thread: 2008-04-14 : Interchangeable?
On 2008-04-15, Marshall wrote:
Vincent wrote:
"system (per the looly pooly) matters" + "ruleset may or may not inform system (per the looly pooly)," not "ruleset automatically matters."
I agree with that, but I think it's only true due to historical shortcomings in game design. I wish it wasn't true. I dream of a day when ruleset automatically matters because rulesets are written such that if you follow these rules as written, the intended fun will happen.
I mean, if you don't follow the rules of Game X, ignoring some or adding some or whatever, you aren't playing Game X anymore; you're playing Game Y or Game X Prime or something. But it's a necessity if Game X is broken. For my money, good RPG design means that Game X is functional and fun all by itself and all you have to do is have a good Social Contract and follow the rules as-written (like checkers, or poker, or just about any other non-RPG). Tall order, though.
