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Dying From Exhaustion While Petrified
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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9300615" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>I mean, I would say that that's what having a glossary of precisely-defined terms is for. You shunt all the verbiage to the glossary, which can be consulted at need, and keep the individual rule expressions much shorter. That's pretty much <em>the</em> reason for developing vocabulary specific to some practice, so that you don't need to spell it out every single time. Same as mathematical notation. But such special vocab or notation is precisely what makes things like QM and "legalese" so infuriatingly impenetrable to outsiders--hence, it should be used in gaming with care and attention, and <em>tested</em>, to ensure that it really does actually achieve the goal for which it is designed.</p><p></p><p>As folks learn the lingo, they become better at play. Eventually, it becomes second nature. We must, however, be on guard to avoid allowing that "becomes second nature" thing to make us forget that new folks still need to learn.</p><p></p><p>"Hit points," as natural as they may seem, are <em>not</em> inherently obvious to every player. The "casual gamer" revolution, typified by things like the Nintendo Wii, proved quite clearly that there's a large and interested market of gamers who have zero prior knowledge or understanding of the established terms and patterns used by gamers. Bringing them in, making the terminology accessible without flattening the systems that depend on that terminology, has been the ongoing challenge of video game design for years. The exact same thing applies to tabletop games.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Certainly. That's just another part of why serious, rigorous testing is so important.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 9300615, member: 6790260"] I mean, I would say that that's what having a glossary of precisely-defined terms is for. You shunt all the verbiage to the glossary, which can be consulted at need, and keep the individual rule expressions much shorter. That's pretty much [I]the[/I] reason for developing vocabulary specific to some practice, so that you don't need to spell it out every single time. Same as mathematical notation. But such special vocab or notation is precisely what makes things like QM and "legalese" so infuriatingly impenetrable to outsiders--hence, it should be used in gaming with care and attention, and [I]tested[/I], to ensure that it really does actually achieve the goal for which it is designed. As folks learn the lingo, they become better at play. Eventually, it becomes second nature. We must, however, be on guard to avoid allowing that "becomes second nature" thing to make us forget that new folks still need to learn. "Hit points," as natural as they may seem, are [I]not[/I] inherently obvious to every player. The "casual gamer" revolution, typified by things like the Nintendo Wii, proved quite clearly that there's a large and interested market of gamers who have zero prior knowledge or understanding of the established terms and patterns used by gamers. Bringing them in, making the terminology accessible without flattening the systems that depend on that terminology, has been the ongoing challenge of video game design for years. The exact same thing applies to tabletop games. Certainly. That's just another part of why serious, rigorous testing is so important. [/QUOTE]
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