tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post2920307561614298393..comments2024-03-19T16:24:23.777-07:00Comments on Playing D&D With Porn Stars: Well Designed For Who?*Zak Sabbathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-441921718647385322013-04-05T17:21:16.337-07:002013-04-05T17:21:16.337-07:00I agree with your post Zak. I've played a ton...I agree with your post Zak. I've played a ton of games and many were built for a very specific style and genre ... and how dare you try to drift from Canon! ... I got tired of that.<br /><br />Almost every game I play in now is pretty heavily home-brewed aside from one ... any game I run is heavily home-brewed. I use Savage Worlds as my starting place ... it has no spine ... just a flayed open system that you can pick at to run any genre ... <br /><br />If you want something that will take you down a specific path and hand-holding there are settings you can get but the core is cheap and easy.<br /><br />I've been flying by the seat of my pants as a GM for 34-years now and it feels great!Takedahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05884387361198878820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-14735587428810660972013-01-12T09:29:36.496-08:002013-01-12T09:29:36.496-08:00I think the "half-an-argument" thing'...I think the "half-an-argument" thing's inevitable when someone's reading any idea about RPGs in general.<br /><br />The only way to avoid it is to write a huge scholarly overview/essay which people don't usually write unless they're getting paid or to watch these arguments as they occur on Google + or some other forum.Zak Sabbathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-47258360437936313642013-01-12T09:23:30.393-08:002013-01-12T09:23:30.393-08:00Sometimes I read your blog and feel as if I am rea...Sometimes I read your blog and feel as if I am reading half of an argument. My knowledge of and interest in the Forge is zero so perhaps that is what I am missing. Does not increase my interest in learning anything about the Forge. I don't suspect you would encourage me to investigate it. <br /><br />However, several comments and points in some of your recent posts motivated me to obtain and read the OD&D books. I found it richly rewarding and I believe I understand some of your points better. I want to thank you for that. Jeremyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05744547048757312772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-66970807924395451912013-01-11T10:41:56.394-08:002013-01-11T10:41:56.394-08:00** "..." - Mister Gary Gygax, brought to...** "..." - Mister Gary Gygax, brought to my attention by Mister SmithUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06177538062716782298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-88427081977078475692013-01-11T10:32:59.882-08:002013-01-11T10:32:59.882-08:00that was Gary, not methat was Gary, not meZak Sabbathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-43994225665967244812013-01-11T10:28:41.445-08:002013-01-11T10:28:41.445-08:00"If the time ever comes when all aspects of f..."If the time ever comes when all aspects of fantasy are covered and the vast majority of its players agree on how the game should be played, DandD will have become staid and boring indeed. Sorry, but I don't believe that there is anything desirable in having various campaigns playing similarly to one another" - Mister Smith<br /><br />Thank you.<br /><br />I would like to add 'cult-like' to staid and boring.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06177538062716782298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-84175964590029842982013-01-08T17:04:25.801-08:002013-01-08T17:04:25.801-08:00Very cool. I think I get where you're coming f...Very cool. I think I get where you're coming from now.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12460232211687806213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-24025477881832294172013-01-08T16:55:50.370-08:002013-01-08T16:55:50.370-08:00Everything in the arts is subjective. You can only...Everything in the arts is subjective. You can only help people reach a defined goal (that's what you do when you teach art--they define a goal, you help them reach it). If they don't define a goal or (as most audiences) don't care about the author's goal--just what you get out of it is the only meaningful content for you.<br /><br />The rest is for accountants to worry about.Zak Sabbathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-24400306104198489512013-01-08T16:52:15.055-08:002013-01-08T16:52:15.055-08:00Okay, last question... do you view/evaluate/judge ...Okay, last question... do you view/evaluate/judge art the same as games, or is everything ultimately subjective?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12460232211687806213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-43977254277883050412013-01-08T15:54:22.938-08:002013-01-08T15:54:22.938-08:00If the author can cook from that recipe, it's ...If the author can cook from that recipe, it's complete enough for them.<br />"Complete" is often a kinda bullshit word in game design. What people usually mean is "enough tools to get me all the way through my own very specific-to-me particular issues running the game" rather than "all the tools the author needed to run the game".Zak Sabbathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-16414927469840657462013-01-08T15:28:46.888-08:002013-01-08T15:28:46.888-08:00Hmm... I don't think that fits. The author is ...Hmm... I don't think that fits. The author is not delivering a partially constructed work. I think it's fair to say we expect a novel (or any other artistic work) to be complete. <br /><br />However, if I get your meaning, as gamers we should understand the game we purchased is meant to be modified to our tastes. In this case, the author to game designer analogy doesn't fit, unless the book we're talking about is a cookbook (which may actually be a working analogy).Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12460232211687806213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-81462668892723783332013-01-08T15:02:19.515-08:002013-01-08T15:02:19.515-08:00No more than any other author: be ethical in your ...No more than any other author: be ethical in your business dealings, do the best work you possibly can for you.Zak Sabbathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-83316271531210573382013-01-08T14:59:09.535-08:002013-01-08T14:59:09.535-08:00What responsibility does the game or game designer...What responsibility does the game or game designer have for it's audience?