That's a good definition.  

I know Tobias and Frederik are working on a game that includes a gun, a murder, and a ghost, so the whole "mundane" thing may have reached its practical limit!

Quote from: Jason Morningstar;322908That's a good definition.  

I know Tobias and Frederik are working on a game that includes a gun, a murder, and a ghost, so the whole "mundane" thing may have reached its practical limit!

However, there appears to be no practical limit to how incredibly fucking stupid an idea can become.

EDIT:  For whoever asked in the other thread, this is exactly what misery-tourism entails:

http://jeepen.org/games/mother/

The game is about a family just like yours. Except not quite. It is about a family where the mother turns a deaf ear to what's happening, denies the footsteps outside her daughter's room when she is sleeping in front of the TV. The door opening.  Closing. Abuse that's been going on for as long as her daughter can remember. Perhaps from the very beginning.  The game is about a mother that somehow sacrifices a child that she loves. About a child screaming for help, starving herself. And about a father that's living an OK life. Really.  

And is it really so simple to do the right thing. Even after you turned away once?
 
Players:three, no GM
Playing time:approx. 1 hour
Capsule summary:Simple, clean game with some powerful stuff.  No abuse scenes or anything, just conversations and excuses.
Premiered:Fastaval, 2008

Mother is pretty intense.  It's set up so that you can only talk about or around the abuse, which is a really elegant technique.  I couldn't play this, and I have a hard time imagining it being played outside of the Nordic countries, really.  I think there are cultural barriers to even approaching this topic in this format.

Quote from: StormBringer;323016However, there appears to be no practical limit to how incredibly fucking stupid an idea can become.

EDIT:  For whoever asked in the other thread, this is exactly what misery-tourism entails:

http://jeepen.org/games/mother/

The game is about a family just like yours. Except not quite. It is about a family where the mother turns a deaf ear to what's happening, denies the footsteps outside her daughter's room when she is sleeping in front of the TV. The door opening.  Closing. Abuse that's been going on for as long as her daughter can remember. Perhaps from the very beginning.  The game is about a mother that somehow sacrifices a child that she loves. About a child screaming for help, starving herself. And about a father that's living an OK life. Really.  

And is it really so simple to do the right thing. Even after you turned away once?
 
Players:three, no GM
Playing time:approx. 1 hour
Capsule summary:Simple, clean game with some powerful stuff.  No abuse scenes or anything, just conversations and excuses.
Premiered:Fastaval, 2008

I think this game would be more fun if it was based on Albert Brook's Mother....

Regards,
David R

Quote from: StormBringer;323016The game is about a family just like yours. Except not quite. It is about a family where the mother turns a deaf ear to what's happening, denies the footsteps outside her daughter's room when she is sleeping in front of the TV. The door opening.  Closing. Abuse that's been going on for as long as her daughter can remember. Perhaps from the very beginning.  The game is about a mother that somehow sacrifices a child that she loves. About a child screaming for help, starving herself. And about a father that's living an OK life. Really.

That's supposed to be fun and what passes for entertainment? That's not a game. It sounds more like acting out abuse fantasies.

Quote from: brettmb;323261That's supposed to be fun and what passes for entertainment? That's not a game. It sounds more like acting out abuse fantasies.

Definitely misery tourism.  I am not convinced that this Jeepform thing has anything to do with 'games' anyway, let alone 'entertainment'.

Maybe Jeepform is Finnish for 'Forge LARP'.  

I can't wait to debut my jeepform game - My Life As Earl. It's about a group of skateboarders who discover the karmic effects of doing nothing. Players sit around talking about staging a hobby shop heist to aid a friend who has suffered a groin injury after appearing in a FOX special, all the while dodging and passing karma points dreading the inevitable phase of Shit Happens. It's cinematic in nature, meaning it would help if you have seen Kevin Smith movies.

Regards,
David R

Maybe there's a disconnect in terminology.  I don't think the fun you are talking about is the fun that a Jeep game (at least a heavier one) provides.  I think it's a limitation of English that we say "I enjoyed that" after a deeply satisfying experience, whether the fictional content was beating up flying monkeys or wrestling with alcoholism.

Quote from: David R;323291I can't wait to debut my jeepform game - My Life As Earl. It's about a group of skateboarders who discover the karmic effects of doing nothing. Players sit around talking about staging a hobby shop heist to aid a friend who has suffered a groin injury after appearing in a FOX special, all the while dodging and passing karma points dreading the inevitable phase of Shit Happens. It's cinematic in nature, meaning it would help if you have seen Kevin Smith movies.

Regards,
David R

Win.  But only if you include Jenga somehow.

Quote from: Jason Morningstar;323293Maybe there's a disconnect in terminology.  I don't think the fun you are talking about is the fun that a Jeep game (at least a heavier one) provides.  I think it's a limitation of English that we say "I enjoyed that" after a deeply satisfying experience, whether the fictional content was beating up flying monkeys or wrestling with alcoholism.

It's misery tourism.  Is this exercise supposed to lead to more people getting involved with child abuse issues?  Are there any pamphlets available at the time to contact a local child abuse organization and donate money or time?  Or is this some bullshit self-satisfying experience where you can claim you have been through a 'situation', except that it doesn't even vaguely resemble an actual case of abuse in any way, shape or form?

It's the whole 'detached and analytical' undercurrent that invalidates the entire concept.  Talking to an actual abuse survivor is intense.  Talking about a fictional abuse survivor is mental masturbation.  If everyday life is too dirty to come down from your ivory towers to engage with, fine.  But let's not pretend sitting around the living room talking about an imaginary instance of abuse has any connection whatsoever with the reality of abuse.  Take the hour you would have spent giving each other a tug job for your egos and volunteer at a shelter for abuse victims.

No matter how lavishly I describe hewing an orc, it doesn't follow that I am able to pick up a sword and start hacking my way through crowds of people.

Quote from: StormBringer;323324Win.  But only if you include Jenga somehow.

Nah, man. I'm using the trashcan system. Conflict is resolved by tearing pages from a game book everyone else seems to be enjoying, crushing them into balls and throwing them into a waste paper basket from certain specified distances - that's the GM's call. I'm ahead of the curve.

Regards,
David R

Trashcan just sounds like pseudo GM Fiat to me, David. I think you should use the toilet seat tortue method. Slam a toilet seat down on the players genitals; if they don't scream, they succeed. For very difficult tasks, either slam the seat down harder, or do it multiple times. This will also serve to put the players in touch with Earl's groin pain.

Quote from: Aos;323340Trashcan just sounds like pseudo GM Fiat to me, David. I think you should use the toilet seat tortue method. Slam a toilet seat down on the players genitals; if they don't scream, they succeed. For very difficult tasks, either slam the seat down harder, or do it multiple times. This will also serve to put the players in touch with Earl's groin pain.

How do you calculate a botch? Castration?

That would be uncivilized.
Blood in the toilet water will do just fine.

Also how about a Toyotaform? Jeeps are maintenance nightmares.