thread: 2012-06-11 : Ask a Frequent Question
On 2012-07-16, Moreno wrote:
I write too much, and I end up drowning what I am trying to say in all that verbiage. This time I will try to be as concise as I can.
1) When I have the manual in my hands: I completely agree with you. At that time it's the book's job to tell me everything I need to know to play the game.
2) When I don't have the manual, and I never played the game and I am asking questions: that is the case I am talking about.
All that mass of text I posted in my last comments was in reply to these two phrases you wrote, applied to the situation (2) above: I don't think it's still useful to categorize games that way [...] don't expect me to point out which are which, and I don't expect anyone else to notice.
My last two comments I posted were about the reasons I have to consider that information not only useful, but essential, and the example I made about DitV was to be applied to the situation (2) above: for people who ask questions without having brought or read the manual, that information was the difference between "correct" and "misleading" representations of the game. (no, it's not nearly useful as actual play experience could be, but getting people's interest is the first step to actual play)
I am not going to repeat all that. I apply that experience to my explanations about the games, yes, so when I explain a game to someone I will talk about its agenda (if I know it, and if I am talking to someone that I think will understand what I am saying), and no, I am not saying that you are trying to stop me doing that.
It's the other case I am worried about: when "I" am the one who doesn't know a game, I ask question around, and nobody tell me the agenda of the game anymore. What can I do then? It's not like I can "use" by myself a knowledge nobody shares with me.
The avoidance of use of GNS agenda is so marked, noticeable and widespread to give a marked impression of being, for a lot of people, less of a "it doesn't matter" reaction, and much more a "please don't make me talk about that again" reaction. A lot of people are simply fed up with GNS discussions.
I can sympathize with that sentiment (God knows how many times I had that same exact though...), but this still leave me with a problem: I can't buy and read every single game simply to know what they are about...
