RPG guru Ron Edwards tries to explain what he means by “Brain Damaged”. I’m still not sure I agree with him, but since I’m one of those pesky Simulationists, what do I know? (See my earlier post on the subject).
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Ron might make a few valid sub-points, but I disagree with his conclusion and the broad brush with which he indiscriminately paints the entire roleplaying community.
And I’m not just disagreeing with his insulting choice of words… I’m disagreeing with the whole _idea_ that most of the community cannot comprehend and appreciate a story. D&D and Vampire aren’t _hurting_ anybody. There may be dysfunctional behaviors, but those aren’t the fault of the game… you see those _same_ dysfunctional behaviors in social groups, period. I saw it in the chess club, heck I see it in _church_ and Bible study groups.
The problem isn’t roleplaying games, it’s that some people are socially inept. I think those people might be drawn to roleplaying and chess and model trains
more than other hobbies. But roleplaying games aren’t breaking people’s abilities to interact (they already interacted poorly) or breaking their ability to tell and understand stories (they already couldn’t tell stories).
Oh yes, I’ve known plenty of socially dysfunctional people in model railway clubs. One model railway mailing list has periodic convulsions after flamewars get out of hand.
I think Ron Edward’s whole schtick is an extended rant about the worst excesses of 90s gaming; all the style-over-content, multiple splatbooks, restrictive metaplots and often kludgy rules.
Ah, now I know why I don’t understand what this chap is ranting about. My main RPG group went its own way in the late 1980s and the only new game it absorbed after Champions was TORG. Even then all that was absorbed was the game mechanics, the game world didn’t survive the free module which came with the GM’s screen.
Yes, basically. Ron has a real beef with 90s games, and Vampire specifically.
Having gamed with the Whitton crowd a few times, they seem to have discovered functional narratism perfectly well.