Vague Thoughts about GNS
I read Ron Edwards' Sorcerer recently, and I've been mulling over the Gamist/Narritivist/Simulationist points of gaming that he more or less invented. I could best be described as Simulationist, and most of the people I play regularly with are Narrativists. There are only a few Gamists around, and I reckon they spend a lot of time being politely bored by the rest of us.
There's an interesting tension centering around this in my games. I set up things like the economic effect of mineral deposits replenishing from the Para-elemental Plane of Minerals, or the the entry of a previously isolated meritocratic/socialist elven economy into a feudal/capitalist one, and it's roundly ignored. Or, in some cases, not so much ignored as passed over - the players can see it's different, but they want to know how people feel about it, and whether any wars will start, and if they can prevent that, rather than having any interest in trading elven-made ruby rings for profit. I've learned to accomodate this, and indeed, because there's a strong element of Narrativist as a secondary interest in me, it's not too hard.
I suppose this is why I'm playing EVE, and they're not. It makes me wonder, though, how many Simulationists are out there. I know a lot of Narrativists. I'm aware of a lot of Gamists, though I haven't dealt with many in my gaming groups. But I can only think of a few other Simulationists even in the wider circle of gamers in Ireland.
I'd like to see what a long-term campaign involving mostly Simulationists would be like.
Posted by Drew Shiel at November 13, 2008 10:46 PM
