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I'm reading Playing At The World - Anyone else read it?
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<blockquote data-quote="Dungeoneer" data-source="post: 6260742" data-attributes="member: 91777"><p>Whew! Finally finished Chapter 4! I didn't find Chapter 3 to be such a drag as some suggested, in fact I enjoyed learning about early German wargames and the like. But some parts of the fourth chapter, such as the lengthy section on the 1960's LA fandom shared fictional universe of Coventry, seemed like they could have been a lot shorter, especially since they had little if any direct bearing on the development of Dungeons & Dragons.</p><p></p><p>The point that Peterson is making, in a very roundabout way, is that role-playing was 'in the air' in the sci-fi and wargaming communities of the late 60's and early 70's. It sprang up independently in 'campaigns' and 'shared stories' like Midgard, Hyboria, Coventry and Blackmoor. It also seemed to emerge spontaneously in the Diplomacy play-by-mail community. The question is, Why?</p><p></p><p>Peterson doesn't answer the question, but he suggests that it has something to do with the rise of what he calls n-player games. In the 50's and 60's most wargames were strictly two-player affairs, especially the Avalon Hill board games. But then Diplomacy came along, as did wargame 'campaigns' with many players. There were also, on the sci-fi side, fan newsletters where multiple participants published stories set in the same universe. These are the places where the idea that players would take on a specific character and behave as if they were them began to crop up over and over. I think the idea that role-playing was an emergent property of this kind of game is really interesting.</p><p></p><p>Of course when a game a shared universe got complex enough, it needed some sort of referee or moderator. Once your game has a referee, the rules get a lot more flexible. Competitive two-player games require that the rules be set in stone so that each side knows things are fair. For games with an impartial referee, this requirement becomes a lot less important. Thus, the rise of campaigns in which 'anything can be attempted'. </p><p></p><p>Dungeons & Dragons was an n-player game with a referee. Perhaps these factors would have inevitably lead to role-playing, no matter what the rules said.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dungeoneer, post: 6260742, member: 91777"] Whew! Finally finished Chapter 4! I didn't find Chapter 3 to be such a drag as some suggested, in fact I enjoyed learning about early German wargames and the like. But some parts of the fourth chapter, such as the lengthy section on the 1960's LA fandom shared fictional universe of Coventry, seemed like they could have been a lot shorter, especially since they had little if any direct bearing on the development of Dungeons & Dragons. The point that Peterson is making, in a very roundabout way, is that role-playing was 'in the air' in the sci-fi and wargaming communities of the late 60's and early 70's. It sprang up independently in 'campaigns' and 'shared stories' like Midgard, Hyboria, Coventry and Blackmoor. It also seemed to emerge spontaneously in the Diplomacy play-by-mail community. The question is, Why? Peterson doesn't answer the question, but he suggests that it has something to do with the rise of what he calls n-player games. In the 50's and 60's most wargames were strictly two-player affairs, especially the Avalon Hill board games. But then Diplomacy came along, as did wargame 'campaigns' with many players. There were also, on the sci-fi side, fan newsletters where multiple participants published stories set in the same universe. These are the places where the idea that players would take on a specific character and behave as if they were them began to crop up over and over. I think the idea that role-playing was an emergent property of this kind of game is really interesting. Of course when a game a shared universe got complex enough, it needed some sort of referee or moderator. Once your game has a referee, the rules get a lot more flexible. Competitive two-player games require that the rules be set in stone so that each side knows things are fair. For games with an impartial referee, this requirement becomes a lot less important. Thus, the rise of campaigns in which 'anything can be attempted'. Dungeons & Dragons was an n-player game with a referee. Perhaps these factors would have inevitably lead to role-playing, no matter what the rules said. [/QUOTE]
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