The other thing.. and I think this is key to why so many people get really knotted up about this without ever having seen it in practice. Just acknowledging that support tools are relevant means acknowledging vulnerability, which is terrifying for many people. (My wife spotted this immediately.) A lot of people have had any willingness to be vulnerable battered out of them. But we are all vulnerable, inside, so just seeing it in other people—or seeing other people’s willingness to be vulnerable—can induce fear.

So from that perspective, it doesn’t matter if support tools actually cause logistical/play problems, its mere existence is like a wounded inner child staring up balefully from the center of the table, reminding everyone that they can be hurt.