tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post4921988039030588935..comments2024-03-29T00:32:33.920-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: "That Bastion of Socialist Game Design"James Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-39735959552906360192021-07-28T14:10:39.859-04:002021-07-28T14:10:39.859-04:00Nazis, of course, being fascist/far-right and as f...Nazis, of course, being fascist/far-right and as far from the political doctrine of Socialism (left-wing) as possible, despite their self-appointed party name. They absolutely hated Communists and murdered a large number of them even before declaring war on the USSR.Frankymolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09888795637212025551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-51517033902335323232021-04-12T20:24:09.723-04:002021-04-12T20:24:09.723-04:00Drang nach Osten was my guess. I never played, but...Drang nach Osten was my guess. I never played, but I assume after the first year the Soviets start winning and never stop.<br /><br />But this may have been too early for Waffenboo nonsense.Robert J Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07131130000796353192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-12524237369868796152021-04-12T17:41:06.956-04:002021-04-12T17:41:06.956-04:00I think the odd reference to socialism is due to t...I think the odd reference to socialism is due to the work of the game designers at GDW just a few years earlier. Frank Chadwick, Rich Banner, and Marc Miller (the latter, of course, being the main designer behind Traveller) had earlier collaborated on wargames to simulate the German invasion of the Soviet Union and the Soviet counterattack in WWII. That's how GDW got going. My guess is that the reviewer who called GDW a bastion of socialism was thinking of these eastern European wargames simulating battles between the USSR and the National Socialists (Nazis), starting with *Drang nach Osten!*Tom Van Winklehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00498476328377801884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-24019997421070442722021-04-10T12:25:23.818-04:002021-04-10T12:25:23.818-04:00Page 8 of Book 1 (4th print, 1977) says "Nowh...Page 8 of Book 1 (4th print, 1977) says "Nowhere in these rules is a specific requirement for any character (player or non-player) be of any specific gender or race. Any character is potentially of any race or of either sex."James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-68322619431481927722021-04-10T12:15:40.418-04:002021-04-10T12:15:40.418-04:00Do the original rules include the note that “chara...Do the original rules include the note that “characters can be of any race and either sex” neither of which have any statistical impact? I know that shows up in later versions, but my boxed set isn’t handy to check. If so, that’s presumably what is being referenced here. Not that the rules support racial intolerance as that they bother to address it at all. Trenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01889179660165006042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-82191835281626825782021-04-10T12:12:46.036-04:002021-04-10T12:12:46.036-04:00That seems like the best and most likely explanati...That seems like the best and most likely explanation for what was meant - that GDW’s games are so all-encompassing.Trenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01889179660165006042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-72781417643842434922021-04-10T11:15:14.688-04:002021-04-10T11:15:14.688-04:00As James Mishler rightly points out, gamers have a...As James Mishler rightly points out, gamers have always been parsimonious. For as long as I can remember, reviews have regularly included included complaints about how expensive this or that product was.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-79979003550249417622021-04-10T11:13:19.901-04:002021-04-10T11:13:19.901-04:00I don't know what he's talking about, hone...I don't know what he's talking about, honestly. The original three LBBs from 1977 contain no setting of any kind.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-28000664524764424212021-04-10T09:01:52.988-04:002021-04-10T09:01:52.988-04:00Good question. Was there mention of the Villani/S...Good question. Was there mention of the Villani/Solomani divide that led to the Rule of Man, maybe? Certainly some racism there.<br /><br />Or maybe they meant "species bias" and were talking about aliens like the Droyne, Vargr, and Aslan? Don't recall them being mentioned either, but I could be wrong.Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-2665323604454667432021-04-10T08:59:29.987-04:002021-04-10T08:59:29.987-04:00Closer to $55.50 by the conversion calculator I...Closer to $55.50 by the conversion calculator I'm using. Bit steep for three slim softcover black & white staple-bound books even back then, but of course modern printing standards are better than the old days. The relative costs of printing in color and hardcover have declined and glued bindings are usually more durable, although saddle-stitching is a bit more expensive now. Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-71753466873596364512021-04-10T08:53:19.697-04:002021-04-10T08:53:19.697-04:00>>Dinner for two today at a nice restaurant ...