Observations on GNS Simulationism – Correspondence is about Diligence

Created: 2025-06-10

GNS theory claims that the historically observed Creative Agenda (CA, the socially mediated purpose in why we play) in various instances of roleplaying does not form a coherent, unitary purpose; instead, it is possible to observe three separate Creative Agenda Modes, classifications of CA, that all have commonly, spontaneously and authentically risen to dominate actual instances of roleplaying activity over time

See in context at Observations on GNS Simulationism – Correspondence is about Diligence

Created: 2025-06-10

My experience is, by the way, that GNS theory is inherently confusing and misleading to think about until you have actual first-hand experience of the different GNS modes

See in context at Observations on GNS Simulationism – Correspondence is about Diligence

Created: 2025-06-10

while two players always enter a game with somewhat differing agendas, those agendas are prone to cohering into functional together-play if they express the same mode, and come into conflict if they don’t. In other words, coherent play requires the group to express only a single GNS mode at a time; implicit disagreements lead to creative conflict.

See in context at Observations on GNS Simulationism – Correspondence is about Diligence

Created: 2025-06-10

While Narrativism and Gamism have also caused much discussion about the particular internal nature of their kind of play, Simulationism has been much more controversial over the years.

See in context at Observations on GNS Simulationism – Correspondence is about Diligence

Created: 2025-06-10

the one that seems foremost to me is that the Forge community collectively found Simulationism to be a frustrating and foreign playstyle

See in context at Observations on GNS Simulationism – Correspondence is about Diligence

Created: 2025-06-10

Sim play was also, for historical reasons unrelated to the Forge, undergoing a particularly weak and timid stage of development in the ’00s, which caused it to lack advocates.

See in context at Observations on GNS Simulationism – Correspondence is about Diligence

Created: 2025-06-10

Ron characterizes Simulationism as “heightening and focusing Exploration as the priority of play”, which, as you’ll come to see, is basically my conclusion on the matter.

See in context at Observations on GNS Simulationism – Correspondence is about Diligence