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12460232211687806213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-77276440156626167132013-01-08T13:57:25.167-08:002013-01-08T13:57:25.167-08:00and lifeand lifeZak Sabbathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-43649625244686806372013-01-08T13:54:37.716-08:002013-01-08T13:54:37.716-08:00Surely someone who thinks every role-playing game ...Surely someone who thinks every role-playing game should provide a single core experience has missed the point of GURPS?anarchisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05546197561922726279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-45141813891483664602013-01-08T13:48:46.074-08:002013-01-08T13:48:46.074-08:00Anyone still clinging to the idea that a game'...Anyone still clinging to the idea that a game's rules need to be focused around a chosen "core" experience. I know 4e obsessives who think that, I know GURPS obsessives who think that, I know rabid 3e people who think that...<br /><br />etcZak Sabbathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-34229504756384386002013-01-08T13:40:59.425-08:002013-01-08T13:40:59.425-08:00Who are the rest?Who are the rest?anarchisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05546197561922726279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-526361940208813392013-01-08T12:39:08.957-08:002013-01-08T12:39:08.957-08:00I almost wrote a post myself a few weeks ago about...I almost wrote a post myself a few weeks ago about contexts. I agree completely about different audiences and different contexts requiring different things. I even realized that simple things like being a nomadic DM gaming in other people's homes pushes me toward certain design goals like simplicity.<br /><br />I would propose that in general games would do better to provide tools to help DMs handle creation and game situations rather than trying to provide a bunch of pre-made rulings. If only because there are so many possibilities to try and cover.Telecanterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07238356788092725244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-16381132889376164602013-01-08T10:41:48.037-08:002013-01-08T10:41:48.037-08:00Then you misunderstand what I mean by "spine&...Then you misunderstand what I mean by "spine".<br /><br />What I mean is: this idea many people have that _even without any customization_ a game will default to a certain experience that is desirable. That's a spine.<br /><br />The ethic you and Gary describe above (which I love and subscribe to) is the opposite of that: without your input, there is no decent "default experience".<br /><br />And me having to write that makes me think I must've done a terrible job writing this blog entry because that was largely my point.Zak Sabbathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-6638733640756177102013-01-08T10:35:52.355-08:002013-01-08T10:35:52.355-08:00"Even they--at the time--outright stated that..."Even they--at the time--outright stated that you needed to make judgment calls and customize the rules."<br /><br />And thus my point. The default spine *requires* customization to work. That's the freaking genius of it. It requires agency AND ownership of that agency.<br />Matthew Schmeerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11348372645986806502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-47096374345437442082013-01-08T10:25:19.093-08:002013-01-08T10:25:19.093-08:00I see Zak's point in the blog post, and find t...I see Zak's point in the blog post, and find that I agree with it to some degree. But I wouldn't have necessarily agreed with him. I'm not sure I agree with him entirely here. He makes a point that I've seen before and reacted to badly, because it was stated in angry and insulting rhetoric. So with at least one person (me) he's not just preaching to the choir and has made me more receptive to an idea I've previously rejected.two_fisheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09137129143364139291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-51486872447544764012013-01-08T10:24:57.066-08:002013-01-08T10:24:57.066-08:00I don't think so: It is explicitly a "rul...I don't think so: It is explicitly a "rulings not rules" design.<br />There is no mention of there being procedures to fall back on if you can't handle that.<br />I'm ok with that, but some people aren't.Zak Sabbathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-27725339792444590732013-01-08T10:22:04.777-08:002013-01-08T10:22:04.777-08:00"If someone wants to build a game with a defa..."If someone wants to build a game with a default spine for whatever slice of the audience actually enjoys default things but that also provides no significant hurdles to the slice of the audience that cannot enjoy a game they have not significantly customized they should try."<br /><br />Do you think that D&D Next is at least 'kind of' trying to tackle just that? A game with a lean set of default rules but with the ability to customize?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-43703664136543518432013-01-08T09:46:38.866-08:002013-01-08T09:46:38.866-08:00"
Dave and I disagree on how to handle any nu..."<br />Dave and I disagree on how to handle any number of things, and both of our campaigns differ from the "rules" found in DandD. If the time ever comes when all aspects of fantasy are covered and the vast majority of its players agree on how the game should be played, DandD will have become staid and boring indeed. Sorry, but I don't believe that there is anything desirable in having various campaigns playing similarly to one another. DandD is supposed to offer a challenge to the imagination and to do so in many ways. Perhaps the most important is in regard to what the probabilities of a given situation are. If players know what all of the monster parameters are, what can be expected in a given situation, exactly what will happen to them if they perform thus and so, most of the charm of the game is gone. Frankly, the reason I enjoy playing in Dave Arneson's campaign is that I do not know his treatments of monsters and suchlike, so I must keep thinking and reasoning in order to "survive". Now, for example, if I made a proclamation from on high which suited Mr. Johnstone, it would certainly be quite unacceptable to hundreds or even thousands of other players. My answer is, and has always been, if you don't like the way I do it, change the bloody rules to suit yourself and your players. DandD enthusiasts are far too individualistic and imaginative a bunch to be in agreement, and I certainly refuse to play god for them -- except as a referee in my own campaign where they jolly well better toe the mark.<br />"Zak Sabbathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-1190750122667195662013-01-08T09:45:18.502-08:002013-01-08T09:45:18.502-08:00If you ever met anyone who played 0D&D without...If you ever met anyone who played 0D&D without customizing it or rulings-not-rules it I would loooooooove to meet them.<br /><br />Even they--at the time--outright stated that you needed to make judgment calls and customize the rules.Zak Sabbathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.com