Post originally by dunerat at 2005-03-18 01:54:52
Converted from Phorums BB System

Greetings all.

i see all this talk about immaturity and bad writing on this game, and yet, it seems blatantly obvious that none of you have ever actually played the game.

BL is not a game about blowing things up. Yes, you can do that too. But that's usually the quickest way to get killed, because it lets everyone know where you are. This game is about internal politicking, race relations, and the carnage that is associated with those two phenomena.

Regardless of whether or not Simms' orginal writing style was particularly skilled really has nothing to do with this game. Simms isn't even really associated with it any more, except as a sort of distant father figure, and he isn't even a member of SSDC, the company that publishes BL. True, his examples are simplistic, but it was designed to be accessible, and overly complicated explanations would have seriously hindered that. Most of the rules are simple and easily grasped, and for those that aren't, the examples help a bit. This dates mostly from the days when BL was just a 3" binder that Simms had the only copy of.

That said, many people probably won't like BL. Not because of the writing, or the fact that most of their characters will die before the third mission. But because the game does not cater to munchkins or any other powergames. It isn't impossible, with the right BM, but it isn't any fun, anymore than it is in any other game.

Some one mentioned spaceships. They're coming. There were a lot of legal issues regarding SSDC's acquiring the rights to BL, and for whatever reason, they had to redo the ships from scratch. But first they had to actually get the game in print again first, which is why most of the books that have come out already are edited reprints. But new stuff, including the spaceships, are coming as the SSDC team can get them done.

"Blowing things up good?" Sheesh, most characters can't afford explosives.

--dunerat