The Indie Gaming Scene

Blackleaf · October 13, 2006, 03:06:48 PM

Hmmm. I wonder if Samuel Clemens has a blog... I should call him up and see.

Zachary The First · October 15, 2006, 04:24:42 AM

Quote from: SettembriniGaming Report has fallen for RPG Pro:

That's not all it looks like they've fallen for:

http://www.gamingreport.com/article.php?sid=22464&mode=thread&order=0

Is this the work of John Kim, mayhap?

QuoteRPG News: Limbo Fever RPG Wiki Launched
Posted 2006-10-14 23:08:19 by damonwhite
An Anonymous Reader Reports: Professor Kory Curtis is proud to announce that John H. Kim has begun the Limbo Fever RPG Wiki, a collaborative effort to adapt and benefit from the revolutionary and much-lauded gamng theory musings of Prof. Curtis.

Limbo Fever is an intense thematic experience, one that dares to ask the question "how low can you go?". In addition, it is suggested for heavy use in

dealing with personal conflicts and societal themes.

Both the original "indie" version and a lesser, plebian d20 version are being created. Journey to the Limbo Fever Wiki and join in making serious, high-impact creative choices and transcending from mere Game into Art.

The Limbo Fever Wiki may be found at:
http://wikihost.org/wikis/limbofever/

For an Actual Play session regarding Limbo Fever and all the best in Indie Gaming, visit:
http://indiegamingscene.blogspot.com

Kyle Aaron · October 15, 2006, 05:33:02 AM

In case anyone think the indiegamingscene blog is pure parody, and exaggeration, take this recent comment on story-games. It was a thread about "your least favourite jargon terms." Other people mentioned "Narrativism", "shared imaginary space", okay, reasonable so far. Merten comes up with "fun." Fun? Yes, it's a word he doesn't want to hear!

Quote from: Merten"Fun" is something that's promoted as the central reward of roleplaying, the end result, the stuff why people play. "Fun" also indicates something that you enjoy, that you have fun, that is cool and exciting and all that. "Fun" is a misleading term, promoting light-hearted, funny stuff and misses a whole lot of darker, more emotional and in a sense, intense stuff. "Fun" can be used as a safety net for not going where the disturbing, psychological, emotional issues lay, or at least keep them at arm's length; players are having "fun" while their characters are not. It's not "fun" to be angry, jealous, to hate something, cry, cheat, or to have someone you care to die, but it's still very meaningful and very rewarding. "Fun" is a double misnomer because some games look into these issues and still talk about "fun".

"Fun" is also something connected to "everybody participates", "everyone gets the his place in the limelight", "everyone has an equal say what happens" which is then a whole another discussion because people think what's "fun" for them is "fun" for everyone, and no other kind of "fun" can exist.

Sound familiar?

Quote from: Cornell RichardsonIt was amazing—I learned that day that sure, I might be having fun playing Dungeons & Dragons, I might really like the system, and might find it comparatively easy to find folks I wanted to play it with, but, he, asked, was I exploring heavy social and morally relative themes with my gaming? At this, I could only hang my head in shame.

Any volunteers for gaming with Merten? He gets angry if you say you want to have "fun"...

Merten? Is that you, man? No... no... nooooo!

:maniac:

Zachary The First · October 15, 2006, 06:20:08 AM

Jeez. Sometime truth is not only stranger than fiction, it's much worse. :brood:

jhkim · October 15, 2006, 11:43:42 AM

Quote from: Zachary The FirstThat's not all it looks like they've fallen for:

http://www.gamingreport.com/article.php?sid=22464&mode=thread&order=0

Is this the work of John Kim, mayhap?

Goddamn it! That's terrible! "Lesser, plebian d20 version"?!? :grumpy: Limbo Fever D20 is twenty times more balanced and playable than the original, plus it's the only version that most gamers will actually play.

RPGPundit · October 15, 2006, 11:49:59 AM

That's why the blog is funny, because its based on truth. Whether its comparing Ron Edwards to Jack Kerouac, talking about brain damage, claiming that "fun" is something you want to keep at arms length in good games, or generally looking down on regular gamers, that's all part of the package for the Theory crowd.

Likewise, the guy who parodied me wasn't funny because too much of his humour was untrue (claiming I was a racist homophobe with no fans).

RPGPundit

Zachary The First · October 15, 2006, 11:58:58 AM

Quote from: jhkimGoddamn it! That's terrible! "Lesser, plebian d20 version"?!? :grumpy: Limbo Fever D20 is twenty times more balanced and playable than the original, plus it's the only version that most gamers will actually play.

