Subj : Re: Gamelists To : All From : requiescat@bigfoot.com Date : Sun Dec 24 2000 11:46 am From: "Yoon Ha Lee" Subject: Re: Gamelists Jason, on the D&D movie: >Even worse, though, is that Ebert's co-critic Roeper was saying things like >"didn't this game die out in the 70's?" That's not good news for TSR, who >was hoping to attract newcomers with this movie. I confess I haven't seen the thing and have no inclination to (if I want to watch something fantasy, I look for anime), but a friend of mine has a theory that these days setting rather than system sells games. It's true for her and I know it's true for me; since I prefer freeform and know some systems I like to use, I'm not in the market for a new system. I am, however, willing to buy various rpg's for their settings. Which means that T$R's campaign settings, though I don't think highly of most of them, are of far more interest to me than the new Player's Guide or Monstrous Compendium or whatever. Anyone else have thoughts on this? I know one of the reasons Legend of the Five Rings took off is that it already had a fan-base from the ccg, and there are numerous L5R fans who may not necessarily roleplay (though they aren't averse to it, either), but they'll buy all the Way of the [insert Clan here] books and the sourcebooks and the Winter Court supplements to find out more about the setting and its people. I suppose it doesn't hurt that the ccg has a fairly rich (though lately, occasionally stupid and meandering) storyline to begin with. OTOH the level of detail means there isn't as much "story space" for player characters to wander into, but then, GM's can always screw with the background. The local favored gambit is to set any L5R campaign before the Scorpion Clan Coup, or to posit a different outcome to the Scorpion Clan Coup. The campaign-in-abeyance Joe and I were running (and hope to continue next semester) is actually at the same time but with a divergent history. Lots of fun. Over the Edge was the one system I got for its system, and I have to confess that its *setting* is a real bonus if you're into quirky stuff. :-p And I hope to get Orkworld when I can find a copy. But more xD&D? Even my boyfriend, who *likes* min-maxing and number-crunching to a certain extent (what can you expect of a physics major who was trying to figure out the "muzzle velocity" of a crossbow from the Player's Guide range tables?), has given up on xD&D. YHL -- |Fidonet: requiescat@bigfoot.com |Internet: scott@conchbbs.com | | Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own. --- # Origin: (1:106/357.99) * Origin: ConchGate (1:106/357.0) .