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Old 02-16-2011, 01:32 PM   #250
Formendacil
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Durelin View Post
This is funny, because this is what I think the Downs style has been like. The *play out the plot step by step, using the characters to complete the plot* (which means sometimes everyone sorta collectively using the characters)...
Well, I daresay I've read you wrong in many respects... while at the same time I have to heartily agree that we see things here from drastically different perspectives. I am content to agree to disagree. In any case, my point has been made, while perhaps not articulated well enough for complete comprehension...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Durelin
Why not leave room for variety? For some things a little different? No one's going to pop in and just change the status quo if you don't outline every little style point in the rules. For one thing, the status quo is pretty *solid* here...for another, that just doesn't happen.
First of all, in case there's any impression to the contrary, I am not opposed to having few spelled out rules. Nonetheless, we have to have *some* rules, and even some rules that have been written down. This particular sidetrack developed out of a discussion regarding the current rule about not godmoding. My (overdone) defencive was never really intended to give the new forum a detailed, down-to-the-particular situation rulebook. While I definitely got distracted regarding the formulation, application, and interpretation of this particular law (for which you can thank my affinity for canon law), it's worth noting that my point was to affirm the validity of the current rules, and more importantly to note that the reason those rules existed--namely to safeguard the rights of players--was still valid.

Granted, if in fact the current system, for all its rigidity on that point doesn't actually safeguard a player's right to their character, but actually railroads them in the direction of the plot... well, in that case my impassioned legal defence is sort of beside the point, whatever its intrinsic value.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Durelin
And the fact is, the style has changed over time, fluctuated a great deal. In the particulars, the style can differ from game to game and certainly from forum to forum, which was part of the point of the three forum system (the differences seemed to get fewer over time, I guess).

So, I just think what you're trying to put into rules, to 'preserve' the style...it's a bit much, and not what rules are for in my opinion.
"Style" is one of the worst of a few bad word-choices I've made, and you'd think a Philosophy/English student would know better*. My usage keeps being interpreted as something a lot more nitpicky and detailed than I meant it to be, and that's probably my fault for responding in a nitpicky way to a nitpicky issue, while having the -unstated- intention of speaking about big things, which were, at best, only alluded to.

So, to make it extra, crystal-clear...

I don't want to make lots of little rules detailing the exact specifics of every possible situation--and, in that respect especially, my use of the word "style" was unfortunate.

That being said, however... I do think it's extremely important to be having nitpicky, even contra-factual, discussions about the "rules/etiquette." For one thing, it provokes opinions, and for another it lets one examine the full consequences of a change. Do we want to have less restrictive rules? Yes, I think we all agree on that in principle. At the same time, however, do we want to do away with the motivations behind the rules as they stand? Taking your case, of displeasure at having your character railroaded for the sake of the story, then it seems to me that, in the case of the rule about not godmoding, that you still would want the principle behind it being forbidden to remain in place.

As to Fea's basic rules... they're the principles behind all the rules we have now, and are essentially what I've been defending--albeit, perhaps they were never under attack...




*Trivia fact: we don't. On the contrary, we tend to redefine words and make the subconscious assumption that everyone else will figure out the "new meaning" through a combination of context and miraculous osmosis.
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