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| Ivan Belikov |
1: The Presumption of Elves
What if I want to play a game without elves? Or even, without dragons or goblins or any of that? Tabletop roleplaying is an entire medium. As hilarious as it would be if I started calling all films 'superhero shows', people would rightly be confused and annoyed.
2: Disavowal
Ok, this is the real reason. 'Elfgames' is blithely cutesy while also being snidely dismissive. It's a way of disavowing emotion and complexity. I tend to associate the term with the sort of person who will argue passionately, ferociously and at very great length about some minor aspect of roleplaying, and then, sensing that they are losing an argument, turn around and go 'whatever, it's just elfgames, bro.'
That's not to say that RPGs are somehow Serious Business. But, triviality (in the scheme of things) has no relation to simplicity or emotional resonance.
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