Tuesday 28 January 2014

YMMV

I don't actually like having to type "YMMV" over and over again.  It actually ought to be assumed. However, I have recently read a dumb-ass discussion of what the term means, so let's take a quick look, shall we?

YMMV means "Your Mileage May Vary", a term originating in automobile commercials because people were concerned about gas prices, and the fuel efficiency of a purchased vehicle was of importance.  On the other hand, actual mileage varies on the basis of road conditions and the maintenance of your vehicle.  No one can guarantee you what your mileage will be outside of optimum conditions, and, if you live in a litiginous society, you might want to make sure that you are not falsely advertising your product.

Did this get used to lie about fuel efficiency?  I'm sure it did.  Does it get used by trolls today on the InterWebs?  I'm sure it does.  But neither of these facts take away from what it's meant to do:  Avoid bogging the auto manufacturer in lawsuits about small variations of gas mileage in the real world, and avoiding bogging the speaker down in minutia about each person's individual experience and/or nitpicking in the InterWebs.

It says, "The point I am making is valid whether or not your experience differs from mine."  It also says, "I am well aware that your experience is different than mine, and I am not trying to claim that I know the One True Way."  Because, as with the auto manufacturers knowing that they will be hit by lawsuits for minor differences in mileage, we know that all kinds of interesting conversations on the InterWebs get shut down over cries of "One True Wayism" and loops of logic where, given a proposition "If A, then B, and if not A, then not B", the only real responses are "Well, what if A?"  "Well, what if not A?" and "Well, then how come B sometimes doesn't occur when you don't have A?"

We have all seen it.  We all know it happens.  And, just as the YMMV in the auto commercial doesn't prevent all frivolous lawsuits, neither does YMMV on the InterWebs prevent all frivolous responses.  That's just too much to hope for from human beings.

Sometimes, true, YMMV might mean "Fuck your experience. I have MINE."....but to imagine that this is all it means is a little naive.  In this case, it surely also means "I think you're a fucking idiot. I think you're incapable of producing a meaningful argument. I think you're living in a bubble of self-love that deludes you. I don't think you matter."

See, here's the thing.  You take take a game as seriously as you like.  Some people are playing baseball in the Olympics, or are pros, or are in amateur leagues.  Some people are just tossing a ball around in the back yards with their kids.  Which is more important?  Only a jackass would think they know the answer for all people at all times.

Baseball is not any less respected because some kids play T-ball, or because some mom plays with her kids for fun.  It hasn't become any more serious, or any less serious as a result.  People who play it seriously, do so.  People who play it for fun, do so.  Even someone who wouldn't be a mild challenge for a serious chess player might keep a board and play over the course of his entire life, and, you know what?  It doesn't affect the game of chess for the serious players one whit.

I've seen some amazing things on the InterWebs.  Other GMs, other players, have come up with stuff that makes me salivate.  I think, "Damn, I wish I had come up with that" or "I wish I could play in that game"....but other than inspiration and camaraderie, I really don't care what you do in your game.  Like anything else in life, you get out what you put into it.  It therefore follows that what you put into it should yield what you want to get out of it.  And that might not be what I want.

The truth is, YMMV has meaning because it acknowledges a fundamental truth:  We do not all want the same performance out of our vehicles, we are not all driving the same model, and we can have real differences in the road surface, maintenance, and weather patterns.  If you studied psychology, you will understand that children, not adults, are the ones who fail to realize that other people have different mileage.  And it is usually children whose first response is, effectively, "Nah nah nah; I'm not listening".  Or, "Just shut the fuck up", if you prefer.

But, like the child who has to learn that he doesn't control the world, the poster discovers that the world doesn't simply go away, and the InterWebs are still full of contrary opinions.  Eventually, either the child grows up or he does not.  Worrying about people who want something different than you, unless it is in some way harmful, is a waste of time.  And I have yet to see a cogent argument about how the casual gamer hurts the game.

The guy who demands that The. Game. Must. Be. Serious. is just the flip side of the guy who says "It's all just playing elves in your parent's basement, anyway."  Both ignore the wide, wide spaces between, in which most of us play.

Of course, YMMV.

15 comments:

  1. Indeed. BTW I don't think I've read Alexis' blog in over a year (apart from following the occasional link like this one), and I'll tell you what, I don't miss it. It's quite rich to see him call ANYONE else a troll.

