SOME GAME TOOLS FOR ONLINE PLAYERS

I have been using a couple things I haven't seen others mention who seem to be having a good time playing on Google+ and thought I would share them.

Free Disposable Webpage
http://www.dinkypage.com/

I thought this would be helpful. Set up a webpage in seconds that never goes away. Very simple (bookmark your link so you can find your way back)

Free Corkboard
http://corkboard.me/simple

I've been using this for some time with the ability to post pics to it as well for maps, monsters, items, etc it really has proven quite handy. Again, bookmark your link so you can find your way back.

Just a few simple yet powerful tools.

Enjoy!

DRAFTS-NOT JUST FOR THE NFL ANYMORE

So I'm looking through my drafts-good god!

I notice most are dated from the time of the house damaging winds and contractor period.

I got a lots of finishing up and scheduling to do! :)

Time to get back on track...snow snow snow...hey, I can dream can't I?

A Request To The Blog Community-PLEASE READ

Hi all. Yes, I know...I have been slack at posting but something has come up that I feel I must address:

PLEASE STOP DELETING YOUR BLOGS!

It seems like everyday now I visit another blog only to find it on the verge of being deleted or sometimes they are just gone.

As someone who has archived everything I can from the early days I can say I'm not the only person who felt like preserving our gaming heritage in those fragile, acid based paper fanzines or amateur publications. Axe & Hammer is another valuable resource for Gygax and Greyhawk material (do not feel left out if I don't mention every site-I just helped them to recover the blog after a complete wipe by unknown forces recently so it is fresh in my mind).

But I feel we face an even greater loss in the modern age when someone deletes their blog and it vanishes forever. Now, I understand if somehow you are paying out of pocket for the space or domain or any other cost. Times are bad and every penny counts.

But when I see the word 'blogspot' I know generally you are paying roughly the same amount to host your blog as myself...$0.

I know we don't always have time to post a comment or even follow every blog, but believe me when I say how important your work and the time you have invested into your blog is to myself and countless others.

I would implore those who about to close up shop just leave the blog 'as is' with a final post if you like about not continuing to update it. I will even start a new blog just to catalog those that have concluded so that others may research the work and benefit like I have from the knowledge and the, dare I say it, love we have for such an arcane past time. In a day and age when a new video game console comes out and replaces its predecessor every few years and computer game fans are realizing how much is being lost in their culture we have the ability to maintain ours by simply doing nothing at all.

I understand if for some reason you feel like you have to take it down, but if there is no other reason than just moving on please leave the blog so that others may still enjoy the benefits of your knowledge.

What good is the "Links of Wisdom' wiki if all the content is gone?

Thank you for taking the time to read this and if you know someone who is about to delete their blog I would appreciate you directing them to this post.

JOHN CARTER: WARLORD OF MARS Early Years

It's taken me a few days to take this moment in and be able to type this.

A Princess of Mars was the first novel I ever read. It would set the tone for my reading habits for many years.

I was 8.

It would also color my world of what was possible, that as a species humans were capable of great things, and be contrasted by images of villages and bodies burning in Vietnam on television.

I didn't like television very much then. I preferred the company of my books. The confusion that a child feels is one of a deep and lasting nature. Children don't generally understand things like that at such a young age. I only knew that somehow, someway, as we reached out into space and landed on the moon that we were on a way to a great adventure and knowing then that Mars could never be what was written about in the books that somewhere we would find another Barsoom.

My only question was would we save it or would we burn it...

I have no delusions about this upcoming film version. Nothing can ever compare to the imagination of a child and the images that formed in the minds eye. But it's the thought that counts and for that I say thank you to all those who will have brought this special part of my childhood to the big screen.

Presented for those who have a bond with this type of literature is my small contribution to the re-examination of these worlds of wonder.

JOHN CARTER: WARLORD OF MARS Early Years

Forum For All

I had been working on this for other purposes but have now added a sub-forum for bloggers to stay in touch during these hectic times with Blogger / Google, etc.

Scroll down to Blog Announcements.

Remember to back up your blog to your hard drive and if something happens drop in to the forum here:

The Eternal Keep Meeting Place

This is the same link listed at the top of Eternal Keep.

If you have any problems posting let me know. I too may be looking into moving services to Tumblr or somewhere else. I have not experienced any other problems with the service but I am hearing and seeing a lot of folks who are.

