Does Capes need a GM?

[Sindyr]

The reason why that's not enough, Sindyr, is because you have yet to have any actual play experience though I appreciate your attempts to correct that. In the meantime, though, you keep doggedly asserting things that fly in the face of the actual play experiences of basically everyone in this forum, and you tell us that our actual play experiences do not justify our disagreement. What's left for us to do at that point but shrug and be like, "Dude. Play for yourself and get back to us."?

You raise a valid point - I do not think there is anything wrong with simply shrugging and saying "Dude, I am not seeing this in my play"

However, I do not find any validity that discussion can not commence or continue in the absence of experience.

One does not always need to experience physically beating someone or being beaten by someone to be fully convinced that the act in general is wrong.  Once can deduce things indirectly - if we weren't permitted to, science would know far less about the universe than we really do, through indirect deduction.

[Sindyr]

Sindyr,

I'm not saying that this isn't enough.  I'm happy you're doing all that.  My point is that maybe you should hold off throwing all this stuff onto the forums until you actually have some experience to back up what you are theorizing.  I'm not entertaining the fact that you might be right because in hundreds of reported games of Capes, the problems and issues you think should arise, don't come up.  You have very little experience but even what you have doesn't seem to support your posts very much.  I've read them all.  I don't want you not to post.  I don't want to squash your enthusiasm for the game.  I just think you should slow down, participate without hijacking the whole forum, and get some play experience.  THEN... if you find a problem in play that is consistent, I think all of us here would love to hear about it and comment on it.  We'll all certainly give your arguments a whole lot more weight with Actual Play examples backing them up.  Until then, all your posts about theoretical problems is just a bunch of mental masterbation, energetic perhaps but ultimately unproductive.

My intent in posting is not to spend the rest of my day defending what I posted, but I am frquently nevertheless pushed into that position.

If people did not attack, then I would not feel obliged to defend.

And for the record, I think it is I who has been hijecked here, my time and energy.  It certainly feels that way.

[R. Jason Boss]

Then again, you might run into someone (or a whole group) who actually exhibits the complete dysfunction that you are afraid of.  That'd make an extremely interesting Actual Play post from you.  I know I'd love to hear it.

1) You don't admit that perhaps I am right.

He doesn't?  I don't think he was being sarcastic.  Maybe he feels it is unlikely that you will experience the extreme play you have postulated, but I think he's genuinely open to the possibility.  I could be wrong.

Also, Sindyr - you are right that discussion can commence in the absence of experience as you say, but you seem to not be aware that the current Forge paradigm is to anchor all theory discussion in Actual Play.  Ron, the founder of the Forge, actually closed down the pure theory forums in favor of Actual Play posts.  So this is part of what you are hearing from people.  On the whole the Forge has moved away from theory sans AP.  My impression from other areas of the site is that you would have been modded long before now without AP posting to back up your theories, but Tony chooses to let things run differently in his neck of the woods.  Again, just my impression.

Jason

[Bret Gillan]

My intent in posting is not to spend the rest of my day defending what I posted, but I am frquently nevertheless pushed into that position.

If people did not attack, then I would not feel obliged to defend.

And for the record, I think it is I who has been hijecked here, my time and energy.  It certainly feels that way.

Sindyr... we're not forcing you to post here. You are not being victimized by a forum full of meanies. You can walk away from the computer. You can choose not to post to threads anymore. I know it's hard, and I don't say that patronizingly, I've been pulled into many internet discussions, but you really can turn off your monitor and go outside and play with a puppy. Implying that we've "hijacked" you is putting us on the train to WACKYTOWN. ;)

[LemmingLord]

Sindyr... we're not forcing you to post here. You are not being victimized by a forum full of meanies. You can walk away from the computer. You can choose not to post to threads anymore. I know it's hard, and I don't say that patronizingly, I've been pulled into many internet discussions, but you really can turn off your monitor and go outside and play with a puppy. Implying that we've "hijacked" you is putting us on the train to WACKYTOWN. ;)

Bret...I live in WACKYTOWN; you gotta problem with that?? ;)

Besides, I am foring Sindyr to post here using my MIND CONTROL of 4.  I rolled a six; what can I say.

[Sindyr]

Also, Sindyr - you are right that discussion can commence in the absence of experience as you say, but you seem to not be aware that the current Forge paradigm is to anchor all theory discussion in Actual Play.  Ron, the founder of the Forge, actually closed down the pure theory forums in favor of Actual Play posts.  So this is part of what you are hearing from people.  On the whole the Forge has moved away from theory sans AP.  My impression from other areas of the site is that you would have been modded long before now without AP posting to back up your theories, but Tony chooses to let things run differently in his neck of the woods.  Again, just my impression.

Jason

It is my strong opinion that preventing posts that do not refer to AP is downright wrong.  It's just another way to shutdown and gag an argument, used by people who would rather not have to address theory.  Instead, they gag the discussion.

Removing theoretical discussions is a BAD thing.  But in line with the red state times.

