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In RPG Theory

10/12/2005 Noon: Play creating notes Vs notes creating play
I got this strange feeling from How story evolves over time and the example of the story evolving via spent resources. Okay, say you have 20 X points. We wont…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Noon, TonyLB, gsoylent, Mike Holmes, Joshua BishopRoby, contracycle.

10/11/2005 muranternet: Controlling Currency Hyper-Inflation II (split)
To clarify, the reason that a closed economy fails has nothing to do with the merits of the closed economic mini-theory, but rather because of player behavior, which is far…
In RPG Theory
Participants: muranternet, Ron Edwards.

10/11/2005 timfire: "entire game = one system for one multi-session adventure"
I didn't want to drift Ron's Ronnies thread, so I thought I would bring this here. Over there, Jared said this: I think it's telling (in some way that I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: timfire, matthijs, Mike Holmes, James Holloway, contracycle, Frank T, Smithy, Mark Woodhouse, John Kim, Ron Edwards, HenryT.

10/11/2005 Eric J-D: Systems and Creating/Extending Conflict
While I have been away from this forum doing some research several threads in this forum have emerged that address an issue I have been thinking about for some time. …
In RPG Theory
Participants: Eric J-D, Bob Goat, Joshua BishopRoby, John Kirk, M. J. Young.

10/10/2005 pells: About dices, rules and narrative
Hi! I'm new to the forge and this is my first thread. I've been reading posts for a while now, and I believe people do have interesting things to say…
In RPG Theory
Participants: pells, matthijs, RedWick, Joshua BishopRoby, Sydney Freedberg, M. J. Young, greyorm, Mike Holmes, talysman, ewilen, LordCarter, EllePepper, contracycle, komradebob, brightstar, Ron Edwards.

10/10/2005 TonyLB: How story evolves over time
Let's examine the most bog-standard story-prep imaginable:  A GM says "Okay, they'll come into town and the Mayor will tell them that his daughter has been captured.  Then they'll go…
In RPG Theory
Participants: TonyLB, Troy_Costisick, Sean, timfire, MatrixGamer, LordSmerf, Andrew Norris, Doug Ruff, pells, Sydney Freedberg, Noon, Rob Carriere, Mike Holmes, contracycle, pasoliati, Joshua BishopRoby, M. J. Young.

10/9/2005 Eero Tuovinen: Some help with a lecture
Here's the situation: I've promised to give a lecture in a small convention this month. After a little thought I decided to take formalistic game design (I'll explain what that…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Eero Tuovinen, matthijs, pekkok, cerbie, John Kim, C. Edwards, Rob Carriere, M. J. Young, Joshua BishopRoby.

10/7/2005 lumpley: Whatever Functional Application of the Rules Text I Please
Spun off from The Role of Fortune What none of you've provided yet is the purely procedural function randomness serves in GURPS.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: lumpley.

10/7/2005 lumpley: Procedure of Play, Determined by Nothing but the Group
Spun off from The Role of Fortune Hi Ivan, welcome to the Forge! I'm Vincent. which is why we're discussing the roles…
In RPG Theory
Participants: lumpley, Paka, ewilen, matthijs, cruciel, talysman, jmac, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, Joshua BishopRoby.

10/7/2005 Chasuk: What Kind of a Gamer Am I?
I've read the glossary, and various articles filled with definitions, but I still haven't been able to divine what kind of a gamer I am; what gaming niche I occupy.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Chasuk, contracycle, Matt, Nogusielkt, Alan, lumpley, Sydney Freedberg.

10/7/2005 Chasuk: I Hate Dice
I've been playing rpg's of one sort or another since I was 19, and I'm 44 now, so that makes me a fairly experienced player.  However, generally, I hate games…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Chasuk, planetouched, Bankuei, Valamir, jmac, contracycle, nikola, John Kim, ewilen, Sydney Freedberg, Mike Holmes, pells, greyorm, Vaxalon, RedWick, M. J. Young.

10/5/2005 MatrixGamer: The Machine Model of Games (long)
I want to put these ideas out for the Forge community to chew on. I first published them in EGG in 1990.  It is a way of analyzing games. I…
In RPG Theory
Participants: MatrixGamer, Joshua BishopRoby, Sydney Freedberg.

10/5/2005 JonasB: The ambitions of Dragonbane
In another thread I made the following claim about Dragonbane: If you want to read about the pinnacle of Nordic fantasy larping, check out www.dragonbane.org. It is a pan-European fantasy…
In RPG Theory
Participants: JonasB, Lig.