>>Dinner for two today at a nice restaurant costs $50<<<br /><br />Heh, on Tuesday board games evening I paid £67 for Sushi delivery for me and a female friend here in London - well it was her game. :)Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01173759805310975320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-51122647452428292972021-04-10T08:46:37.569-04:002021-04-10T08:46:37.569-04:00He's probably also the same Phil Kosnett that ...He's probably also the same Phil Kosnett that was active in the Star Fleet Battles community for decades, and may still be for all I know. Very much a lapsed player since the early 2000s.Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-29082491448626603302021-04-10T07:07:42.186-04:002021-04-10T07:07:42.186-04:00Agreed.Agreed.artikidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17474295473142339717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-26219357216561515742021-04-10T05:49:50.379-04:002021-04-10T05:49:50.379-04:00Cradle to grave - all encompassing and done for yo...Cradle to grave - all encompassing and done for you. No need to devise your own as it's been thought out and coveted. I am myself "going out on a limb" by saying this, but that may be what Kosnett means by the term "socialist". It is the 1970s!A Paladin In Hellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06810111335291693554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-40688721713722729652021-04-10T05:17:43.672-04:002021-04-10T05:17:43.672-04:00I am approximately 90% certain that the author of ...I am approximately 90% certain that the author of that review is this <a href="https://xk.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/our-ambassador/" rel="nofollow">Phil Kosnett</a>.faoladhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03691952430041394614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-40728077685219201822021-04-10T01:11:02.424-04:002021-04-10T01:11:02.424-04:00Yeah, the "expensive" nature of RPGs has...Yeah, the "expensive" nature of RPGs has always been a complaint by the fans since Day One. Sure, $10 (OD&D) or $12 (Traveller) back then were princely sums at equivalent to more than $50 in today's money, but even today, a full-color book with art and graphics the likes of which were not even dreamed of in that day costs... $50. And that is if you buy it at a game store instead of at almost half-price at Amazon or the like.<br /><br />Many gamers have always been cheap, miserly types. Dinner for two today at a nice restaurant costs $50. Movies for four cost... $50 (not counting snacks!) A simple phone plan and internet connection for a MONTH costs twice that. PER MONTH.<br /><br />$50 for a book that gives you a lifetime of fun and friendship? DIRT CHEAP. And people still complain. Sad and pathetic.James Mishlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03510782553325944558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-88185196296302426392021-04-09T20:05:35.293-04:002021-04-09T20:05:35.293-04:00Adjusting for inflation, that's close to $50 i...Adjusting for inflation, that's close to $50 in today's money, I think.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-45429372135770645242021-04-09T19:37:00.437-04:002021-04-09T19:37:00.437-04:00Where does the racial intolerance come from? I don...Where does the racial intolerance come from? I don't recall the original 3LBB mentioning races at all.Frankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15855679156477779666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-75887262097519517782021-04-09T18:55:05.081-04:002021-04-09T18:55:05.081-04:00A $12 RPG being overpriced is amusing. A $12 RPG being overpriced is amusing. GVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05173636141749922530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-73186544370308844592021-04-09T18:37:11.010-04:002021-04-09T18:37:11.010-04:00The only thing I can think of is that GDW seemed t...The only thing I can think of is that GDW seemed to mostly work as a collaborative team on their designs, so while Marc Miller was the primary designer and credited author on Traveller all of the other guys also contributed and were involved, which is perhaps different than how some other companies worked?Trenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01889179660165006042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-7343723171166651692021-04-09T17:30:29.097-04:002021-04-09T17:30:29.097-04:00That's my guess too, but it's always hard ...That's my guess too, but it's always hard to say for certain.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-9754378931290719152021-04-09T17:19:34.824-04:002021-04-09T17:19:34.824-04:00GDW always came across as 'red blooded America...GDW always came across as 'red blooded Americans' - Twilight: 2000 got quite a slagging off in the pages of White Dwarf - so I'm guessing sarcasm.Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01173759805310975320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-5239012643019951712021-04-09T16:58:45.849-04:002021-04-09T16:58:45.849-04:00Perhaps it’s a play on “GDR” (East Germany)?Perhaps it’s a play on “GDR” (East Germany)?Bonnaconhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12667671409170609819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-20714344055533876182021-04-09T15:38:56.192-04:002021-04-09T15:38:56.192-04:00That's a really weird comment, and a really we...That's a really weird comment, and a really weird joke (if that's what it is).AndreasDavourhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17170806742393291962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-36344112365970193732021-04-09T15:24:01.091-04:002021-04-09T15:24:01.091-04:00I'll try to do it later today, if I have the t...I'll try to do it later today, if I have the time.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.com