At the risk of triggering one or more unanswerable RPG discussions that occur over and over without end, here is a terrific post about unanswerable RPG discussions that occur over and over without end:
https://www.indiegamereadingclub.com/indie-game-reading-club/ten-unanswerable-evergreen-discourses/
Being real? I appreciate the ppst, but that article is pretty crap. I’ve been playing ttrpg games since the eighties, depending on exactly how you define things. I’ve been forever DM for most of that.
I have literally never had a conversation about rpgs that mentioned any of that. The first one in particular is a given anyway, because they’re games. Even improv has one rule.
Again, glad you posted it because despite thinking the article is crap, it was enough to start a discussion anyway :)
Mileage varies, I guess. I’ve also been playing since the eighties (late Seventies, really). I’ve been a forever GM for most of that (not a forever DM, though). I have not been particularly active on game design forums, but still have seen every argument on this list someplace at least once a year, since at least the Forge era (so, about twenty years or so). Less often recently, maybe. Way more often earlier.
I’m with you. None of those topics have come up at the table or online.