Reinventing Roleplaying Games

[mythusmage]

Hrmm, top meaning of "game" on dictionary.com is: An activity providing entertainment or amusement; a pastime.

What do you think of when you hear the word, 'game'?

BTW, impugning nasty things to others only serves to encourage others to think nasty things of you. You don't know me, please save the psycho-analyzing for people you do know.

 

[MonsterMash]

As an aside Games Workshop refer to their games (Warhammer, LotR miniatures, etc) as the Games Workshop Hobby .

I really don't think that the semantics of it being a role-playing game rather than hobby puts people off, its more the trappings of dice, lots of rules, and the stereotypical image of gamers that does it.

Role-playing turns up a lot on training courses in the government and corporate sectors so its hardly a unknown concept to the general population, but that is with some rules set by the scenario presented rather than three fat books.

To really grow RPGs I think a simple easy to use version of D&D is whats really required for newbies. Looking at the three hefty manuals and dense numbers of rules has to be a turn off for a non-gamer, after all games like chess, chequers, or card games don't have 300 pages of rules to know before a newbie starts.

 

[mythusmage]

Okay then, obviously we are seeing things differently. From your perspective, what needs to happen to Role Playing to make it go from a game to a hobby?

Seeing the hobby as a whole as a hobby would help. Same with each facet of the hobby. Say, the Dungeons * Dragons® Hobby, the Vampire: The Masquerade® Hobby, the GURPS® Hobby, the Revenge of the Humans™ Hobby.

Re-purposing the books as guides instead of rulebooks would certainly help.

But that's a work in progress.

(BTW, I shall not ask that you consider only what I've already written, and not hare off on wild speculation. I only ask that you keep in mind I have yet to give certain subjects a full consideration, and so they won't be covered until later. That said, feel free to remind me of topics that needs must be considered in full for this enterprise of mine to bear fruit. (And don't I sound precious?))

 

[yangnome]

so are you proposing something along the lines of a murder mystery dinner deal, where people get around and act out, or at least participate in a story? Cooperative story telling without a rules base? Or is it something else?

 

[Crothian]

Patience, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich was not written in a day. I rather doubt Reinventing Roleplaying Games is going to get done overnight.

funny comparison :\

Lately you have seemed to be the guy non the streetcorner that yells things need to change, but has actually no idea how when asked.

 

[mythusmage]

so are you proposing something along the lines of a murder mystery dinner deal, where people get around and act out, or at least participate in a story? Cooperative story telling without a rules base? Or is it something else?

Something else.

Look at it this way, you're playtesters and the game hasn't even been designed yet. There's a broad outline, but the design hasn't even been sketched in. So you could have an impact on what I do before I even do it. (Matter of fact, some of you are.)

 

[Etan Moonstar]

What do you think of when you hear the word, 'game'?

BTW, impugning nasty things to others only serves to encourage others to think nasty things of you. You don't know me, please save the psycho-analyzing for people you do know.

I already told you what I think of when I hear the word game: an entertaining activity or pastime. It's something I sit down and play, by myself or with a bunch of friends, to have a good time. What do -you- think of when you hear the word game, and what do you consider to be the difference between a game and a hobby? I am not trying to psychoanalyze you so much as I'm trying to encourage you to be more clear in the expressing of ideas, especially if a pair of words central to your idea apparently mean something else to you than they do to most of the rest of us.

 

[Crothian]

Something else.

Look at it this way, you're playtesters and the game hasn't even been designed yet. There's a broad outline, but the design hasn't even been sketched in. So you could have an impact on what I do before I even do it. (Matter of fact, some of you are.)

So, aren't you jumping the gun a little then? Why announce that there needs to be change if you don't even have a vaguew idea of what yet? I understand wanting to start a discussion, but as of now I haven't even seen good cause for said change.

 

[mythusmage]

Lately you have seemed to be the guy non the streetcorner that yells things need to change, but has actually no idea how when asked.

Which is why I'm here. I've got ideas, but before they can become part on an hypotheses they must be vetted first. Where better than here? (Yes, I could've posted this to RPG.net or The Forge, but the posting paradigm on those boards seems to be more along the lines of 'win at all costs' and nothing like a fair evaluation of the merits of the case. With a few reactionary exceptions, when it comes to proposals such as mine the conversation tends to be more civil and more constructive here.)

 

[yangnome]

are you still going to have dice and stats, or somethign more freeform? If there isn't a "game" to win, do you need the dice and various stats?