2005-09-12 : Just
I love that Michael says "just."
As for making a "tense, engaging story" you know that you guys did all the work, right? i just concocted some heroes with problems that their powers wouldn't solve and said "show me these people dealing with these problems." You guys did the rest.
-Michael S. Miller, in this post in Some thoughts ... about GenCon 2005
Setting up for great play is as easy and hard as that.
1. On 2005-09-12, La Ludisto / Josh BishopRoby said:
Hm. The Forge seems to be down. But nonetheless, that's the beauty of the most recent batch of games—you 'just' have to bring in a character with problems/issues/intent. We no longer have to do the work of shoehorning characters into the system so they'll work. Compared to the 'old' way of jamming all the elements in in just the right way, what we do now is 'just' a little less work.
This makes...
VB go "there's a power outage in LA."*
MW go "so that's why"*
*click in for more
2. On 2005-09-13, Ninja Monkey J said:
Damn, that was a fine game. I'm inclined to play in with all the people up in Greenfield sometime.
... on the other hand, there's a lot of work to be done on Shock: and I don't want to squander my playtesters' attention.
3. On 2005-09-14, Michael S. Miller said:
Gee, I get all busy with work and stuff and folks start quotin' me behind my back!
That is rather the "Thematic/Narritivist" blueprint laid for us by Sorcerer, isn't it? Present the players with a problem that has no easy answer. Empower the players with a wide range of options, all of which have consequences, yet none of which is a perfect fit for the problem. Drama results.
Kinda like life, huh?
4. On 2005-09-14, Ninja Monkey J said:
Sure enough.
...
Ha ha! You said you wrote the rules that way because it's realistic! Awesome!
5. On 2005-09-15, Michael S. Miller said:
J- (May I call you "J"?)
Realistic? Absolutely! The reality of any role-playing game is a few people sitting around talking about stuff they're imagining. Many of the new games recognize, embrace, and capitalize on that fact—yours and mine certainly do. In WGP, I'm particularly proud of the way that both sides of a conflict having Stakes in a scene works to provoke player involvement—it's a big sign saying "listen to what I have to say about this story.
As for the other type of "realistic" (with consequences and hard problems we were discussing above), I think that's the same sort of realism that all art has. No matter how fantastical the trappings, it has a grain of truth that allows people to feel a part of themselves in it. Even though it's all fictional and "false," art has a "truth-ier truth" to it.
As for the third type of "realism"—the kind that most gamers talk about with specific distances and weights, etc.—that has very little room in my designs. But you knew that.
6. On 2005-09-15, Ninja Monkey J said:
Of course, you can call me J. K is already taken by Franz.
I just love that you're saying that it's "like life". Just like 9.8m/sec/sec is for so many other games.
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