I can give it a shot, Rag...
Basically, there is a certain level to which the magic and enchantments we have on our equipment is intended to fit into a world of magical and enchantment, yes; if you believe and buy into the world space as a real thing, then many enchantments fit smoothly into that, even when they are strange and fantastical - and they don't remind us that we're playing a video game, and draw us out of the immersed space like that.
Magic items that people complain of feeling 'too gamey' do the opposite - they rely on hammering home the reminder that we are playing a video game with tangible statistics and numbers and so on. "Sets" are particularly egregious representative of the kinds of things that do this; the 'in universe' description of them is much harder to justify without feeling like you're bending over backwards and making ad hoc convolutions specifically to justify it. Items that that generate tokens when you take specific actions that are hard game mechanical actions are another offender, as are items that rely on specific statistical thresholds for the wearer, such as hp values. Put these all together into one set of items and you have a set of equipment that stands out like a sore thumb screaming "Hey, you're in a video game!"
Outside of that, some of those same justifications don't really translate into an in-universe description that makes sense; the magic set that requires you to be almost dead before it does anything useful, and actively encourages a playstyle that brings you down to that threshold as swiftly as possible and then keeps you there is an exceptionally 'video game mechanic' thing, and is hugely immersion breaking if you are ever reminded of it or have it drawn attention to, from an in-game perspective.
Avoiding these types of video-game style mechanical effects with your magic items reduces the problem substantially, and if you look over, say, the DMg, you'll see that the list of magic items there are made with in-universe sense at least somewhat in mind; they are, for the most part, items which grant their effects consistently, or allow you to call on their power directly, independent of statistical or mechanical requirements.
Last edited by Niara; 23/11/22 11:17 AM.
