What is the most realistic RPG?

[Jack Spencer Jr]

[quote="ValamirThe statement was made that Mechanics are seperate from Realism
I was pointing out that while it is possible (albiet rare) to play Realistically in an environment devoid of mechanics, that the normal situation is that mechanics and Realism are closely tied together.[/quote]
I hear what you are saying. What I'm saying is that although mechanics & realism being tied together is the normal situation now, this does not mean that realism devoid of mechanics, which you note as rare, cannot at some future time become the norm. It may not. Who can say? Ten years ago, if someone had told me that downloadable games and internet browsing capabilities would be a selling point on a telephone, I would have said they were crazy. This is not to say that this would make realism by mechanics invalid in any way. I'm just noting that rare or no, it is a valid option in it's own right and that just because it's rare now does not mean it will remain so.

[Valamir]

But even if that does occur Jack it does not mean that mechanics and realism are completely unrelated which was my point.  So yes, your point is 100% correct.  Just completely not relevant to the discussion.

[simon_hibbs]

Perhaps, though, this actually puts it back on topic. Is it realistic to suggest that in the future there will be no gender roles and no gender distinctions, or not? Now, I can play in a game where gender distinctions aren't seriously emphasized, or in which religion is never mentioned--but when that starts to become a focus, when it is emphasized that gender distinctions have been eliminated and religion has faded from humanity, my disbelief suspenders snap...

Well that's fair enough, but has nothing whatever to do with Traveller, in which a noticeable proportion of planets are ruled by theocratic governments, and the official descriptions of several human worlds show that they have strong gender roles. It is true that the Imperial ruling elite meta-culture is agnostic and gender neutral largely for political reasons, but religion and gender disctintion are far from banished to the realm of history.

As for whether a setting can be judged realistic on these grounds, I'd have to agree with you. Clearly if a game presents people in general behaving in ways that appear to be contrary to what we know of human behavioural instincts, then unless there is a resonable explanation I think we can say that the setting is unrealistic to some degree.


Simon Hibbs