Quote Originally Posted by Pex View Post
Yes because without them you eventually get "I shot you! No you didn't!". children playground arguments.
Don't kid yourself. Majority of recurring arguments about mechanics are just variations of the same. Rules and mechanics don't save you from this, people who are capable of agreeing on rules and mechanics do.

Children's games have rules and mechanics, besides. For play-shooting, the typical rules are 1) I have to see the target, 2) I have to aim the pretend-gun at the target, 3) I have to make appropriate gun-like noise and, occasionally, 4) call out the name of the target. The mechanic by which this works is that the target 1) observes that the rules are followed, 2) agrees the rules are followed and 3) chooses to co-operate. Without these things, we wouldn't even be able to distinquish play-shooting from any other game.