More later.

Stay in touch! :)

Pulp Fiction - The Golden Age of Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Adventure-Documentary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzlbRjmWEQ8

This was a nice find for a Saturday afternoon. This is a 52 minute version of what appears to be an even longer doc (noted at the bottom of the description on the page at Youtube).

FROM THE DESCRIPTION:

Discover the true behind the scenes history of Pulp Fiction and the Golden age of Sci Fi, Fantasy and Adventure, in this amazing fact filled documentary.

American Library Association - Booklist Review:
Pulp fiction (named for the low-quality paper on which the stories were printed) blossomed in the early twentieth century. Audiences (beaten down after WWI and the Great Depression) sought tales with strong heroes, exciting adventures, and alien encounters. This entertaining program traces the golden years of pulps, beginning in the 1920s, by highlighting numerous writers (including Earl Stanley Gardner and Edgar Rice Burroughs who turned out hundreds of stories. In interviews, popular and prolific authors Ray Bradbury and Frederik Pohl recall nominal pay, short deadlines, and insatiable demand for copy. Facing competition from movies, paperback books, and television, the demand for pulp fiction dwindled in the 1950s. However, many works have been recently reprinted for readers seeking escapist fiction. Great fun for pop-culture and genre-fiction fans. — Candace Smith, Booklist

Featuring
* Tim Powers
* Kevin J. Anderson
* Otto Penzler
* Ray Bradbury
* Frederik Pohl
* Marc Zicree

Enjoy!

READ THIS IF YOU USE BLOGGER

And we just thought Blogger had been giving us hell lately.

READ THESE TWO ARTICLES:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/07/06/google.picasa.blogger.mashable/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7

http://mashable.com/2011/07/06/private-google-plus-profiles-retire/

It's so nice to have to find this out from a 3rd party with no notice from Google on this at all.

We may need to set up a meet point somewhere to find each other. It's very unclear whether this means we have to be a part of Google + but I have no intentions of standing for that.

I would also suggest emailing Google for clarification on this as I plan to do.

Modern Gaming-Part the 2nd

First I would like to make it clear that I am not a game nazi who believes there is only one true way or one true game. I have said on many occasions that I believe our strength lies in the IDIC (Yeah, I know, cheesy Vulcan bit so sue me).

And no Sarah, I'm not mad at you or making too many assumptions. It is something I have heard time and again. Let's forget the old stuff and get on with the new stuff.

Well, when the new stuff sux let's not.

Should children drink Bacardi Rum? Or should Bacardi just tone down the liquor, maybe just put water in the bottle. This is what happened to D&D a long time ago and has fostered nothing but ill will ever since. D&D was an adult game made by adults for adults. The day it became a toy for children was the beginning of the end:

Commentary: Dragon Magzine #52, Moldvay Basic D&D Boxed set

http://swordandshieldrpg.blogspot.com/2011/07/commentary-dragon-magzine-52-moldvay.html

Issue #52 of Dragon Magazine features articles from Tom Moldvay AND Dr. J. Eric Holmes looking at the basic boxed sets for D&D. They are very interesting to me for any number of reasons. As the Moldvay boxed set is where I started, I will start with Moldvay's article on the 2nd edition D&D Basic boxed set. , I think my historian background requires me to simply let you read the article for yourself first prior to adding any commentary. I will follow this post later with a commentary.

"...the market has changed since the earlier rules edition. The first D&D market was made up of game buffs and college students. Today, the majority of D&D players are high-school and junior-high students. The new rules edition takes into account the younger readership in its style of writing."

The beginning of the end.(And no, I don't think that children should be banned from gaming-I'm writing a system specifically for children with notes, background and references for parents to become involved and better understand what I believe is a very important part of child growth-make believe and pretend activities-that they rarely seem to get these days with passive entertainment modes).

When TSR caved to pressure groups the face of gaming was changed forever. After '89 it has been a fractured world at best.

I don't think gaming is for everyone. I don't think D&D is for everyone. I don't feel the urge to have to pull more people in to satisfy a bottom line. I think there is a natural balance in gaming that sets itself. The more you try to make a product for the masses the less relevant the product becomes.

The Neo post to me symbolizes what is wrong with the industry and I understand where they are coming from completely. 'PLEASE let me sell you something' becomes WotC's battle cry.

