Out with the old (Game design traditions we should let go)

[Reynard]

Smoking was rampant in the 50's and up to the 80's. Now its unthinkable for a restaurant to allow it. I recall working in a warehouse in the early 2000s where it was allowed wherever. I was in an office some years later where they had just taken the ashtrays out. It might seem strange now, but smoking was the old coffee. By that I mean all those stupid ass memes we are bombarded by "dont talk to me until I have my coffee" were about cigs decades ago.

I smoked up until about 2010 and it was a very strange transition, especially in the construction field.

 

[payn]

I smoked up until about 2010 and it was a very strange transition, especially in the construction field.

Yeap, I stopped in 2009 myself. Its like hardly anyone does anymore. A good thing.

Funny thing about this topic, I was reading The Expanse recently and they dont shut up about wanting good coffee. I get it, its a way to try and relate to the characters. They do or want to engage in things we do culturally, but you know, in space.

 

[James Gasik]

That's nothing new. Watch (or don't, actually, it's kind of terrible) Star Trek Voyager. Captain Janeway will violate the Prime Directive and wipe out your entire civilization if you get between her and her coffee...

 

[Lord Shark]

Yeap, I stopped in 2009 myself. Its like hardly anyone does anymore. A good thing.

Funny thing about this topic, I was reading The Expanse recently and they dont shut up about wanting good coffee. I get it, its a way to try and relate to the characters. They do or want to engage in things we do culturally, but you know, in space.

Besides the cultural aspect, smoking was also an easy way for writers to insert little bits of "business" to break up long conversations. And you could reveal things about a character's personality and emotions from their choice of smoking materials, how they handled them, etc.

 

[Endroren]

Smoking was rampant in the 50's and up to the 80's. Now its unthinkable for a restaurant to allow it. I recall working in a warehouse in the early 2000s where it was allowed wherever. I was in an office some years later where they had just taken the ashtrays out. It might seem strange now, but smoking was the old coffee. By that I mean all those stupid ass memes we are bombarded by "dont talk to me until I have my coffee" were about cigs decades ago.

Exactly! It was everywhere. I wonder if younger folks realize how different it was. And for the life of them, most Sci Fi authors couldn't imagine the world we're in today. They could imagine spaceships and aliens - but not the end of smoking. That's why I started this thread - just wondering which blinders we have on and we don't know it. (I wonder this about sci fi as well, frankly).

And the Coffee thing on the Expanse you mentioned. I can absolutely see coffee going away completely for some reason (climate change, health, whatever) and stuff like the Expanse being SUPER dated as a result.

 

[MGibster]

Exactly! It was everywhere. I wonder if younger folks realize how different it was. And for the life of them, most Sci Fi authors couldn't imagine the world we're in today. They could imagine spaceships and aliens - but not the end of smoking. That's why I started this thread - just wondering which blinders we have on and we don't know it. (I wonder this about sci fi as well, frankly).

I was telling one of our interns at work the other day, "When Martha started, they still had ash trays at the desks because you could smoke while working," and she could scarcely believe it. When I run games set in the United States during the 20s and 30s, I describe many places as having a blue haze as people are constantly smoking.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

As people much smarter and more articulate than me have pointed out, the best, most iconic SF isn't actually about predicting the future--it's about what was happening when the author wrote it, through a genre lens. So of course SF written even a little while back has lots of smoking.

Plus, there has to be something to ground most SF stories. Do you really want characters to be drinking pressed Zorbaxx juice and absorbing rehydrated Heebos root through skin patches while smelling each other's nano-drone-delivered pheremones, instead of them talking over coffee and sandwiches?

 

[payn]

I was telling one of our interns at work the other day, "When Martha started, they still had ash trays at the desks because you could smoke while working," and she could scarcely believe it. When I run games set in the United States during the 20s and 30s, I describe many places as having a blue haze as people are constantly smoking.

I remember when the bans came here in the Twin Cities. The state wide ban came in after Minneapolis banned smoking. There was a bar just over the border in St. Paul that still had smoking for a bit. It was like living in a cartoon going there. The smoke was so thick you had to wave your arms around to see. Feels like a lifetime ago.

 

[overgeeked]

As people much smarter and more articulate than me have pointed out, the best, most iconic SF isn't actually about predicting the future--it's about what was happening when the author wrote it, through a genre lens. So of course SF written even a little while back has lots of smoking.

Plus, there has to be something to ground most SF stories. Do you really want characters to be drinking pressed Zorbaxx juice and absorbing rehydrated Heebos root through skin patches while smelling each other's nano-drone-delivered pheremones, instead of them talking over coffee and sandwiches?

Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, no.

Depends on what the author is going for.

“The future isn’t scary.” Coffee and sandwiches.

“The future is profoundly weird.” Skin patches and nano-drones.

 

[Aldarc]

In regards to this overall topic, I'm not really one who wants to get rid of old game design traditions, but, rather, I am more concerned that there is a viable place in our hobby for new or non-traditional game design.