Re: I really really want to change something...

ASAP <timothy.reinemann@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Thanks... I think... I know it sounds like I'm bitching. And yes, I
> do have a rather low threshold for stupidity. I got into the whole RPG
> scene through the Wargamming scene. In my experience, the "what if"
> rules that are presented are a little more polished. They are ready
> for playtesting.

Ah, see, there's probably a *big* difference between the stages you're
seeing.

The 'What If' rules you describe are probably well-thought out,
examined, and prepared for publication. They may modify the scenarios
or the rules in a way that are reasonable in a *limited* sense. For
instance, modeling a particular battle, or changing the dynamics of
something ('guns shoot twice as far, accurately!'), in order to let
players experiment.

Some computer games do this too. Scorched Earth, for example, let
you modify various aspects of physics, which affected the tactics used.

In any case, it sounds like they are presented as ways to modify how
things behave, to let players experiment. This appears to be how you
treated them.

> The group that I used to play with was usually willing to try a one
> off game with new spun characters to test ideas. We didn't disrupt
> the whole campaign by changing rules. We just took a break from it
> to find out if our ideas sucked or not. THEN we would post those
> ideas for feedback, not the other way around. Chalk it up to a
> difference in "research styles".

USENET is quite a bit different. In the situation above, here is
where people would talk about *possible* modifications to the rules,
and how they would behave and change what the game models. If you
will, this is where the "What if we had a 'What if' that..." happens.

Some of the material here may be ready to publish, or otherwise in
fixed form. Much of it is experimental, or still under consideration.

Yes, I *can* come up with ideas, and (if I was currently playing, with
my group together) test them, and report the results. However, I'm
not in a position to test things myself right now. I *am* in a
position to share my thoughts, and I like to think that at least some
of them are interesting enough to people that they'll take them and
use them -- and hopefully provide me feedback. Failing that, having
someone with a different viewpoint can help head off dumb mistakes
before they get committed to anything more than electrons.

> So this MSB was the character, huh? And Keith, yes I'm new to Usenet,
> I find that I have lots of extra time over here. A "baby", however, I
> am not. I have a little to much experience in both life and in the
> gamming world to be considered either new or a "baby".

Ah, but in years of bitter cynicism and railing against stupidity?

'Baby' was not intended as an insult, so much as a description of my
feeling that you're just getting started and *already* you're starting
to sound like MSB. The local curmudgeon has been absent for a while;
I have to wonder how long he'll be gone and if you're evolving to
replace him.


Keith
--
Keith Davies "Trying to sway him from his current kook-
keith.davies@xxxxxxxxxxxx rant with facts is like trying to create
keith.davies@xxxxxxxxx a vacuum in a room by pushing the air
http://www.kjdavies.org/ out with your hands." -- Matt Frisch
.

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