adult content

[alsih2o]

Re: Re: adult content

But there's a lot of room between a fairy tale and a pornographic novel, don't you think?

to clarify, by mature i meant free room to curse and show mild nudity, personally, while i can be rather bawdy, porn makes me uncomfortable....

i should have been much more clear on this, and take full responsibility for not doing so.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Re: Good question...

I guess I am a great believer in the adage, "profanity is the effort of a feeble mind to express itself forcibly." IMO that doesn't always have to refer to the character - some authors have a tough time expressing themselves forcibly without such crude language as well.

Interesting. Whereas I'd posit that sometimes it really is the character. For instance, in one of my (as yet unpublished) novels, The Goblin Wars, one of the main characters is Craeosh, an orc. Craeosh is the most foul-mouthed character you're likely to find in fantasy fiction (although a few of the other characters come close). I can't think of a profanity he doesn't use at some point in the book, and I can't think of a conversation where he doesn't curse at least once. This isn't because I couldn't think of a better way to express myself--if it were, the narration would also have cursing, as would every character. It's because, given the nature of the character's personality, that's simply the way he expresses himself.

But hey, I never claimed my fiction was for everyone. (And for the record, if I do ever get my novels published, the others have cursing as well, but it's far less common. Still, you'll find it in almost all my novels occasionally--simply because, as I said before, real people curse, and realistic dialogue is one of the most important things in fiction IMHO.)

Then again, I also don't agree with the adage you mentioned, even in general. Profanity is inappropriate in many places, but sometimes nothing but a good ol' curse will do.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Long ago, in the early days of role-playing, Ars Magica had a book out that you could only get a Gen Con, it deals with sex of the races.

I wish I could remember the name of that small book as I have a copy of it somewhere.

 

[Wicht]

I will preface this by saying that I don't swear. I have never seen nor felt the need to. And when it occurs in fiction, it is more likely to lose my interest than maintain it. But I will be honest enough to admit that I still read some works in which swearing occurs. Its hard to find fiction without it.

But the forward of a professional book of rules is far different than a work of fiction. I am not sure I see the comparison. One can be argued to be in character. The other is done solely for shock value. I have to agree with the sigil's original post which said that it seemed unprofessional and unnecessary in an rpg book.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I will preface this by saying that I don't swear. I have never seen nor felt the need to. And when it occurs in fiction, it is more likely to lose my interest than maintain it. But I will be honest enough to admit that I still read some works in which swearing occurs. Its hard to find fiction without it.

But the forward of a professional book of rules is far different than a work of fiction. I am not sure I see the comparison. One can be argued to be in character. The other is done solely for shock value. I have to agree with the sigil's original post which said that it seemed unprofessional and unnecessary in an rpg book.

Oh, I wasn't comparing the RPG stuff to fiction. I was just asking about a related field.

That said, I don't have a problem with swearing in some RPG books either. It's quite appropriate for conveying the mood in some of White Wolf's books, for instance. (Heck, I wrote half a chapter "in-character" from the point of view of a Mafioso for them. There was no way not to curse and still keep the character's "voice" believable.)

But I agree, cursing is out of place in most (not all, but most) D&D rulebooks.

 

[alsih2o]

The other is done solely for shock value.

i have to disagree, to those used to it, it is not shocking, to those it shocks, it harms the product sales, so i do not think it was done simply for shock value...but to imply a certain tone.

 

[Zappo]

I will preface this by saying that I don't swear. I have never seen nor felt the need to. And when it occurs in fiction, it is more likely to lose my interest than maintain it. But I will be honest enough to admit that I still read some works in which swearing occurs. Its hard to find fiction without it.

But the forward of a professional book of rules is far different than a work of fiction. I am not sure I see the comparison. One can be argued to be in character. The other is done solely for shock value. I have to agree with the sigil's original post which said that it seemed unprofessional and unnecessary in an rpg book.

Unnecessary? I'd say it depends. Most RPG books aren't maths textbooks. They are somewhat in-between a fiction book and a technical book. They have fiction parts, which may have room or need for mature content.

 

[Wicht]

Unnecessary? I'd say it depends. Most RPG books aren't maths textbooks. They are somewhat in-between a fiction book and a technical book. They have fiction parts, which may have room or need for mature content.

I was talking about the Forward to the book. You can't convince me its really necessary in the Forward, the Prefix or the Afterward.

 

[alsih2o]

I was talking about the Forward to the book. You can't convince me its really necessary in the Forward, the Prefix or the Afterward.

neccesary is pretty weak as an argument imo, heck d+d isn't neccesary, neither are monster books...

fun is the key, and when most folks have fun the four letter bandits start flying.....thus the lack of prominent G movies

 

[dagger]

Nice too see you Mouse, how you doing these days?

Oh, I wasn't comparing the RPG stuff to fiction. I was just asking about a related field.

That said, I don't have a problem with swearing in some RPG books either. It's quite appropriate for conveying the mood in some of White Wolf's books, for instance. (Heck, I wrote half a chapter "in-character" from the point of view of a Mafioso for them. There was no way not to curse and still keep the character's "voice" believable.)

But I agree, cursing is out of place in most (not all, but most) D&D rulebooks.