Why is everything broken?

[StickMan]

I'm getting so sick of people saying things are broken in things such as TV, Comic books, books, movies and lots of other things. Now I no the word can technically be used, but it seems to be used in these cases as something that indicates events in a story run on a set of rules that you know. I'm starting to wonder if people on these boards think that the world works in DND, D20 Modern or some other RPG system. Not only do people say things like this is broken they then go on to say it needs a balancing factor or something else that is clearly a Gamer term.

Does this drive anyone else crazy or just me.

[Dracons]

I find Superman broken.

[iamkoolerthanu]

What do you mean, things are 'broken'. Is it because something bad happened, like a baseball team losing, or that there is no reception?

[Hawriel]

I agree that way to many gamers start talking about TV shows, movies, books and sad but true in "game terms". Its quite sad. Look at all the VS threads. By the end of the first page some one is talking about the two opponents in game turns. Their stats, skill, initiative ect ect.

As for the term broken, I dont see it as a gamer term. I do see two contexts for the word broken in your post. One for games with rules and one for continuity of a story.

For a game broken meens somthing in the core rules makes the game unplayable or somthing introduced later on to the game overpowers every thing els upsetting game balance. From what I observed through watching and talking with players of Magic the Gathering, its the fact that the kid who's mother buys the most booster packs untill they get the rare uber card. That one card what ever it may be makes it imposable for another player to win against. This can also be rules written so there unclear. Im thinking of the mini Axis & Allies game. Some of the rules dont make sence so there easily applied wrong. A splat book for the D20 system is another example alot of the books published by third parties are really books for power gamers. Well from what Ive seen of WOTC books so are some of thoughs. To summarise the word broken for a game mean to change a game badly enough that the game is unplayable.

For a TV show, movie, novel series ect.

This mostly applies to a series or long lasting intellectual property. Star Wars, Star Trek, comic book series or whole worlds, The history of D&D, ect ect. Basicly any long running fiction. These are considerd broken when after a time continuity is broken. For Star Wars its the power level and influence of the jedi. Many fans of the novels think that the jedi are being written as omnipotent and omniscient. The franchies has gone on so long and with so many different writers that continuety was lost. Weather its an animay sendrome of any new jedi is more powerful than all others exept when a new jedi is created then the last one. Individual characters are the same way. Luke Skywalker witch is considered one of the most powerful jedi ever varies greatly in what he can and can not do from book to book depending on who is writing. Basicly its give an inch take a mile. Every time an author seems to pushes the power level of any given jedi just a tad, the next author makes a great jump. This is not just power, its also how a character would act moraly, logicly, a character or orgonizations place in society. The fans want a stable unchanging center to all of this with change coming with a really good reason. That reason most likly should be a center peace to the plot.

The Xmen reason for being broken. There is way to much crap going on. No one can keep it strate. Its to the point ware almost every third issue of any one of the seemingly hundreds of Xmen books contradict everything that happened befor. Hence the many retcons marvel and DC have done to there whole universe. Basicly They are considered broken when one (or both) of two things happen. The creators and writers cant keep things strate, or when the fans get very obviosly pissed off and very scathingly critical.

[Evil_Pacifist]

Everything is broken. (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qa3g_tO8J8c)

[Trog]

I don't know (http://youtube.com/watch?v=qa3g_tO8J8c&mode=related&search=)

EDIT: MAH! Simu'ed!! *Breaks stuff in frustration*

[Evil_Pacifist]

I don't know (http://youtube.com/watch?v=qa3g_tO8J8c&mode=related&search=)

EDIT: MAH! Simu'ed!! *Breaks stuff in frustration*

Great minds think alike.

[Em Blackleaf]

...*Breaks stuff in frustration*

Now everything is broken.

[Hell Puppi]

Man I leave you guys alone for 5 minutes and the playground gets broken. :smallannoyed:

[FdL]

Real life is broken.

[thubby]

those people need to learn that the world isn't running on a d20 system.
it runs on a much better system, call THE LAWS OF PHYSICS

[Skippy]

those people need to learn that the world isn't running on a d20 system.
it runs on a much better system, call THE LAWS OF PHYSICS

If you really think the laws of physics are better than a d20 system, you're broken.

FdL is right... RL is broken

[thubby]

If you really think the laws of physics are better than a d20 system, you're broken.

FdL is right... RL is broken

lol, perhaps, but what seems more broken. an atomic bomb, or pun-pun?

[Kai-Palin]

those people need to learn that the world isn't running on a d20 system.
it runs on a much better system, call THE LAWS OF PHYSICS

That is, assuming we have them correctly written. Lets not get into big scientific or philosophical debates here.

As for the "broken" issue, I don't see too much use of the term in things other than gaming balance issues or referring to heavily retconned storylines (the whole Marvel comic industry, for example). I do take exception to the connotation of D&D 3.5 as "broken" because while it certainly is not perfectly balanced (really, what ever is?) it is certainly not unplayable or unusable. Anything with a system as wide-open as Dungeons and Dragons is playable if the people playing it are just willing to give a little or concede when asked to do so.

My two cents.

[FdL]

FdL is right... RL is broken

Oh, but see, I'm broken too.


lol, perhaps, but what seems more broken. an atomic bomb, or pun-pun?

Pun-Pun, of course. Pun-Pun is actually the atomic bomb of D&D.