Even though your comment was mild in temper it says the same thing that made me quit most forums:

"This is likely to get me into trouble, but I’ll say it anyway. One of the biggest positives and negatives of the D&D community is that we care too much. We love the game, we love sharing the game, but we want to share our own version of the game. We will repeat old stereotypes, gather around our “the right way to play” banners, and drive off most of the uninitiated. Honestly, it sucks sometimes.

Personally, what I wish sometimes is that we could drop D&D into the hands of the uninitiated devoid of the 70s and 80s context that surrounds the game."

-Sarah Darkmagic
http://www.neogrognard.com/article/374/essential#comments

See, taking out the 70's and 80's context you take away the game. Call this new beast "Forever Combat" or "Ultimate Tactical Combat Simulator" and run with it. Build your own history.

But Dungeons & Dragons has a history. I know because I helped in my small way to make it. I went through a lot of crap for this game and the thought of kicking it to the curb just rubs me wrong. You have people burning crap in your yard yelling you are doing the work of Satan and end up closing a shop because people are tired of having to run the gauntlet of freaks scaring their kids and you will see things a little different.

I think it is best summed up with a post from WotC's own forums:

Plea to Hasbro: Please just release the D&D franchise:

"Sell the D&D franchise to someone who cares."

http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/26682845/Plea_to_Hasbro:_Please_just_release_the_DD_franchise?pg=1

Ouch.

And I think the numbers tell the story. Paizo is now pulling ahead, D&D has went from 24 million players to 1.5 million almost overnight and now the word is they will announce the next atrocity this year at GenCon. Mike Mearls claims in his interview with The Escapist they didn't set out to run off all the players but ever since the release of 3.5 that seems like all they have accomplished.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/writersroom/8115-Complete-Mike-Mearls-D-D-4th-Edition-Essentials-Interview

I think it's Nintendo time for the Wizards...either build a Wii this time or you are out of he game.

Around About

Ok, I can't take it anymore. Time has drained around here lately to the point of being a chrono-desert. But I have to dip my hand into what is left of that muddy little stream and bring you these:

The World Of Lia-DragonQuest Rules Archive-Limks

For fans this is a cool drink. It's been sitting on my desktop for days waiting to be posted...and this is just the meaty links page.

Dungeon Adventures

A slow starter but deserving of love just for this bit alone:

http://tormacksdungeon.blogspot.com/2011/06/few-pictures-and-maps.html

For those who have been enjoying the paleo-gaming articles lately (Like the Ryth Chronicles piece) there is some great stuff here circa '84.

Ghola Scale

A chronicle of projects restoring and sculpting scale fantasy and science fiction miniatures

I've never quite seen one like this before.

Avalon Hill's Magic Realm

A resource site for the game. Ton o' goodness.

Small But Vicious Dog Steals Hearts, Humps Leg

Ok, I'm not even going near a description for this one...just go forth weirdly...

My Problem With Most Modern Gaming

Over at Neogrognard there was a comment that I really wanted to respond to but not being a Wordpress member is one of the prouder things in my life ( I DESPISE Wordpress) and I needed to 'log-in'.

Instead I'll just say my piece here.

http://www.neogrognard.com/article/374/essential

Sarah Darkmagic says:

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 at 11:23 am

I chuckled a bit when I read this. As much as 4e might have “failed” to meet its objectives in any broad sense, it seems to have worked exactly as intended for me. The “mistake” as you called it, allowed me to dip my toes in the water. But I realize that I’m not everyone and, even if I was, at some point, representative of the non-playing masses, many of us required people already invested in the game to show them how to play. If those invested players hated the game for the reasons you gave (and I know a number who do), then we blind newbies would either move to earlier editions/Pathfinder recommended to us or give up in disgust over the edition wars.

This is likely to get me into trouble, but I’ll say it anyway. One of the biggest positives and negatives of the D&D community is that we care too much. We love the game, we love sharing the game, but we want to share our own version of the game. We will repeat old stereotypes, gather around our “the right way to play” banners, and drive off most of the uninitiated. Honestly, it sucks sometimes.

I realized at that moment exactly why I dislike so much of modern gaming. It's the Big Mac theory and a direct reflection on the industry.

