tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post3976855282987086076..comments2024-03-19T05:48:34.142-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: REVIEW (and Editorial): Fight On! Issue 10James Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-37464957805037204842010-11-11T09:42:07.533-05:002010-11-11T09:42:07.533-05:00If you want to check out some issues of Fight On! ...If you want to check out some issues of Fight On! and decide for yourself, today only you can get 20.10% off with the code VETSDAY305. So...Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01134033175611675677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-43642489955114884742010-11-10T23:14:07.154-05:002010-11-10T23:14:07.154-05:00For what it's worth, I guess it would be inter...For what it's worth, I guess it would be interesting to know the percentage of sales for print versions vs. .pdfs. Personally, though I love FO!, I totally agree that the longer issues are a bit taxing sometimes to "mine". I personally buy .pdfs & only print a few articles, ones I think I will use. That may be one article, or four. I also agree that less is more though, however, it is tricky given the different formats. I guess it comes down to how much "time" you wanna spend on perusing the things. Possibly James feels he "has" to read through the thing b/c he is now a link in the review chain? Other readers dont really have that pressure. But again, I can feel a lot of what yr sayin... Ok. out.Holmentzerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13705085040356135179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-22242857211757484242010-11-10T15:08:14.144-05:002010-11-10T15:08:14.144-05:00"Wow, you really hit below the belt, don'..."Wow, you really hit below the belt, don't you?"<br /><br />Sorry, James - this was intended in jest and not meant to give offense.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01134033175611675677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-62018146916918908372010-11-10T12:59:33.153-05:002010-11-10T12:59:33.153-05:00Full disclosure: I love RPG magazines. Some of my ...Full disclosure: I love RPG magazines. Some of my fondest memories of D&D involve thumbing through the latest Dragon magazine (before the 3rd edition era, anyway) and buying it or not based on a 5 or 10-minute perusal. I got more bang for my buck and more enjoyment out of Dragon (and now out of Fight On!) than I have out of almost any other D&D product. The exceptions from over the last 30 years I can count on my fingers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-53736968851797288812010-11-10T12:50:04.655-05:002010-11-10T12:50:04.655-05:00James wrote: "why a magazine and not a blog o...James wrote: "why a magazine and not a blog or forum post? It seems to me that, in 2010, ephemera are best served by a virtual format rather than a print one...For me, print implies a degree of permanence and thus the content ought to be tailored accordingly."<br /><br />I live in Colorado, and to buy Fight On! with cheapest possible shipping would cost me a grand total of $13.98. My contributor PDF of that issue is 140 long. Crunch those numbers, and you see that each page delivered to my mailbox is 10 cents. That is precisely how much per page it costs to print-out things from the internet at my local library. And don't even get me started on how much it costs to buy your own paper and ink and printer to print-out stuff at home.<br /><br />Bottom line: You're not paying for the content. You're paying for the convenience and visceral pleasure of having someone print all that stuff out, bind it, and mail it to you.<br /><br />Many people, including myself, will give a closer reading to something if it's printed. I tend to skim on the internet. Plus the convenience of grabbing a magazine to take to your game session. I have NEVER taken a computer to a game session, and I never will. Ick.<br /><br />To re-emphasize: Nobody is getting paid for this stuff. The writers donate their work. The artists donate their work. Sean donates his efforts. You're paying for the paper and the ink, not the content. IMO, nothing in Fight On! or in Dragon or in Polyhedron or in Dungeon or in Knockspell or in etc. is of "lasting value". It's all merely periodical fodder for your game. I think the proper place for any magazine is the trash can by the time it's 6 months old. And that's how I like it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-67837285252705391862010-11-10T12:18:09.278-05:002010-11-10T12:18:09.278-05:00Thanks for the comment, James, these are exactly t...Thanks for the comment, James, these are exactly the ideas I had in mind while designing it, so I guess I've hit the right nail, for your needs at least. On the review as a whole, I think that we might have stumbled into a rather philosophical issue here instead of a standard content review. You and Ignatius both seem to consider FO as a reference for the OSR. This point acknowledged, I think that "reference" rings a different bell for both of you. From FO's POV, being "referential" implies covering as much of the ground as possible, offering published space to all the OSR tendencies, however obscure and minor and regardless of their format, as long as quality standards are met. From your, it seems that the same standpoint implies short, sharp and spot on dedicated content. Both views are fine, as far as I'm concerned but they serve a different purpose and sprout from a different philosophy.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00089619029589033002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-17023264121165022292010-11-10T11:18:09.159-05:002010-11-10T11:18:09.159-05:00Actually, James, you yourself were a major force b...<i>Actually, James, you yourself were a major force behind the early issues of FO! too, and we'll be happy to look at more of your stuff any time!</i><br /><br>Thank you for the offer and, should any of my article ideas gel into something I think worthy of committing to print, you'll definitely see a submission from me.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-61328884834147751672010-11-10T11:17:00.549-05:002010-11-10T11:17:00.549-05:00From what I've seen of both magazines, Fight O...<i>From what I've seen of both magazines, Fight On has more useable articles than Dragon did.</i><br /><br>Even if that were true (and I'm not sure that it is), I'm not sure it's a fair comparison, as, during <i>Dragon</i>'s heyday, referees didn't have ready and immediate access to hundreds of pages of free ideas from their counterparts across the globe. My big beef is not that FO! isn't a good magazine -- I think it's, overall, quite solid -- but that I increasingly worry that its content isn't sufficiently good that I'd be willing to pay for it.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-48029419166488628012010-11-10T11:12:37.367-05:002010-11-10T11:12:37.367-05:00Please shoot!
