Crunch vs. Fluff

[brainstormfront]

Originally published at Steven E. Schend. You can comment here or there.


For those not among gamers, those terms mean next to nothing. To me, they’re a little bit red-flaggish, I’m afraid.

They’re short-hand for whether a gaming product is full of rules and game-specific material (be it an item, spell, race, or some thingummy for the rules system)

Comments

[knighterrantjr]

I miss the days when someone could be a bit more "specialized" in the RPG industry. I knew, back in my 1st and 2nd edition days, that some authors really agreed with my taste in story elements, and I could pick up their stuff without worrying about new rules or whatever

[brainstormfront]

I hear ya, JR, and feel all curmudgeonly with you.

[mouseferatu]

I've been fighting that battle for years. Glad I'm not the only one it bugs.

(I went with "crunch vs. flavor," myself. I figured that kept the familiar metaphor without downgrading the non-rules material. It never caught on, though.)

[brainstormfront]

Maybe we ought to try and infect the gaming world with a replacement meme.

"Flash vs Substance" (nah, that tips my hand too much, dunnit?

"Dice vs Details"

Yeah, I need more coffee....