Thinking about Forge-ites

peaseblossom brought up an interesting point last night that I think is very relevant. We were discussing some recent posting activities of an old friend of mine (who I've since drifted away from) over on RPG.net. She said that she thought that Forge people spent a lot of time worrying about stuff that wasn't really relevant to the majority of gamers (in our experience). In short that they act like victims of abuse and go to far in the other direction to compensate (I may be filtering her thoughts through my own thoughts so it is not verbatim). I found this an interesting insight, because quite frankly I've always felt that hardcore Forge-ites had concerns that led to games I find quite un-fun, but I guess if all you've ever had are crappy roleplaying experiences (or a recent string of them) you wouldn't see the forest for the trees.

It also explains the stridency and moralistic tone that drives me so nuts. Though that might not take much.

Now if they'd only drop the defensiveness of "if you don't like our 'theories' its because you don't understand them" I'd be a lot more happily disposed to a great deal of discussion circling around roleplaying theory.

It does seem that a central conceit of the Forge and its adherents is that the majority of gamers are not having fun. Which I find a particularly self-loathing mindset. My experience leads me to posit the reverse. The majority of gamers are having lots of fun and what they need is better tools to increase that fun in ways that make sense to them.