To me the whole point of the RPG is to, for a short time, live inside a different world. And everytime you sit down at the table with a new Dungeon Master you'll visit a different place. Some will suck. Some will be awesome. That's life

McDonalds was so proud of the fact that whether you bought a Big Mac in New York or California you would always get the same burger. The experience would be the same everywhere you went. This became a big part of the reason why they became the huge multi-national they are today.

But not everything should be a burger.

Imagine walking into a bookstore and finding only one book on all the shelves entitled 'Book'. You laugh a little, buy a copy and go home and read it. It was pretty good and you head back to the store only to realize that ever single book is the same one you just read.

This is the modern gaming attitude that I have found where ever I go. I made a comment one time that no rules were perfect and that imagination came in really handy if you're going to be a gamer and the response was ' If I wanted to write my own F'ing rules I wouldn't have bought the game'.

Pablum
Spoon fed.
Gerbers.

As the guys said over at 'WTF?, D&D!?' said:

Steve: People cried about them dying (Arneson & Gygax), but when Gygax went what we really lost was a final authority on all rules arguments. And even though the number I had for Gygax was probably no longer in service, I always had that reassuring feeling like if I was really in a jam and my characters were insisting they wanted to grapple someone I could call up Gary and ask him how to resolve it.

Zack: He's gone now, Steve, but his spirit lives on in the exciting new 4th Edition of- I can't even type that out. Does anyone play that?

Steve: It's pretty fun.

Steve: For stupid babies.

Zack: I would imagine Gygax had his detractors back in the day.

Steve: Gygax didn't have 50 writers and 100 artists and color printing. He just went out there and said, hey, here's how you subdue a dragon and sell it as a slave. Here's what a robot is doing in a fantasy game. Deal with it. I made it up, deal with it.

Zack: And now a committee has designed everything.

Steve: The stupid baby committee.

Now I have to get back to the feast table. Lord Hurgamurga, is about to regale us with tales of his heroic balance.

The Dark Side-The Industry-The Hobby

Where to begin.

I have been reading the on going battle for what seems like forever now about 'social contracts' and 'industry standards'. I have really tried to stay out of it. This is the kind of pitched battles that made me quit forums. Somebody says something, doesn't maybe understand the gravity of the statement and then all hell breaks loose. It all started with this:

"It is that LOTFP: Grindhouse Edition violates the social contract of the RPG community."

http://errantgame.blogspot.com/2011/06/violation-of-social-contract.html

And ends up the biggest fist fight I have seen in some time. People are arguing with people that they have always been civil to. This one post has caused more damage to this hobby we call home than anything I can imagine.

What was so powerful about this to cause so many to react so aggressively? A simple mistake we have all made from time to time. When we speak we think we are speaking for the masses. And that offends a lot of people.

This could have been stopped by taking a step back and saying that it was a personal opinion but that didn't happen. The fuel was increased by somehow associating our group with a group we have nothing to do with and that is 'the industry'. If this were 'the industry' I wouldn't be here typing this. I would be filling out apps and trying to figure out whose ass to kiss next after Mearls over at Wizards. THAT'S the industry. This is 'the hobby' or 'hobby business' if you will.

This is the story of how our favorite hobby fell the 1st time and how we are now at the crossroads. again Will 1989 repeat itself? Or will we ignore the naysayers and forge our own path? The decision is ours.

In the past it started with Satanic panic, Mazes and Monsters and a lot of propaganda that would lead a company to make decisions that would change the course of gaming history.

TSR caved into pressure from religious groups and changed what had been an adult game into something acceptable to people who were not even customers, let alone gamers.

Now our own are quoting items out of context. The 'social contract' has nothing to do with the community as a whole. It is the agreement between players at a table and what they decide to play and how to play it. It is not a moral ruler to measure the acceptability of a game or anything else within the context of this community.

And here the added fuel:

The problem with LOTFP Grindhouse Edition is that it violates the boundaries set by the community. It goes over the line that people are willing to comfortably tolerate, it is beyond the acceptable standard of behavior, and people have reacted to that in a variety of ways."
http://errantgame.blogspot.com/2011/06/violation-of-social-contract.html

What community set which boundaries? Not my community nor the community of others that I have seen. This product seems to be doing quite well.

There is a difference between having an opinion and expressing it and presuming that you speak for an entire group of people. No one speaks for me. I think for myself and choose for myself. I am not cattle or sheep, moving in fear away from the edge that exists to challenge us.

