Going back a few pages, I didn't see another thread on this; sorry if I missed it. Here's my answer:

I have always been a competitive person, but simultaneously, I am aware that a lot of people -don't- like competition. Especially with the sort of people I enjoy socially interacting with (people with an academic bent), the competition needs to be intellectual.

The problem is that if you're playing a directly competitive game - like a wargame - then there is direct loss of face in being beaten. In mild forms of gamism, however, you can win without anyone else needing to lose; the other players can appreciate your clever use of the rules, tactics, whatever, without it having been directed at them (the GM, of course, is similarly not threatened; to a certain extent it's his -job- to get beaten.)

I thus like gamism because it's an opportunity to be competitive (which I like) in which you don't simultaneously have to humiliate anyone else (which I like to avoid).

OK ... I'm replying to myself ....

That's because I'd like to refine what I wrote a bit, because I think it may apply more generally than I thought.

(1) A lot of people enjoy rising to a challenge, for its own sake, at least as much as the social effects of doing so with visible success. A lot of folks spend hours beating video games, even if they never tell anyone about it.

(2) It's bred into our bones, I suspect, to enjoy cooperatively rising to challenges. There may be a little inter-group competition, of the 'who's most helpful' variety, but everyone's essential goal is to be as helpful as they can be to resolving the challenge. Watch a group of guys helping a friend move; there's mild competition over who can carry the most stuff, but primarily the activity is enjoyable because of the feeling of joint accomplishment.

(3) Gamism in role-playing games is just about the only venue through which one can do this and include the entire group.

Hi James,

Yeah, that all makes sense to me. I originally tried to use the word "competition" to cover that ground you describe so well in #2, but finally realized that Step On Up (real) and Challenge (imagined) did a better job, with competition being an add-on.

During your absence, some friends and I played a very extensive game of Tunnels & Trolls with the Gamism on high boil, and let me tell you, it was incredibly satisfying. Check out some of my posts in actual play about it (quick search oughta get you there).

Best,
Ron