This is the multi-year Q&A sessions held by D&D co-creator Gary Gygax here at EN World, beginning in 2002 and running up until his sad pasing in 2008. Gary's username in the thread below is Col_Pladoh, and his first post in this long thread is Post #39.
TSR Q&A with Gary Gygax
This is the multi-year Q&A sessions held by D&D co-creator Gary Gygax here at EN World, beginning in 2002 and running up until his sad pasing in 2008. Gary's username in the thread below is Col_Pladoh, and his first post in this long thread is Post #39.
Col_Pladoh
Gary Gygax
Flexor the Mighty! said:
Damn, but that's stretching my memory, as its been a long time since I had any PCS involved in Veluna--other than passing through. As I recall, though, the Archcleric was meant to be one honoring Rao, but with St. Cuthbert as the common patron of the state. That is, general service of the masses is to the Good Cuthbert.
As for Mordie, no such pretensions
He adventured a lot, made a substantial level, and then got involved in politics.Cheers,
Gary
Col_Pladoh
Gary Gygax
alsih2o said:
There's a question I can't readily answer--mainly because I've never considered such a film. Whoever could pull off the role of a risk-taking, Camel-straight-smoking, non-conformist who loved gaming but wasn't averse to hanging out in a biker bar maybe...
Heh,
Gary
ColonelHardisson
What? Me Worry?
Gary, do you have any thoughts on Steve Jackson Games and GURPS? I ask this, because one of the items of contention you have, according to the recent extensive interview done with you, is that d20 was intended as "one system to rule them all." Yet SJG, while producing many games, has relied almost exclusively for something like two decades on its GURPS system for its roleplaying games products. Although GURPS has never achieved the same success as D&D or, now, d20, it has been proven as a steady seller, and SJG has been one of the few game companies to survive as long as it has. Whether it handles all genres adequately is another matter. What it has done is prove that such a universal system has desirability amongst gamers and the capability of longevity. Does d20 rate special rancor (and I don't mean specifically your rancor; I mean in general) simply because of its success, or because it is D&D, or because so many companies have decided to go the d20 route?
Along these lines, isn't the contraction that is perceived by some simply due to all the bandwagon-jumpers finally jumping off the bandwagon, rather than due to some inherent flaw in the d20 system or the way it was produced/distributed?
Along these lines, isn't the contraction that is perceived by some simply due to all the bandwagon-jumpers finally jumping off the bandwagon, rather than due to some inherent flaw in the d20 system or the way it was produced/distributed?
Col_Pladoh
Gary Gygax
Hi Colonel
Short answers.
While I appreciate the attribution, I am simply echoing others who before me have likened the D20 concept to the "one ring."
GURPS was written by Steve to serve gamers in multiple genres that appreciated his system. It was a successful idea, as you note.
The contraction in the D20 marketplace is noted from falloff of sales. There are likely several reasons this. Some publishers are not producing more material because it isn't selling. The likely reason is that the consumer audience has all the material it wants and then some, is now becoming selective in purchasing. As this time I can't make an informed estimate of whether or not the base audience is smaller, but it doesn't seem to be growing at any noticeable rate.
Some publishers are still achieving considerable success, producing streadily. This is certainly due to their material appealing to the large market for D20 material. After all, 3E has a dominating market share, eh?
Cheers,
Gary
Short answers.
While I appreciate the attribution, I am simply echoing others who before me have likened the D20 concept to the "one ring."
GURPS was written by Steve to serve gamers in multiple genres that appreciated his system. It was a successful idea, as you note.
The contraction in the D20 marketplace is noted from falloff of sales. There are likely several reasons this. Some publishers are not producing more material because it isn't selling. The likely reason is that the consumer audience has all the material it wants and then some, is now becoming selective in purchasing. As this time I can't make an informed estimate of whether or not the base audience is smaller, but it doesn't seem to be growing at any noticeable rate.
Some publishers are still achieving considerable success, producing streadily. This is certainly due to their material appealing to the large market for D20 material. After all, 3E has a dominating market share, eh?
Cheers,
Gary
chatdemon
First Post
GURPS never licensed itself out with the stated purpose of moving itself into a dominant position in the industry. GURPS never claimed that the presence of other systems on the market was bad for the industry.
D&D3e/D20 did say these things, via Ryan Dancey (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/md/md20020228e), so it comes as no surprise to me that designers of competing systems may feel some resentment toward D20.
D&D3e/D20 did say these things, via Ryan Dancey (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/md/md20020228e), so it comes as no surprise to me that designers of competing systems may feel some resentment toward D20.
Col_Pladoh
Gary Gygax
chatdemon said:
I suspect that Colonel Hardisson knows about the difference you pointed out between Steve's approach with GURPs and the D20 effort...
Heh, and I don't think many game designers felt or feel resentment about that "one ring" game philospphy, knowing how independent gamers are and how varied their tastes in RPGs is. The group far more likely to take umbrage at such statements are those gamers who would be deprived of their favorite system if what Ryan Dancy asserted were somehow made true.
Cheers,
Gary
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ColonelHardisson
What? Me Worry?
chatdemon said:
As Gary notes, I'm aware of the difference. But isn't that more a difference in PR than anything else? Don't you think that SJG would want GURPS to be the "one system to rule them all"? What capitalist worth his salt doesn't want to dominate his market to the exclusivity of all others? Just because Dancey actually voiced what is implicit in every other capitalistic venture ever conceived, does that somehow mean that no other game designer or company would not want to do exactly the same thing? As an ardent supporter of capitalism, I know I would. If Ford Motor came out and said "y'know, we don't really want to dominate the automobile market," most would think they were insane. Competition implies that the competitors wish to win, not share the victory stand with others.
ColonelHardisson
What? Me Worry?
Col_Pladoh said:Hi Colonel
Short answers.
While I appreciate the attribution, I am simply echoing others who before me have likened the D20 concept to the "one ring."
GURPS was written by Steve to serve gamers in multiple genres that appreciated his system. It was a successful idea, as you note.
The contraction in the D20 marketplace is noted from falloff of sales. There are likely several reasons this. Some publishers are not producing more material because it isn't selling. The likely reason is that the consumer audience has all the material it wants and then some, is now becoming selective in purchasing. As this time I can't make an informed estimate of whether or not the base audience is smaller, but it doesn't seem to be growing at any noticeable rate.
Some publishers are still achieving considerable success, producing streadily. This is certainly due to their material appealing to the large market for D20 material. After all, 3E has a dominating market share, eh?
Cheers,
Gary
I guess what I meant was, d20 gets a lot of heat, along the lines of what chatdemon notes, for Dancey's very straightforward outline of what he wanted to achieve. SJG, in essence, tried the same thing, to an extent (SJG didn't take the step of making the GURPS system OGL), but never was perceived as negatively as WotC has been. If SJG had achieved the same market share as 3e has, wouldn't they be perceived in as negative a way? I know it's not really an answerable question, without slipping into parallel universes, but it's something that occurred to me.
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