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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 8121541" data-attributes="member: 6785785">I suppose that it depends if you look at elements of gaming as being replacements for imagination, or facilitators of it. I think there's a valid point to the idea that the more that is done for the audience or participants, the less they need to imagine on their own. But I don't know if it's really all that bad a thing. Also, what about when a player is struggling to imagine what is being conveyed? A visual tool like a map or miniature or something similar can actually help them. I don't think we can assume imagination is always this unbridled thing that has no limits and needs no encouragement.And I also think the nature of the specific media or game is a big factor as well. To lean on your example, something like Minecraft seems to be much more of a prompt to the imagination than an inhibitor of it. Other video games would be quite the opposite. I don't think we can paint them all with one brush. I think that with RPGs, this is a shifting landscape. Especially with the increase in online play and use of online tools during the pandemic. But I also think that there has been a significant shift by some games to change the mode of play and how the fiction is established which is placing more need on a player to use their imagination to help craft the world and its elements, rather than relying on just the GM to present these to them.</blockquote>