BrOSR

[Thomas Shey]

At $2 per issue in PDF form, one of these days I really need to bit the bullet and order at least the first 25 or 50 issues, which should make some really fun and interesting reading material.

It could definitely be a spritely--albeit sometimes wacky--apa.

(I was a contributor during that period, but was, shall we say, young).

 

[Thomas Shey]

More to the point, even if the premise that "this was how the game was intended" was true, at the end of the day, you'd have to say it was conveyed extremely poorly; when almost none of the public playing the game has any idea that's what's intended, you can't say in good faith that's their fault.

 

[PHATsakk43]

More to the point, even if the premise that "this was how the game was intended" was true, at the end of the day, you'd have to say it was conveyed extremely poorly; when almost none of the public playing the game has any idea that's what's intended, you can't say in good faith that's their fault.

From the bits and pieces of Gary Gygax’s replies to A&E, I come away with two things. First, Gary Gygax says that neither Chainmail nor OD&D was representative of the actual game as played, nor was there a specific “right or wrong” to be said about how a particular group played by others. Second, I find I rather like mid-70s Gary Gygax far better than late-70s and onward Gary Gygax.

 

[Thomas Shey]

From the bits and pieces of Gary Gygax’s replies to A&E, I come away with two things. First, Gary Gygax says that neither Chainmail nor OD&D was representative of the actual game as played, nor was there a specific “right or wrong” to be said about how a particular group played by others. Second, I find I rather like mid-70s Gary Gygax far better than late-70s and onward Gary Gygax.

Yeah, there was a distinct difference in tone before and after Gygax figured out his finances actually turned on how much people paid attention to him.

 

[Staffan]

More to the point, even if the premise that "this was how the game was intended" was true, at the end of the day, you'd have to say it was conveyed extremely poorly; when almost none of the public playing the game has any idea that's what's intended, you can't say in good faith that's their fault.

Clear communication was never one of Gary Gygax's strong points.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Clear communication was never one of Gary Gygax's strong points.

Yeah, but "this is what this game is about" is a pretty low bar.

 

[Nikosandros]

Yeah, but "this is what this game is about" is a pretty low bar.

Yes, but I wonder if, paradoxically, being so unclear actually turned out to be an advantage for D&D. Different folks saw different things in the game and thus it maybe was far more successful than it would have been otherwise.

 

[TiQuinn]

Yes, but I wonder if, paradoxically, being so unclear actually turned out to be an advantage for D&D. Different folks saw different things in the game and thus it maybe was far more successful than it would have been otherwise.

I think this is a big reason why there’s a greater community around D&D. So many people playing the game but in different ways leading to different styles of play, but none of it created with that particular intention.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

"The more you tighten your grip, Gygax, the more gamers will slip through your fingers."

 

[Thomas Shey]

Yes, but I wonder if, paradoxically, being so unclear actually turned out to be an advantage for D&D. Different folks saw different things in the game and thus it maybe was far more successful than it would have been otherwise.

The problem is, on the level I'm talking they didn't see different things. I'm not talking about how wild and wooly campaigns were or about the tendency for some people to be more rigid about how gritty it was; I'm talking about the basic point of play. And if we're to believe the BrOSR people, the majority seem to have almost all got it wrong, and in roughly the same way.

Were that true, I'd have to conclude you either misdesigned the game or misexplained it pretty severely.