Forests and Trees

There's a tongue-in-cheek schism of sorts between wargaming and storygaming. One is the aristocratic pursuit of clearly defined objectives and the other is prancing about in search of your character's motivation to not retire on the last score of treasure and open a coffee shop.

I think balance is important. Wargamers are generally going to establish an objective and then pursue it by the most efficient and expedient means. The wargamer is coded to "win". Storygamers concern themselves more with the journey and less with the destination, focusing more on the interactions and social aspects of the game. The storygamer is coded to "play". An Urfling recently noted that distinction and it stuck with me, as I've had some trouble trying to balance my wargaming nature with the storygaming tendencies around me.

Holding to an extreme view in either case is limiting your potential to play the game to its fullest. If you're only focused on the next objective, then any interaction that draws away from or delays pursuit of that objective is seen as a complication to be excised. It flattens play with your other players, particularly ones who don't share the same dogged mindset.

If you're only focused on playing off of the social aspects of the game, then when it comes time to actually pursue and achieve an objective you don't have the skill set or resources to contribute. You are a drag on the party's efficiency when it's crunch time.

In either case, a player needs to see the forest, the bigger picture, and find the ways to engage with the game during the appropriate phases. The trees are important and help a player identify what's most fun about the game to them, but the game is the forest. It's the combination of and interaction between all phases, all mechanics, all tiers, all... whatevers... that makes RPGs the most exciting and broadly satisfying experiences to their players. Don't get lost.