Any Pyramid Subscribers?

[JoeGKushner]

So does anyone here subscribe to Pyramid? It's a nice little online magazine that generally has a lot of Steve Jackson Games support. Not bad if you enjoy GURPS, In Nominie, Car Wars, etc... but very light on other systems. Not the editor's fault, he can only publish what he gets.

One of the things I've noticed a bit though is that there seems to be a fair amount of D20 bashing. I don't know if it's deliberate or that I'm just noticing it more often, but anytime a product is praised, someone has to throw in how bad the product is or how it can be modified to avoid the 'evils' of D20.

Now don't get me wrong. I've seen D20 products bashed here, as well as the D20 system, but I never get the feeling that the authors are looking down their noses with some smug look like "You poor bastard. All that system support and it's still a ty system." I don't know. Maybe I'm just paranoid but...

Anyway, I hope that we get some more D20 fans over there soon. It'd be nice to be in the majority over there like I feel over here.

 

[mythusmage]

Posters on the SJGames boards are just as prone to being opinionated and wrong as anywhere else.

And, yes, I do subscribe. Over the years I've learned to recognize when a poster is being a clod, and when he's actually saying something that makes sense. In the case of the D20 detractors its often a case of disparaging another game system because more people play it. Since it's popular it can't be good. They play a less popular system, therefor they and their game must be superior to that other game.

You find this attitude in music, art, and writing too.

 

[coyote6]

Yeah, I subscribe to Pyramid.

Sure, some people bash D&D on the Pyramid boards. Then again, some people bash GURPS here. <shrug> It was the same with r.g.f.dnd & r.g.f.gurps. I'm sure if I read a messageboard dedicated to some other system (say, Hero, Rifts, Vampire, etc.), there'd be people down on D&D, GURPS, both, and more.

People like to complain, especially about Hurting Wrong Fun. And, of course, what constitutes HWF varies from person to person.

Several Pyramidians seem to play D&D fairly regularly & enjoy it (myself included). Some of them even also play GURPS fairly regularly & enjoy it, too (ditto, re: me).

Besides, one doesn't have to read the Pyramid boards to enjoy Pyramid. You get some Kovalic, quite a bit of Hite, and more, all for $15 a year! Not a bad deal.

So subscribe, and tell 'em coyote6 sent you. Then I won't have to renew for another month.

 

[Hand of Vecna]

yeah, the Kenneth Hite articles alone make Pyramid worth its' weight in flax...

 

[GreyOne]

I subscribe too, though I don't visit those boards and haven't noticed D20 bashing. I've always found it interesting, if not exactly useful. Hite's Suppressed Transmissions are a highlight.

 

[JoeGKushner]

The worth of Pyramid is indeed far more than the $15. Dork Tower, Murphy's Rules, and the occassional non-SJG article make it worth it for me. I like Kennith Hite's stuff but sometimes it's a little beyond any gaming application and more like reading some really interesting speculation fiction.

 

[The Cardinal]

I'm a Pyramid subscriber - as every gamer should be. It gives great value for almost no money ($15 per year!), and the boards are my absolute favorite. I don't think there is any more d20 bashing there than, for example, on rpg.net - and most discussions over there look at lot more rational and civilized to me than on other boards.

Get your subscribtion now (and tell them Keyser_Soze sent you!)

 

[KDLadage]

Pyramid?

Yes. I am a subscriber/member (I still look at Pyramid Online as being more of a membership than a subscription). I like Pyramid. It is a steal at $15/year. Go subscribe today. You will not regret it.

As far as bashing goes? Don't know. I see some "looking down the nose" at d20. I see some of that towards GURPS here. I see that towards any and every system over at RPGnet.

Sidenote: In fact, if one were to casually look over the forums at RPGnet, one could easilly get the impression that the typical RPG player thinkgs every RPG system sucks. One would then be left with the question of why RPG players play RPGs if they all suck, but that it neither here nor there.

Me? I just concluded a D&D3e campaign (ran once per week, 4 hours per session starting three weeks after the release of the 3e Players Handbook; ended 10 days ago. Very cool game.) and I used to play a lot of GURPS. I want to play more GURPS. GURPS is my system of choice in most circumstances. I just need to find some GURPS players, or some people willing to learn GURPS. lately, in Cedar Rapids, those seem to be in short supply.

I am putting the final touches on my notes for my next campaign (basically, this one if going to formalize my current 'playtest' campaign for UMBRAGIA) to begin in one month.

So I feel that I do not look down my nose at any RPG system (well, save perhaps things like ROHOWA).

But then again, I am a recovering RPG collector (I am on Step 11, the eBay step... . I have things like GURPS 1st Edition and Timelords and Man, Myth and Magic, and Fantasy Wargaming: The Highest Level of All, and so forth. I have been spending a lot of time lately trimming down my collection in lots of 8-10 auctions... about 6 more lots to go before I have reached a point shere I have stuff off my floor, all on the shelves and able to see the shelves again...

But back to the topic at hand: do those on Pyramid look down thier noses any more than other online communities? No. I do not think so. There are those I tend to ignore (it does not take long to figure out who you can just drop intio the killfile) just like here -- on these boards I have a dozen or so people I just glaze over.

On the other hand, I find that in both locations there are those that I will seek out (even on topics I might not be that interested in) and read their stuff. The big bad Coyote6 is one of those I look for in both locations. My only fear, I suppose, is that I sometimes feel as though I am on the killfile list for a lot of people in both communities. Sometimes it sure feels that I get ignored a lot on both sides of the fence.

Most times it does not bother me. But in places like the GURPS 4th EDITION discussion over at Pyramid, it can get frustrating to see people repeat ideas of mine, and get a long thread of responses when no more than a day earlier, I said the same thing without so much as a peep. Oh well...

In the end, however, I find Pyramid and EN World to both be co-habitations for me. Both are great resources. Both feel like home in most respects. Both seem like typical families -- some arguments; some gerat rational discussion and some great memories.

 

[Ashtal]

I just want to clarify that if there IS bashing (and I really don't see too much of it over on the Pyramid boards - not like in other places *cough*RPG.net*cough*), that it's limited to their boards. The first poster kind of made it sound, at least to me, that it was something attributable to Pyramid as a whole, and that's certainly not the case. Their editorial content (reviews, game articles), is 100% bash free. They can't control what their subscribers say on the boards, however.

Really, it's the best $15 you can spend online for anything.

 

[AnthonyRoberson]

A Subscriber

I subscribe to Pyramid and to be honest about the only thing that has made it worthwhile to me in last year has been access to the playtest files (especially those for Silver Age Sentinels). I still enjoy it every week, but quality has been uneven. Still, not a terrible way to blow $15.