“I enjoy the challenge of building characters” and “I enjoy the challenge of playing (a character)” is the biggest division in the games hobby. It’s at the root of most other perceived differences new/old, tactical combat/roleplay, DM arbitration/Killer DM, crunch/fluff, “I walked uphill to the dungeon both ways!”/”gimmie fun on a silver platter”, 3d6 in order/point buy, character skill/player skill, etc/etc.
-- a comment from njharman of Troll and Flame on a "A Study of 2 different Playstyles" at Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer.
Huh? That has to be a record for the most slashes and quotes in a single "sentence". Usually memorable quotes are on the simple side, I can barely read that LOL!!
ReplyDeleteThe old creative agenda issue...is your D&D G, or S?
ReplyDeleteTom: It could use a colon between "differences" and "new," but otherwise it's pretty standard internet-speak. Perhaps you require a translation?
ReplyDelete"The argument between people who enjoy the challenge of building characters and people who enjoy the challenge of playing (a character) is the biggest division in the hobby. It's at the root of most other perceived differences: between old school and new school, tactical combat and roleplay, DM arbitration and killer DM, crunch and fluff, the dungeon as a challenge to be overcome and game night as a time to hang out and not worry about 'challenge,' 3d6 in order and point buy, character skill and player skill, etc."
Not as succinct as the original, but it's the idea in the quote that interests me, not the phrasing. An intriguing one, wouldn't you say?
Anonymous: Personally, I like this phrasing better because it avoids a lot of the "political" issues involved with GNS terminology. And this puts the guys playing themselves in a dungeon in the same category as the people exploring a fictional inner landscape, which intrigues me because I've seen a natural progression between those two points. But yeah, it's the same basic idea. A lot of theory is basically circling around this one issue.