[@Vordak]

Did you ever play pretend as a child?

Well that's exactly what roleplaying is. The forum is our sandbox, our characters are our favorite heroes, and combat is a debate about who would win. Granted that we're older, presumably smarter, and proper play [i]should[/i] be a cooperative effort rather than a heated argument, but at the end of the day it all boils down to a game of pretend.

Within that context playing defensively is easier because tearing down an argument is a lot easier than building one. The act itself doesn't have to be toxic, though it certainly can be (see: politics), but it's just a fact of life that destroying is a lot easier than creating.

Yes play styles, character builds, and the like can add variables to the game while strict rules can put a stop to arguments before they start. But at the end of the day it's still in our heads and the only means of conveyance we have is our words, it's still a debate and to that end defense will always be easier than offense. That said roleplay is a shared experience and playing to win might just make you a loser in the end.