tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post4580461652276908562..comments2024-03-29T00:32:33.920-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: Good StoriesJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-2767606740532518372008-05-24T00:19:00.000-04:002008-05-24T00:19:00.000-04:00I would say The Wilderlands is ideal for that if y...<I>I would say The Wilderlands is ideal for that if you build out a starting area in great detail, then put out a few more spots on the map in reasonable detail, and then leave the rest where they have to fill it out. Almost a bait-and-switch, as it were, and it doesn't guarantee they'll become DIY or prefer the Old Ways.</I><BR/><BR/>Similar thoughts have occurred to me. I'm not sure if that means the idea is any more sound, but, at the very least, I helps me to realize that I'm not wholly crazy :)James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-34273843793440254522008-05-23T20:50:00.000-04:002008-05-23T20:50:00.000-04:00D&D is now like Star Trek or Star Wars -- a genre ...<I>D&D is now like Star Trek or Star Wars -- a genre unto itself rather than a vehicle for simply telling good stories.</I><BR/><BR/><I>...the reason why D&D no longer resonates as powerfully with many people as it once did is because the game has become too self-referential, too wrapped up in its own mythology.</I><BR/><BR/>Those are two very cognizant points. It doesn't mean old is better than new, just different. The innocence, wonder and charm of <I>Star Wars</I>, vs. the depth, detail and production of the "Star Wars brand".<BR/><BR/>Perhaps you had to see <I>Star Wars</I> in the theater in '77 to truly appreciate it's merits. I know my 13 year old does not hold Star Wars in the same reverance that I do, and I often have to explain to him why I enjoy that particular episode so much.<BR/><BR/>Food for thought.<BR/><BR/>~ShamSham aka Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14329116400656617173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-19814059579211162792008-05-23T13:14:00.000-04:002008-05-23T13:14:00.000-04:00Agreed, wholeheartedly. Before Dragonlance most o...Agreed, wholeheartedly. Before Dragonlance most of the products were rules, supplements and modules that could usually be plugged in wherever you want or settings that were open enough to put your own flavor and stories into (e.g. Greyhawk, The Wilderlands). It really spoke to that tinkering, do-it-yourself type of DM, but also it let you build the setting and play the game the way you want.<BR/><BR/>As time went on you had things like the aforementioned Dragonlance that had novels, game materials, a product line and computer games that all fed into one another. The stories had easily recognized game elements in them, and that was fed back into their play. People bought into the setting and wanted to play Dragonlance or some other complete property, not just D&D. I think whole generations of gamers got short-changed by that shift.<BR/><BR/>This is why the whole DIY facet of the old school movement is double-edged. The old schoolers, grognards and intellectually curious want to tweak the rules and build their own settings and develop the legends and draw the maps, etc.; for them, they need the rulesets in published form, and need tools and the occasional pre-built product that they can put into their setting when they didn't have time to build anything for their next game night. However, if everything is focused on the tools to do your own game how do you win hearts and minds of the spoonfed masses that just want to open their wallets and spend a hundred bucks per month on the latest splatbooks and expansions for a corporatized setting?<BR/><BR/>It's almost like you need two sets of products, one to keep the old guard happy and do it the way they've been doing it, plus something that lures other gamers into the fold by looking like their products of interest but once they've gone so far they find that they have to start piecing it together on their own. I would say The Wilderlands is ideal for that if you build out a starting area in great detail, then put out a few more spots on the map in reasonable detail, and then leave the rest where they have to fill it out. Almost a bait-and-switch, as it were, and it doesn't guarantee they'll become DIY or prefer the Old Ways.Restlesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04586442439173490257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-59842197332113883042008-05-23T12:48:00.000-04:002008-05-23T12:48:00.000-04:00Apparently, I noticed the same thing in 1995. I di...Apparently, I noticed the same thing in 1995. I distinctly recall saying to a friend as we discussed the reasons for making our own RPG (as it seems everyone does at least once in their youth) that one of the problems with D&D was that it was 'feeding off itself', it had become self consuming and dislocated from its source (I don't recall what we thought that was at the time).<BR/><BR/>I don't think anything really changed with the advent of D20. The real question is how you tap into that inspirational material.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.com