10/5/2005 Ribonucleic: Must the play be the thing?
[i][As always: apologies in advance if this has been covered before. There's more than 100 pages of threads here, and I couldn't think of any useful search keywords.][/i] This question…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Ribonucleic, Joshua BishopRoby, Nogusielkt, simon_hibbs, Mark Johnson, Noon, Vaxalon, talysman, RedWick, timfire.

10/2/2005 ghoyle1: How do you draw out a relationship map?
How do you draw out a relationship map? Are there some examples online somewhere? Guy (Hoyle)
In RPG Theory
Participants: ghoyle1, Peter Nordstrand, Joshua BishopRoby, MatrixGamer, Sydney Freedberg, Ron Edwards.

10/2/2005 Vaxalon: Players want freedom AND engaging content
In a flash of enlightenment, Callan quoth... ...the players want freedom AND engaging content. Essentially two mutually exclusive goals. .... ...and yea, verily, I was enlightened.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Vaxalon, Alan, Marco, Joshua BishopRoby, bcook1971, Noon, contracycle, nikola, Mike Holmes, Shreyas Sampat, John Kim.

10/1/2005 John Kirk: Is Alignment an Anti-pattern?
I recently started a thread here soliciting feedback on a book I am writing: “Design Patterns of Successful Role-Playing Games”, which you can download in a rough draft form from…
In RPG Theory
Participants: John Kirk, 1of3, Artanis, resistor, Bankuei, Jasper Polane, Adam Dray, Arturo G., Shreyas Sampat, c, SicaVolate, Blankshield, Sydney Freedberg, Kintara, M. J. Young, Mike Holmes, Shimeran, brightstar, alejandro.

10/1/2005 WyldKarde: Design Theories behind Action RPG's
While not a fixture, I am ever a disciple of the design theories put forth here.  Mostly because my own means lie along the lines of exploiting the internet for…
In RPG Theory
Participants: WyldKarde, Alan, ghoyle1, Shreyas Sampat, Joshua BishopRoby, gsoylent.

10/1/2005 knicknevin: [No Game} A Floating Rule
I've read a few threads about games where the players not taking part in an action get to decide whether the player taking the action succeeds or nor, or at…
In RPG Theory
Participants: knicknevin, mutex, Vaxalon, Noon.

10/1/2005 pekkok: Allegoric play
[i]Note: The following text is the first of two parts - I've lopped of the second half since the text was getting fairly long, and its structure offered a place…
In RPG Theory
Participants: pekkok, M. J. Young.

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In RPG Theory

10/13/2005 Eric J.: Device Mechanic For Alchemy
Okay, I've been working on a game for a few months now that I'm pretty excited about. There's this anime I saw that made me go "Gosh, that would be…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Eric J., Troy_Costisick, greyorm.

10/13/2005 Nogusielkt: Super-Powers shift focus of techniques/challenges?
It becomes fairly clear that, when you introduce super powers into a system, that actual play becomes different.  In a mundane game, challenges that are introduced might include solid walls,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Nogusielkt, Sydney Freedberg, Joshua BishopRoby, Jason Petrasko, M. J. Young, Michael S. Miller, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards.

10/13/2005 talysman: applied RPG Design Patterns
John Kirk referred us to his work in progress, RPG Design Patterns, a few threads ago. I didn't say anything at the time, although I thought the book is shaping…
In RPG Theory
Participants: talysman, Mike Holmes, John Kirk, Vaxalon.

10/14/2005 jmac: Illusionism etc
I've looked through the forum and found few discussions about this kind of play. The topics found were either old, or opinions expressed were of a recognizable kind. It looks…
In RPG Theory
Participants: jmac, Andrew Morris, WhiteRat, Mike Holmes, Joshua BishopRoby, Marco, timfire, Halzebier, M. J. Young, komradebob.

10/17/2005 Joshua BishopRoby: Scope & what I mean by it
Over in Godfria, Mars thread, Roger asked me to elaborate what I mean by 'scope'. The scope of a game is the imaginary territory from which content…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Joshua BishopRoby, Roger, Mike Holmes, jmac, M. J. Young.

10/18/2005 Troy_Costisick: Troy's Standard Rant #3: The Power 19
Heya, As I was looking back through my earlier rants and the links to other threads provided, I realized two things about the three questions I examined.  First, they were…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Troy_Costisick, Tony Irwin, Graham Walmsley, timfire, Joshua BishopRoby, M. J. Young, 1of3, ChrisJaxn.

10/18/2005 Rustin: Arbitrary means and the Sim-Agenda
I composed this in response to this thread. I agree with Ron, for CoC, it's all about the Sim-Agenda.  Though I suspect that the exploration of that agenda cannot…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Rustin, Mike Holmes.