I could quote the entire post I have excerpted above, but it comes down to 1989:

"People don't want their beloved games on the same shelf with this stuff, they don't like to see it included in the mix. They don't want someone looking at LOTFP Grindhouse Edition as being a part of RPGs, lest the negativity flow back onto other RPGs. Our hobby went through a very long and painful doldrum period where we struggled with negative reputational effects. We are just now getting to the point where it is not a big issue anymore. The last thing people want is for something like this to trigger even more negative associations. I try very hard not to describe RPGs as being "like D&D" because of this negative history. I would truly hate to have to disavow even more material."

Is this being serious or supposed to be funny? Who are these people buying games they don't want and setting them on any shelf? Negative associations? Let me tell you, they still hate us and think we are doing Satan's work and corrupting people. Those people have always existed and always will regardless of what a publisher decides to print.

Has someone been sneaking into homes and putting games on game shelves under cover of darkness? Is this some covert operation? Where's my damn copy then? Cause I would certainly love to have a nice boxed set proudly sitting on my shelf.

I am not ashamed of the roots of this hobby or the culture it grew out of. Are there things I disagree with? Of course. But it's me disagreeing. Not me telling you what you should find disagreeable. There is a big difference.

We have no reason to tip toe around and try to go unnoticed. We can stamp our feet if we damn well please and if someone is not 'comfortable' with that then they don't have to be part of it. I'm certain there is a big pile of Monopoly game boxes sitting somewhere nearby that is nice and safe. Go play that.

The last time was a different world, where people forced their opinions on the lives of others and caused a ripple effect that made me, for one, leave the hobby. But things are different now. No more boycotts or threats to a business owners livelihood if they carry those 'awful' Dungeons and Dragons games.

We're in charge this time. We are not part of 'the industry' and I wish to never be again. I look forward to the absolute collapse of 'the industry' and good riddance. And if those 'rules' are truly for GenCon then what is left? A table to play Jenga on? No violence, no gore, no nudity, no religion, no cosplay...what the hell do you do? Drink coffee and check your watch constantly to see when your flight leaves?

It's our show and the more of this fascist group think crap that I read the more I want to Spinal Tap this mother and take it up to 11...How about we start with a module, say The Rape of Village Thiyus...the whole module is seeing how many things you can rape in a given amount of time. Men, women, kids, dogs, goats...if it's breathing then we're hittin' it...and do it fired up on drugs and alcohol...maybe betting contests between PCs to see who gets the higher count...see how this crap makes me react?

You see, I ran a game store back in the 80's and I was treated like a leper. They burnt shit in my yard and told me I was selling the work of the devil. My customers were scared by these fanatics.

OVER A GAME.

So you will have to pardon me that all that 'golden age' dust doesn't get in my eyes and blind me from the crap we have always taken. Go be a mouse if you want to. Just don't expect everyone to be a mouse. Some are lions and they eat mice.

And as I said the other day, we really need to be careful about stepping over the most heinous of all lines-hypocrisy. When you take it down to the basics the largest group of gamers play a game that is a perpetual race war where you kill other creatures and steal their stuff. And don't say that's not what fantasy rpgs are about. Since day one that was the basic game. If you have 'moral issues' with gaming you might want to start right there.

I think too many folks are in this thinking it is a stepping stone into that big ticket job in 'the industry' and for some it may well be.

But the majority of people I talk with know this is a small thing and always will be. This is the only reason this is worth doing. These are labors of love, homages to those who came before 'political correctness'. Look at the our collective past and the influences on the hobby. This is 'Old School'. Frank Frazetta. Boris Vallejo. H.P. Lovecraft, R.E. Howard, E.R. Burroughs.

When H.G. Wells codified miniature war gaming he made a statement that perhaps if we fought more of these small wars we would fight less big ones.

And RPGs are the same. Remember that the concept of role-playing was developed by Jacob Moreno, a Viennese psychologist who contended that people could gain more from acting out their problems than from talking about them. That it would evolve into a gaming hobby is quite remarkable.

But man is a rough beast and for all of our laws and social structures we remain animals at heart, part of a greater nature than we may ever understand. This is the place for where the beast can be released and we can learn something about ourselves in the process.

Too heavy? Maybe you wanna go play that Monopoly now...

