Previous Topics

9/1/2004 Marco: Internal cause and Premise
Someone got back to me on my techniques article with some questions. Rather than listing them here, I'm going to distill them and discuss them here. It was pointed out,…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Marco, Walt Freitag, Ron Edwards, Erling Rognli, ErrathofKosh, Ben Lehman, M. J. Young, John Kim, Gordon C. Landis, contracycle.

8/31/2004 Marco: Techniques, Expectations, and Interactions
Ron wrote, P.S. Whoops, editing this in, Marco - your example sounds Narrativist to me. But it's kinda sketchy in your summary, so maybe I'm projecting into it to…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Marco, Ron Edwards.

8/27/2004 Marco: Three Personal Rewards
Both I and Mike Holmes have touched on this--I think that a thread on it might prove interesting: Thesis: There are Three Personal Rewards of Gaming All players who game…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Marco, ErrathofKosh.

8/16/2004 Marco: Participationism and Sim II
In the thread on introducing a Narrativist to Sim Play, Ron said he'd tell his players this: guys, I'm gonna make decisions for your characters. I'll mainly do it…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Marco.

7/20/2004 Marco: Weekend Game Analysis [LONG]
This is a description of a game I ran this past weekend (using a point-based Simulationst system similar to GURPS)--since I'm heading back to the UK for 3wks, I'd told…
In Actual Play
Participants: Marco, John Kim.

11/18/2003 Marco: GNS/Creative Agenda Essay [long]
I received this in email. I'm not sure I agree with all of it--but I was asked my opinion on it. I asked permission to post it, and do so…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Marco, Paul Czege, Ian Charvill, Matt Snyder, Valamir, John Kim, Mike Holmes, Andrew Martin, Walt Freitag, Ron Edwards.

11/7/2003 Marco: Game Promotion Sites
Hi everyone, again, we've got news to post. Where are the good sites to promote RPG news. I have RPG.news, RPG.net, and Pen and Paper. I think RPG Gazette is…
In Publishing
Participants: Marco, C. Edwards, xiombarg, Cynthia Celeste Miller.

10/26/2003 Marco: Popular and damaging
Ralph wrote: At any rate, IMO Call of Cthulhu stands with GURPS as what I consider to be the two most damaging games to the development of the hobby…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Marco, Valamir, jdagna, Ian Charvill, Jack Spencer Jr, Calithena, RaconteurX, b_bankhead, John Kim, Jonathan Walton, Dauntless, Mike Holmes, M. J. Young, greyorm, quozl, Walt Freitag, Matt Snyder, Gordon C. Landis, Green, Jack Aidley, Andrew Norris, David Chunn, Minx, Ben Lehman, C. Edwards, Lxndr, damion, Scripty, eyebeams.

10/6/2003 Marco: JAGS Vehicles Damage Question
Hello, We are almost done with JAGS Have-Not--however our tests of several vehicular damage systems have been sub-optimal--so I'm posting here to see if anyone has some input on our…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Marco, Mike Holmes, abzu, SumDood.

9/18/2003 Marco: JAGS Have-Not Book 1 [Focus on Approach Chapter]
We are nearing completion of our post-apocalypse world book Have-Not (for the free JAGS system). Our first book (setting) is close to done--and we have a draft of it up--however,…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Marco, deadpanbob.

9/3/2003 Marco: Video Games aren't fun enough ...
One thing that's often said here is that RPG's won't be main-stream in their current configurations (i.e. even popular games fall short of being pop-culture or main-stream intertainment). Here's an…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Marco, pete_darby, Valamir, Mike Holmes, Gordon C. Landis, talysman, contracycle, cruciel.

8/15/2003 Marco: The gap between CRPG's and Pen and Paper breached!
Check this out: http://www.gamespy.com/fargo/august03/realrpg/ It's a joke (a pretty good one, IMO)--but it does raise issues with the pervasiveness of trends of dysfunction in the RPG experience. My own experience…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Marco, Windthin.

