I think being grounded in the real world of play does tend to lead to better conversations than pure abstractions. While I think the Forge's later strategy of "You're only allowed to talk about Theory via AP posts" was flawed (not least because Forge-style AP posts became a genre with their own social dynamics around them) I think the idea was well-intentioned. Trying to come up with actual examples that illustrate ideas, or ways you think you could test your ideas out, probably helps keep things from spinning out into styles of interaction that can be more emotionally charged.