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General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Worlds of Design: When Technology Changes the Game
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<blockquote data-quote="Ovinomancer" data-source="post: 8084260" data-attributes="member: 16814"><p>I don't think it follows that people are either this concerned about making worlds make sense or uninterested in world building. This is a false dichotomy. There's a large middle ground of sense making that appears to be the norm rather than the exception, Star Wars being a poignant example. It might not fit your, or other's, sensibilities, but that doesn't mean that you've the stronger argument on worldbuilding and making sense, just AN argument.</p><p></p><p>I think a better approach would be to consider what the technology/magic is going to be used for in-game and adapt your technology from there, not introduce a tech and then adapt the game.. Especially in sci-fi games, where the level of understanding is spotty at best. World-building should always serve the game, not the other way around. Pick a way it works and then adapt to that rather than the other way around.</p><p></p><p>To your aside, automation is an interesting discussion. If automation is good enough to fight for us, moral questions begin to arise, especially if automated systems will be fighting people rather than just other automated systems. Ultimately, people are the target or you'd just play chess and save the resources consumed in an automation versus automation fight. If we aren't postulating some kind of singularity where even understanding what conflict is will be impossible for us to grasp (and not a good topic for an RPG, if an interesting story concept), people will always be at the crux of things. And, at that crux, you have opportunity, because it might be that one or a few people can command the power of battleships through automation. The reality is that we will never fully trust automation enough to teach it to kill us on its own, or we never should. That mistake could be an interesting setting background point -- rogue automation or a choice, like in Dune, to abandon any 'thinking machines' -- but it doesn't make for a good game (or a good history IRL). If we ever develop general AI, this problem gains multiple moral dimensions, as sending sentient AI out to kill and die for humans is morally akin to forced use of child soldiers. It's an icky place to be.</p><p></p><p>So, there's plenty of room for games with automation that don't render people useless. If you're going to be designing a game and using technology, make choices that enable the game rather than choices that disable it. It's all fiction, anyway.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ovinomancer, post: 8084260, member: 16814"] I don't think it follows that people are either this concerned about making worlds make sense or uninterested in world building. This is a false dichotomy. There's a large middle ground of sense making that appears to be the norm rather than the exception, Star Wars being a poignant example. It might not fit your, or other's, sensibilities, but that doesn't mean that you've the stronger argument on worldbuilding and making sense, just AN argument. I think a better approach would be to consider what the technology/magic is going to be used for in-game and adapt your technology from there, not introduce a tech and then adapt the game.. Especially in sci-fi games, where the level of understanding is spotty at best. World-building should always serve the game, not the other way around. Pick a way it works and then adapt to that rather than the other way around. To your aside, automation is an interesting discussion. If automation is good enough to fight for us, moral questions begin to arise, especially if automated systems will be fighting people rather than just other automated systems. Ultimately, people are the target or you'd just play chess and save the resources consumed in an automation versus automation fight. If we aren't postulating some kind of singularity where even understanding what conflict is will be impossible for us to grasp (and not a good topic for an RPG, if an interesting story concept), people will always be at the crux of things. And, at that crux, you have opportunity, because it might be that one or a few people can command the power of battleships through automation. The reality is that we will never fully trust automation enough to teach it to kill us on its own, or we never should. That mistake could be an interesting setting background point -- rogue automation or a choice, like in Dune, to abandon any 'thinking machines' -- but it doesn't make for a good game (or a good history IRL). If we ever develop general AI, this problem gains multiple moral dimensions, as sending sentient AI out to kill and die for humans is morally akin to forced use of child soldiers. It's an icky place to be. So, there's plenty of room for games with automation that don't render people useless. If you're going to be designing a game and using technology, make choices that enable the game rather than choices that disable it. It's all fiction, anyway. [/QUOTE]
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