Nature or Nurture
My Human Factors professor says the benefits of technological aids are much less than the benefits of training / practice and of innate ability. He spoke of flight simulators, but I wonder how this affects game design -- specifically the idea that System Does Matter.
System Does Matter suggests that a game's design shapes how the game is played. So a Gamist RPG that obsesses over combat rules (such as 4th Edition D&D) would promote different play experiences than a more Narrative RPG / storygame (such as Fate Core or HeroQuest or DungeonWorld). But also a game that uses the wrong kind of mechanics could produce unintended consequences (the original example was Vampire: The Masquerade, which combined a Narrative presentation with Gamist mechanics, and subsequently tended to produce vampire super-anti-heroes instead of the intended game of personal horror).
But many gamers scoff at System Does Matter, insisting that their play experiences are completely independent of game system. If gaming is similar to piloting skills in reaping greater rewards from experience and ability than from mechanical aids, perhaps this independence is true. If you've spent many thousands of hours playing in one style, you may continue with that style regardless of other influences. So maybe System Does Matter is mostly important for new gamers, or for old gamers who want to try new things (learn new skills)?
System Does Matter suggests that a game's design shapes how the game is played. So a Gamist RPG that obsesses over combat rules (such as 4th Edition D&D) would promote different play experiences than a more Narrative RPG / storygame (such as Fate Core or HeroQuest or DungeonWorld). But also a game that uses the wrong kind of mechanics could produce unintended consequences (the original example was Vampire: The Masquerade, which combined a Narrative presentation with Gamist mechanics, and subsequently tended to produce vampire super-anti-heroes instead of the intended game of personal horror).
But many gamers scoff at System Does Matter, insisting that their play experiences are completely independent of game system. If gaming is similar to piloting skills in reaping greater rewards from experience and ability than from mechanical aids, perhaps this independence is true. If you've spent many thousands of hours playing in one style, you may continue with that style regardless of other influences. So maybe System Does Matter is mostly important for new gamers, or for old gamers who want to try new things (learn new skills)?