thread: 2005-04-25 : Technical Agenda
On 2005-04-30, Ben Lehman wrote:
Emily—
I seriously disagree that non-textual social contracts in games are necessarily problematic. GM fiat and GM as social arbiter rules are actually pretty functional, most of the time. If they weren't, I wouldn't have had fun playing with them for almost two decades!
The point, though, is that every RPG text carries with it some basic, usually unspoken, rules about how the game progresses and functions, and what the game means on a social level, and those are carried through oral culture and taught group to group. And they are also different from group to group. Even pervy modern RPG texts have this issue. It isn't necessarily bad, especially when you consider that, in nearly every game, the players are going to be bringing a chunk of system with them to the table.
Technical Sim runs into problems because the rules are totally agnostic to the social situation, and so can end up being used as a tool for unpleasant social aggression. Like, I kill your character 'cause "it's what my guy would do" when actually all I'm doing is trying to make you cry. Good rules, maybe, give avenues to address and prevent that, rather than just describing how much damage my attacks do.
yrs—
—Ben
