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These are bizarre complaints.

> what does this have to do with "role playing"? Except there are orcs.

It's role playing, I don't know what else to tell you here.

> What? i didn't call it (whatever "it" is) that - you did.

The sentence is not accusing you of doing so.

> as opposed to some other, non-literal moon?

It's clarifying that they're talking about the moon landings not using it as a framing device. At worst it's a redundant word you can skip over. It also emphasises the point.

> what other ways are there of having a monologue?

Monologue means one "speaker". It has nothing to do with how many people are listening. You can practice a speech in front of other people who listen, you can practice alone.

> Sorry, we are techies - why would we be running a "social simulation"?

Because this is advice around the social parts of the jobs where you need to interact with others. Your bio says you were a project manager, surely you can appreciate there's more to building software & running a business (and this advice is not limited to that) than coding alone.

I was at least expecting the orcs to have a pie. 0/10 would not play this module

Article TL;DR: if you have to perform in front of people you should rehearse beforehand.

> Sorry, we are techies - why would we be running a "social simulation"?

It can be extremely useful for figuring out how other roles in an org work. Or prepping for a promotion ("OK, it's day 1 having title X: what's important? Who should I talk to? What should I say/ask? Who am I trying to impress and/or what should I be treating as my deliverables? What does my activity look like from their perspective?")

It becomes more formally part of what you do as you move up the ladder (higher-level business strategy is basically all role-playing! It's a ton like playing a game, really) but it's a really helpful tool even if you're down at the bottom, if just for trying to understand your immediate superiors better, or interviewers, perhaps—which can help you to align your behavior with what they want to see, in both cases, which will tend to be very good for your career.

Even as a solo dev, role-playing—even if it's entirely in your head—can be incredibly valuable for marketing or just deciding what to build in the first place.

> what does this have to do with "role playing"? Except there are orcs.

"Role-playing" has multiple connotations. The author was playing off of those.

> as opposed to some other, non-literal moon?

"Literal" or "literally" is sometimes used for emphasis

Notably because of the world of fantasy and modern reality, in the article, are being mixed.

Role playing is when you pretend to be other people, usually with along other people and a format. It is not a name for the trappings of Tolkien novels. Pretty sure that's the joke.

“RPG” or “TTRPG” refer to role-playing games, most often set in fantasy settings. The article is playing off of the fact that role playing as a device can be used outside of those settings to gain insights and mental latticework.

>> Although you can rehearse the monologue portions of these situations alone

> what other ways are there of having a monologue?

You can rehearse a monologue with an audience. This is obvious. You are far off the mark with pretty much all your observations of the article itself, and as a cranky old grump who wishes everyone would quit messing up my lawn with all this garbage, I want to sympathize but can't.

Most role playing doesn't have orcs? I've had some therapy sessions where we did some role playing (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing#Psychology), and if there were supposed to be orcs, I want my money back.

For what it’s worth, reading the title and having been exposed to D&D, the orcs seemed completely appropriate. This is how many D&D adventures start (if it wasn’t obvious).

> as opposed to some other, non-literal moon?

The Mun, from KSP. Maybe a metaphorical moon.