Original D&D, 4th Edition D&D, and "Game Balance" I recently read a minor flame war on the Wizards of the Coast message boards discussing whether or not Hasbro should sell the D&D license to Paizo Publishing.
Like Kobold Quarterly, I am neutral on the edition wars and love all editions of D&D -- including Pathfinder -- equally. I am a supporter of role playing games in general and only Synnabarr and FATAL occupy my list of RPGs to avoid. My love of the various editions can probably be seen in my having recently begun a series of posts featuring house rules for the 1st Edition "Moldvay/Cook" Basic set that makes it play more like the current 4th edition system. It's a fun experiment and one that I think will bear some interesting fruit. One of the things that I have noticed as a feature of Original D&D (and the Basic Edition) is how both versions of the game support inter-team dependency and reward the players working together toward a common goal.
Maxperson (one of the individual's avatar aliases) wrote: Holmes writes: "Except Gygax? " The Threefold Model FAQ. The following is more-or-less the original form of the Threefold FAQ.
I wrote it in October 1998 as a posting to rec.games.frp.advocacy. The origin was a thread entitled "New FAQ - Simulationist versus Plausible" (October 16, 1998). Following two days of discussion, I came up with the expanded "More General Threefold FAQ" (October 18, 1998). There were two minor revisions to it since then: December 2, 1998 - added FAQ #4 on overlap February 14, 2003 - added FAQ #5 on the criticisms of the model, and a paragraph to the end of FAQ #1 on what the model applies to Below the most revised form is converted into HTML. 1) What is the Threefold Model?
The Threefold Model is one way of grouping many aspects of "group contracts" into logical categories. An important part of the model is recognizing that there are valid different goals for gaming. Role-playing games don't simply classify into good and bad. What the Threefold applies to is an open question. 2) Which one am I? The Escapist. Writers reminisce about Dungeons & Dragons - Suvudu - Science Fi. Min/Max Mashup. Get ready for EXP. videogame mag by Cory Schmitz. Iconography of Zelda - From EXP.
Magazine by Cory Schmitz Cory Schmitz is another talented fellow I met through the likes of Flickr and Tumblr. In fact, he and Pokécomic mastermind Maré Odomo turn out to be roommates (what an impressive bunch of connected Internet friendos I have!) A while back Cory contacted me about his senior project for his BFA in Graphic Design at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. His project, called EXP. Cory has this to say about EXP The purpose is to reject the idea that a video game magazine has to be be comprised of reviews and previews of the latest games. Cory sent me a package of sneak peeks yesterday, and from the look of it you can really see how his graphic design skills shine from page to page. The magazine (and some poster prints) will be available sometime in May and I'm so excited I already pre-ordered two copies from Cory. Update!
Yum! About the EVOKE game. Posted by Alchemy on 27 Jan under Behind the scenes EVOKE is a ten-week crash course in changing the world.
It is free to play and open to anyone, anywhere. The goal of the social network game is to help empower people all over the world to come up with creative solutions to our most urgent social problems. The game’s first season began on March 3, 2010 and ended on May 12th, 2010. However, that doesn’t mean that the game has stopped!
About Season One On May 12th, 2010 the first season of the game ended, and successful participants formed the first graduating class of the EVOKE network. Some top players also earned online mentorships with experienced social innovators and business leaders from around the world, seed funding for new ventures, and travel scholarships to share their vision for the future at the EVOKE Summit in Washington DC. EVOKE is for all ages; recommended age 13 and up. Robin Laws Revisited: The Complete Series. Pen and Paper Gaming in the 21st Century - GamesU 2009 - Keynote.