tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239577512598038009.post5173569666437115191..comments2024-02-27T01:17:39.925-08:00Comments on The Nine and Thirty Kingdoms: Mustard Over KetchupTalysmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02162328521343832412noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239577512598038009.post-55071377794009610192014-09-08T02:02:46.187-07:002014-09-08T02:02:46.187-07:00I dunno. I think it remains to be seen how modular...I dunno. I think it remains to be seen how modular the DMG is-- they might cast a slightly wider net than expected.Rachel Ghoulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04765944479141792643noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239577512598038009.post-6755587189633364912014-09-02T18:15:12.746-07:002014-09-02T18:15:12.746-07:00There is context, but to explain it would require ...There is context, but to explain it would require a book. Or several. Still, I will try...<br /><br />I don't completely disagree with Talysman, nor do I completely agree: it's difficult to say. I know the article he references. I understood its point as: ketchup (as we know it today) is near-perfectly blended such that it hits all the five tastes. Thus it appeals to the broadest possible market (something around 80-90% of consumers). Mustard is not like ketchup; it never has been. That's why we have so many types of mustard today.<br /><br />Talysman asks: "is D&D mustard, or ketchup?" But he provides no clarification. Is he talking about just the core mechanics? Or is there something deeper here?<br /><br />The obvious answer is mustard: D&D's rules are customizable. We can have any number of variations (and indeed, we do) and each of them works just fine for the people who use them. It's entirely a matter of personal taste whether you use 3rd Edition or Pathfinder; or whether you include encumbrance rules or not; or whether you use static experience goals or a variable mechanic for advancement. In that sense, D&D is like mustard - it's all about personal preference.<br /><br />But there's more to D&D than the mechanical rules. There's also the social rules. Or the rules of presentation (or public speaking). Or the rules of storytelling. Should you use a scripted adventure or should you let the players wing it? Is that issue a matter of personal taste? I'm convinced that there are right answers to these questions. When the DM wants to create tension, what's the best way to do it? When the DM wants to generate despair, or loathing for an NPC, or a relaxing environment, or an energetic one... what is the best way to do this? It's not entirely a matter of personal preference. If it were, motivational speakers wouldn't have a job.<br /><br />There are some elements of RPGs that are subject to personal preference, such that there is no right or wrong answer. There are some, however, that are not; they have a right answer and we should be discussing how to learn that answer so that we can play a better game.<br /><br />(And my comment about the sense of taste having no right answer is based on an individual assessment. On a greater level - the level where large corporations conduct metadata analysis - there is a right answer, which is usually the one that yields the best influence over the largest share of the market.)Ozymandiashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01065642299277380465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239577512598038009.post-43806424401398234002014-09-01T19:10:21.072-07:002014-09-01T19:10:21.072-07:00"So I do not agree with Ozymandias, who says,..."So I do not agree with Ozymandias, who says, 'where it comes to taste, there is no right answer. Where it comes to gaming, there is.'"<br /><br />Wait what? Ozy are you for real? Is there a context for this?<br /><br />Totally interested in the follow-up to this one.<br />Greg Gorgonmilkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15397374629757817360noreply@blogger.com