Previous Topics

5/24/2001 Zak Arntson: Simulate vs. Explore
Here is my take on Simulation vs. Exploration. Simulation holds the weight that "Sim" does as a prefix to video games. SimAnt, for example, handles anthills _NOT_ realistically, but with…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Zak Arntson, Jared A. Sorensen, Valamir, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, greyorm.

5/24/2001 james_west: The right level of self-confidence
I was having a conversation with my wife yesterday (whose artistic inclinations tend in different directions) which seemed extremely relevant to this forum. It boils down to: Strong creativity happens…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: james_west, JSDiamond.

5/24/2001 poppocabba: poop on cybercon
I recently received an invitation to gm at cyber con, but it appears they will only except "mainstream printed rpgs" so for those of you that are concerned about such…
In Conventions
Participants: poppocabba, Dav.

5/24/2001 Clinton R. Nixon: Breaking records
I just wanted everyone to know how active the board's been--I know you've seen it in post volume, but here's some raw stats: Yesterday, we had 15,685 page views on…
In Site Discussion
Participants: Clinton R. Nixon, Zak Arntson, Dav.

5/24/2001 GreatWolf: Posts in Critical Hit
Scarlet Jester has posted two threads on Gamist and Explorative play in the Critical Hit forum on Gaming Outpost. Personally I found them helpful and thought-provoking, and I was curious…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: GreatWolf, Jared A. Sorensen, Valamir.

5/24/2001 joshua neff: batting 1000
over on gaming outpost, the "sorcerer" forum hit it's 1000th post...the only other rpg title fora that have that many posts are the two "deadlands" fora & the "ars magica"…
In Adept Press
Participants: joshua neff, Clinton R. Nixon.

5/23/2001 Ian O'Rourke: Narrativists: Competitive Wusses?
[quote] On 2001-05-23 15:06, Blake Hutchins wrote: Ron's speculations regarding Simulationism is like saying Narrativists are afraid of competing or intimidated by immersive gaming. [/quote] I'm making a generalisation here…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Ian O'Rourke, Ron Edwards, Blake Hutchins, joshua neff, GreatWolf, Gordon C. Landis, Jared A. Sorensen, james_west, Mike Holmes, Dav, Valamir, Poxface, Doc Midnight.

5/23/2001 Logan: GM Bias
This is the beginning of a discussion about GM bias. So far, G/N/S has addressed the behaviors of designers and players. But GMs also have preferences, and I think these…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Logan, Ian O'Rourke, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, Mytholder, Jared A. Sorensen, greyorm.

5/23/2001 Jason L Blair: Game #1: Machina
Dag, both JS and Zak have posted that they are working on games where players take the role of machines. Well, I have a game dealing with that as well…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Jason L Blair, Dav, JSDiamond, Zak Arntson, Jared A. Sorensen, james_west.

5/23/2001 Logan: Attributes or skills, not both?
I think I missed this rant, so somebody please fill me in. Best, Logan
In RPG Theory
Participants: Logan, Ron Edwards, joshua neff, james_west, Blake Hutchins, Mike Holmes, Valamir, Paul Czege.

5/23/2001 JSDiamond: Rolling bones and other things
This was brought up by james_west and got me to thinking. How does the physical system-mechanic of a game affect its 'feel'? I chose percentiles (2d10) for Orbit for this…
In RPG Theory
Participants: JSDiamond, Dav, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, J B Bell, Le Joueur, efindel, Jack Spencer Jr, Bailywolf, James V. West.

5/23/2001 Ian O'Rourke: GNS and Gaming in the Modern World
I'm writing an article at the moment for fandomlife.net (or my rpg.net column I've not decided yet) which basically proposes a strategy on how to get regular gaming sessions going…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Ian O'Rourke, Ron Edwards, Mytholder, Gordon C. Landis, james_west.

5/23/2001 james_west: zombie squirrel
There's a place in the Soul of the Sorceror supplement in which it says that perhaps demons are evil the way squirrels are cute. I, apparently, have a zombie squirrel…
In Adept Press
Participants: james_west, Ron Edwards, Dav, greyorm, Jared A. Sorensen, Zak Arntson, Clay.

