[MDSW]

My signature line says it all.....

Not that I am trying to be an incompetent and unworthy adversary, my playing opportunities and companions are limited, so I just don't push every little rule and such to my advantage and sometimes will forget to roll that extra save or what not - just to keep their enthusiasm up. Who wants to play when you lose every time? That is not to say I lose every game, no sir!! To my boys, seeing the look on their face when they do beat me gives me much more satisfaction than if I had won the game.

In fact, last night, was a 4-player game with two of my sons against me and my wife (she broke out her Fairy Wood Elf Army) and we had a blast. My wife and I got beat in the very last turn.

Of course, this is not the same philosophy for the lout at the FLGS that squeals with delight at every point he scores - death to him and his army!!!

 

[MDSW]

...In P&P RPGs, you inherently have conflict (often combats) set up between two parties: the GM and the Players. Inherently, this is an adversarial relationship. The GM wants his scenario (monsters, typically) to kill the Players' Characters. ...

OMG - my old D&D group made the mistake of letting a new DM with this philosophy run a campaign. He definitely had the mentality, "I win if I kill them all!" - He was quite the turd and obviously never invited back into our group!!

Klajorne - I do understand what you are saying and agree, but that comment just brought back quite a fond old memory - actually, of how we got rid of the fellow, but that is best shared over a pint...

The whole point of most of the games I play with my family is to share time and have fun. Winning is certainly on my mind, because that is human nature, but just not at the top of the list. Totally different attitude when playing my forementioned lout at the FLGS... He needs to be crushed into unrecognizable paste!

 

[MDSW]

...Or you know what GW? The kid could just tell you all to shove it and go back to playing World of Warcraft, confident that the next time the Rogue seems a little overpowered, Blizzard will just issue a patch to iron out the problem at no additional cost. Or he could go play a game like Warmachine, where they take their balance a bit more seriously.
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You hit the nail on the head - fairly solidly. This has created the environment for many other game systems with simpler rules to gain market share. Sure, no one is close and everyone else has a LONG way to go. Not sure if this has all that much to do with the OP, but I for one have moved 90% of my game playing to the KoW ruleset. You have no idea how wonderful, refreshing and a better gaming experience it is. It is more about the true strategy than the latest army, OP list and characters. But, it certainly is not for everyone.