[SkanMan]

hip-hop is broken.

It has such a detailed history for only being thirty years old. for being the most popular genre of popular music it is so esoteric. The average hip-hop fan knows an infinitesimal fraction of the mechanisms within the umbrella of hip-hop that shaped all of the artists of the sub-genres into who they are today. People will say hip-hop is dead. But in order to take a stand on whether it is or it isnt one must invest so much time into the music that only true fanatics can truly have an opinion. The Problem? The media focuses on whats now, whats now are uninspired ringtone rappers whose only lyrical abilities involve recycling tired metaphors, employing over used generalities and saying "yeah" or "oh" a lot. being a rapper it really saddens me to view the current state of hip-hop. I think that In its thirty some-odd years of existence there has never been a surge of creative and lyrically able rappers in the game like there has been the last ten years... but most of them will not be heard outside of their localities and the far-flung fanatics.

...that being said hit up my myspace for some real rap lol...shameless

[de-trick]

those people need to learn that the world isn't running on a d20 system.
it runs on a much better system, call THE LAWS OF PHYSICS

So I don't have a 1 in 20 chance to screw up, thank god, also I don't have to roll for everything

[Midnight Son]

So I don't have a 1 in 20 chance to screw up, thank god, also I don't have to roll for everything
Nope. Your chances fall somewhere closer to 1 in 5.:smallbiggrin:

[bosssmiley]

So I don't have a 1 in 20 chance to screw up, thank god, also I don't have to roll for everything

Oh yes you do! Contrary to what Einstein said God _does_ play dice.
In fact - thanks to a conspiracy between chaos theory and the Uncertainty Principle - everything in the universe is decided by random die rolls.

This also explains why RoleMaster is deemed such an ideal simulationist game. :smallwink:

"I only play classic Newtonian reality noob! Post-Einsteinian reality is b0rkened!"

[bugsysservant]

Oh yes you do! Contrary to what Einstein said God _does_ play dice.
In fact - thanks to a conspiracy between chaos theory and the Uncertainty Principle - everything in the universe is decided by random die rolls.

This also explains why RoleMaster is deemed such an ideal simulationist game. :smallwink:

"I only play classic Newtonian reality noob! Post-Einsteinian reality is b0rkened!"

GOOD GOD! Now we have reality grognards!?!?!

But seriously, "Your Mom" jokes are uber broken. With one line you have a witty repartee for any social situation. :smalltongue: :smallwink:

[Raiser Blade]

GOOD GOD! Now we have reality grognards!?!?!

But seriously, "Your Mom" jokes are uber broken. With one line you have a witty repartee for any social situation. :smalltongue: :smallwink:

Thats what she said.

[Dr._Weird]

those people need to learn that the world isn't running on a d20 system.
it runs on a much better system, call THE LAWS OF PHYSICS

Wait, it doesn't?

WHAT HAVE I BEEN USING THESE DICE FOR ALL THE TIME?

[DraPrime]

Thats what she said.
The joke made up by bored teenage boys. I happen to qualify for that.

[Townopolis]

those people need to learn that the world isn't running on a d20 system.
it runs on a much better system, call THE LAWS OF PHYSICS
I'm rolling sense motive on that.

[Drascin]

Nope. Your chances fall somewhere closer to 1 in 5.:smallbiggrin:

And that for abilities you have trained. For untrained skills, the possibility to botch is even higher.

After all, Murphy's Law is part of the RAW in this Real Life setting.

[thubby]

I'm rolling sense motive on that.

"you succeed, it seems he either this is true, he truly believes this, or is under some kind of mind control"

*clears throat*
(narrator voice) little did they know of his evil plot to overthrow the world by convincing everyone they are weak and bound by these rules, while hording powerful magical items and building an army of undead the likes of which the world has never seen.
:smallamused:

[Castaras]

Everything's broken because there are big little kids running about. :smalltongue:

Probably been said, but eh.

I think we say things are "broken" because it gives us an excuse to argue/complain about stuff.

[unstattedCommoner]

I think we say things are "broken" because it gives us an excuse to argue/complain about stuff.

Once we've declared them to be "broken", we can then feel free to go ahead and "fix" them in ways which result in a slight loss of functionality when compared with the "broken" thing.

[Arameus]

No, things are, for the most part, referred to as broken because they are, like the new FFVII 'continuity' or the characters in the latter stages (hell, the earlier stages, too) of the Matrix movies.

The problem is that the application of this term is now used regrettably often to refer to something that, while functional or in keeping, is simply found to be distasteful. In many instances, someone saying 'this is broken' means little more than 'this is crap.' So, before you say that 'broken' is broken, realize that it is the people misusing the term, not the term itself, that are the problem.

For instance, some of you say that atomic weaponry is broken. But that's not true; it can be used both reasonably and to great effect, like at the end of WWII, which, if I remember correctly, didn't instantly vaporize our entire planet. That's not broken, although it may be disagreeable to those that find atomic warfare a disagreeable prospect. But to load so many atomic weapons on a supertanker that their detonation would alter the world climate for the next ten million years and kill virtually everything on the planet, like the Russians did in case of an endgame scenario in the cold war? That's pretty broken, I'd say.

In closing, I'd like to quote the immortal words of that master of brokenness: " I MUST BREAK YOU!" ~Ivan Drago