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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 6115212" data-attributes="member: 6696971">@<a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?4937-Celebrim" target="_blank">Celebrim</a>      Thats a very insightful post and I don't disagree with much (except I love Tolkein and I love the LotR movies and The Hobbit) of it.  However, the issues you're addressing therein are much more broad than I was attempting to focus on so I probably didn't do a good job of unpacking my angle.  I was specifically considering three elements of scenes that I think do apply to TTRPGs; (1) the nature of information conveyance and (2) its immediate relevance to conflict, both with respect to (3) pacing.Consider those two scenes as TTRPG scenes:- The Hobbit scene is primarily color and establishment of setting continuity.  It lasts a very long time relative to the other.  Those engaging with the scene might ask themselves (as movie viewers have regarding this very scene); "Uhhhh, whats the point?" or "yeah, I get it...can we move on already?"  This might be an exploration scene (an Inn, a Wilderness Crossing, a Gate Guard Interrogation) framed as Action Scene that someone (such as Hussar) isn't interested in engaging with to the degree they're interested in engaging with Action Scenes.  They might think it feels like they're in a debate with someone who is "filibustering/stalling" or "wandering aimlessly for a point." They want this scene to be a hand-waved Transition Scene (quick, efficient conveyance of information or setting continuity and then move on to the central conflict). - Whereas in the Super-8 scene, its impossible for the surveyor to ask those questions because the point is front and center, punches you in the mouth with information conveyance relevant to the central conflict of the movie and it is over in a flash (but it stays with you).  In the movie that tiny moment is an Action Scene and it can serve the purpose of the same in a TTRPG.  However, the difference would be that in a TTRPG it would need to be treated as the opener, framing the Action Scene such that the PCs can engage with, mechanically resolve, and establish the forward-moving content.  Perhaps the TTRPG analog to the Super-8 Action Scene would be something akin to the players seeking out a specific person central to the conflict as she has turned up missing...and upon arrival to the site where she works, they see this sign...investigation ensues > conflict resolution > story emerges.  Its hard to imagine the questions of "Uhhhh, whats the point?" or  "yeah, I get it...can we move on already?" manifesting in this scenario.  Yes, artful crafting is certainly front and center here.  But artful crafting has specific metrics through which we "measure" the crafter's proficiency; I would say those metrics are (1) the nature of information conveyance and (2) its immediate relevance to conflict, both with respect to (3) pacing.  Movies, games, scenes "drag" because the fiction is poorly rendered without proper heed to these metrics.  Why do we hate movies with obfuscatory plots that are eventually conveyed by way of "information dump/expository dialogue"?  We hate it because that should be conveyed via legitimate Action Scene (or scenes) that draw us in with tension, suspense, forcing emotional investment (in TTRPG terms we would be engaging with the content and actually establishing a way forward...resolving the conflict)...not a weak Transition Scene because they couldn't figure out how to formulate an appropriate Action Scene (or scenes) that leaves us cold, flat, and uninvested.Its the Action Scene mis-framed as Transition Scene or Transition Scene mis-framed as Action Scene that becomes the issue.</blockquote>

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