8/12/2003 Marco: More illusionism
[b] This was split from a thread about players modifying dice results in Actual Play.[/b] Assuming that the GM ran a game "straight" (pinball-sim, here's a map, go explore ...…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Marco, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, Walt Freitag, cruciel.

7/16/2003 Marco: Can you do that!?
I'm running a Savage World's game for a group with some new-gamers and some experienced ones (and it's been non-functional in terms of getting started--there's a whole interesting story here…
In Actual Play
Participants: Marco, gobi, rafial.

7/11/2003 Marco: Continued Play as a goal
A msg I saw on another board got me thinking. The post said words to the effect of "PC's should never die--setbacks are fine. Take all the gear. But don't…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Marco, Mike Holmes, Ron Edwards, M. J. Young, Thomas Tamblyn, Comte, ScottM, contracycle.

7/4/2003 Marco: Contradictory Gamism
Hey Ron, High competition in Step On Up plus low competition in Challenge = entirely team-based play, party style against a shared Challenge, but with value placed on some…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Marco, Ron Edwards, Jack Spencer Jr, BPetroff93, ross_winn, Gordon C. Landis, Mike Holmes, contracycle, epweissengruber.

6/18/2003 Marco: Gamist Essay -- GOOD!
This isn't a post with a hella-lot of content--but I got finished with the gamist essay and ... it's *good!* The split of the challenge sections is insightful. The language…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Marco, Ron Edwards, Ted E. Childers, xiombarg, Mike Holmes.

4/26/2003 Marco: Mechs
I'm working on JAGS Mechs. This isn't a game mechanics issue (I mean it is--but it's all tactical balance stuff and I'm not delving into that here)--but more of a…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Marco, Thomas Tamblyn, greyorm, Sidhain, Walt Freitag, Bankuei, Mike Holmes, Eric J., Stuart DJ Purdie, SwordofLux, b_bankhead, Emmett.

4/23/2003 Marco: No Myth playing
Feng has been talking about playing without the "myth of reality"--I find the idea interesesting but I'm foggy on some issues. 0. Gener issues? What happens when genre is foggy?…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Marco, Mike Holmes, Le Joueur, clehrich, M. J. Young.

4/12/2003 Marco: "I can't make a character for this."
For anyone who got the idea I never have trouble in my gaming groups: Tonight I got a chance for a coupla guys to try to get together a new…
In Actual Play
Participants: Marco, clehrich, Valamir, simon_hibbs.

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Subsequent Topics

9/9/2004 Marco: Personal Agenda vs. Social Agenda
In another thread I discussed the case where a player is "playing Gamist" but not getting props from the group. The group is okay with him doing that--but they aren't…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Marco, Ron Edwards, contracycle, Walt Freitag, Mark Woodhouse.

9/14/2004 Marco: GNS Sim
Looking at the 3D-Model and The Big Model, I've come to the conclusion that I'm not sure what, definitionally, constitutes GNS Sim. Several things have been postulated but I'm not…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Marco, M. J. Young, Ben Lehman, eef, ffilz, contracycle, Caldis, Ron Edwards, Walt Freitag.

9/15/2004 Marco: Emotional Involvement
I broke this out from the GNS Sim thread since it's something I wanted to look at separately. c) Is the division between Sim and Nar (absent railroading…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Marco, M. J. Young, eef, Walt Freitag, Ron Edwards, contracycle.

9/21/2004 Marco: Safewords in Gaming
In a thread from Actual Play Ron wrote: 1. No one hoses the bejesus out of a character like his own player. I was thinking about this.…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Marco, Ben Lehman, xiombarg, lumpley, Ron Edwards, Blankshield, John Kim, Noon, clehrich, Madeline, Jinx, Walt Freitag, Erling Rognli, M. J. Young, Jonathan Walton, List, Doug Ruff.

10/4/2004 Marco: transparent vs. mechanical
In the post on diceless Sim, Ron says: 1. Marco, quick clarifier: I do not suggest that either The Window or Theatrix is any sort of Sim exemplar in…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Marco, Ron Edwards, clehrich, Valamir.

