Yesterday rolled out the last of my ASC3 reviews, reviews that I finished writing some weeks ago. This post (yes, the one you're reading right now...) was written many days later, giving myself some time and space to think about the contest as a whole.
Not that I've done a lot of that. I'm a busy guy and I've been exceptionally busy since the holidays finished in early January. "Non-stop" is the phrase that comes to my head...for most of these reviews, I read and wrote them in BUNCHES...huge, heaping piles of them...in order to get through my obligation as a judge. At times, it was a bit of a slog, and I'd guess that (as much as anything) contributed to the curtness of some of these reviews. For those who wanted MORE feedback, I've done my best to provide extra thoughts in the comments section of each entry. For those who'd prefer a more private forum for complaining or questioning my methodology, I'm generally responsive to emails.
Overall, I was somewhat disappointed by the quality of the submissions this year. 'Course, it's not MY contest (Ben will be the final arbiter of what he feels is worthy of the compilation), but there seemed to be a real dearth of...what I would call..."complete" entries. Lots of problems, and many of the adventures with the strongest creativity and best theming were often the ones that lacked proper execution. Some of the two-star entries had me more jazzed/excited than the handful of four-star entries...which shouldn't happen. But it did. And none of the adventure sites (in my opinion) warranted a five-star rating. Not one...despite receiving nearly 40 entries this year.
The types of entries was also a little disappointing. Of the 38 adventure sites, eight were written for AD&D and four were were written for some form of TSR Basic. That's less than one-third. Everything else was written for various retroclones or...other. Six for ACKS. Two for Seven Voyages. A Hyperborea, a Savage Swords. That's more for "non-D&D" than there was AD&D...what's up with that?
My question is not meant to be rhetorical. There's something going on here that is interesting. And, if you'll permit me, I'd like to speculate about it for a moment:
I enjoy the gaming community. But for me, the community is a secondary consideration to gaming. I already mentioned I'm a busy guy. Most of that "busy-ness" revolves around my family and all our various "stuff," very little of which involves gaming. Sports, music, socializing with (non-gamer) friends, school stuff, house stuff, day-to-day living stuff...this occupies the bulk of my time and attention. And it gives me a full life...a happy, satisfying life. The gaming stuff...which, for me, is a vocation and calling and a part of my basic identity...is always there. Like my eye color. Or my wedding ring.
But the gaming community? I play game, I write games, I teach games. But games aren't a lifestyle for me. And I don't need to be immersed in the community of gamers to know what I'm about.
And I am different from some gamers in this way. There are gamers...many gamers...who not only want this community but NEED it. They need to kabitz and be friends with likeminded folks who encourage them and validate them and accept them and relate to them. This is a HUMAN thing...we all "need" community to one degree or another to give us all these things. We are SOCIAL creatures; we do not enjoy being LONELY.
Most of us. I've always been a little odd in that I like my solitude. But not always. And, generally speaking, I love people...gamers and non-gamers alike.
What does all that have to do with adventure writing? Gibson's contest is an on-line thing...something marketed to an on-line community. And those communities (like my blog readers, or Ben's) gravitate towards a particular type of gaming...an older style, an FAG-oriented style (what's now being called "classic"). And in larger community, you see vocal visionaries promoting particular games...games like ACKS and OSRIC and OSE, etc. And some gamers gravitate towards these vocal proponents, and a small handful becomes a small group and then a small community. Like-minded folks finding ways to be together with other humans.
And togetherness is something we all want and desperately, desperately need in these times.
The particular edition of D&D I play has a following, too...but it is older and more diffuse. Pocket tables (like my own) teaching and playing a game the same way it's been done for 40+ years, long before "communities" and social platforms made networking dead simple. Geezers, in other words...geezers like myself who decry the way the hobby has disintegrated over the years but who (again, like me) can't be bothered to create a gravitational force that drags in folks searching for "community." AD&D is not a Church; a gaming session is not a Mass. For me, that is. For other people, the wider gaming community has replaced for them part of the thing that religion has done for so many people over the years. Provided a feeling of belonging. Provided a higher purpose outside themselves. Provided a way and a reason to bond with others.
All very good stuff. As I said: we're humans. Humans need this kind of stuff.
So while I'm disappointed not to see more AD&D adventure sites, I get it. And I'm okay with it...the "disappointment" I expressed was more personal than conceptual. I like AD&D...I'd like to see more AD&D adventures being written, published, play-tested. But it's a GOOD thing that we have so many people going out and creating...doing work...for the larger hobby. More entries this year than last year...Gibson's contest has grown with every season. That's fantastic. Because people need creative outlets and gamers need adventures and adventures writers are only going to get better the more they write, the more practice they get.
I look back at some of my own stuff, and I'm appalled at my earlier efforts.
Thank you to everyone who took the time and made the effort to participate in the Adventure Site Contest this year. Thank you for sharing your creativity; thank you for contributing to the hobby. Thank you for putting up with my slights and nit-picks and taking my sourness in stride. Thank you for making me THINK and READ and helped me sharpen and crystallize my own thoughts on design. And thank you for being an inspiration to others who haven't yet found the time...or the courage...to create their own adventures.
RPGs are meant to be played with others. By providing adventures, you provide more opportunities for people to play together. Appreciate you folks.
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