[2023] The Forge works just fine, but it's named wrong.

The people who inhabit the apocalyptic world don't have the same words with the same definitions we do in today's pre-apocalyptic society. They jury-rigged together a workstation that does what they need it to and someone started calling it a "forge" and the name stuck. Nobody remembers what an actual forge was or what it was used for.

Originally posted by Tahnval:
That's a creative retcon, but it doesn't make "forges" any less confusing for any player who hasn't watched a video explaining the frankly nonsensical way the mechanic works.

My point is that a creative retcon is all that is needed for this "issue". Who cares what it is called? You can go ahead and call it a BS if you wish. It is what it is and has been what it is for years and somehow someway 1000s of people have figured out what it does either through experimentation or by watching a video or by having someone explain it to them.

It works and is unlikely to get renamed nor changed at this 11th hour. I think that it is close enough to a forge-like apparatus for most people to be fine with it being called a forge and only one person in 500 will even bat an eyelash. Sure there will be forge experts who will be aghast at the workstation and how it is an egregious representation but we will just have to ask their forgiveness or lose them as fans perhaps...much like my friend who works as an EMT at our local hospital just can't watch Grey's Anatomy and enjoy it.