If that horror some to this forum, then it too will kill much fruitful discussion and thinking.

Did I say it was BAD.  Maybe I should have said STUPID.

Just my opinion of that philosophy.  Require AP in EVERY discussion for conversation to be permitted is sick.  It's like the famous quote about the library of alexanrdia:

According to legend, when the caliph Umar conquered Alexandria in the seventh century, he had the famous and vast library destroyed, saying that if the writings contained within were in agreement with the Koran, then they were redundant and therefore useless; if they disagree with the holy book of the Moslems, then they are blasphemous and must be burned. It turns out that this apocryphal story was not invented by critics of Islam but rather was created by Moslems of the twelfth century to justify the burning of other heretical texts.

Not the same act, but much the same spirit.

[Sindyr]

My intent in posting is not to spend the rest of my day defending what I posted, but I am frquently nevertheless pushed into that position.

If people did not attack, then I would not feel obliged to defend.

And for the record, I think it is I who has been hijecked here, my time and energy.  It certainly feels that way.

Sindyr... we're not forcing you to post here. You are not being victimized by a forum full of meanies. You can walk away from the computer. You can choose not to post to threads anymore. I know it's hard, and I don't say that patronizingly, I've been pulled into many internet discussions, but you really can turn off your monitor and go outside and play with a puppy. Implying that we've "hijacked" you is putting us on the train to WACKYTOWN. ;)

I like to think that ideas and information has a certain life to them - and from time to time they need to be defended, not left out all alone.

[R. Jason Boss]

Calling moderation of a private forum "wrong, bad, sick, stupid" and bringing some vague political allusion into it is questionable enough (especially given that at no time have you actually been moderated here), but comparing such moderation to the destruction of the Library of Alexandria is offensive to me.  You are painting yourself as some sort of Capes martyr and I wash my hands of it.  I will not contribute further to your "flood."  Just hard to post around here without you thread-jumping and then telling us all how justified you were in doing so.  Know that you have a chilling effect on discourse as I am discouraged from posting at all by this sort of thing and am likely not alone in my feeling.

I'm out for now.
Jason

[TonyLB]

It is my strong opinion that preventing posts that do not refer to AP is downright wrong.  It's just another way to shutdown and gag an argument, used by people who would rather not have to address theory.  Instead, they gag the discussion.

Yeah, it is a gag.

Now, for the most part, it is intended to keep people from making arguments that have no substance, and thereafter getting the rhetorical shit kicked out of them by folks who have much better arguments.  It is not a cage meant to keep the fearless lion from the broad savannah ... it's the kitty-gate that keeps your declawed house-cat from running away and getting gutted in a back alley somewhere.

That rule is in place on the main forum because Ron and Clinton are nice people, and want to protect posters from securing enough rope to hang themselves.  And that's why you won't find that rule in this forum, because I'm not a nice person.  I find the suffering people bring upon themselves to be good, solid entertainment.

[Andrew Cooper]

I like you Tony... in a very You Scare Me A Lot kind of way.

[TonyLB]

Just hard to post around here without you thread-jumping and then telling us all how justified you were in doing so.  Know that you have a chilling effect on discourse as I am discouraged from posting at all by this sort of thing and am likely not alone in my feeling.

Y'know, if you just ignore Sindyr's posts it's generally pretty easy to have a useful conversation around them.  When the volume of his irrelevancies spikes beyond a certain amount I step in, but he usually doesn't do that.

What usually happens, in fact, is that he says something and then people respond to him.  For which, y'know, he's not solely to blame.  Takes two to tango.

I hope that you'll post some topics of your own, and that we can all have a good conversation about them.

[R. Jason Boss]

Of course you are correct, Tony, and I appreciate your comments.  I'm still adjusting my sensitivities and filters here.  I'm not going anywhere and do intend to continue posting.  I'm setting up a time for a few of us here locally to do Capes Lite and I expect them to be riled to play the real deal afterwards, so I'll post AP on that.

Thanks,
Jason

[TonyLB]

Rockin'!

(I will admit that, having watched a lot of Kim Possible, I am constantly tempted to substitute the phrase "Spankin'!" for "Rockin'!"  If I ever do that by accident, just know that it doesn't ... y'know ... mean that you should ... that I wanted you to ... uh ... nevermind)

[Andrew Cooper]

Where are you located, Jason?  I doubt it's close enough to me to actually join in but weirder things have happened.

[R. Jason Boss]

I'm near Philadelphia but in southern NJ.  Most of the FLGS close at hand have closed but I have some long-time gaming buddies around here and my GF has gotten into gaming as well over the last couple of years.  She's very into playing Capes with me and whoever I can scavenge.

I haven't been on the Foundry for a while, but internet gaming always has left me kinda cold for whatever reason anyway.  I just like to chat on there once in a blue moon.  Face to face RPGaming is where it's at when I can hack it.

Veering off-toping here though, drop me a PM if my location is feasible.

Jason

Spankin'?