Comments on: Covering the Bases

By: Plugging in Scenes and System | Buried Without Ceremony

Plugging in Scenes and System | Buried Without Ceremony — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 02:48:14 +0000

[...] at the table, and the social element of play. These different modalities of engagement are known as sockets: they’re how we “plug into” the game and our enjoyment of it. To quote directly [...]

By: Inspiring imagery « The Seven-Sided Die

Inspiring imagery « The Seven-Sided Die — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 19:44:19 +0000

[...] am, in many regards, a very visual person. As a roleplayer I am very invested in the aesthetic socket: as a player I seek out wondrous and strange places in the game’s setting to immerse in them; [...]

By: Storyjammers

Storyjammers — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 05:01:30 +0000

Session #1: Why Do We Play?…

We play table-top roleplaying games. Why? We start off our first session with GNS theory, sockets, drama therapy, and escapism. Does it really answer the question to just say “fun” and leave it at that, or do we get something from a tableto…

By: Breaking radio silence with a basket of links « The Seven-Sided Die

Breaking radio silence with a basket of links « The Seven-Sided Die — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 06:49:05 +0000

[...] Buried Without Ceremony there is an article, Plugging in Scenes and System, that talks about Mo’s socket theory and how it relates to satisfying play and personal (in)compatibility with different game systems. [...]

By: Virtual Play » Blog Archive » Episode 40: Do We Really Know GNS When We See It?

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:21:26 +0000

[...] discussion of “sockets” as a player’s “loci of enjoyment” in playing a game (http://games.spaceanddeath.com/sin_aesthetics/34). An early instance of Vincent Baker discussing Simulationism is locted on his blog “anyway,” [...]

By: Mo

Mo — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 02:25:00 +0000

Thomas,

There will, sort of, be longer answers to your questions later on. In the interim I’ll give you short answers: A socket isn’t so much a technique as it is about a preference or an inclination. The more you know about what you do, the more you can intentionally shift it if your heart desires, but just because you can learn to appreciate eating pickles doesn’t mean you will likely want to eat them when you’re sitting down to dessert. Unless you’re pregnant.

Thomas… are you *pregnant*!?!?

By: Thomas Robertson

Thomas Robertson — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 10:07:00 +0000

Mo,

Good to know I’m good at something, at least. And I guess if I’m going to hold up my end of the bargain, I should ask some questions, huh?

You may be planning on addressing this at a later date, but how intentional is (or can be) socket engagement? So, assume I have two major sockets: Story and Setting, and Story slightly beats out Setting. Can I come to a game and they say ‘This is all about setting’, can I go ‘Awesome, I’ll set my Story socket aside for a bit…’?

Also! From reading this post I get the feeling that sockets are not really goal-oriented. They’re sort of like techniques: they are how we achieve our goals. So maybe I can engage my Challenge socket to tell great stories (assuming the mechanics of the game, or whatever, are set up to support that). Does that sound right at all?

Thomas

By: Mo

Mo — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 04:24:00 +0000

Oh yeah, I should have said: way back when I had first started thinking in these kinds of blocks, Brand pointed me at this thread over on the Forge that was instigated by the inimitable Emily Care Boss. You can probably see that that post has left it's influence all over my ideas.