Audio Report: from DDC to GTS

Just a little conceptual glue for ya. Plenty of roleplaying capsule reviews in this one, and Chris has a question for you which we hope will lead to a lot of interesting talk: “What does roleplaying mean to you?” That’s deliberately open-ended… give us what you’ve got below.

13 comments

  1. RPG, simple, playing the role of another (fictional or otherwise) with a set of rules that frame it into the format of a game.

    what about you?

  2. Ok, right. I will be less open-ended. What does Role-Playing mean to YOU. How do you approach it. Are you in it for the rules, does the experience work better for you with less rules, more rules…that sort of thing. I know what the definition of a RPG is, I have been doing it for the past 28 years…I just wanna know what your tastes are. Hope that helps….

  3. I definately prefer lighter rules. I hate having to break the flow of the story/action to look up a rule or to take the upteen steps needed to resolve said action (I’m lookin’ at YOU d20 grappling/tripping).

    There have been times in which I’ve been terribly tempted to just freeform everything but It’d never fly even with my best friends – they want rules even if they are rudimentary ones.

    And, as the primary author on most of the Deep7 1PG titles, thanks for the support for Todd. If there has ever been someone on the recieving end of the worst bad luck ever, Todd has been it. Your words mean a lot.

  4. My personal favourite in this show – forgetting to edit out Chris’ ‘recent releases’ at the end.

    Hilarious!

  5. “My personal favourite in this show – forgetting to edit out Chris’ ‘recent releases’ at the end.

    Hilarious!”

    Thanks Mike 🙁

  6. This is for the question about GTS and do I want to hear a report on it.

    Yes.

    But I’m a freelancer in the industry. And it is of business concern to me. So I might not be the right target audience to ask that question of.

    But the gamer in me… well, as long as the info is presented in a fun and entertaining fashion… sure! I’m the kind who likes to read about upcoming games, rpgs or video games or such.

  7. What Roleplaying Means To Me.

    A framework to weave stories where the outcome is always in negotiation.

    Negotiation with dice, mechanics, the situation in game and players at the table. Change and flux and varying degrees of story control are the order of the day.

    I love Change. I loathe status quo… which most TV seems to be mired in. The exceptions, Firefly, Farscape, BattleStar Galactica, Buffy are driving drama on TV these days. Odd how so much of that is happening in “genre” shows.

    When it clicks… it is a high that only equals reaching a new plateau in my art… or those rare times playing tennis when I make the perfect, hard shot and am “in the groove”.

    When it doesn’t click, it give enough reward to keep me coming back. Comradirie, enough progress of sorts to set up the next great breakthrough.

    And giving life to abstract concepts such as, a character, is what I do for a profession. This is a just a different side of the coin. The hobby and illustration are intertwined and they both inform the other. Fun stuff. I love RPGs. I love what I do. I’m a lucky person and I know it.

  8. So, what rpg means to me is experiencing the development of a story through PC interaction with a setting. I used to be in the ‘rules light’ camp when i realized that what i actually wanted wasn’t ‘rules light’ (to me thats kind of a meaningless statement) but rules ‘effective.’

    I totally agree that games such as D20 ‘trip’ over there own rules, and the ongoing dedication ones needs to put into fully understanding those rules is beyond what i’m looking for. Don’t get me wrong, if thats what someone else is looking for then great. I’m not trying to say what is or isn’t a ‘good’ rpg other then for myself.

    I’ve come to this understanding through indie games, though indie games aren’t ‘it’ either…

    So I like rules effective indie type games that allow for immersive play like traditional rpg’s.

    what about you chris, i’d like to hear your response to the same question.

    thanks alex

    PS i originally gave the simplistic answer because when talking about the deffinition of RPG, though i think is obvious, i’ve come across a lot of people who debate it to death.

  9. After hearing the audio report talk about the various seminars at GTS, I was curious if GAMA offered audio or video from their seminars for people that cannot attend. I had an opportunity to attend, but could not attend due to family matters. Trey at GAMA responded to my inquiry with “We do not currently offer audio or video recordings. We will, however, be holding a Very Mini GTS at Origins this year, so that retailers have a second chance to talk to some of our speakers.”

    What do you think about these seminars being made available in an audio/podcast format?

  10. Firstly I want something that is escapist. Some RP games I’ve played in were *too* realistic: people being obstructive and/or manipulative, couldn’t get anything done because of stupid rules and regulations, every way you try to solve the problem results in failure, no obvious way of avoiding getting your ass kicked. I can get that experience in Real Life ™ any time 🙁

    Secondly I want a game that doesn’t require a lot of time or mental energy to get in to, especially in terms of rules, but also in terms of setting. For rules, consistency and simplicity is good. I never want to have to spend time during the game figuring out rules. I don’t want to spend more than ten minutes on going up a level or otherwise spending experience points. I don’t want to spend more than 30 minutes in order to get enough information to understand the basics of the game setting and the sort of character I could play.

    Games I’ve played that fit the bill best? D6 Star Wars, HeroQuest and Over The Edge.

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