[Xerihae]

Power-gaming is just another way of gaming. Some people enjoy roleplay most, some enjoy exploring, others like developing their character to the fullest extent they can. The only time I think it's really an issue is when they're using exploits or loopholes to do it. You can argue that power-gamers as a group may have a tendency to "lord it" over the poor saps who don't measure up to their power, but I don't see it as any different to the group of "hardcore roleplayers" who turn their nose up at other peoples attempts to roleplay. As long as there are things to be good at, you're going to get groups of people who are elitist and overbearing when they're considered among "the best". It's simply a fact of any competitive endeavour and repeats itself in all of them. I've met power-gamers who were excellent players and didn't have a bad attitude, and I've met roleplayers I wouldn't go anywhere near because their whole "I'm so much better at this than you" attitude bugs the hell out of me.

If you really think that power-gaming is a problem in your own game (not aiming this at anyone specific, just a general thought) then surely you can make changes to your system to help avoid it. Personally I think it's just another way of playing a game and should be taken into account and catered for rather than saying "This is wrong" but then it depends entirely on how you want your game to be played.