Effects of One True Way on roleplaying experience

[Green]

Was Christopher K.'s post, about the group that wanted to simulate certain texts very exactly, what you were looking for?  That's what I thought this thread was about

It's precisely what I was looking for.  MJ Young's last post and the starting replies to the thread were also the sorts of things I was looking for.

[Cup of Iron]

What have been your experiences with the One True Way, and how has it impacted your perception, experiences, and enjoyment of roleplaying?

In my experience, One True Wayism basically boils down to a form of snobbery. We play right, they play wrong. Tra la la-la la la la.

Aside: int the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe which is set in an African village, there is a brief scene where some of the elders are discussing an upcoming wedding and in the course of the discussion, they talk about how other villages have different customs regarding the bride price. They negotiate and settle on a given price. In another village, the suitor continues to bring yams until the bride's family says that's enough. Isn't our way much better?

I take it the idea here is to get personal stories.

My old group, especially the GM, who more-or-less controled everything had some idea of what roleplaying "should be." THing is, it was not articulated very well. It was mostly assumed and understood, but I couldn't tell you what it was exactly. I could name systems used. GURP, Mekton, WHFP, MERP, D&D3e, V&V. I think part of the problem was this OTW was a moving target. Sometimes he would be permissive and let our character remember their weapons when going into the evil wizards lair. Other times, he would not and require an intelligence check or not even allow that. It seemed to be so much arm waving saying "this is what I want" and asking what that was would just get more arm waving.

One element would be cutting down other playstyles, usually as "roll-playing" even though this game was combat heavy in its own right.

The effect on me, personally, is I became unsatisfied with this. It's probably a unhealthy situation with one guy playing Svengali to the whole group. (At one point, before starting a new game, he stated emphatically that he didn't want a game like the last one. He wanted an adventure story. He was the only one who really wanted this. His desires outweighed the group's) I was interested in trying new things and was not interested in doing this style anymore (which may not be as bad as I make it out, but I'm foggy on the details and focused on the bad for this thread) SO I left the group because I didn't want to waste my time on that anymore. Besides, when I was there I was a total wet blanket because I was so unhappy. I left for the good of all. And the GM, the guy who will put down other's role playing styles at the drop of a hat, called me a role playing snob.

So in my case, it was a matter of mind-reading or otherwise kowtowing to the GM's wishes coupled with a superiority complex and a healthy dose of hypocrisy. It didn't put me off roleplaying like it did Christopher, but it did put me off that group and others like it.

[Green]

Getting back to the original topic, I'd have to say, for me, the single most pressing 'One True Way' issue I've encountered in my roleplaying experience is the supposed truism of 'The GM is God'. I've encountered way too many players who believe, wholeheartedly, in this this statement, and refuse to question its validity in any context.

How has this bit of dogma affected your roleplaying experience?

[Jaik]

My contact with the One true Way has left me with guilt and uncertainty that has lasted for years and will probably last for a few more.
I look at that sentence and it sounds really big and really profound and then pretty silly.  Anyway, here's the deal:
I started gaming in junior high (age 13-14) with red box D&D with my friends.  Very little actual play, lots of character design (My first actual system purchase was GURPS, but I never managed to play that, just read the book 20 times.)  I eventually hooked up with a pickup group at a local gaming store DM'd by Sam, a serious, old school DM.  He had original books.  He was at cons where 1st Ed stuff was first released.  He had Judge's Guild products, he had stacks of notecards and crates of binders.  He played by the rules and was up front that he was there to wipe out PC's.

Then I went to college and hooked up with the gaming club there.  Now I start to run into Vampire (mid to late 90's).  Suddenly I run into role-play vs. roll-play.  Combat is bad.  You should try to run entire sessions with no combat or no rolls.  Somehow dice are wrong.  Wanting to enjoy the excitement of combat is wrong.  Staying in character at all time, making multi-faceted, believeable characters, these are all things to be sought after.

I came to feel guilty about liking combat, about trying to "munchkin" my character to be effective.  I tried so hard to fit in, to "really roleplay."  And I stopped having fun.

Within the last year or so, I encountered the Forge.  I learned about creative agenda, stances, different play styles.  I devoured Actual Play.  I bought Sorcerer, Heroquest, Inspectres, Trollbabe, Elfs, Donjon, and TROS.  I tried out some Narr stuff in a Mutants and Masterminds game and had a BLAST with it (until the GM followed her own OTW training and it all fell apart for me, but that's beside the point.)

Currently, I'm in a very Gamist game.  D&D 3.5, straight module, lots of bragging rights, straight pawn stance.  I still feel guilty about building an effective character, but I'm coming to terms with the fact that I enjoy combat and like the challenge of Stepping Up.  It's okay.  I'm allowed.

[Darksmith]

One True Way...

Hmmn...

Best example I can give is a group I was in where we started playing using one system, but the GM didn't like the inherit 'flaws' in it and wanted to 'modify' it and make it 'better'.

We ended up with a completly different games system, that was nothing like we started with.

Was it bad? No. Did it not work? No.

Then where is the OTW example? It was with the GM.

The system he was running wasn't to his liking, it wasn't 'right'. We couldn't play the way we were 'supposed' to. He had to change it and make it 'work'.

We, the players, watched it happened. There was some grumbling by some. I personally thought it would be interesting to see the evolution of a new hybrid system and to see where it ended.

But that is how my own personal OTW-ism works.

I believe that OTW is a incorrectly labeled. It should be call, "Many True Ways". I like Coke, you like Pepsi, Green likes tea. Who's right? Who's wrong? Was my GM wrong in wanting to change the system that he was telling his story in? Should he have just gutted it out?

The group he was running for was the key to that decision. Could we adapt to a new system that didn't do things the same way the other one did? Did we want to? In the end we could and did. Not everyone stayed but the core of the group did. Our OTW (or MTW) was adaptable to change. We were able to move on and enjoy the experience.

Not all groups can. Not all individuals can. OTW? It's the illusionary construct that is as unique as any other illusionary construct.

Role playing... you get out of it what you put into it.

These are my experiences and opinions. They are not to be confused with the governing laws of the universe. If they were then we'd be in real trouble!