10/8/2004 Marco: My character wouldn't do that!
Once upon a time we all made fantasy characters. I made a paladin. This guy had (it was Fantasy Hero) a powerful forcefield (so he could be all cool in…
In Actual Play
Participants: Marco, TonyLB, jdagna, Eero Tuovinen, Lee Short, ffilz, Christopher Kubasik, Ron Edwards, greyorm.

1/11/2005 Marco: Re: Sim has not be discussed as process yet it needs to be s
[quote="contracycle"][quote="Marco"] I'm just sayin' [/quote] Yes Marco, but I think its that nuance that we can now lay to rest. I fully agree that retrospectively the prodct of sim oplay…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Marco, Ron Edwards, contracycle, Valamir, Wormwood, The GM, Bankuei, Jaik, Silmenume, John Kim, clehrich, M. J. Young.

1/30/2005 Marco: Storytelling, GM-Control, and Drift
In the Deception Thread Chris said this: If you ditch story and play WoD games Sim, you'll be happy. And the self-deception comes in if you tell yourself that…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Marco, John Kim, clehrich, M. J. Young, contracycle, Storn, Silmenume, Walt Freitag, Mark Woodhouse, Ian Charvill, Doctor Xero.

1/31/2005 Marco: Nar play with Sim Rules
[quote="M. J. Young"]Marco, I want to thank you for sticking with us here through a lot of arguments about the various agenda. I think your contributions have often assisted me…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Marco, Sean, Ron Edwards.

2/23/2005 Marco: Address vs. Bricolage
Okay, I've read the latest threads and I have tried to figure out if: (a) they have changed my understanding of GNS Sim vs. GNS Nar (b) they have changed…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Marco, contracycle, Ron Edwards, JMendes, Ian Charvill, M. J. Young, Valamir, Caldis, Silmenume, Landon Darkwood.

3/2/2005 Marco: Meaningful Actions
[quote][b]Caldis wrote[/b] Take a look back at the example I gave earlier. The characters all end up taking on a mission that doesnt really have a lot of meaning to…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Marco, Bankuei, Mark Woodhouse, Caldis, contracycle.

3/13/2005 Marco: The Nature of Premise
Jay says his game is Simulationist. He may be right about that. What I think though, is that in his description of the question of his duty-vs-friendship issue if there's…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Marco.

3/16/2005 Marco: Get my character out of prison!
I just finished up a game where the characters were in prison. I hadn't planned it that way, it happened like this: 1. I solicited ideas from the group for…
In Actual Play
Participants: Marco, Valamir.

3/20/2005 Marco: Generic Engine for Any Reality [GEAR]
A beta-version of GEAR is up on the site here: http://jagsgame.dyndns.org/jags/content/GEAR/GEAR.pdf I would like: 1. Feedback on clarity--is this comprehensible? 2. Feedback on some of the key ideas for scenario…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Marco, AZKaban, xenopulse, John Burdick.

8/10/2005 Marco: Player Conflict! [StarCluster]
I've been in a moderately long running IRC game of StarCluster (a space-faring RPG in the hard-science style of Niven). The characters are crew and owners of a stolen space…
In Actual Play
Participants: Marco, Adam Dray, StalkingBlue, Andrew Norris, TonyLB, Mike Holmes, cruciel, Mark Woodhouse, Rob Carriere, Ron Edwards.

2/17/2006 Marco: Telekinesis
So I've got this character with a brain tumor named Amanda Averice (that's the tumor's name, not my character's name) and it talks to me and gives me TK. The…
In Adept Press
Participants: Marco, Ron Edwards.

8/24/2006 Marco: Emissaries and Empire
The link is here: http://www.jagsrpg.org/jags/content/personal/EmissaryAndEmpire_draft.pdf This is a very, very rough, very very early draft of the game. The Synopsis You are Emissaries of a vast empire that has thousands…
In First Thoughts
Participants: Marco, Ron Edwards.

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