguing is "At what point is world building unneccessary or counter productive.". I think the answer to that really depends on your needs as a GM and the needs of your group. But most people probably want enough world building to give a sense of depth to the world, without having too much content that it becomes unwieldy (or at least having content easy to find during play). Personally I think arguments against world building as navel gazing, while they can definitely apply well to fiction, apply less well to gaming. Because in gaming that stuff under the surface that may or may not come up or be relevant, is incredibly important. [/QUOTE]
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