Here We Go Again! New System Release

Get Epées & Sorcellerie RPG for FREE!

This courtesy of theresdungeonsdownunder.blogspot.com

"Well, Nicolas 'Snorri' Dessaux and myself, through our joint venture - Frightful Hobgoblin - are proud to announce the release of the English translation of Nico's Epées & Sorcellerie roleplaying game, now available in both print and pdf versions from Lulu."

Get it while its hot :)

DCC RPG-The First 24 hrs

I would like to state up front that the method I use and describe in detail below is of my own devising and not based on contemporary methods of analysis because I believe that stats from focus group cards and similar methods are just not viable in the 21st century. That went out when Gen-X was observed watching advertising as entertainment (note the Super Bowl being the most watched pro game of the year because of its commercials).

To illustrate this point if you ask 1000 randomly selected people which would they rather play:

(1) A game with 15 pages of rules

or

(2) A game with 600 pages of rules

The majority of that group will say 15 pages.

Then you check actual sales and the core book for Pathfinder is generally the #1 selling rulebook at Amazon lately clocking in at nearly 600 pages. There is a psychological reason for this I believe and will go into detail about if anyone is interested.

Modern demographics fall apart on this level more often than not. There are many cases in history where focus groups tested the opposite of what the actual outcome was.

What I have done I refer to as the 'grains of sand' or 'buzz' theory. I feel the information in the initial period is more accurate than after time passes and people begin to be affected by others opinions that muddies the initial reaction.

I gather a wide amount of information, find the talking points and then rank most talked about to least talked about and rate them as positive or negative and make note of the distance between the two points. For an overall reaction I add all the positives and subtract all the negatives and compare this number to the total number of talking points observed. What follows is the distillation of hundreds of posts and comments made during the first 24 hours of the release of the DCC RPG beta. I hope it proves of some use to the games creators as they prepare a final commercial version.

NOTE:
the #0 = a negative response
the #1 = a positive result

TOP TEN DISCUSSED POINTS W/ REACTION

01. LIKE THE ART (+23)

02. DISLIKE THE NUMBER OF TABLES (-13)

03. DISLIKE THE ZOCCHI DICE (-13)

04. LIKE THE MAGIC SYSTEM (+11)

05. DISLIKE THE ART (-10)

06. DISLIKE THE SYSTEM (-8)

07. DISLIKE THE 0-LEVEL START (-6)

08. DISLIKE MAGIC SYSTEM (-6)

09. LIKE THE SYSTEM (+6)

10. LIKE THE 0-LEVEL START (+4)

TOP FIVE DISCUSSED POINTS (POSITIVE / NEGATIVE)

ART - (23 LIKE) (10 DISLIKE)

TABLES - (13 DISLIKE) (2 LIKE)

ZOCCHI DICE – (13 DISLIKE) (3 LIKE)

MAGIC SYSTEM – (11 LIKE) (6 DISLIKE)

OVER ALL SYSTEM – (8 LIKE) (6 DISLIKE)

0-LEVEL START – (6 DISLIKE) (4 LIKE (3 LIKE AS OPT +4=7)*

*A third reaction began to surface on the 0-level start mechanic of it being positive if added as an optional feature thus the extra added above.

Also, individual likes and dislikes have been counted together for a more uniform view of the overall reaction. For instance the dislike of the artwork was split about even between there being too much of it or they didn't like the style, etc.

Initial Analysis:

An overall positive reaction to the artwork both in quantity and quality (the most discussed point which I found very interesting).

A very negative reaction to the number of tables included.

A very negative reaction to the use of Zocchi dice and the added cost and complexity they felt was unneeded.

A positive reaction to the magic system.

A marginal positive reaction to the overall system of mechanics.

A negative reaction to the 0-level starting point of PCs but when added as an optional mechanic the reaction turns marginally positive.

