Reading Games as Substitutionary for Play?

[Ron Edwards]

Hi everybody,

Unarmed, welcome to the Forge! This is a tricky topic to dive into, not only because it tickles some touchy emotions, but it also derives from several layers of discussions so far. Let's see if I can clear things up a little.

The suggestion I made in my essay doesn't say, "Reading game texts is a Simulationist act." It says, rather, "Simulationist play can incorporate reading text into the act of play, in a way that seems unlikely or impossible for Gamist or Narrativist play." In other words, everyone reads game texts. The question is whether a certain kind of reading is considered to be "playing."

And before anyone gets all excited about solo adventures and so forth, bear in mind that they require playing in a dice/Exploration sense, as if the game-author were sitting across the table from you. I'm talking about reading, per se.

Best,
Ron

[kamikaze]

So I'm wondering whether reading game books and supplements is a sort of substitutionary simulationist play style.

I buy a lot of games that I don't have time to play; at the best of times, I can play maybe every other week, and months go by with only once a month.  Yet I still budget $50 per week for RPGs + comics, often go over budget, and it's rarely because of the comics.

For almost every single game, I've made a character or two and run a sample combat, vehicle chase, netrunning, some magic use, whatever the system has, just to get a feel for how it plays, so I can decide if I want to use this game on one of my gaming opportunities.

I often write up campaign and adventure ideas that the games or supplements inspire, and I generally use those in different systems.  They're serving as idea generators in this case.

And finally, I use them as more data for "how to design RPGs".  If I can make a game that's clearer, simpler, faster, *and* better at describing the game world than System X, I'm happy.  If not, I try to figure out what they did and how they did it--not the actual mechanics, that's obvious, but the process that leads to those mechanics.  Occasionally I'll steal mechanics, but I'm perfectly capable of making my own mechanics most of the time.

So it's not just one motivation, but it's definitely tied up in my judge and game designer roles, not in my player role.

I don't believe that, at least in my case, it *can* substitute for playing.  To me, RPGs are about playing the role of a character in a game world *with other people*.  Even one-on-one doesn't feel like "real" roleplaying to me.  I do play solo adventure books, when I can get 'em, but they're not roleplaying, either.  Instead, they're interactive plots and worlds, just like CRPGs, which I also enjoy.  But it's no substitute, it's a separate hobby, and even if I had my fill of roleplaying every single day, I'd still do solos and CRPGs.