An interesting book offering a historical perspective of role-playing as well as gems of information, plagued by excessive verbiage and the author’s inability to get down off his high horse and truly connect with the audience.
Post originally by Lazarus at 2003-12-24 09:43:25
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A few points.
first is that the lack of art inside the book shouldn't affect anything; it's not really an RPG supplement.
Second, he's right in his main theses - that RPG "Mastery" really is a _group_ thing and not an individual thing. I guess you agreed with that, just not the support for it he gave.
Third, it's always good to observe others, how they play, etc. Just like I'm sure actors get out there and see how others work - much the same thing.
Fourth, what's with all your little diatribes in there? I found your review quite hard to read because of it - you admitted to it being your second review, but you might want to watch that in the future.
Post originally by megasquidd at 2003-12-24 10:45:08
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Why would you read a book about roleplaying written by the creator of D&D when you obviously hate D&D and the entire genre? Of course the author is going to you fantasy examples... Even the cover has a picture of a dragon on it.
It would be like reading a book about sportsmanship written by Dr. Nasmith and but hating basketball. But i digress...
On to the content of the review. I found the authors tone to be trite and condescending. I'll be the first to admit that Gygax's attitude doesn't always please me. The author obviously agrees with me and his review oozes with sarcasm, cynisism, and contempt. It makes the review almost unreadable. But i digress...
You should try writting a review on something that you don't have such contempt for. But i digress...
You came off like a fanboi-troll. Now I'm sure you are not one of those. And I'm sure that was not the way you meant to come off, but you did. If this was your second review then i hope the third is better.
In the future if you want to criticize someones condescending tone you should careful not you use a more condescending tone to criticize them with.
Post originally by Vibropod at 2003-12-24 11:09:32
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"obviously he wasn’t as gifted with diplomatic ability. (Or to be snide, with financial ability either, after all, where is TSR?)"
Gygax was no longer a part of TSR long before their financial difficulties.
"The author makes some other excellent points that suggest he spends as much time behind the screen as me."
Since he has been GM-ing since the early 70s, and you've been playing since 2000, I would suggest that you are nowhere close.
Unfortunately, your review comes off sounding just as superior in tone as a typical Gygax piece. You might want to tone down the opinions and editorializing and stick to facts in the future.
Post originally by Wes Johnson at 2003-12-24 12:58:19
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At a time in my life I did like AD&D and its predecessors. However even by 1987 Gygax's influence and skill at game design had truely waned. He brought a lot to the hobby and is a legend for that.
But he is the last person I would ever seriously read a thesis about RPG's, their evolution and players. What has he done that has been dramatically different then his original efforts? At a point in time everyone could accept his pedestrian game design and scholarly efforts because nobody else was doign it. Kudos to him, but also gamer's and designers got a whole lot smarter. Gygax never did.
It is not much of a joke, but it summs up Gygax quite well:
Q: What is Gary Gygax's favorite dinosaur?
A: The thesaurus.
Post originally by Bubbalin at 2003-12-25 00:28:40
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Yeah, I agree in general with your points. I just find the way the author tries to say 'this is my opinion and it should be every one else's also', quite annoying. I found it very grating, and perhaps my frustration showed.
I don't understand your third point though. I think I agreed with it, but I just didn't like the way gygax went and pushed a lot of things... Maybe you could clarify and we can discuss it.
As for the art, I guess it really shows its vintage there. But still, I found it very long in some sections without artwork or anything to break it. (Yes, I do read novels, but I guess I gold this to a different standard)
Feel free to comment some more.
Post originally by Bubbalin at 2003-12-25 00:33:16
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Hehe, I confess to writing this in the middle of the night. Between the hours of midnight and 3:30am actually.
I suppose I was expecting a lot more, and got frustrated by it and yet oddly energised. I don't know, I just feel it could have been so much more.
Yeah, oozing of sarcasm I know... But I guess I just felt that his ego in this book was on the verge of bursting and that annoys me. (Maybe because I have just as big an ego and can't stand the competition.
Anyway, I digress.
Between the hours of midnight and 3:30am actually.
Linear Mode
