tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post4036216906748618176..comments2024-03-29T08:03:16.892-07:00Comments on B/X BLACKRAZOR: Addendum to “On Role-Playing”JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-39290486315255182252013-07-29T22:15:11.656-07:002013-07-29T22:15:11.656-07:00Thanks. Given your prodigious output, I think you ...Thanks. Given your prodigious output, I think you generally write with impressive precision and insight in an engaging voice.Brian MacKenziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12752842049666489041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-43242865759815298472013-07-28T12:41:16.872-07:002013-07-28T12:41:16.872-07:00@ Brian:
I apologize for my use of the word &quo...@ Brian: <br /><br />I apologize for my use of the word "retarded:" I've been called out for that before and I really need to be more conscientious with my choice of words. Sorry!JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08532311924539491087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-20596009156460988702013-07-28T07:49:22.228-07:002013-07-28T07:49:22.228-07:00Thanks for writing this series on an important and...Thanks for writing this series on an important and underexplored aspect of the gaming experience. I think immersive roleplaying is the element that makes RPGs such a liberating and satisfying form of escapism. <br /><br />The unnecessary hostility of some of the comments actually confirms the centrality of roleplaying to our hobby. If they really thought about it, your detractors would concede that your brave 11-part trial balloon initiated a Hegelian dialectic and thereby sharpened their thinking on the matter, even if a few of them remain forever mired in vitriolic antithesis. <br /><br />I do wish everyone involved would stop with the personal attacks. Incivility doesn't signify honesty, just low character. (And please quit casually writing "retarded" because it's unkind to the mentally disabled, and because English offers us an arsenal of more precise alternatives, like illogical, inane, poorly conceived, wrongheaded, foolish, fatuous, etc., and probably dozens more if you consult a thesaurus.)<br /><br />Moreover, I wish people could be more tolerant of different styles of roleplaying. There are a lot of different right ways to play RPGs. I enjoy having different styles at the same table, grim powergamers and thespian hams, high fantasy archetypes, doomed Lovecraftian protagonists and goofball jesters. It's the players, their complementary styles and the social experience that elevate D&D to a level of fun that videogames can't yet reach. Our hobby is already too small--it's hard enough to find players as it is--we don't need to compound the difficulty by alienating and excommunicating people because their concept of roleplaying differs trivially from ours. Brian MacKenziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12752842049666489041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-30158379491841513332013-07-24T18:14:01.768-07:002013-07-24T18:14:01.768-07:00@ Jay:
There are definitely things worse than Be...@ Jay: <br /><br />There are definitely things worse than Beefeater. In Mexico no one drinks gin ("ginebra")...at least not regularly...and the only bottle I can find is something called Oso Negro ("Black Bear") which is, frankly, terrible.<br /><br />I am reminded of my old boozing mechanics for AD&D; maybe I need to dig 'em out and post them.<br />; )<br /><br />@ Everyone else: <br /><br />Thanks for the kind words. I hope to return to regular gaming content posts in the near future, but right now I'm fighting a bit of a summer sniffle.JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08532311924539491087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-78857195512523670612013-07-24T07:40:35.936-07:002013-07-24T07:40:35.936-07:00Well I applaud your efforts, and very much appreci...Well I applaud your efforts, and very much appreciate you taking the time to write. I like your blog, and will continue reading regardless whether I agree or disagree with your findings. Everyone is entitled to their opinions.... Hell that's what blogs are for, telling the world how you feel. I for one understood where you were coming from, even if I didn't share the exact same feelings on the subject. A good read sir! Here's to many more!Trailbladeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08051207824154001854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-30237241619623222182013-07-23T17:10:47.857-07:002013-07-23T17:10:47.857-07:00Why do you hate Beefeater Gin. Here in Aspen the l...Why do you hate Beefeater Gin. Here in Aspen the lower shelves are filled with Gordon's. A good, cheap substitute like Beefeater would be welcome. What really needs to happen is to bring cheap gin in line with the price of bottom shelf vodka; a liquor which should be despised by even the lowest gutter snipe? That is the type of mechanics I could get behind.Jay Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00069789456292604679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-24299293742762900082013-07-23T16:35:43.947-07:002013-07-23T16:35:43.947-07:00You have a point with your essay, that was your po...You have a point with your essay, that was your point in putting it up. Some of it I agree with, others I don't.<br /><br />That is the way of things. I happen to be a big fan of some post 1983 D&D things, and I plan on trying to help keep this game alive.<br /><br />I think that is partly what we are all doing here, in our little corner of the blogsphere, helping keep the game alive.<br /><br />And, I know sometimes role-playing gets sacrificed on the altar of "game mechanics" yet it still out there and it can be discovered and re-discovered by people.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01903390795990245944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-14044310415269138872013-07-23T15:22:32.209-07:002013-07-23T15:22:32.209-07:00@ Shlomo:
And here I completely forgot to mention...@ Shlomo:<br /><br />And here I completely forgot to mention my Scorpio nature!<br />; )<br /><br />Re: learning from books<br /><br />Maybe it's silly of me, but I can't help but think that at least part of the "figuring out how to play" comes from reading the instructions...even for folks who are introduced to the game by veteran players. Clear, concise instructions are valuable...I think designers/writers too often gloss over the part of the medium that is crucial to exciting game play.<br /><br />But, like I said, maybe I am just being silly.JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08532311924539491087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-10243303213215386132013-07-23T15:05:41.975-07:002013-07-23T15:05:41.975-07:00it was a good effort.
i agree with your definiton...it was a good effort.<br /><br />i agree with your definiton of roleplaying and enjoyed your speculations about the beginnings of the hobby. i tend to believe you might be on to somthing when you say roleplaying-games as we know them started "by accident".<br /><br />when you started ranting about the later editions i think you simply got carried away. shit happens, no harm done really. it was fun to read, if not very enlightening. i have yet to find a system that stops me from roleplaying.<br /><br />no need to apologise for being emotional, as a fellow scorpio i know very well what it's like. anyone who reads the blog should know your style by now. noone forces them to read your stuff. <br /><br />i am not sure if i can follow you when it comes to teaching new players how to roleplay. do the books really have to tell you how to do it? i believe learning from other, more experienced players is a nice tradition. i play with the kids i work with (we used your 1 page-supers a couple of times) and i doubt more than a few of them would ever pick up a book and "learn" to play by themselves, but they enjoy learning by doing it with someone to help them along.<br /><br />maybe an oral tradition works better in todays world where kids have so many (crap) activities to chose from.<br /><br />and if you have noone to teach you? no problem, you will find your own way, like so many did before.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com