Not sure what the problem is. It is fair to have game mechanics for Aspergers. It is important not to be insensitive.
There is no conflict between those two goals.
As the guy who hunted down and killed the Ars Magica version of OCD, I approve this message.
We know how Asperger Syndrome was treated in the Middle Ages. It varied in different places at different times, but basically the Middle Ages had a broader context for people to define success, through faith for example, than through modern market measurement. As such, communities found ways of incorporating the non-neurotypical to a degree that moderns may find extraordinary.
No, because High Functioning Autism was not a social handicap in the Middle Ages. HFA became a handicap at a far later stage, some people even suggest it occurred during the 1980s. Prior to that the social role of "absent minded professor" was one worthy of respect and was seen in a kindly way. It was about then that HFA became socially contemptible.
Free speech is not sacrosanct. Even if it were, we are not the government.
Also, I'd really prefer that you either called it Asperger Syndrome, if you need to use the older classification, or High Functioning Autism, if you'd like to use the post-2013 nomenclature. Calling it Assburgers is, and I know you are doing this inadvertently, a common method of mocking children with HFA. As someone who works daily with children with HFA, I'd like to flag that as unhelpful.
Added later: I've just thought: the movement to HFA as the top level nomenclature is a cultural thing: it may be moving that way in Australia, but not in your local communities. So, use whatever terms work for you: just not Assburgers. Assburgers sucks as a term.
Have you played the game yet, Abe?
Or purchased the rules for the current edition?
I'm cool with him playing Fourth via the free edition if he likes. I'm also cool with him being more interested in the rules than in play (because I'm arguably doing something similar now: I generally can only play Ars at cons.) I'm kind of here for the metagame myself (which is why my blog kind of died when the metagame ended. Well, not ended. Well, kind of ended. It's complicated...)
I suppose I'm wanting to open up the question as to if a person needs to have read the Ars rules at some point to participate in the community.
What's the level of onboarding we as a community tacitly expect? I'm not sure that's ever really been discussed.
My understanding of the unwritten rules of this community, which might easily escape someone else, is that one have an interest as a starting point. After that, you need to either have the (current) rules or be playing the game. Finally, there also needs to be a willingness to accept some of the instruction that has been offered and incorporate it into future inquiries.
No & no, sorry
FWIW, Marko was posting from a smartphone, and was experiencing some DYAC, so this wasn't being done on purpose.
Abe, you've been on the board for nine years...
True, but I haven't been able to find people to play the game with ever.
Have you played any edition of Ars Magica?
Haven't had much luck finding people to play Rpgs with period.
Have you read any of the Ars Magica books, any of the editions?
Have you tried any local game (and usually comic) shops? They often have scheduled times where people who enjoy the more common RPGs can find commonly interested gamers and play, as well as free game periods where you can try more obscure RPGs with any interested players from the groups you played the more common RPGs with. I've met a lot of friends and tried a lot of new systems doing this; maybe you'll have luck trying Ars Magica eventually!
Maybe, I've just been very busy lately.
Yes, posting from a Blackberry with tiny keys. And my spelling is horrible to begin with. As for the term, I was using the one Abe offered. HFA it is. Apologies.
There are no "unwritten rules" for the forum that I acknowledge. As far as I am concerned, as long as the subject is even marginally close to topic, I see no cause for concern or outrage. As for Free Speech, for me it is a cultural maxim. Not just government. Even offensive speech is protected. However, the owners of this medium have the right to omit and ban offenses. They also have free speech.
Abe likes to play with the rules and use his imagination. I support an encourage that. It doesn't matter if it is 4th edition. It is still Ars Magica and a game line still owned and supported by Atlas. Abe may not have the funds or social contacts for new rules or for live play.
But he has fun. I enjoy his posts. And I am really tired of the way people pick on him and hold him to standards even I cannot match.
As for his question, I think Abe was imagining himself in an Ars world and wondering what it would be like, and how his syndrome would be handled mechanically.
Timothy points out how HFA did not become recognized or disdained until modern times. Otherwise I would say Social Handicap or Judged Unfairly would fit. But looking at just the mechanical aspects, perhaps something like an Ability Block or Poor Student.
Or maybe Social Handicap still.
I am thinking of the character "Sheldon Cooper" from the Big Bamg Theory (a TV show here in the US). The guy is brilliant, super genius even. But he is obviously lacking something in social intelligence. Comparisons have been made (by critics) to someone having HFA or such.
So maybe that's the way to go.
The Gift and Magical Air are mystical versions of a Social Handicap, but these have nothing to do with mental function or personality. But then again, since this is all fiction, one may imagine there being a link.
How is what I quote below unreasonable?
I'm just trying to establish a baseline understanding before I make any kind of opinion on the matter. In the nine years of active posting (participation is debatable), has Abe read a single book or played a single game of Ars Magica, regardless of edition?