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the Socratic method is when you ask questions and say things to make others think of the answer. The best thing about it is that the other person must participate to get any sort of answer, and if they don't i know they are not really asking a question. People not actually interested in the question are a waste of my time.
There is considerably more to the Socratic method than this. A lot of it involves (a) asking the right questions and (b) ensuring that there is a baseline of knowledge from which they can construct interesting responses to those questions. If I were to start quizzing someone using an unknown terminology and ranking system, then I'm not being Socratic.
I have to agree with Archangel and Meg above: I gently prodded that I thought Josh could be much better in his online communication, especially if he is going to use idiosyncratic definitions for terms. And, the upshot is that I start heavily discounting or ignoring everything that is said. Though in this thread that might not be too bad a thing.
@"better" gamesI have no problem, nor do I see a problem, in making a value judgment as to what makes a better or worse game. I also think it's completely obvious that you want a game that does best what you want it to do. I think that borders on the tautological.
However, these games also all come with their own baggage. D&D's baggage is, I think, sufficiently well-documented. I don't want to derail into bashing Burning Wheel, even though there are things in it I good and truly like. For example, I really really like the Duel of Wits, which is the sort of mechanic, if memory serves, started this thread. But, telling someone like me who was interested in a social intrigue game "go play Burning Wheel b/c it is a 'better' game" is not going to work. The judgment that it is a "better" game is highly multidimensional, including things like character creation, gameplay, product support, and so on.
When BG did reviews on the podcast, they were reasonably clear as to what their ranking system was, though I remember it being pretty mushy -- "fuck yeah!" is hard to quantify.