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Author Topic: Erm new to this Theory lark... help please  (Read 3978 times)

arminius

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Erm new to this Theory lark... help please
« Reply #60 on: September 13, 2006, 04:03:50 PM »
Quote from: Caesar Slaad
I don't think there has to be a grand unified theory. Analysis and attention to what's going on and how to make the game better is useful discussion to me.

I agree with this on all counts.

Also to chime in with some grizzled beard scratching, the Golden Age of rpg theory for me was actually before rec.games.frp.advocacy made its appearance, and especially before all the fights over Theatrix. Important advancements were made later but the narrower audience meant there were fewer paradigm clashes to muddy the waters. Once Theatrix made its appearance everybody started arguing from first principles about a very broad subject, and it hasn't stopped to this day. (Another factor was likely the socalled "Eternal September" of 1993.)

Bagpuss

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Erm new to this Theory lark... help please
« Reply #61 on: September 13, 2006, 04:03:50 PM »
Erm which page did my thread go off on a tangent, it grew so quickly and I was too busy at work to follow it?
 

arminius

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Erm new to this Theory lark... help please
« Reply #62 on: September 13, 2006, 04:15:53 PM »
Quote from: Stuart
Except the GM has to play referee.

The more time I spend working on my game, the less it looks like a traditional RPG and the more it looked like other things (CCG, Boardgame, Gamebook).  

I think authority for narrative control / rules moderation has to rest someplace, and there seems to be 3 choices:

1) A Game Master -- like in traditional RPGs like D&D, Amber, etc
2) Shared amongst all the players -- like Dogs in the Vineyard etc
3) The game itself -- like a boardgame, CCG, or what I'm thinking of

In many ways what I'm working on / talking about has more in common with Talisman than D&D.

Yes, this is exactly what I'm talking about. It's also what I raised with Luke in the thread about Burning Empires being a "competitive game". I think Luke is speaking in good faith but I also suspect that what BE will turn out to be, when I see it, is a game with an excellent dynamic framework that can act as a "skeleton" to guide and compartmentalize the freeform aspects of the game. But not a game like Chess, where there's a clear bright line to differentiate an unsportsmanlike arsehole from someone who plays as hard as they can for every advantage.

Blackleaf

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Erm new to this Theory lark... help please
« Reply #63 on: September 13, 2006, 04:19:56 PM »
Quote
But not a game like Chess, where there's a clear bright line to differentiate an unsportsmanlike arsehole from someone who plays as hard as they can for every advantage.

Yes, this is where I'm spending all of my time.  The clear bright line. :)

Balbinus

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Erm new to this Theory lark... help please
« Reply #64 on: September 13, 2006, 04:31:06 PM »
Quote from: Bagpuss
Erm which page did my thread go off on a tangent, it grew so quickly and I was too busy at work to follow it?


About post 14.

Sorry about that, the posts before that are probably useful though.

fonkaygarry

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Erm new to this Theory lark... help please
« Reply #65 on: September 13, 2006, 04:45:40 PM »
However, the ceaseless debate after post #14 is a valuable lesson in the discussion of RPG theory and why you should never enter into it.
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