Something Wicked: Worlds and rules - priorities

[bruceb]

 Me on design and play emphases, over at Moon Design:

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I should note up front that I’m only speaking on my own behalf and not for Ben, unless I explicitly say otherwise. We get along, but we don’t always think identically, and he’s got his own words. So if anything I write strikes you as horribly awful, you can still have hope for the other

Comments

[eynowd]

It amazes me how often your musings seem to closely parallel the noodlings I've been having.

Recently, I've been trying to narrow down what is important for me in a game. I'm finding I really do need to express this coherently in terms of what I like and what I don't like. If I don't, then I often feel unfulfilled (at best) or downright frustrated and resentful (at worst) about my gaming.

What you're talking about here plays a big part in my thinking. I often gravitate towards system-medium to light games, with rich settings. If I pick up a game and reading through it sparks my imagination with characters, places and stories, chances are I'm going to like it, as long as the rules aren't too hideous.

That often then brings me to the next important thing - what's it like to be a character in this setting? What things are important? Why do they do those things? If these sorts of questions aren't addressed in play, it feels flat. If they're ignored in favour of the mission of the week, I tend to lose interest REALLY fast. (Shadowrun is a perfect example - I love the setting, but I actually dislike playing it, because I can't stand the default mercenary criminal character viewpoint).

I do intend to write up my own blog post along these lines soon, as a manifest of sorts. Because if I don't express what's important to me, the only other alternative I can see is giving up gaming altogether, and I've been exceptionally close to making that decision of late. :(

[bruceb]

Happy to goad you, as always. :)