This weekend, all of my world building zines and my OSE adventure are a third off - or buy the lot as a bundle and save even more!

itch.io/s/170528/bla...

That imperialist Yankee son of a bitch, the Isthmus of Panama.

Sure, like I said: "some people," "not uncommon."

I think to some people different systems for different activities can feel artificial, and I get that.

Or, to put it another way, fandom culture has always fastened its emotional narratives onto unlikely frameworks. D&D isn't about pancakes stuff, but Star Trek's not about Kirk and Spock smooching and that never stopped anyone.

Something something the primacy of paratext something something.

That might be another topic for another time.

The thing that started this thought, by the way, apart from the whole friendly-Beholder kerfuffle, was talking to a friend who has views on which Robin is the best, which ones were done dirty, etc, but doesn't read Batman comics.

Partly that might be because they find it distracting, but it might also be that people get protective of that stuff. I think there's a whole thing to say about how a lot of games, when people talk about them in hindsight, have this emotional weight that you wouldn't observe at the table.

In terms of the market of available games, emulation of beloved shows, whatever whatever.

And then aaaaalso, and here I'm *really* just thinking out loud, I think some people like emotional content specifically *not* to have system attached to it for various reasons.

Well, my other observation is that it's possible to like both. So maybe those players like both those things and don't mind keeping them separate. Some people don't let the bacon touch the eggs or whatever.

And, of course, there are other incentives to making the best of D&D.

I don't think it originates from 5e -- I think disconnect between "combat" and "roleplay" has existed in gaming culture for ages & this is a specific form of it. I do think it's more noticeable now people who ostensibly care *primarily* about "roleplay" are such an important part of the community.

Er, "answer."

I don't think it's solely that by any means - "one reason"!

There's a broader question here about, like, fandom culture and the idea of the squares-and-spells stuff as text and the pancakes stuff as paratext, but I feel less confident in talking about that kind of thing. Not that I'm *super* confident about this topic!

"During combat, we move dudes and optimise strategy, and outside combat we feel feelings" seems to me like a pretty common way to divide things in electronic games: not the only way, but definitely not uncommon. So it's no wonder that people don't find that distinction unfamiliar in tabletop games.

You see this all the time in video games. Sagat used to hate Ryu but then eventually learned to welcome the changes to his perspective that came from his defeat, but that's not reflected in any way if you're playing Ryu and I'm playing Sagat in an actual game of Street Fighter.

Central America is a region; it's not a continent in anyone's framework.

That wouldn't make a difference to Mexicans, who live on the same continent as Americans no matter how you slice it.

That's a terrible shame. Much sympathy from me and from Pepper the pup. Seeing you and Oz on your adventures has been a real joy.