Should fun be mandatory or merely encouraged?

Should fun be mandatory or merely encouraged?

Mandatory on pain of death.

>The beatings will continue until fun is had by all

WHY ARE YOU EVEN ASKING THIS QUESTION, CITIZEN? DID THE MOST RECENT PROCESS OF CLONE DECANTING CAUSE SOME LOSS OF MEMORY?

Fun is just a buzzword. Realism is paramount.

We play games to have fun. If people aren't having fun, there's a problem.

This doesn't mean everyone needs to be having fun at every moment. A compelling experience might involve moments of frustration or sadness, or it might just not be your turn at that point, but overall everyone involved should find themselves having fun.

Well, mostly. I have seen arguments that 'fun' is just one example of a compelling experience, and that through games you can experience things that would be otherwise unpleasant which are still compelling. Although I can't think of any tabletop games that would fit that category, I've mostly heard it in the context of vidya like This War of Mine or Papers Please.

Fuck this and everyone who even partially believes it, I swear to fucking god. Overattachment to realism at the detriment of everything else is a fucking plague on the hobby. Realism has its place, and that is 'in games that care about realism'. There are plenty of themes, games and stories which don't, which can keep a sense of internal consistency and thematic authenticity without some autistic definition of 'realism' being applied to fucking everything.

Yes, I am mad over a tiny mostly irrelevant detail of a single niche hobby. I'm that kind of loser and I made peace with it a long time ago.

Calm down senpai, I was just shitposting.

How can something be consistent if it's not realistic? (v:

Can't blame the guy, there are people who believe that and they are pretty shitty.

But no srsly calm the fuck down they're just autists.

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At some point, if people aren't having fun, it is my fault. I don't even have to be playing, it is just how it works.

ALL CREATURES SHALL MAKE MERRY UNDER PAIN OF DEATH

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You don't always have to have fun, but if you never have fun, go never have it somewhere else.

>encouraging unironic funplaying
>being this casual

Friend Computer knows what is fun and what is not, and will courteously instruct us on the differences using its funray.

>Flashheart > Flash Gorden

AH, BUT CITIZEN, THIS IS NO ORDINARY FUNRAY. THIS IS A NEW DEVELOPMENT GIFTED FROM YOUR FRIENDS IN R&D, CAPABLE OF LONG-RANGE INSTRUCTION. TO ACTIVATE THE NECESSARY FEATURES FOR YOUR DEVICE TO HANDLE THIS, PLEASE INSERT IT INTO THE NEAREST MICROWAVE AND [FURTHER INSTRUCTION NOT AVAILABLE AT CLEARANCE BLUE].

THAT FUCK IN THE HAT HAS ALL THE SNACKS

You're right. GTFO and they'll start having fun.

It could be consistently inconsistent.

While the meme is good and triggers Veeky Forums, it's not entirely inaccurate.

Fun is frothy, it's cotton candy and sparky. And that's good, but not always what you want. No really, hear me out.
What you want is Engagement. Your players can be engaged in a fun game, in an exciting game, in a scary game or in a lewd game.

Horror isn't fun. But is engaging as fuck. What's behind the corner, who is the monster, can I trust anyone? Not fun. But engaging. We mix the words up, which causes some confusion.
And if your players aren't engaged. They're not, well... having fun. Not excited. Not spooked. Not hiding awkward boners.

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When it isn't personal and visceral, I can find horror fun. As long as I'm at one remove and watching horror happen in a fictional context on screen, or even simulated fear in a more immersive sense like a VR game or a freefall ride at a themepark, I can still enjoy it due to that awareness that it isn't actually real. There's an oddly morbid sense of satisfaction in experiencing horror, terror and fear at enough of a remove that it isn't affecting you personally.

I do get your point though, and I agree. It's along the same lines as an earlier post. Things being engaging and compelling are more important than them being fun, but if things are compelling and engaging more often than not they are going to be fun anyway.

In Twilight Imperium? Strongly condemned.

Especially if Yssaril Tribes are in the game.

Yeah, I'm not very good at explaining it. Perhaps it should be "get the players engaged, and fun will follow", or more along those lines.

the oreos seem well in reach of red shirt. perhaps hat guy brought the nuts himself.

I get that people use the word fun like that, but in general, if people use that word, they refer to any sort of enjoyment.

I've heard people say they love reading history books because it is fun and interesting, after all. So, fun can mean a lot of different things.

Encouraged. You can't force people to have fun.
Fuck you and fuck anyone who believes "MUH realism" is the end all be all.

I give those sword tattoos two bags of mutton and seven mugs of ale.

Oh god, I know what this is, but I cannot for the life of me remember the name.

Jeeves would make sure everyone had fun. Except for Bertie, but he'd understand his suffering helped his chums have a good time.

Looks like Revolution X

Of course fun and happiness should be mandatory, citizen!

That table is siiick

the guy with the manual has all the phones tho

Yeah, I played it once.

Everyone was just dicking around with whatever, I I just grabbed the victory point option at the start of every round.

They.... didn't notice? Or something? And I won.

Lamest 6 hours to choose "I win" 4 times.

It's pretty boring without expansion strategy cards. "I get 2 VP" is the worst design decision in the history of board games.

It can work, but it has to be balanced against other options