5/23/2001 Clay: Micro Wars - The simple war game
Somebody in another forum complained that there didn't seem to be any gamist action here. To counteract that trend, I've put up my web site for Micro Wars, a simple…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Clay.

5/23/2001 poppocabba: use of parliamentary procedure in gaming/game design
i am running a game set in the enlightenment, and I was thinking of incorporating robert's rules of order/parliamentary procedure into the game to give players a fell for the…
In Actual Play
Participants: poppocabba, Mytholder, Blake Hutchins.

5/23/2001 Dav: Metagame mechanics
Okay, so we've got a new forum, which is dandy. So, there seemed to be some question as to metagame mechanics, among other issues. I chose to just pull this…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Dav, GreatWolf, hardcoremoose, james_west, Ron Edwards, Logan, Zak Arntson, Gordon C. Landis, Mytholder.

5/22/2001 Jared A. Sorensen: The Moose Strikes Back
Hardcoremoose has done it AGAIN. http://speardanes.homestead.com/main.html Great stuff!
In Memento-Mori Theatricks
Participants: Jared A. Sorensen, hardcoremoose, blå.

5/22/2001 poppocabba: the depiction of women in gaming
this topic started in another venue, and I was interested I seeing what people here had to say... now here is my concern on a broader level. I honestly feel…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: poppocabba, Ron Edwards, Dav, Clay, james_west, Jared A. Sorensen, Zak Arntson, JSDiamond, Cameron, greyorm, Jamie Thomas Durbin, kwill, contracycle.

5/22/2001 Paul Czege: correct my impression?
Hey Seth, Somewhere I got the impression that your design goal for Alyria is a system that will resolve conflicts at the macro/cultural level and at the micro/interpersonal level with…
In Dark Omen Games
Participants: Paul Czege, GreatWolf, Ron Edwards.

5/21/2001 Jared A. Sorensen: Platforms
I've been tinkering with a game called Platforms. It's "the 2-dimensional game for 3-dimensional people" and is supposed to capture the feel of a character-based, side-scrolling video-game (ie: Super Mario…
In Memento-Mori Theatricks
Participants: Jared A. Sorensen, Ron Edwards, Zak Arntson, hardcoremoose, james_west.

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Subsequent Topics

5/25/2001 Daredevil: Thoughts
Heya, What follows is just some thoughts I feel like voicing. They're not anything I feel too strongly about, but merely things that have occurred to me while pondering the…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Daredevil, Ron Edwards, Zak Arntson.

5/25/2001 Jason L Blair: Game #2: Zodiac 12
Okay, this one is even more neophytic in design than the previous site. More will be added soon but I decided, "Hey... why not post it?" Again, horribly edited but…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Jason L Blair, Clinton R. Nixon, hardcoremoose, james_west, gentrification, contracycle.

5/25/2001 GreatWolf: Sphinx Group
I note that there are at least a couple folks here represented by the Sphinx Group. Spill the beans. Are they good? What do they do? Are they worth it?…
In Connections
Participants: GreatWolf, Ron Edwards, Dav.

5/26/2001 Valamir: Simulation and Subjectivity
Ok. This is a very Sorcerer specific message and so in that sense might more appropriately belong on the Sorcerer forum. But my intent here is not so much to…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Valamir, Supplanter, greyorm, Clinton R. Nixon, Gordon C. Landis, Mike Holmes, Jared A. Sorensen, GreatWolf, Paul Czege, james_west, Logan, Mytholder, joshua neff, Zak Arntson.

5/26/2001 Valamir: Gamism and Mechanics
Supplanter raised some very interesting issues on by simulationist thread, but since they were at best tangental to the thrust of that discussion I figured they could best be addressed…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Valamir, Supplanter, GreatWolf.

5/27/2001 Zak Arntson: Freebie RPG: Courts & Corsets
After watching Amadeus (and being a fan of those effeminate costume dramas in general), I thought about writing an RPG that recreates the intrigue-filled life of those characters. I thought…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Zak Arntson, Damocles, Paul Czege.

