Do you have fun discussing theory?

RockViper · February 08, 2007, 09:30:26 AM

No its quite boring, and most threads turn into a ego battle between a handful of posters after a few posts. I don't need theory to tell me how to enjoy gaming.

Consonant Dude · February 08, 2007, 10:31:06 AM

I don't really enjoy the long debates. I think theory is useful when it is kept short and in the practical realm. But the long debates don't work. They don't work because, unfortunately, people usually don't know themselves all that well. And they don't know their peers all that well either.

Because of that, the idea that you can build an all-encompassing theory in a digestible format with neat categories, about a hobby that is extremely large and can take many shapes... most of them is a fucking delusion. Especially since a lot of roleplaying, no matter what the mechanical components are, takes place in our heads.

JamesV · February 08, 2007, 10:45:18 AM

Quote from: flyingmiceQ: Do you have fun discussing theory?

A: No. I'm too stupid to understand it, and not motivated enough to try.

-clash

Damn, that's about right for me too. Although my lack of motivation is directly in proportion to the degree of jargon/rigidity in the discussion. The more likely I have to read another thread just to understand what they mean by 'rolling dice', the less I care.

James McMurray · February 08, 2007, 10:49:26 AM

I like discussing theory in general, but if you have to point me to a library of terms and dissertations to talk I'll wander away bored. Since it seems like most theory discussions head down that path I voted no,

edit: I guess where it breaks down for me is when people stop talking about whatever it is they're talking about and switch to talking about how they're talking.

Thanatos02 · February 08, 2007, 10:57:15 AM

Answer without qualification: Not usually, no.

With qualification: Playing a game is a good way to spend time, so I consider it 'useful' to me. I don't like doing things that arn't really useful. Most theory is not real useful, while a little is. So, sometimes it's ok, but usually it misses the forest for the trees and isn't any fun to boot.

Pseudoephedrine · February 08, 2007, 11:16:15 AM

I like theory in a general sense. I think most RPG theory is dumb and badly thought out though, so it's annoying to have to talk about it.

One Horse Town · February 08, 2007, 11:29:33 AM

Most certainly no. If i'm playing in a game, i'm occupied, i don't need someone to deconstruct why i am having fun or tell me why i shouldn't be. If i'm writing for a game, i write something that is going to be fun, i'm not agonising over some intangible gaming theory. If it's fun and interesting, it's good. If it's knowing and rather mechanical, then it's boring. YMMV.

Cessna · February 08, 2007, 12:06:30 PM

You want to talk theory, great. Have fun. Knock yourself out.

I've found that the best games I've played in are untainted by theory discussions - just a bunch of folks sitting around a table telling war stories, drinking beer, and throwing dice.

James McMurray · February 08, 2007, 12:12:17 PM

Definitely. I've never discussed theory during an actual game, only on the internet.

Zachary The First · February 08, 2007, 12:17:09 PM

Quote from: CessnaYou want to talk theory, great. Have fun. Knock yourself out.

I've found that the best games I've played in are untainted by theory discussions - just a bunch of folks sitting around a table telling war stories, drinking beer, and throwing dice.

Too right.

flyingmice · February 08, 2007, 12:32:08 PM

Quote from: CessnaYou want to talk theory, great. Have fun. Knock yourself out.

I've found that the best games I've played in are untainted by theory discussions - just a bunch of folks sitting around a table telling war stories, drinking beer, and throwing dice.

Indeed! My usual players wouldn't know theory if they tripped over it, and it's never impaired a game yet.

BTW, Welcome to RPGSite, Cessna!

-clash

blakkie · February 08, 2007, 12:47:06 PM

Quote from: flyingmiceMy usual players wouldn't know theory if they tripped over it, and it's never impaired a game yet.

Most people that use computers wouldn't know an N-P junction if someone handed it to them. But it sure as hell is important for somebody to know and understand it to make those damn computer-thingies do their magic.

Stumpydave · February 08, 2007, 12:55:02 PM

Quote from: blakkieMost people that use computers wouldn't know an N-P junction if someone handed it to them. But it sure as hell is important for somebody to know and understand it to make those damn computer-thingies do their magic.

Yeah, but (and you know there's always a 'yeah, but') Whilst someone needs to know the jiggery pokery that goes into a making a computer work, an RPG can be written, played and enjoyed without any party knowing that what they've written/played draws upon elements of 'personal narrative selectivism'.

RPG theory as it stands lends nothing to the hobby except an extra level of complexity and jargon.

blakkie · February 08, 2007, 01:02:44 PM

Quote from: StumpydaveRPG theory as it stands lends nothing to the hobby except an extra level of complexity and jargon.

If equating 'theory' to a pile of garbled, vacuous words was true I'd agree. But the idea is the thing.

The confusion occurs because at times the idea gets lost in a pile of garbled, vacuous words, buried as a peanut in a turd. But the idea is still critically important. And it is there. And it is hard to see sometimes, and even harder to communicate (both giving and receiving). But without it we are just monkeys banging rocks and eating cheetos.

Calithena · February 08, 2007, 01:16:54 PM

I lied. I said I'd explain my view in a post, and I think I'm not going to.

Basically, I do enjoy good theory discussions, but most of them aren't, and the internet is a tough place to have them.