That. And also how highly focused games can teach you some things you can bring with you in looser games.

That. And also how highly focused games can teach you some things you can bring with you in looser games.

Originally shared by Jason Cordova

In the last couple of weeks, there has been a recurring theme in conversations I've been having, which is basically that one's history with the hobby greatly influences their style of play and/or style of RPG design. It seems almost obvious or self-evident, right? And yet I think we underestimate just how powerful an influence one's personal history with RPGs can be.

Here's an example: I was paying very little attention to RPGs in the aughts, and so many 'influential' games that had their heyday in those years mean almost nothing to me. Essentially, I moved directly from 2E to modern indie games, and everything that happened in the middle might as well not exist in terms of how I have helped shape the play culture within The Gauntlet.

Another example: I greatly admire the play style of David LaFreniere, Jacob Densford, Jorge Salazar and some others, because it comes across as really fresh and fearless. I think that is a direct result of them being relatively new to the hobby, and so they don't have a lot of the built-in baggage that comes with having played D&D for 20 years. I have similar feelings about certain game designers and the way they approach design (Hannah Shaffer immediately comes to mind).

On the flip side, there is definitely something to be said for a deep well of experience with RPGs. I particularly enjoy the way folks like Paul Czege and Epidiah Ravachol, and even some of the OSR designers, draw on their experience with traditional games to inform their modern designs. From a play perspective, it's helpful to have people like Richard Rogers and Daniel Lewis around, because they understand the conventions of play, know how to effectively communicate them, and can avoid a lot of the pitfalls a less experienced person facilitating a game might run into.

I don't know where I'm going with this, but I'd be curious to hear your thoughts.