[Moron Lite]

The thing about emergent gameplay is just that it's hard working inter- and intrapersonal dimensions (basically, what Emily was saying distinguished story from anecdote) into that without it feeling terribly simplified and dumbed down, both in terms of NPC simulation and player expression. So the "emergent stories" you get out of emergent gameplay have thus far not been terribly meaningful, although they might be "cool".

Ultimately what we're all after is meaningful gaming, and there are two paradigms for accomplishing this, but one of them (the emergent type) is desperately in need of people pushing forward with it, because it's not as well explored as the other paradigm. And both paradigms can coexist perfectly fine, btw. Neither needs to be dominant over the other. Just as Jake was saying that Grim Fandango the game is importantly different from a Grim Fandango movie, there are important differences between exploring meaningful matters through simulation or through narratively-directed gaming. Each has unique strengths to offer.