A few things to add

[Dotan Dimet]

Edit: this is really supposed to be in the international gaming thread. Oops.

A few bits to add to Mark's summary:
* Israel has practically no gaming stores, but the vendor situation has improved somewhat, with 4 small companies now active, mostly selling in Cons or through mail/phone order (I think). A few years back we had only one vendor. Also, we have both a translation of D&D 3E (the first translation in some years - I think the last translated product was either Shadowrun 2nd Edition or Mythus), and an original d20 product (cover).
* Regardless of the point above, RPG shopping is one of the reasons I go abroad, which lead me to find out how roleplaying games are called in Hungarian, for example.
* The link to the Australian RPG page John Kim posted has some fascinating material in it as I recall, radical discussion of "Cathartic Roleplaying" Workshops from back in 1995. This reminds me of a fairly-new bit of terminology that's popped up in our (Hebrew gaming society's) forums: "Ho!", which refers to those emotional, character-transforming dramatic scenes in RPGs. We can talk about a session having a lot of "Ho!" just as we'd talk about a session having a lot of cool fight scenes, we'll talk about one game being a "Ho!" game  just as we'd talk about another game being a "hack & slash" game or an investigative game.
The good thing about "Ho!" as a term, IMO, is that it lets us discuss games focused on dramatic, emotional experiences in terms that are more neutral than the traditional sim-centric discussion of "Deep Roleplay". It applies equally well to both narrative, "story-now" approaches as to immersive "let us play four sessions of arguing with your boyfriend so you'll actually feel devastated when you find him chopped up in the refrigerator" sort of things. The cynical edge it brings also lets us discuss "Ho!" as it is actually played (for example, in convention games, by mundane roleplayers) and not just on "Deep Roleplay"'s pedestal.

Whuff. Sorry about the rant.

- Dotan

[Valamir]

Interesting.  Is "Ho" a Hebrew word? or of some other derivation?  Or just a made up jargon that allowed this idea to be labeled for discussion?

[Dotan Dimet]

Ralph,
Ho! (perhaps a better English rendering would be "Oh!") is an (archaic) exclamation in Hebrew, used in the Bible and in poems and plays (especially in translations of something suitably loaded with pathos, such as Greek or Shakespearean tragedies). It's used exactly like "O" in "O yea of little faith!" or the "Oh" in "Oh, bitter irony!"
It's in fact commonly used in modern writing or speech in a cynical fashion, in mock-pathos or bombast.
Now, seeing your message has reminded me that H.O. is probably not the right way to spell it when discussing the term with Americans. So perhaps I'll just use "O!".
The term's originator and popularizer was Adi Ginat, who also coined phrases like "O!-scar award" (given out by her in one campaign at the end of a session for most emotionally charged scene in the game). It has since been taken up by many other people, and used both in the forums and in general conversation about gaming.
So, it's a real word, but was borrowed here in a self-deprecating manner to allow us to discuss the topic without feeling stupid.

- Dotan

[Ron Edwards]

I like "Ho!" or "O!" as a term - it conveys quite a lot without any sort of connotation except for self-reference.

It fits right in with some great casual terms that have shown up here, like the Foo-Foo Factor (my favorite).

Best,
Ron

[Emily Care]

Thanks for the update, Dotan, and the great term. You're in good company here, never fear. :)

It fits right in with some great casual terms that have shown up here, like the Foo-Foo Factor (my favorite).

Do tell, Ron? I missed that one, what's foo-foo stand for?

--Em

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Emily,

See The FooFoo Factor. Another such term is The Whiff Syndrome, most recently discussed in Fading Suns system impressions and thoughts.

Best,
Ron