We need a glossary

[Jack Spencer Jr]

We need a glossary for all of the various slang terms that seem to crop up in discussion to help the uninitiated. Not necessarily the articles, but a glossary presented in dictionary form, listing terms alphabetically so they'll be easy to look up and you don't have to go hunting through the aricles or the forums for the definition of the term.

Does this sound like a good idea?

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Jack,

Sigh ... yes. You're right. When is this to be done, and by whom? Several good suggestions have already been raised and discarded. Several other good suggestions have been raised and simply haven't happened.

It's a time issue. Bluntly, I dislike the concept of a "user-driven" terms list, and I don't find the time to set up a glossary myself.

If someone wanted to submit a glossary list to me, then I would review it. Perhaps that's the best place to start.

Best,
Ron

[Jack Spencer Jr]

Hey, Ron

That's the rub, isn't it? No one really has time to do it. User-drive is a bad idea because you know someone (OK, me) would try to enter "snoochie boochies" or something just as dumb.

The other problem is that over time and with discussion the definitions can change. Premise, for example, was taken from a book on creative writing and mean "a ethical or moral question or problem facing the characters." The term was later expanded when applied to RPGs, especially across the GNS spectrum. To be done right and to be helpful I think the glossary should reflect this, noting that some definitions have since fallen out of use but they were in use at one point.

This sounds like an awful lot of work, but tell you what, I'll go through the GNS article and pull out the various terms and cobble it up for submission. To everyone here on the Forge, if you've seen a term used, not a new term, but one that's actually used click the little Personal Message link below and send me a link to the thread in which it was used.

If I get few or no PMs then we'll probably throw this on the pile of failed attempts and assume that although it would be nice, it's probably not worth the effort at this point. If I get several, we'll see where it goes from there.