There were many other talking points that appeared in smaller numbers and thus make them more difficult to sample but are included for the overall reaction rating. This is the complete sample list:

ART 1 (+23)
TABLES 0 (-13)
ZOCCHI DICE 0 (-13)
MAGIC SYSTEM 1 (+11)
ART 0 (-10)
SYSTEM 0 (-8)
0-LEVEL 0 (-6)
MAGIC SYSTEM 0 (-6)
SYSTEM 1 (+6)
0-LEVEL 1 (+4)
0-LEVEL AS OPTION 1 (+3)
RACE AS CLASS 0 (-3)
SYSTEM MECHANICS 0 (-3)
ZOCCHI DICE 1 (+3)
ALIGNMENT 0 (-2)
CHARACTER CREATION 0 (-2)
CHARACTER CREATION 1 (+2)
DEEDS 1 (+2)
RACE AS CLASS 1 (+2)
TABLES 1 (+2)
TRYING TO COPYRIGHT TABLES 0 (-2)
ALIGNMENT 1 (+1)
BFRPG MORE MODULAR 0 (-1)
CARTOONS 1 (+1)
CHARACTER MECHANICS 0 (-1)
CLASS MECHANICS 0 (-1)
COMBAT 1 (+1)
CORE MECHANIC 0 (-1)
D20 MECHANICS 1 (+1)
DUNGEON CRAWL 1 (+1)
EPIC LEVEL 0 (-1)
FUNNEL 0 (-1)
FUNNEL 1 (+1)
INDIVIDUAL CHARACTER RECORD SHEETS 1 (+1)
LIKES BFRPG BETTER 0 (-1)
MECHANICS 0 (-1)
MONSTERS 0 (-1)
NO ‘WHAT IS ROLEPLAYING’ SECTION 1 (+1)
ROLEMASTER-LIKE BETTER 0 (-1)
TARGET GROUP FOCUS 0 (-1)
THEME 0 (-1)
XP TABLES 0 (-1)


TOTAL POINTS: 129

POSITIVE TALKING POINTS: 48
NEGATIVE TALKING POINTS: 81


In my own work in the past I look at this type of analysis to help tag and track different aspects of something that causes strong feelings for or against. It is a small sample but can be used as a heads up to further test and narrow the two extremes and bring the points closer together (I see a -2 and a +2 as par and canceling each other out while a -13 and a +2 shows a strong dislike of the topic being discussed and resources can then be directed to understand the situation better,etc).

This is not a value judgment nor does it reflect my own opinions on the subject. It is meant as a simple tool among many that can be used to better understand the subject and initial reactions to it. I hope it proves useful.

A Call For Basic Fantasy RPG resources

Just wanted to post this here as well. I have been trying to put together a resource blog for BFRPG for sometime and have finally bit the bullet and went ahead with launching it even though I don't feel I have enough material yet.

The blog can be found at:

On Mountains High And Dungeons Deep-BFRPG

Any posts to resources, reviews, basically anything to do with BFRPG is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

And I Thought My Year Was Sucking

Once More Unto the Breach!

Question: Alignment in RPGs? - Hail one and all! So, as usual, I don't have the time to write at length about anything (and trust me, I have a lot of ideas and it's killing me).

GROGNARDIA

Google Search - In case anyone cares, the Google search gadget located on the right is broken. I have no idea why it no longer functions (it did so last week, I am certain...

Steve Lopez's Big Blog o'Fun » Hot Leprechaun Chick says “Happy St. Patrick’s Day”

DC Comics reboot, old-school supers RPGing, etc. - I’m sorry about the relative infrequency of my posts, but I’m running as hard as I can just to stay stationary lately. I never realized that writing a blog...

Swashbuckler's Hideout

Brainstorming for a New Campaign - With the school year coming to close here at OSU coming, most of my players will be heading off home or will be away at prestigious internships

For A Fistful Of Coppers

A quick update - So, there sure hasn't been a lot of updating over here.

B/X BLACKRAZOR

Completely Embarrassed - I was trying to organize my notes from last week's game session, and realized I cannot for the life of me remember what the hell happened.

The Underdark Gazette

Unplugging for a Few Weeks - I'll be absent from the blogosphere for the rest of June, returning sometime during the first week of July. I've experienced several major upheavals...

Greyhawk Grognard

Apologies - Apologies again for my lack of posts. We are dealing with a death in the family and that is taking up almost all of my time at the moment.

TEMPLE OF DEMOGORGON

Keep on Truckin' (more or less) - Wow, more than two weeks without a post! What the hell is going on around here?

And that's just from a quick scan of my favorite blogs. I feel like any moment Neo is going to pull the wire out of the back of my head and say "Welcome to the real".

(Our house related suck has resurfaced again just to add icing to the s*** cake that is 2011).