View Single Post
 
Old 07-08-2009, 02:52 AM
SpoDaddy's Avatar
SpoDaddy SpoDaddy is offline
Frakkin' toasters
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 1,617
Re: [RPG]: HackMaster Basic, reviewed by James Gillen (4/3)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eisenmann View Post
Umm, yep. About the only hobbies that I can think of that don't require much in the way of cash outlay is rock collecting done in the back yard and paper clip collections.
I've always thought of RPGs as one of the cheapest forms of entertainment available, if you consider how many hours of entertainment you're getting per dollar. A new video game costs $60 and provides, on average, 10-15 hours of entertainment. A new RPG costs around $40 on average and can provide years of entertainment. The best example of this from my own experience was the second edition of the West End Star Wars rulebook; I bought it for $20 and ran Star Wars adventures every weekend for about 5 years. The average adventure was about 5 hours, multiplied by 52 weeks, multiplied by 5 years; well over a thousand hours of entertainment for $20. Today the Saga Edition rulebook is $40, but still, you could use it to play Star Wars every weekend for another 5 years if you wanted to.

As for Hackmaster Basic, I'm intrigued by it and looking forward to checking out Advanced Hackmaster. If it can transcend parody and extraneous rules (as it seems Hackmaster Basic has, compared to Hackmaster 4th) then it could hit a sweet spot for people like me that remember when RPGs were designed as games, rather than drama club exercises.
__________________
"My girl is going to get a rude awakening when she gets home today, as I must now demand a SpoBaggy."- Big Willy

Last edited by SpoDaddy; 07-08-2009 at 02:54 AM..
Reply With Quote