tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post1141100273514081421..comments2023-10-14T03:58:59.333-06:00Comments on The Tao of D&D: ManonAlexis Smolenskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-5170905903418937272014-05-28T12:30:36.040-06:002014-05-28T12:30:36.040-06:00"... I would love to read a comprehensive pos...<i>"... I would love to read a comprehensive post on why you love the game--not just DMing."</i><br /><br />I thought I was, but apparently, as you say Jeremiah, I still only tackled a small part.<br /><br />I don't do much playing. For the reasons you name. No DM. But I suppose I love playing as much as DMing.<br /><br />I'll take another swing at the question soon.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-38179525629949942082014-05-28T12:22:40.618-06:002014-05-28T12:22:40.618-06:00Wow. This post made me think for a long time. I wa...Wow. This post made me think for a long time. I wanted to comment yesterday, but I was busy thinking about it.<br /><br />It's refreshing to read a truly candid account of the appeal of DMing. I know it to be true--if not PC--because these are all the same reasons I love to DM. And I love it all the more as I'm learning (thanks in part to this blog) the reward in freely letting go of the power intrinsic to the DM. Furthermore, I think that--deep down, as they say--everyone has a bit of this desire for control inside them. It's just that some people's inhibitions and fear of failure keep them from acting on it. They usually call this humility, but it's actually timidity mixed equal parts with laziness.<br /><br />But I found myself scratching my head when I finished reading. You said, "why do I love this version of [role-play]?" Then you proceeded to discuss why you love DMing. <br /><br />I, too, love DMing. There are virtually no circumstances where I would choose to take a character if I had the option to DM. Partly, because I know the odds of ending up with a shitty DM--and they aren't good. I know, however, there is more to it than that and I was very eager to hear why you love the game for its gestalt.<br /><br />I first started playing when I was at an age when I was just as likely to go outside and play "guns" in the woods with my friends. In D&D, we played silly module-type missions (though, even at that young age, we made up our own) with my teenage cousin as DM. It was fun to make-believe, just like it was fun to pretend my squirt gun was a futuristic assault rifle.<br /><br />I gave up playing pretend outside. But I have never been able--or wanted--to give up RPGs.<br /><br />My enthusiasm for gaming has gone through cycles, to be sure. I didn't play much at all for the six years I was in the Navy. But I always knew what my friends were doing in their campaign and I was always working on my own universe and I never completely lost interest, because I know the game is something more than a game and is capable of accomplishing things that perhaps no other human activity can duplicate. I know these are superlatives, yet I don't feel I'm exaggerating. The game truly is more than the sum of its parts.<br /><br />Now ask me specifics and I'll say I don't know.<br /><br />I have some ideas. I think it's challenging in ways that no other game can be. And I love it for that. I think it's important for people to play an un-winnable game (and not in the Kobayashi Maru sense). I love it for that. I love it for the ability to really make you feel something, while still being able to pack it all up and forget it at the end of the night. And people have long criticized D&D for inhibiting people from living their lives. But I think that--if it's run right (and that's a big IF)--it can teach people <i>how</i> to live. I love it for that. <br /><br />You've discussed many of these things on this blog in various posts and comments. But I would love to read a comprehensive post on why you love the game--not just DMing. And not only that, but why we should all love the game. Because, we won't, but we should.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11448562408805027225noreply@blogger.com