I liked "The Shrine That Glitte...<i>Please shoot!</i><br /><br>I liked "The Shrine That Glittered" well enough. It's the kind of adventure material I'd prefer to see in FO!, since it's brief, modular, and includes lots of clever little ideas that are easy to loot even if I don't use the scenario as written.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-52773277613398378292010-11-10T11:09:31.598-05:002010-11-10T11:09:31.598-05:00Articles in a magazine like this are like custom c...<i>Articles in a magazine like this are like custom cars at an auto show. They're not meant to be driven. They exist so old hands can look at each others' work.</i><br /><br>Again, I can understand this sentiment but I must ask: why use print for this rather than a virtual format? For me, print implies a degree of permanence and thus the content ought to be tailored accordingly.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-66963786552452308382010-11-10T11:07:24.176-05:002010-11-10T11:07:24.176-05:00With a magazine I'm not looking for a wife. I&...<i>With a magazine I'm not looking for a wife. I'm looking for a hot date.</i><br /><br>I can understand the sentiment, so here's a question: why a magazine and not a blog or forum post? It seems to me that, in 2010, ephemera are best served by a virtual format rather than a print one.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-22324763676569438272010-11-10T10:29:59.929-05:002010-11-10T10:29:59.929-05:00"The Gozillas Will Breath on You! and Futa-ku..."The Gozillas Will Breath on You! and Futa-kuchi-onna: I expect to catch flak for this opinion but here goes: much as I appreciate both Encounter Critical and Bushido, how many people actually play these games? Both these articles are short, yes, but, even so, why are they here?"<br /><br />I’m not one to give anyone “flack” and didn’t immediately know how to reply to these comments. But by asking, “why are these articles here,” and “how many people… play these games” you are, I think, overlooking some of the spirit of the OSR. Bushido is certainly an old school game and E.C. is a retro clone and simply because they are not in major distribution with other retro clones or the world’s most popular FRPG is no reason to leave them out of our gaming “movement.” <br /><br /> I think one thing we can all agree on about the OSR is that we are seeking variation. This seems evident by the various retro clones that have been produced. The OSR is about making the game/s up as we go along as we believe Mr. G would have us do. I believe someone else has pointed out that DMs borrow material from system A and convert it to system B all the time. Thus the E.C. and Bushido articles can serve this purpose if nothing else.<br /> <br />But to leave articles about lesser known game systems out of an indy rpg fanzine is much like suggesting that Rolling Stone should never publish articles about Johnny Cash.<br /> <br />signed, one of less than 1000 Encounter Critical playersChris Creelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15993487911122629839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-34679788629872339002010-11-10T10:10:24.541-05:002010-11-10T10:10:24.541-05:00And just to jump on the Gabor Lux love bandwagon -...And just to jump on the Gabor Lux love bandwagon - to my mind the Khosura underworld is easily worth $10 all by itself. Maybe a fanzine isn't the best format to process it the first read through, but this is some seriously excellent work - you won't find dungeons of this scope and excellence presented with this brevity and incisiveness very many places. Gabor is becoming one of the all-time greats of classic dungeon design in my view, even if he's come to us thirty years after most of the rest.<br /><br />That's all I got. Hope people enjoy the issue!Calithenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14783899060873651832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-61095846971799677552010-11-10T09:55:09.502-05:002010-11-10T09:55:09.502-05:00Actually, James, you yourself were a major force b...Actually, James, you yourself were a major force behind the early issues of FO! too, and we'll be happy to look at more of your stuff any time!Calithenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14783899060873651832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-69305435564267556682010-11-10T09:52:31.085-05:002010-11-10T09:52:31.085-05:00Thanks for the review, James!
