Post originally by Zoran Bekric at 2004-06-16 18:45:21
Converted from Phorums BB System



Oliver wrote:
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<i>Quite right. Since you didn't do the story telling, but rather devised a plot.</i>
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You really have no idea what goes on in a story conference, do you? It's more concerned with coming with incidents and bits of dialogue than just simply devising a plot.

Still, I've also written scripts and short stories -- which quite clearly did involve me doing the story-telling -- and it's an even more radically different process from a roleplaying game. It's a solitary activity for a start.


Oliver wrote:
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<i>Forgive me if my respect for bachelor degrees is not much higher than that for the opinion of the local plumber. I've seen science bachelors who argued in defiance of the laws of thermodynamics, and as such, I doubt it was the university's fault if you suffer some misconceptions.</i>
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Forgive me if I'm not particularly concerned by the lack of respect of someone who can't tell the difference between a game and a novel. I hate to imagine what you think the laws of thermodynamics are.

Speaking of such, I can't help by notice that you neglected to reply to the section my post in which I asked you to back up your assertions by quoting a passage that unambiguously contains a game mechanic. Ignoring such an invitation in favour of just making personal attacks is pretty much a clear admission that you're full of it.

Or is it that you have a crack team of searchers -- the Tolkien Text Survey Group (TTSG)? -- who are carefully parsing every line of text in the <i>Lord of the Rings,</i> desperately trying to find something, anything, that could somehow be construed as a game mechanic?


Oliver wrote:
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<i>If one person picks up the role of one character, it is -by definition. Just as psychological roleplaying may not be a game, not being done for leisure, but still is roleplaying. A roleplaying game is quite comparable with impromptu drama, whether you like it or not. The fact that more than just the laws of physics restrict the actions of the character doesn't change that the least.</i>
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And if the same group gathers to play Poker, that would be a game by definition. If you're willing to accept anything that meets half the criteria in the term "roleplaying game" as a RPG, then that would qualify as well. If the members of the group were to engage in a little shop talk while playing Poker, an impromptu story conference, it would satisfy both halves of the term, making it indistinguishable from a RPG under your approach.

Still, I've yet to engage in a story conference in which one person exclusively picks the role of one character. A story conference is conducted mostly in what's called author-stance. Participants play all the parts in any scene or sequence they choose to act out rather than just describe. Quite different to what happens in a roleplaying game.

If you ignore everything but the slope of their backs, you can claim that a horse is the same as a peanut. The same is true of novels/dramas and roleplaying games. But the differences do exist and, no matter how much you seek to ignore them, they do matter.

Regards,

Zoran