10/19/2005 Noon: Burn sanity for narrativism?
Split from and thoughts about the genre Not sure if this is worth a thread or not. Chris wrote: Ron: it's also entirely possible that the 'solutions' to CoC…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Noon, Bankuei, Mike Holmes.

10/19/2005 LordCarter: Game Mechanic Concept...
I had a somewhat new idea for a game mechanic. Tell me what you guys think. CORE MECHANIC SYSTEM + Roll Luck Dice (4d6) + Add Ability Modifier and Skill…
In RPG Theory
Participants: LordCarter, Rob Carriere, oreso, Mark Johnson, ffilz, MatrixGamer, Sydney Freedberg, talysman, Clint, M. J. Young.

10/19/2005 Frank T: [Question] Chargen?
I've come across the term "Chargen" a couple times now and realized I don't have a clue what it means. It's not in the Provisional Glossary. According to my dictionary,…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Frank T, Blankshield, Joshua BishopRoby, 1of3, Troy_Costisick, Ron Edwards.

10/19/2005 Madheretic: Need a Good One-on-One Demo
Sorry if this isn't the right place for this request: I just recently convinced someone to try role-playing again after being given a lack-luster introduction with D&D and Storyteller a…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Madheretic, Sydney Freedberg, Ron Edwards, Graham Walmsley, Joshua BishopRoby.

10/20/2005 M. J. Young: Clarifying Participationism
Over in Illusionism etc there has been some discussion of illusionism versus participationism. Hal, to extend your metaphor, the theoretical functional illusionism is where your wife…
In RPG Theory
Participants: M. J. Young, Mike Holmes, Joshua BishopRoby, timfire, Noon, Marco, JasonPalenske, Halzebier, Caldis, Silmenume.

10/21/2005 Montola: The Invisible Rules of Role-Playing
Ron and Ben were interested, so here's a quote I posted to my blog, Shards, about the three rules that I use to classify role-playing. I'm finalizing my paper proposal…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Montola, matthijs, Mark Johnson, MatrixGamer, Joshua BishopRoby, ewilen, John Kim, JasonPalenske, Mike Holmes.

10/23/2005 WhiteRat: [Design Patterns of RPGs] What's in a Diagram?
Like many, I was impressed and intruiged by John Kirk's text Design Patterns of Successful Role-Playing Games. As a software engineer myself, I found the currency flow diagrams especially thought-provoking.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: WhiteRat, John Kirk, 1of3, talysman, Shreyas Sampat, RenjiKage, Roger.

10/25/2005 Silmenume: "Situation Creation" mechanics - and Sim
Hey Everyone! The other day in my AP thread Vincent (Lumpley) made the following assertion in response to my claim – Situation creation Mechanics…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Silmenume, Bankuei, Joshua BishopRoby, talysman, contracycle, Shreyas Sampat, lumpley, John Kim, cruciel, ewilen, Mike Holmes, Noon, timfire, Marco, M. J. Young, LordSmerf, Valamir, Supplanter.

10/25/2005 MatrixGamer: Unspoken rules - boardgames to miniatures to role play games
A quote by Vincent got me thinking about implied rules. Over time, repetition makes a body of informal procedures, mere hit-or-miss guesses, into an unspoken and…
In RPG Theory
Participants: MatrixGamer, Sydney Freedberg, Mike Holmes.

10/25/2005 Wormwood: Play: Content, Controls, Constraints (PCon3) - Overview
As a central aspect of all RPGs play behavior is surprisingly unexamined in the context of RPG theory. About three years ago I started trying to piece together a theory…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Wormwood, MatrixGamer, HenryT, Mike Holmes.

10/25/2005 JasonPalenske: The Impossible Design
The Impossible Design Over the last week or so I've noticed a profound change in the Forge. I say this as it comes from actually not being present on the…
In RPG Theory
Participants: JasonPalenske, WhiteRat, Nogusielkt, greyorm, Ben Lehman, Ron Edwards.

10/26/2005 Montola: Publishing theory
Okay, as I've bragged already, I'm working with a PhD on role-playing pretty soon. In that effort, and in my real work (researching pervasive games) I have one major pet…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Montola, Eero Tuovinen, Ben Lehman, Ron Edwards, Eirik Fatland, Rorimack, Mike Holmes, matthijs, Arturo G., J. Tuomas Harviainen, M. J. Young, Noon, J B Bell, Mark Johnson, timfire, Thor Olavsrud, pekkok.

10/27/2005 Montola: Role-playing in academia
Okay, I have to clear this up a bit: though Frans Mäyrä looks forward to one in Beyond Role and Play foreword, no faculties of role-playing studies exist yet. But…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Montola, lankoski, Ben Lehman, Matt, Blankshield, Eirik Fatland, pekkok, Mike Holmes.

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