Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
(More) ruminations on the future of D&D
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6380504" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>I think you're making generalisations here that can't really be sustained. Just confining myself to some of my favourite fantasy movies - say, Excalibur, Hero, and Ashes of Time - I think these are more "imaginitively nutritious" and satisfying than most of the fantasy fiction I've read.</p><p></p><p>When I compare Ashes of Time to HPL's Call of Cthulhu, or Excalibur to REH's Phoenix on the Sword, I think in each pair that the film has much more to say about the relevant thematic material than the written story: Ashes of Time has much more to say, in my view, about the emptiness of human life and experience, than does CoC; and Excalibur is a much richer commentary on the nature of kingship and civilisation, in my view, than REH's short story.</p><p></p><p>It's true that, say, Tower of the Elephant is better than Ladyhawke - but the former is probably the best of all the pulp fantasy works, whereas the latter is a very ordinary movie saved by some charming performances.</p><p></p><p>I refer, again, to G2. In what way does G2, whether as a work of authorship, or as a play experience, demonstrate artistic sophistication? How does improvisation in G2 differ from the sort of tactical improvisation that might be involved in playing a table-top or computer/video wargame?</p><p></p><p>I can think of some answers to the second question - eg befriending certain monsters/NPCs - although I assume that this is also possible in more sophisticated computer games. But I can't think of any answer to the first question.</p><p></p><p>And G2 is hardly unrepresentative of a wide range of D&D material.</p><p></p><p>The D&D community - or, at least, the ENworld branch of it - strikes me as to a significant degree <em>hostile</em> to player improvisation and creativity, except within very narrowly defined parameters. The emphasis here is very much on <em>GM</em> authority over the most important elements of the shared fiction.</p><p></p><p>This may be good or bad for RPGing, depending on what one enjoys about the RPG experience, but to me it contrasts quite markedly with your characterisation of RPGs.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6380504, member: 42582"] I think you're making generalisations here that can't really be sustained. Just confining myself to some of my favourite fantasy movies - say, Excalibur, Hero, and Ashes of Time - I think these are more "imaginitively nutritious" and satisfying than most of the fantasy fiction I've read. When I compare Ashes of Time to HPL's Call of Cthulhu, or Excalibur to REH's Phoenix on the Sword, I think in each pair that the film has much more to say about the relevant thematic material than the written story: Ashes of Time has much more to say, in my view, about the emptiness of human life and experience, than does CoC; and Excalibur is a much richer commentary on the nature of kingship and civilisation, in my view, than REH's short story. It's true that, say, Tower of the Elephant is better than Ladyhawke - but the former is probably the best of all the pulp fantasy works, whereas the latter is a very ordinary movie saved by some charming performances. I refer, again, to G2. In what way does G2, whether as a work of authorship, or as a play experience, demonstrate artistic sophistication? How does improvisation in G2 differ from the sort of tactical improvisation that might be involved in playing a table-top or computer/video wargame? I can think of some answers to the second question - eg befriending certain monsters/NPCs - although I assume that this is also possible in more sophisticated computer games. But I can't think of any answer to the first question. And G2 is hardly unrepresentative of a wide range of D&D material. The D&D community - or, at least, the ENworld branch of it - strikes me as to a significant degree [I]hostile[/I] to player improvisation and creativity, except within very narrowly defined parameters. The emphasis here is very much on [I]GM[/I] authority over the most important elements of the shared fiction. This may be good or bad for RPGing, depending on what one enjoys about the RPG experience, but to me it contrasts quite markedly with your characterisation of RPGs. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
(More) ruminations on the future of D&D
Top