2017-08-12 Zak on Games

Zak wrote a blog post StoryGame Design is (Often) The Opposite of OSR Design where he goes into the differences of the Old School Renaissance and Narrative Design. I’m not sure how easy it is to read if you don’t like the Old School Renaissance, but since I like many different games, I don’t mind. And within this outer framing device, I find the post has an excellent set of refutations for various comments about the games I like that I’ve seen – or opinions I’ve had myself, often describing two different approaches to the various statements he picked.

StoryGame Design is (Often) The Opposite of OSR Design

I need to remember this!

The post is long. The points are good. You can come back later and read more. Just scroll until you see a point that speaks to you and read what Zak has to say, think where you stand on the subject, do you agree, disagree, why? I like this process.

• ”The game’s about what the rules are about—the more rules a given subject takes up, the more the game is going to be about that, the less space a subject takes up in the rules, the less it’ll be about that”*

• ”Games Teach Appropriate Normative Behavior So Their Content Should Be Considered To Have Great Moral Meaning”*

• ”If you want personality, emotions, romance, you need rules for that”*

• ”Violating genre expectations is bad”*

• ”I Want To Play The Game, Not The GM!”*

• ”The Game Should Teach You The Best Ways To Play Them”*

• ”It’s Escapism! Make Players Feel Powerful And Competent”*

• ”Failing Forward is Always Good And There Are More Interesting Consequences Than Death”*

• ”The Rules Should Help You Get Story Moments”*

• ”Focused Games Are Good Games”*

• ”Rules That Detail Random Aspects Of The World Are About ’Simulationism’—They’re For People Whose Goal is To Immerse Themselves In The World”*

• ”Unattached Murderhobo Players Are Bad”*

• ”Hodge Podge Systems Are Bad, Everything Should Work On The Same Mechanic”*

​#RPG

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Please note 2019-02-11 More Zak Smith.

2019-02-11 More Zak Smith

– Alex Schroeder 2019-02-19 07:02 UTC