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<blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 6024091" data-attributes="member: 92305">I understand what you're saying, and agree with most of it.&nbsp; Except that, in many ways, I think game design has deteriorated in some respects over the years, not gotten better.&nbsp;How many games today, especially game supplements, are written by fans?&nbsp; I've know plenty of people who were no more qualified than any long term GM who've written for gaming companies.&nbsp; It's rampant.&nbsp; Vincent Darlage was a Conan fan and then fell into writing much of he first edition of the Conan RPG.&nbsp; There are a ton of Traveller writers who are just fans who ended up writing for the game because of contacts they made on the net.&nbsp; Traveller d20 wasn't written by profession game designers.&nbsp; It was written by fans.&nbsp; The same goes for the newer 2360 (or whatever it's called---the newer version of Traveller 2300).&nbsp;I think, back in the old days, stuff put out by a company, at least, benefitted by better quality control.&nbsp; I think a lot of the early game designers tried to really make the best decision--not just fill up pages.&nbsp;In many respects, game supplements for a lot of games are no better or worse than someone's free house rules that the GM happened to post on the net.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;You specifically stated that I wasn't running an old school game.&nbsp; We either have different definitions of what an old school game is, or one of us doesn't know what he's talking about (and I'm sure both of us think we know what we're talking about).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Water Bob, post: 6024091, member: 92305"] I understand what you're saying, and agree with most of it. Except that, in many ways, I think game design has deteriorated in some respects over the years, not gotten better. How many games today, especially game supplements, are written by fans? I've know plenty of people who were no more qualified than any long term GM who've written for gaming companies. It's rampant. Vincent Darlage was a Conan fan and then fell into writing much of he first edition of the Conan RPG. There are a ton of Traveller writers who are just fans who ended up writing for the game because of contacts they made on the net. Traveller d20 wasn't written by profession game designers. It was written by fans. The same goes for the newer 2360 (or whatever it's called---the newer version of Traveller 2300). I think, back in the old days, stuff put out by a company, at least, benefitted by better quality control. I think a lot of the early game designers tried to really make the best decision--not just fill up pages. In many respects, game supplements for a lot of games are no better or worse than someone's free house rules that the GM happened to post on the net. You specifically stated that I wasn't running an old school game. We either have different definitions of what an old school game is, or one of us doesn't know what he's talking about (and I'm sure both of us think we know what we're talking about). [/QUOTE]

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