Recent content by Thomas Shey

I think you've forgotten what an important plot element Clarissa's position as the first female Lensman and the whole breeding experiment part of the process. Among other things it has impact how, if at all, you plan to engage with the whole "Children of the Lens" part of the storyline.

Well, to some degree both, but I was primarily thinking in terms of other games. Even though even back then it was the biggest fish in the pond, TSR tended to acknowledge there were other fish; note that Dragon use to do reviews of other games. I believe in part it was because the D20...

As I've noted before, I spent enough effort over enough time I'm fairly comfortable making a generality here, though not a universal. Other people can feel free to ignore me as they wish. The fact I say it was more common in no way implies it was universal.

Its less about gamism than the fact modern gamers--and again, I think this trend started a long time ago now--have leaned into genre emulation rather than the kind of simulationism that Micah cares about. (I know certain circles consider that the same thing but I'm not one of them).

Which is why it can afford to largely ignore the rest of the hobby. It used to be more intertwined with it back before 3e, probably because it wasn't assumed it was going to cover all ground (even though TSR had other games in other genres).

Sure. Its the question of what you decide to keep and get rid of that's the question. Do you toss the whole Red Lensman thing out completely, or have her distinct for some other reason? There's other elements that raise those sorts of questions, too.

Little bit of both. While not as bad as some of his cohort, Smith's handling of women was--not ideal. And I'm not sure we ever saw a non-white person among his human characters (though maybe he just didn't describe them in enough physical detail for it to show). (And as others have mentioned...

i saw the hobby as a whole moving away from sim well before the 3e era. I won't speak of D&D specifically here because I wasn't involved in the period of the two AD&Ds much, but D&D lived in less of a vacuum disconnected from the rest of the hobby in the 80's and 90's than it does now, if anything.

They'd have to decide what to do with the period-piece elements. Same problem Skylark has (though maybe even worse there).

A lot of early SF writers are, and honestly, Smith's pulpiness may not have done any favors for his long term survival as an author.

Someone who, to simplfy the situation, starts with an extra couple points each of Will, Strength and Constitution isn't "doing anything a nomral person could not have done" but that doesn't make them a normal person; it just means the range of normal people is large enough to overlap the...

I think its more common on the character level than the setting level, partly because the former does not demand everyone else is on board it to the same degree.

I say this with some comfort in my assessment, but admitting I can't prove it: while perhaps not viewing the hobby as a whole, I think your position is significanly more common in the gaming populace than Micah's. It may well have been the inverse when I entered the hobby where a simulationist...

In a certain way, its an extension of immersion from character into setting. They aren't quite the same of course, but come from some of the same urges.

When the suggestion is the published form starting the trend, I think its perfectly relevant to note it well predated that in the wild. Then be offended because you seem to have decided I was making a different point than I was and getting bent out of shape about it.