"That being sa...Thanks for the review, James!<br /><br />"That being said, I kind of agree with James that so many long pieces leaves too little space for the usual mix of odds and ends, where you find among the highs and lows something that everyone can find interesting."<br /><br />It's only a percentage difference though. Since issue 3 or 4 all the different features have been in every issue; it's just that when there are lots of extra adventures the percentage of total space they take up is smaller.<br /><br />Ignatius was the editor of the legendary California generic gaming magazine "The R'Lyeh Text" back in 1985, and so when Jeff Rients and I started working on putting the original issue of Fight On! together I tapped him to run the show for us.<br /><br />There's a lot of good stuff in issue 10 and we'll try to keep bringing you the best FRP material we can find in future issues to come.<br /><br />Peace,<br /><br />CalithenaCalithenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14783899060873651832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-63351443184020583092010-11-10T09:49:27.319-05:002010-11-10T09:49:27.319-05:00From what I've seen of both magazines, Fight O...From what I've seen of both magazines, Fight On has more useable articles than Dragon did.anarchisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05546197561922726279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-46162982746312767452010-11-10T04:33:12.624-05:002010-11-10T04:33:12.624-05:00Hi James, Hi everyone. I wrote The Shrine That Gli...Hi James, Hi everyone. I wrote The Shrine That Glittered, a stand-alone adventure in this issue, and except a small and funny rant about my devious formatting in the glorious, albeit nonsensical, Your Dungeon Is Suck review, all I read as far as reviews as concerned is "there's dungeons too, cool". It's nice to know but I'd love to read what you guys actually feel about it. One of the main points of getting into Fight On!, at least for me, is to get a proper feedback of the OSR players, the other one being, obviously, to share whatever I'm up to. Please shoot!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00089619029589033002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-35285377174468173942010-11-10T02:19:55.924-05:002010-11-10T02:19:55.924-05:00I find that the issues usually vary a lot. Sometim...I find that the issues usually vary a lot. Sometimes even over time. I have come back to articles which I previously dismissed. That being said, I kind of agree with James that so many long pieces leaves too little space for the usual mix of odds and ends, where you find among the highs and lows something that everyone can find interesting.<br /><br />Covering Encounter Critical and Bushido is great I think. More diversity in games in the OSR is only a good thing. I absolutely don't understand Encounter Critical, and still think so.<br /><br />Regarding the proofing I think #10 was better than #9, which surprised me by containing more misspellings and errors than I've seen before or since.AndreasDavourhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17170806742393291962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-40893474723061384292010-11-10T00:27:48.002-05:002010-11-10T00:27:48.002-05:00Limit the page count to 40, price accordingly and ...Limit the page count to 40, price accordingly and the great material will boil up to the surface. Less is usually more.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-21675605809803900732010-11-10T00:07:18.042-05:002010-11-10T00:07:18.042-05:00Um, selections from my articles are OFTEN read at ...Um, selections from my articles are OFTEN read at weddings... :)<br /><br />I'm just hoping that <i>The Darkness Beneath</i> will eventually be published as a stand-alone megadungeon with some serious attention paid to formatting. And that someone makes a t-shirt out of it's meta-map...kesherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17494262159858200847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-87148805644317683862010-11-09T22:54:45.719-05:002010-11-09T22:54:45.719-05:00What's the reason for the 'Ignatius' p...What's the reason for the 'Ignatius' pseudonym?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-8219343779874366762010-11-09T22:47:32.375-05:002010-11-09T22:47:32.375-05:00I don't know why somebody hasn't already s...I don't know why somebody hasn't already said this but the cover of this issue is so awesome I think I may buy it for that alone. White Plume Mountain lives!brasspenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00740202895575678193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-5483877460960967542010-11-09T22:43:00.224-05:002010-11-09T22:43:00.224-05:00That's a good point, Geoffrey. It isn't li...That's a good point, Geoffrey. It isn't like everything that ever came out in Dragon got enshrined somewhere. I've been playing for 20+ years and can think of maybe 6-7 Dragon articles that made it into my game. Most of it I read and thought "that's neat" or "that's awful" but I was still in it for the next article.<br /><br />Even if one article a year really struck home I'd have a fat book of photocopied articles.<br /><br />It isn't as though someone is going to cite this in a thesis or read bits of it at a wedding. It's not Shakespeare, Milton, or Donne. If it entertains you for the time it takes to read it then it's done it's job. If 1% makes it into the game then it's done an excellent job.<br /><br />Articles in a magazine like this are like custom cars at an auto show. They're not meant to be driven. They exist so old hands can look at each others' work.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-73483717173405374622010-11-09T22:15:56.871-05:002010-11-09T22:15:56.871-05:00"provide material that has lasting value, whi..."provide material that has lasting value, which is to say, material to which readers will want to refer later rather than simply read once and never look at again."<br /><br />James, I don't think that is the proper role of a magazine. Other than some Gygax-penned stuff from The Strategic Review and the first few issues of The Dragon that made its way into the published D&D game, how much from Dragon magazine was of lasting value? Nothing, I think. And that's OK.<br /><br />In my opinion, the value of a RPG magazine is to offer little bits of fantasy, invention, and whimsy that tickles you enough to dabble with in your game; only to be forgotten (and even throw away) by the time the next issue roles around and you get a new supply of shiny doodads (a new monster, a new spell, a new armor system, a new class, a module, an interesting setting, or whatnot) to mess around with for a little while.<br /><br />With a magazine I'm not looking for a wife. I'm looking for a hot date.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-34835385683128265992010-11-09T22:14:22.570-05:002010-11-09T22:14:22.570-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com