Hackmaster won an ORIGINS award in 2001

[thedungeondelver]

...and some guy, bigwig in RPG design, completely lost his over that. Does anyone recall who that was? It came up in another thread on another board and I cannot for the life of me recall who that was.

 

[Crothian]

No, I don't recall that at all.

 

[thedungeondelver]

Ah, found him. It was Bruce Baugh.

 

[mhensley]

Ah, found him. It was Bruce Baugh.

Do you have a quote from this? I seem to vaguely recall some rants over this.

 

[Wicht]

Do you have a quote from this? I seem to vaguely recall some rants over this.

I found this without too much trouble:

If Hackmaster were just on the market like a bunch of other games, I'd have little to say about it. But since Jolly Blackburn et al actually allowed it to be considered as the best RPG of the year and since they found enough gamers willing to agree, then I'm forced to look at the state of a market which regards warmed-over AD&D 1st edition as better than the pulp adventure game I helped created and Jason Blair's intense small game of childhood horrors and Scott Larson's Fudge-based take on pulp and the Wheel of Time adaptation by Charles Ryan, Christian Moore, and Steve Long. One may reasonably and productively debate the relative merits of Adventure, Little Fears, Terra Incognita, and Wheet of Time. Each did bring something fresh to the gaming market while building on the work of various predecessors. (One may also reasonably and productively debate the merits of several other games which didn't make the ballot. I personally supported Exalted rather than Adventure as WW's nominee, and while I don't think Exalted is a better game than Adventure, I think it's fully as good and has flourished ever since, going from strength to strength. There are other 2001 releases that also deserve consideration.)

One may not reasonably or productively argue that warmed-over AD&D1 beats all of these. It's a muddle of deliberate jokes and apparently getting wrapped up in the joke and taking it seriously. It's a calculated slap at everything worthwhile done in gaming in the last 20-odd years, and those who voted for it as the best game of 2001 committed themselves, for whatever reason, to the stance that absolutely nothing worth heeding has happened in gaming since Reagan's first term. This is the counsel of stagnation and death, of nostalgia gone bad, of the failure of imagination. In an ideal world, those people would recognize that they made asses of themselves, apologize, and get a clue. I would settle, however, for so annoying them that they never buy any product I'm involved with again, because the whole body of my work is based on the idea that they're wrong, that there is room for continual progress in gaming and that in fact progress has happened throughout the time since their idol was original. I don't think there's a lot of risk that anyone who thinks Hackmaster is anything but an occasionally amusing joke marketed at far too great length would like anything I do, but just in case anyone does: "Dear Sir, please be advised that I do not wish the patronage of anyone so fundamentally clueless as yourself. My games are intended to support and encourage gamers who wish to try something new and who'd like help in getting from desire to actual play. I have nothing to say to the terminally retrograde, and you have nothing to say to me. This is not the game you're looking for. I am not part of the market you want. Go away."

(I also think it's pathetic that Hackmaster beat out everything from the Chainmail minis to Risk 2210 to Munchkin, but I'm not involved in the other categories.)

And I can't feel anything like serious about an awards process where such an outcome is possible.

 

[thedungeondelver]

And thus Bruce Baugh assured that I would never purchase anything written by him, published by a company he works for, edited by him, or otherwise associated with him.

 

[Morrus]

And thus Bruce Baugh assured that I would never purchase anything written by him, published by a company he works for, edited by him, or otherwise associated with him.

Given that you couldn't even remember who he was five minutes ago, any boycott by you over the last few years will have been no more than accidental.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

And thus Bruce Baugh assured that I would never purchase anything written by him, published by a company he works for, edited by him, or otherwise associated with him.

Well, to be fair, Hackmaster is basically 1e AD&D with a few modifications, none of which are particularly new or exciting. The main reason it won, SFAICT, was that KenzerCo put it out and had a pent-up fanbase from the KoDT comics.

He does also have a point, though it's a fairly commonly-made one, in that awards like this are a popularity contest. In this case, I can't imagine that Little Fears or Terra Incognita would have won, simply because they were such niche products.

I'd really prefer that this point be made by more winners than George C. Scott, though.

Brad

 

[DaveMage]

Who is Bruce Baugh?

What's he authored?

 

[jonesy]

I found this without too much trouble

I guess he didn't like Hackmaster. =)

I would settle, however, for so annoying them that they never buy any product I'm involved with again, because the whole body of my work is based on the idea that they're wrong,

Now there's an interesting way of angering your own fanbase.

Who is Bruce Baugh?

What's he authored?

Bruce Baugh :: Pen & Paper RPG Database