The Changing Face of Reading

[nedjer]

Wow. I stepped out for a couple days there to deal with some real life stuff, and I come back to find a series of replies that just remind me how much FAIL is in the industry right now.

I thought I was pretty bitter before about how crappy the industry is at delivering what people want, but these replies just knocked me down to a new low.

I see I am not alone in feeling like the inmates are running the asylum. That's why I started writing free games, after all. Because the for-sale stuff was just too crappy to keep paying for.

OK, but you don't actually share which bits you find crappy? Boxed intro sets have been around for a long time, new entry routes to the hobby are opening up and there's the chance to use new technologies, competition within the industry and open systems to bring new blood in. The days when nothing ever changed are gone, as RPGs compete in a superstyled global entertainment industry where you're either a moving target or lunch.

 

[GregChristopher]

@ Nedjer

I didnt cite specific examples because I don't have the time to back them up to the degree I would need to. Noam Chomsky describes this as having a lack of concision. I think a lack of concision is precisely what drives forum debates into the ground, people make statements that generate lots of loose ends and then other forum posters chase those loose ends and refuse to grant them as premises.

Watch this video, jump to the 30 minute mark and watch for about 3 minutes. He describes it pretty well.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ghoXQxdk6s]YouTube - Conversations with History: Noam Chomsky[/ame]

 

[nedjer]

@ Nedjer

I didnt cite specific examples because I don't have the time to back them up to the degree I would need to. Noam Chomsky describes this as having a lack of concision. I think a lack of concision is precisely what drives forum debates into the ground, people make statements that generate lots of loose ends and then other forum posters chase those loose ends and refuse to grant them as premises.

Watch this video, jump to the 30 minute mark and watch for about 3 minutes. He describes it pretty well.

Chomsky - very clever dude.

In terms of where 'the game' is going I view it through stepping back from the two or three not quite right products or the odd clumsy first attempt at something new.

From there current developments in terms of more accessible routes into the game, cheaper entry points, Edition Wars fading, new social networking and tablety toys to play with, and so on seem cause for optimism. Guess I'm just a glass half full kind of guy

 

[MarkB]

I don't think delivering crunch electronically is difficult. Video games (especially CRPGs/MMORPGs) have already explored how to present mechanical options and such to players.

I think the big problem is fluff. How do you weave in fluff?

It's not too difficult to link it in to related crunch. As a video game example, WoWWiki manages to include a combination of both in-world history and game-element crunch in nearly all its articles, using page-contents bars to allow readers to skip directly to whichever they're after.

 

[PaulofCthulhu]

Some interesting points. I've found that new types of hardware change the way I use software. e.g. I went through nearly a hundred copies of White Dwarf on the iPad last week, which I wouldn't have done with the physical issues, and before then rarely read PDFs.

Regarding introduction to new players. I think if you have keen High School players, they have the time to devour large rule sets. For busy adults, they may need something much more concise.

I've seen quite usable rules sets done on a single sheet of paper. So it all depends what your personal preference is.

Regarding reading itself in a more electronic age. I stare at a lot of words on the screen though any given day but they're all small snippets, not longer textbook treatise and I find there is a significant difference in information gained and considered between the two.