George R.R. Martin talks GURPS

[Argyle King]

I was reading through some of the recent Daily Illuminator entries over at the SJG site and found this: Daily Illuminator: George R.R. Martin Talks GURPS

That in turn lead me to one of the videos which can be found here: Bubonicon 43: George R.R. Martin Talks GURPS | Video | MTV

I like to hear some games getting love in the media. After the bad news for Hero Games recently, and all of the doomsday speeches I see concerning the death of the hobby, I'm glad to hear something positive. I'm also glad to hear more games getting their name out there. I'd love to see a GURPS source book for A Game of Thrones.

 

[Mercurius]

It does change the fact that All Is Doomed, especially the rpg hobby.

Comet Elenin, you know.

 

[Argyle King]

It does change the fact that All Is Doomed, especially the rpg hobby.

Comet Elenin, you know.

Yeah...


To me, I feel as though the hobby is growing. Perhaps not in the way others are looking for, but I do feel it is growing. More and more games (and toys) seem to be including rpg elements. Even Lego has an rpg game out right now. Likewise, the depth available in something like the recently released Skyrim and the smashing success The Elder Scrolls have been in general leads me to believe there is still a market for people wanting to play out their fantasies and/or delve into a make believe world.

As for my original post, as said, I'm just glad to hear a rpg talked about in a positive light. It's also nice to hear something other than the usual big names in the hobby get some attention. The more flavors of rpg which are known to exist, the more chance I feel that people who aren't typically gamers, yet are open to rpg elements (due to the aforementioned mentioned inclusion of rpg elements in more mainstream products) the more possibility there is to bring new gamers into the hobby.

Admittedly, it also makes me happy to hear that someone who I'm a fan of shares one of my gaming interests. ...and openly expresses it.

 

[Insight]

I like that games other than D&D are getting some exposure. I'd play some GURPS if I could get my local players to try anything other than D&D.

 

[fireinthedust]

I like that games other than D&D are getting some exposure. I'd play some GURPS if I could get my local players to try anything other than D&D.

I have a similar issue with my group, they like D&D but revolt when I try to give them other systems or even genres within d20 (superheroes being the prime example). Best I could do was get them to try Pathfinder when we finished with 4e.


Martin contributes to a lot of genres, and his Wild Cards, I believe, were made into a game product a while back. M&M?

 

[M.L. Martin]

Martin contributes to a lot of genres, and his Wild Cards, I believe, were made into a game product a while back. M&M?

They've been made into game products twice--originally for GURPS, and only a couple years back for M&M 2E. (Unfortunately, you just missed the big Green Ronin Warehouse Blowout where you could get all the supplements dirt-cheap.)

His Song of Ice and Fire series has likewise been adapted to RPG format two different times--once by Guardians of Order just before they went under, and more recently by Green Ronin again. I wouldn't be surprised if Martin's developing a working relationship with the Ronins.

(And before anyone asks--no, no relation. )

 

[scourger]

His love of GURPS being portable to many different genres is one of the things I really liked about d20 and Savage Worlds. But, like the poster above, I found it hard to get my group to really play anything other than D&D. They would try other things, but it was usually short-lived. Now that there are fewer of us, we really embrace different genres; but we still like to stick with fewer proven systems.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

I want to like Gurps, but I just can't get past the 1 second combat round.

 

[Argyle King]

I want to like Gurps, but I just can't get past the 1 second combat round.

Yeah; that is something that took some getting accustomed to.

Still, I'm just glad that other games seem to be doing well. I don't have anything against D&D. I simply feel it's healthier for the hobby -at a time when I feel society as a whole is more open to rpg elements being part of their entertainment- to have more flavors of playstyle advertised. Admittedly, over the past few years, I've become somewhat of a SJG fanboy in general, so I'm happy to hear about when one of their products gets some love, but that's not the sole purpose behind my post.

It's just one guy saying he likes the game, so I don't have any illusions about people suddenly making a made dash toward Warehouse 23 because of it. On the other hand, somebody who hasn't heard of the game or maybe somebody who has, but has a preconceived notion about the game might be intrigued enough to give it a more in depth look. I believe there are a lot of instances when (as others have posted) a negativity surrounds the idea of playing games other than D&D; to the point that gamers who haven't even experienced what it may be like to rpg a different way decide ahead of time that they wouldn't like a different style - whether the other option be GURPS or something else.

Other times; as was the case with me, I simply was not aware there was another thing to do things before I branched out. I always thought to myself, "well, how many ways can there really be to roll dice and pretend to be an elf?" The knowledge that other options (again, whether that be GURPS or something else) are out there and that those options might cater to some styles better or worse than D&D is -I think- a good thing.