Who takes to Universalis with ease? (gamers or non-gamers?)

[Christopher Weeks]

In the number of tenets thread,

Given that my group includes two people who are new to gaming, the authority with which they approached plotting the game I found refreshing.

I'm wondering if you mean you found it surprising that newbies would pick up the authority right away or if you're suggesting that it's easier for them.  I've rather hypothesized the latter, but I've never played with non-veteran-gamers so I don't have any evidence accumulating.

Chris

[Mike Holmes]

As I mentioned in one of the threads in Actual Play, I'm interested in this as well.

Mike

[CPXB]

In the number of tenets thread,

Given that my group includes two people who are new to gaming, the authority with which they approached plotting the game I found refreshing.

I'm wondering if you mean you found it surprising that newbies would pick up the authority right away or if you're suggesting that it's easier for them.  I've rather hypothesized the latter, but I've never played with non-veteran-gamers so I don't have any evidence accumulating.

Too many Chrises!  *shakes fist at my very common name, hehe*  :D

Well, my experience is primarily as a GM, so everything I said should be taken from that POV.  But in that experience, many older gamers -- particularly those without experience as GMs -- tend to wash their hands of any responsibility for advancing the plot.  Plotting is the GM's business, not theirs.  They're almost wholly reactive players.

In my experience, newer players are far more receptive to, well, everything.    So, yeah, largely it has been the new gamers who are more open to Universalis.

Interestingly, of the people who I've played Universalis with the long-time gamers are the ones who have been fairly explicit in not only rejecting Unversalis but also many of the premises of the game: shared GM force, fortune-in-the-middle, conflict resolution vs. task resolution.  So, they not only reject the game but also, conceptually, all games that aren't very traditional role-playing games.  My guess is that they "know what role-playing games are" and don't care to venture forth from their comfort zone.  Which is all well and good, except I really want to play some of these games in large preference to established, traditional sorts of games.  ;)

[Nyrath]

Too many Chrises!  *shakes fist at my very common name, hehe*  :D
--snip--
Interestingly, of the people who I've played Universalis with the long-time gamers are the ones who have been fairly explicit in not only rejecting Unversalis but also many of the premises of the game: shared GM force, fortune-in-the-middle, conflict resolution vs. task resolution.  So, they not only reject the game but also, conceptually, all games that aren't very traditional role-playing games.  My guess is that they "know what role-playing games are" and don't care to venture forth from their comfort zone.

Too many Chrises? That's one problem I never had (Winchell). Of course I also never could find a personalized toothbrush or mug with my name on it.

As for the gamers who "know what role-playing games are", Yoda would whack their shins with his walking stick and scream that they have to unlearn before they can learn.

This must be a depressingly common occurance with anything ground-breaking or that shifts the paradigms.

[Bankuei]

Ah, another Chris to the party...

I've run a few one shots recently with Universalis, and fairly experienced gamers, who took to it very easily.  I found the explaining the basic ideas took less than 5 minutes, and the momentum of play kicked in from the point of making Tenets.  I think many of the folks were gamers who wanted more input in play, but didn't want to GM entire sessions.  Fun was had by all, although I think it would take a while to get a better hang on the pacing.

Chris

[Paganini]

Heya Winch! Welcome to the Forge.

As far as Uni goes, none of the guys I played it with seemed to have too much trouble picking it up, including myself. Of course, that might have been because Mike was playing with us our first session. :)

Mostly, though Uni is pretty easy to understand, has lots of good examples and stuff. The actual hard work takes place while you're playing it, not while you're learning it.

[Bob McNamee]

And players who regularly GM take to Universalis really well, since its pretty much what they do in gaming already.