(un)reason
Legend
Polyhedron Issue 37: Jul/Aug/Sept 1987
part 1/5
36 pages. It's been obvious all year that they're running late, and the dates I've put on these issues have been nominal ones, but here the disjunct becomes particularly obvious, as they go straight from volume 7, no 3 to no 6 without giving any indication to what 4 & 5 were. Maybe they were the official tournament adventures this year, as this is definitely post Gen Con. There's only 1 more issue this year, so it looks like they gave up on trying to get caught up the hard way and just did 5 issues this year instead. Will that be enough to get them back on schedule for good? Let's see what new developments the rest of this issue has to offer.
Notes from HQ: After much wrangling, they've finally settled on a name for their Living City. Say hello to Raven's Bluff. With Ravenloft their best selling module, they couldn't resist going back to that well, despite the trademark issues prohibiting their first choice. And given how long it'll be an active setting, I think it's safe to say there's room for more than one group of corvids in the roleplaying multiverse. Now all they need is a motto, preferably one that looks good when translated into Latin to put over their gates. What they really do not need, on the other hand, is people who try to manipulate their tournament scoring system by downvoting rivals rather than ranking people honestly on how well they played. It's usually pretty obvious when one person in a group does it, especially if they consistently vote in a different pattern to the rest of their groups over multiple rounds, so cut it out, or we may have to disqualify you! There's always a few arseholes, and if they're left unchecked they'll just naughty word everywhere. They may solve their scheduling and logistic problems, but the human interaction challenges will never go away. What ways will the obnoxious few find to spoil things for the majority next time?
Letters: The Satanic Panic continues to weigh heavily on their minds in here. Our first letter thinks the violence in D&D is no worse than the colonialist genocide of Risk or capitalist exploitation of Monopoly, and they don't have people saying they should be banned. Oh how naive. We're not trying to convince them, we're trying to make them look absurd to casual observers. That's the way to win the war long-term.
The second one points out the hypocrisy of the bible-bashers, when it's full of violence, sexism, incest, pedophilia, mass circumcision as trophy-taking, failure to show guests proper hospitality - and that's just the humans! What right do they have to say WE'RE a bad influence?! Yes, but they're embedded in virtually every community in the country. If you want to beat them, you've got to engage in community outreach too, show them that gamers are everywhere, they're not a danger, and they're not going away. Don't hide in your basement, be a hero in the real world.
The third one is also about community outreach. If you want tournaments in your area, get out there and make your own mini-convention. We've given you the tools, but ultimately, it's up to you to use them.
Next, we have someone agreeing with our review columnist that he deserves more feedback. Send it in, let him know how to improve! You first. Don't try to pass the buck onto everyone else without giving your own.
Finally, we have someone reminding them that followers are as crucial to an organisation as leaders. You can't expect everyone to actively contribute, and their money's as good as anyone else's. Another thing where you need to find the right balance, because too far in either extreme will lead to their own set of problems.
part 1/5
36 pages. It's been obvious all year that they're running late, and the dates I've put on these issues have been nominal ones, but here the disjunct becomes particularly obvious, as they go straight from volume 7, no 3 to no 6 without giving any indication to what 4 & 5 were. Maybe they were the official tournament adventures this year, as this is definitely post Gen Con. There's only 1 more issue this year, so it looks like they gave up on trying to get caught up the hard way and just did 5 issues this year instead. Will that be enough to get them back on schedule for good? Let's see what new developments the rest of this issue has to offer.
Notes from HQ: After much wrangling, they've finally settled on a name for their Living City. Say hello to Raven's Bluff. With Ravenloft their best selling module, they couldn't resist going back to that well, despite the trademark issues prohibiting their first choice. And given how long it'll be an active setting, I think it's safe to say there's room for more than one group of corvids in the roleplaying multiverse. Now all they need is a motto, preferably one that looks good when translated into Latin to put over their gates. What they really do not need, on the other hand, is people who try to manipulate their tournament scoring system by downvoting rivals rather than ranking people honestly on how well they played. It's usually pretty obvious when one person in a group does it, especially if they consistently vote in a different pattern to the rest of their groups over multiple rounds, so cut it out, or we may have to disqualify you! There's always a few arseholes, and if they're left unchecked they'll just naughty word everywhere. They may solve their scheduling and logistic problems, but the human interaction challenges will never go away. What ways will the obnoxious few find to spoil things for the majority next time?
Letters: The Satanic Panic continues to weigh heavily on their minds in here. Our first letter thinks the violence in D&D is no worse than the colonialist genocide of Risk or capitalist exploitation of Monopoly, and they don't have people saying they should be banned. Oh how naive. We're not trying to convince them, we're trying to make them look absurd to casual observers. That's the way to win the war long-term.
The second one points out the hypocrisy of the bible-bashers, when it's full of violence, sexism, incest, pedophilia, mass circumcision as trophy-taking, failure to show guests proper hospitality - and that's just the humans! What right do they have to say WE'RE a bad influence?! Yes, but they're embedded in virtually every community in the country. If you want to beat them, you've got to engage in community outreach too, show them that gamers are everywhere, they're not a danger, and they're not going away. Don't hide in your basement, be a hero in the real world.
The third one is also about community outreach. If you want tournaments in your area, get out there and make your own mini-convention. We've given you the tools, but ultimately, it's up to you to use them.
Next, we have someone agreeing with our review columnist that he deserves more feedback. Send it in, let him know how to improve! You first. Don't try to pass the buck onto everyone else without giving your own.
Finally, we have someone reminding them that followers are as crucial to an organisation as leaders. You can't expect everyone to actively contribute, and their money's as good as anyone else's. Another thing where you need to find the right balance, because too far in either extreme will lead to their own set of problems.