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    1. He is pretentious, but he also does post interesting things from time to time. I really do think that his world building posts are worth reading.

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    2. Yeah, he does have some really good posts too. I just don't have the time I used to for shifting through it all. He doesn't exactly welcome questions or comments either, esp. if the answer might be deducible from his prior posts etc. Actually he demands exactly the sort of attention and close reading that Nietzsche does. But he's no Nietzsche.

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    2. That is remarkably incoherent, Perpetual Role. If you find yourself playing Mazes & Monsters, you might consider staying on your prescribed meds. Or, you should try playing with Jack Chick so that you can get the REAL power.

      That each individual's experience (of anything, not just RPGs) is "totally different" is not a claim I would make, nor do I think it is valid. For example, while there is a subjective component to all language, the fact that we can communicate is a strong indication that language is not completely subjective to the individual...there is, at the very least, a shared subjectivity.

      Likewise, because we share human commonalities, I would be happy to argue that there are ways of playing that are, for the most part and for most people, better than others. But even then, YMMV because what you want from, or find satisfying in, the game might differ quite a bit from the norm.

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  3. Alexis is like the Glenn Beck of the RPG blogosphere, in a way. He has controversial views on the subject matter, and he makes outlandish statements that rile up the public and, therefore, gets him publicity, traffic flow to his blog, etc. Alexis and Glenn Beck should be taken with an awareness of that context. In that way, we all give ourselves a break in the realm of blood pressure.

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    1. He's so funny:

      http://tao-dnd.blogspot.com/2014/01/outlandish.html

      I continue to be flattered that Alexis responds on his blog to my comments pertaining to him on other blogs. I don't comment about him very often anymore or read his blog much these days...because, you know, there's so much more to life. If I were him, I'd be working harder on investigating legal means of getting unflattering artistic renderings of myself off of the YDIS site. I'm by far the least of his worries. Especially since I'm not the only one to ever upset him. I guess I just have a special place in his heart.

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    2. Also, I know he and I can get along and converse in a civil fashion, because in the past I've posted on his blog under at least a half-dozen different names and he's been none the wiser.

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    3. And we've had a jolly old time discussing our litle hobby, I might add.

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    4. Googled "YDIS" and "Alexis". Eyebleach, please.

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    5. Oh yes, mikemonaco...you have glimpsed fear in a handful of pixels...

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  4. I enjoy Alexis' writing, personally. His style is not my style -- we play in a bar! -- but I've found his posts to at least be well argued, and thought provoking, and that's more than most blogs.

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    1. Agreed!

      I would have no idea what Alexis had written if it wasn't worth a look, and I wouldn't be responding if it wasn't thought-provoking. In this case, yes, I am responding because I think he is making a dumb-ass argument, but only because it is a dumb-ass argument (IMHO) from a guy who can make some very good ones when he chooses to do so. If he wasn't worth "listening" to, he wouldn't be worth a counter argument.

      As far as the "fear in a handful of pixels" mentioned, above, (1) the opinions of people who are try to build themselves up primarily by tearing others down are not worth listening to, (2) most of us (I would hope) got over that kind of juvenile crap before we got out of high school, and (3) they wouldn't give a flying fig about what Alexis has to say if it didn't sting their precious snobbery so much. Every time YDIS fires one across the bow, the message they are sending (albeit unintentionally) is that "This person is worth listening to" and "I have no valid counter-argument to his points."

      Your Dungeon Is Suck.......Is Suck.

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  5. One thing I would point out is that, unlike chess or baseball, D&D does not have a recognized example in the public consciousness of high-level, serious play.

    This is the same struggle that I've seen in my own time spent in the competitive fighting game scene. It is a concern for legitimacy and recognition of the game and it's qualities at a high level. Doing this increases awareness which, in turn, brings in more people...which expands the player base...which expands the game and on and on.

    Serious, high-level players of given games are a small percentage but are often the driving force and vitality of that game, especially in hobbies as opposed to "pro" scenarios. That high level requires a focus on high level discussion, high level thinking and high level reasoning. It is very demanding and, while yes, it can look like "The game MUST BE SERIOUS" it is much closer to "Look, the game CAN BE SERIOUS and is actively BETTER when it's SERIOUS" with serious meaning "played at a high level".

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