OTW: What can be done?

[Green]

In this thread posters were asked to contribute their own stories of how their encounters with the One True Way mentality have affected their gaming experience.  While I hope that thread continues, I think that now I can start discussing what can be done to limit its impact.

The thread linked to above is interesting because it discusses the OTW not only in the context of players in with a dogmatic group or GM, but also GMs with players adhering to the OTW and designers with audiences mired in the OTW.  Their answers have solidified my initial impulse that more should be done from the designers' perspective as a part of the core system.  Instead of waiting until the GM's handbook to advise people to have an open mind, I think putting those ideas out there to start with is better.  Explicitly saying, "This game is best suited for X style of gaming" can do a lot to emphasize that the game is meant to facilitate a certain style of play, not define or be defined by it.  Although ideally games would give organizational and aesthetic variations within the core text, I'd be just as happy with them saying that other styles do exist and that there is nothing incorrect about it.  In other words, say "Whatever floats your boat" without adding, "even though you're doing it wrong."

What are some other ideas that can limit the impact of the OTW?

[John Kim]

  Instead of waiting until the GM's handbook to advise people to have an open mind, I think putting those ideas out there to start with is better.  Explicitly saying, "This game is best suited for X style of gaming" can do a lot to emphasize that the game is meant to facilitate a certain style of play, not define or be defined by it.  Although ideally games would give organizational and aesthetic variations within the core text, I'd be just as happy with them saying that other styles do exist and that there is nothing incorrect about it.  In other words, say "Whatever floats your boat" without adding, "even though you're doing it wrong."

What are some other ideas that can limit the impact of the OTW?

Well, I think that the problem in game text is usually more subtle than that.  Game books rarely explicitly say "other styles are doing it wrong".  However, they will put down other styles in various ways -- especially by lumping them together.  A common tactic is to make broad generalizations about "traditional" role-playing, and then contrast that with the "new" style of the current game. "Traditional" play lumps together a spectrum of styles, but it's often categorized by perceived flaws: such as being hack-and-slash, or unoriginal, or lacking in story.  

I think an important correction to that is to instead describe the current game as having a place within the spectrum of games out there.  A good suggestion made by others here at the Forge is to explicitly give credit to other game systems.  This is sometimes suggested as crediting the source for particular ideas.  However, I think it's also important to place the style of your current game within a spectrum -- rather than just contrasting it with the lump of "traditional" play.