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Powergamers, Munchkins, and US Government
Feb. 22nd, 2010 12:20 pmI have CNN burbling on the TV in the background while I handle lunch, and a big story is the CNN poll that shows most folks feel the US Government is "broken".
I'm a gamer, and the only response I have to this is, "Well duh!"
Here's something gamers understand - as a practical matter, in any set of rules one can be find an optimum strategy to reach a particular goal in the game. There are folks out there who are particularly good at finding such optimum strategies - in RPGs we often call them "Powergamers". These folks get joy out of gaming the system, and that's cool. Having a good powergamer on your side can make a game more fun - they can help you find more effective ways to get what you want out of the game, and they generally are a powerhouse that has your back in dicey situations. This is positive because a good powergamer understands cooperation - he's powergaming as part of a team effort, and can moderate their own behavior somewhat in order to make sure others have a good time too.
There's a bad form of powergamer - often called the "Munchkin". This is a player who's really good at finding those optimum strategies, but who isn't playing as part of the team tying to have a good time, but is instead trying to play for their own self-aggrandizement. These folks can be insufferable to work with, and are generally seen as a bane upon the table at which they sit. The Munchkin will drive at the system, and will find the most broken bits, stack them together, and make a behemoth that no referee can stop, without killing off all the other characters at the table in the process.
Now, imagine for a moment that the US Government is Dungeons and Dragons.
The core system's been around for a long time. There have been many supplements to the system, as our needs and desires have changed, so have the rules of the game. Eventually, you get what gamers call "rules bloat" - there's so many different rules, it is impossible for most folks to really grasp them all at once. This is the Munchkin's dream state, where they can select at will from the menu of options, and ride roughshod over everyone else's game.
And, you guessed it, our government and political process is loaded with Munchkins.
Now, in the game, even a merely competent Game Master knows what to do with a somewhat broken system. We call it house ruling - you edit the options available. We can fix the system if we have a GM who will man up and say things like, "I'm sorry. We are playing with the Internet and Big Media expansions. Given that I cannot allow members of the Congressmen class to take the 'Eschew Verbal Components' feat. When we combine it with the 'Filibuster' spell, it is unbalanced, and breaks the system."
And no, the President is not the GM. He's one of the players. The American public is the GM - and is unfortunately really easy to bribe with soda and munchies.
I'm a gamer, and the only response I have to this is, "Well duh!"
Here's something gamers understand - as a practical matter, in any set of rules one can be find an optimum strategy to reach a particular goal in the game. There are folks out there who are particularly good at finding such optimum strategies - in RPGs we often call them "Powergamers". These folks get joy out of gaming the system, and that's cool. Having a good powergamer on your side can make a game more fun - they can help you find more effective ways to get what you want out of the game, and they generally are a powerhouse that has your back in dicey situations. This is positive because a good powergamer understands cooperation - he's powergaming as part of a team effort, and can moderate their own behavior somewhat in order to make sure others have a good time too.
There's a bad form of powergamer - often called the "Munchkin". This is a player who's really good at finding those optimum strategies, but who isn't playing as part of the team tying to have a good time, but is instead trying to play for their own self-aggrandizement. These folks can be insufferable to work with, and are generally seen as a bane upon the table at which they sit. The Munchkin will drive at the system, and will find the most broken bits, stack them together, and make a behemoth that no referee can stop, without killing off all the other characters at the table in the process.
Now, imagine for a moment that the US Government is Dungeons and Dragons.
The core system's been around for a long time. There have been many supplements to the system, as our needs and desires have changed, so have the rules of the game. Eventually, you get what gamers call "rules bloat" - there's so many different rules, it is impossible for most folks to really grasp them all at once. This is the Munchkin's dream state, where they can select at will from the menu of options, and ride roughshod over everyone else's game.
And, you guessed it, our government and political process is loaded with Munchkins.
Now, in the game, even a merely competent Game Master knows what to do with a somewhat broken system. We call it house ruling - you edit the options available. We can fix the system if we have a GM who will man up and say things like, "I'm sorry. We are playing with the Internet and Big Media expansions. Given that I cannot allow members of the Congressmen class to take the 'Eschew Verbal Components' feat. When we combine it with the 'Filibuster' spell, it is unbalanced, and breaks the system."
And no, the President is not the GM. He's one of the players. The American public is the GM - and is unfortunately really easy to bribe with soda and munchies.