5/27/2001 Damocles: Time
I have been thinking about the role of time in rpgs. Not so much story time vs. real world time, but practical issues like how long a session lasts, how…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Damocles, Ron Edwards, james_west, greyorm.

5/28/2001 Damocles: silly little game: "Trust me."
"Trust Me" (First Draft) __Introduction__ "Trust Me" is a minimalist universal roleplaying game emphasizing mutual trust between players and game master. After a fashion. __What You Need__ For each player:…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Damocles, james_west.

5/30/2001 Zak Arntson: Players playing Demons
(Dragging an idea over from the ever-fraying Zombie Squirrel thread) I don't have the Sorcerer book (hopefully this weekend), but does it discuss each player playing their character and another…
In Adept Press
Participants: Zak Arntson, greyorm, Dav, Ron Edwards, Clinton R. Nixon, Clay.

5/31/2001 james_west: FAQ
This forum clearly needs a FAQ. I suggest it contains: (1) A set of definitions (or paradigms, or whatever) of G/N/S (2) An explanation of what it is supposed to…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: james_west, Logan, Ron Edwards, greyorm, Blake Hutchins, Valamir, Mike Holmes.

5/31/2001 Ron Edwards: State of the art
Hello everyone. These last few days on the Forge have been a big frustration for me. 1) Flaming, frankly. What's up with that (as my students would say)? That is…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Ron Edwards.

5/31/2001 Ferry Bazelmans: New game: storyboard
New to the board, perhaps not to the names ]:). I posted a new RPG on The BlackLight Bar. You''ll find it under Games-Free Games. It's largely concerned with…
In Indie Game Design
Participants: Ferry Bazelmans, Ron Edwards, hardcoremoose.

5/31/2001 Dav: Concerning stances
Okay, after much debate and great discussion... well, some other guy beat everyone to the punch for setting out to the unwashed masses. http://ptgptb.humbug.org.au/0017/roles.html A good article, and worth reading.…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Dav.

5/31/2001 james_west: Following advice
My posting rate has dropped dramatically in the past week or so; the reason for this is that I did decide to stop talking about it and start doing it.…
In Actual Play
Participants: james_west, Ron Edwards, Supplanter.

5/31/2001 Clinton R. Nixon: New reviews
There are several new reviews on the Forge, including one of Soap, one of the games written by our own esteemed Crayne. Go check it out and post comments.
In Review Discussion
Participants: Clinton R. Nixon, unodiablo, james_west, Ron Edwards, Jared A. Sorensen, Dav, Ian O'Rourke, Paul Czege, greyorm, JSDiamond, Valamir.

5/31/2001 Zak Arntson: D&D
Okay, guess what I just played ... But, it went okay. There's a bunch of newer players (including the DM) who seem to be pretty happy with learning the game,…
In Actual Play
Participants: Zak Arntson, Ron Edwards, hardcoremoose, Clay, Mike Holmes, greyorm, Paul Czege, Jared A. Sorensen.

5/31/2001 FSAuthor: Promoting Indie RPGs
Greetings & Well Met, Just wanted to drop a line thanking HF for putting a link up for my site in the library. I also wanted to ask those interested…
In Publishing
Participants: FSAuthor, Ron Edwards, Dav, Nathan, Clay.

6/1/2001 Gordon C. Landis: An understanding of GNS
OK, I want to run through what I've learned/decided as a result of some of the semi-recent discussion here and on GO, especially as regards Story and GNS, and add…
In GNS Model Discussion
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Supplanter, greyorm, Ron Edwards, Clinton R. Nixon, Logan.

6/1/2001 Gordon C. Landis: The FitM pattern at other "scales"
I've been thinking a lot about Ron's focus on linear vs. non-linear resolution mechanics. It took me a little work to wrap my brain around Fortune in the middle (FitM),…
In RPG Theory
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, Supplanter, Paul Czege, Ron Edwards, Mike Holmes, james_west, Dav.

6/1/2001 Gordon C. Landis: Don't violate expectations
OK, so I've been diving into the theory etc. discussions kinda heavy, and I feel the need to get a little more down to earth. Here's an incident from a…
In Actual Play
Participants: Gordon C. Landis, james_west, Mytholder, Ron Edwards.

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