thread: 2005-06-03 : The Subtle Rules
On 2005-06-07, Spamnet wrote:
Your original post discussed creating rules with a soul and later I got going on about game grip. My overall observation is that game designers build their soul (preferences for specific amounts and kinds of things and the things that grip them) into the game. Our individual soul and the group's soul may or may not jive with it. I see successful gaming and games successfully designed (and entertainment in general) as being gripping, no matter the way you get to it.
It sure seems to me that most rulesets are less about grip and more about procedure. Which misses the whole point.
I can imagine, working from principles (such as grip, participation and others) a ruleset that is flexible and generic and allows a gaming group to fill it with their own soul (or a predesigned soul.) I intuitively understand that it's possible, but there's a lot of baggage in rpg design that needs to be unlearned, myself included. Part of the reason I am here is that I wish to understand more of what these principles are and what they do for us.
To directly answer the questions, there are indeed basic principles that will resonate with everyone. But the way most games are put together tend to work around these things than focus on them, although some do better than others in some ways. A well designed ruleset could improve our gaming experiences.
Chris (Spamnet)
Note: In writing this, I have been interrupted about 100 times so I hope this is coherent and has merit to the reader.
