This week has seen several theory developments all based on what we put in and what we get out of playing RPGs.
Its Own Reward
Thomas Robertson suggests a reason why immersion is a topic of such contention among some standard theories. He argues that the concept of the reward cycle is at the root of the problem. In particular the idea that play is intended to achieve periodic goals, of one form or another, gets in the way of understanding play which is its own reward, such as immersion.
Belief in RPGs
Mark Woodhouse describes his approach to RPG theory, namely related to the sociology of religion. He relates the social and psychological forces of religion to those in RPGs, posing questions on the learning, beliefs, and ethics of RPG behavior.
In Context
Over at 20' by 20' room is a discussion about what context is made during play, and which is made prior to play. The discussion centers on how making context can provide or reduce enjoyment in play.
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3 comments:
I hate to piss you off but you link to Peaseblossom’s post about context, and the discussion it spawned. Even though the other two entries specifically mentioned individuals who posted the blog entry, and even though when linking to previous 20x20 posts you used the individual contributor’s name, for some reason you didn’t do it for this entry.
I’m going to piss some folks off, this being a sensitive issue we spent much of the spring discussing and yelling at each other about, but I have to point out that such an omission, while probably innocent, has the appearance of ignoring the original poster because she’s a woman. I think you should think about that and probably be a little more consistent in the future.
I hate this whole "sensitivity" and martrydom issue.
I also think Peaseblossom is a propagator of this, not of the sensitivity issue, but of flaming and flame-wars surrounding it.
Jere,
It is my policy to cite people by name or by hosting site. I was unable to locate peaseblossom's name, as she is not listed on the contributors page of 20' x 20' room, here. If someone could remedy this I would be happy to correct the link.
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