System Neutrality

Given the conflicts of editions and system preferences, is it weird for someone to appreciate any system... of course knowing that I could identify where good effort was made in the design of the game (be it fluff or crunch) and how the creatures used their resources.

I guess i'm a gear head (a recent topic by +Peter V. Dell'Orto ) but why the edition or game system wars? I mean isnt that all just Marketing Fueled? I have a love and hate relationship for marketing, but its become a science because of how people have mastered memes and the insidiousness of how easy it is to exploit cognitive biases of people.

I'm gonna put this meme out there: To quarrel over editions or game systems or brands is to be primed by Marketing. If you like a game system, then it has value to you regardless of the effect of marketing or its utility. If you use it and you use it alot, and you enjoy it, thats what matters.

Now if you tell people about it or Rave about it, thats fair IMO. But when you start pushing it, or requiring it, I guess thats where things get murky and problematic.

Putting my opinion out there is sadly a contribution to the noise that needs to be filtered to get at the truth. Opinions are opinions after all, they don't need to substantiated by facts. Putting FACTS out there though is a different story altogether (and will not be covered by this discussion).

What it boils down too is looking for the silence despite all the noise and the marketing that is priming us to act in a certain way. Even the opinions of dear friends and loved ones need to be filtered (it doesn't mean ignoring it but setting it aside and sorting it). Its what we enjoy, despite the previous marketing that has already influenced us back when were vulnerable. Trying to enjoy things despite what others think or opinions say, is the clarity that needs to be established.

Once that clarity is established we get to decide if its making us happy, sans what everyone else says, its time to try something new. Because it is in the trying do we have the clearest idea if things work for us.

What does it has to do with RPGs, i love playing RPGs and its value is intrinsic to me. I've become pragmatic about how I play it to save time, money, and improve my quality of life but its not an infectious idea that it is the Be-All-end-all of me.

These days, marketing and bullsh*t goes to describe so many parts of your life that they have no business deciding or influencing. The noise is only going to get worse, and the best thing we can learn to do is Filter it, but still not to close oneself off from trying new things and experiences.