Quote from: AsenRG;894096Actually, a lot of training and education, and all brainwashing, is based on much more limited repetitions under emotionally charged circumstances. And it is quite often rather successful at changing how people behave under similar circumstances. OTOH, training based on repetitions often fails to be reproduced under highly emotional circumstances. See: NLP, skills deteriorating under the effects of adrenaline:).
The first session might well be quite successful at that, if the players were emotionally upset (in a good or in a bad way, depending on whether you want them to associate a certain style with a good or a bad thing;)).

You could dress up as a leather nun and beat the players about the head and shoulders with a yardstick for every misstep. This would leave and imprint the first or 100th game they had played. Generally you don't want to bring up brainwashing to prove your point, BF Skinner might agree with your point, but he's been discredited for about a generation now. It would be interesting to learn where you found this out about brainwashing, however. PTSD also erodes cognitive function under stress as well, I can't see how that would be proof that education or training is bad due to repetition. You read the chapter, do the homework and take a test, that is repetition, current philosophy says socialization works as well, thus group study and activities.

To be clear, I am talking here about TTRPG's and not Russian Roulette ala The Deer Hunter, and I think that is important for a variety of reasons. One, and primary, the group you play with will have a bigger effect than anything else, two, this is supposed to a relaxing pastime.

Quote from: AsenRG;894096I'm considering to start using Ron Edwards' term, for precisely the reasons you described.

Troll troll troll your boat.:rolleyes:

My role-playing life began with Vampire, D&D and Shadowrun, all run in the kind of railroadish "GM brings pre-made story for the players" that was more or less the norm in the 90s. For a time I've found that awesome, but then it became repetitive and boring, and I almost abandoned the hobby for good.

Fast forward a bunch of years, the indie scene gets strong, I try a couple games and find the experience pretty different from what I've had in the past, in a positive way. Games like Burning Wheel and Heroquest makes me revisit the hobby looking for entries similar in style, which results in my discovery of Pendragon, Everway, Unknown Armies and Over the Edge. I get happy and back to the hobby. Then comes a new generation of games like Marvel Heroic, Apocalypse World, One Ring, Blades in the Dark, D&D 5e, etc. and I'm hooked like I was 12 years old again.

I think what I want to say is: sometimes your first games and experience do not inform your favorite style of play. I can't stand playing Shadowrun and Vampire nowadays, even if it was my first "love" in the hobby.