So that wasn't you, huh? You DO have to admit, it fits with what we know of Prof. Curtis and Cornell.

jhkim · October 15, 2006, 12:40:00 PM

OK, speaking seriously for a moment.

No, that wasn't me posting on GamingReport.com, but (obviously) I don't disapprove.

As for tasteless, shameless lies in humor... I don't have a problem with it. Now, if anyone were to actually believe, say, that Ron Edwards was a community college dropout, or that RPGpundit were a bigot on the basis of the parody blogs, then I would mock and insult the morons who think that. But parody is open season, and it would be pointless and silly for (say) Ron to respond to the blog by saying plaintiffly "But I really do have a degree." In general, there's nothing more pointless than trying to logically explain why one thing is funny and another thing isn't.

Balbinus · October 15, 2006, 12:44:47 PM

Quote from: RPGPunditThat's why the blog is funny, because its based on truth. Whether its comparing Ron Edwards to Jack Kerouac, talking about brain damage, claiming that "fun" is something you want to keep at arms length in good games, or generally looking down on regular gamers, that's all part of the package for the Theory crowd.

Likewise, the guy who parodied me wasn't funny because too much of his humour was untrue (claiming I was a racist homophobe with no fans).

RPGPundit

Dude, worrying about that makes it look like you can dish it out but can't take it, unfair as that may well be. Don't be upset someone said shitty things about you, be glad you're making sufficient impact that someone wants to say shitty things about you.

Settembrini · October 15, 2006, 01:12:56 PM

QuoteDude, worrying about that makes it look like you can dish it out but can't take it, unfair as that may well be. Don't be upset someone said shitty things about you, be glad you're making sufficient impact that someone wants to say shitty things about you.

Repeated for truth.

TonyLB · October 16, 2006, 10:58:11 AM

Quote from: JimBobOzOther people mentioned "Narrativism", "shared imaginary space", okay, reasonable so far. Merten comes up with "fun." Fun? Yes, it's a word he doesn't want to hear!

Dude ... to my eyes you seem to be radically misinterpreting Merten there.

He says (roughly) "I have troubles when people use the term 'fun', because it is often a cover for a different argument. It's not so much saying 'We want to have fun' as saying 'If you want something that we don't want then you're anti-fun.' "

You say (roughly) "See! He doesn't want to have fun!"

Irony, man. Isn't that exactly the kind of thing Merten's complaining about? Do you see something in his quote that actually says that he doesn't want to have fun, or for other people to have fun?

Abyssal Maw · October 16, 2006, 11:16:29 AM

Quote from: TonyLBDude ... to my eyes you seem to be radically misinterpreting Merten there.

He says (roughly) "I have troubles when people use the term 'fun', because it is often a cover for a different argument. It's not so much saying 'We want to have fun' as saying 'If you want something that we don't want then you're anti-fun.' "

You say (roughly) "See! He doesn't want to have fun!"

Irony, man. Isn't that exactly the kind of thing Merten's complaining about? Do you see something in his quote that actually says that he doesn't want to have fun, or for other people to have fun?

Actually I kinda agree with Merten's argument, because I saw a serious attempt at redefining the word "fun" (and thus jargonizing it) by the indie crowd. As in this post- if you follow it as far as comment #4, you can see the actual bait and switch.

jrients · October 16, 2006, 11:56:06 AM

Quote from: StuartHmmm. I wonder if Samuel Clemens has a blog... I should call him up and see.

Thank you so much for that link! Owlbears is awesome!

Settembrini · October 16, 2006, 01:04:16 PM

I so totally played stuff like this, re-enacting He-Man episodes or whathevu...and while coming home today, a small boy was "hiding" in a tree, and wanted my €s. He must have seen Robin Hood or something.

I smiled.

I would have played along, but he didn`t bother to come down from the tree, so I kept walking. he was afraid to jump, it seems. Guts earn money, so he went empty handed...

Levi Kornelsen · October 16, 2006, 01:17:29 PM

Quote from: Abyssal MawActually I kinda agree with Merten's argument, because I saw a serious attempt at redefining the word "fun" (and thus jargonizing it) by the indie crowd. As in this post- if you follow it as far as comment #4, you can see the actual bait and switch.

JimBob actually said it best, once, when he talked about fun, satisfaction, and other forms of enjoyment.

I can't find that post, but it was good stuff.

Which is why I'm baffled by his jumping at Merten.

"Fun", in the sense of playful, bantering, light-hearted stuff, isn't always what we're after. And redefining words is a Dumb Idea. So more words are good.