Recently I aquired the playstation 2 game Mercenaries.
It's play is very much how we used to play certain RPGs years ago (Rifts, in particular) and is a quality I would like to return to, since we drifted away from that (and I'm thinking not particularly for the better).
I actually noted an account of play (time stamped entries), so I could see what I liked after I played (it's so hard to have a big picture of what your doing, when your in the moment). There are quite a few things there I'd like to propose points on, chief amongst them on how I kept flexing my will in the game game world and why I'd do that (which I didn't notice till I had a log to look at).
However, it isn't a RPG actual play account. Should I just take it to theory?
Well depends to an extent on what you want to get out of it. Are you looking for an analysis of the play as RPG play? Or are you looking to point out how it related to RPG play in some way? For the former, Actual Play. For the latter, Theory.
Mike
Primarily looking at how I kept changing my mind about what I wanted to do in the game, which on reflection was a process of determining just how much my personal will was accomidated in the game, in terms of choice.
Further it was a test of just how much I'd be doing what I wanted to do...sort of psuedo directorial power where I just run my character around, but via that I'm still determining just how much I can set up the particular situation that suits me, via this in character process.
I'm not sure what it all means. But if it's okay to do a quote of my log in theory (page and a half in hand written form), then perhaps theory is the best idea.
Sounds to me like there's actual play involved, and you're just analyzing it. Yes, to make a point, but you're looking at a practical example of play, not just theory.
And you're not saying that it's not RPG play, so I'll assume that it is for the purposes here. That is, it sounds like you're talking about how finite the game in question was, which is an element of some RPG designs. So I'm not seeing a theoretical discussion about the relation of a different form. Just how a particular sort of RPG got played and why.
I'd go actual play. But that's just a suggestion.
Mike