>From Vincent Baker's blog (author of _Dogs in the Vineyard_)...
http://www.lumpley.com/comments.php?entry=146
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You remember how big a deal it was when we smashed open the GM's power
over everything-but-the-characters? We were like, "this thing where
the GM creates and controls everything-but-the-characters, solely and
exclusively and all by his lonely, this thing is broken, plus
stultifying, plus it's not even true." You know how good the games are
that came - and keep coming - out of that?
My dangerous idea for 2006 is: we should do the same to the player's
power over the character. It'll be just as good.
I want a Universalis, a Polaris, an Under the Bed, and a Capes
illustrating _playerless_ play.
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And I think at that point, it really _would_ be just a bunch of guys
sitting around and co-writing a novel, when nobody even owns any
particular character.
While there are many definitions of "roleplaying" I think you've moved
firmly outside the boundaries of roleplaying when you remove the
_role_ from the game. When I am no longer a player playing a role,
but a collaborative story teller with equal access to all the
characters, I'm no longer roleplaying. _Polaris_ is only one step
removed from that, but I think even _Polaris_ would be badly broken by
eliminating the player's unique authority over his personal character.
In _Polaris_, there is no GM and everyone plays many characters... but
each has their personal protagonist that nobody else gets to take
primary control of.
Of course, I don't agree with Vincent's "breaking the GM's control"
thing to start with... I find it odd, the attitude that indie game
designers have to tear down the past in order to build the future.
But I'm getting a bit fed up with some (some, not all) indie
designers' attitudes of superiority, like they're doing some really
big, important thing.
There's some useful ideas coming out of the Forge... but in my mind,
some of these guys are breaking the fundamental things that make
roleplaying fun for me, and they're telling me that they way I want to
play really sucks. "95% of roleplayers aren't having fun."
I love that they're exploring new territory and trying to create
"better" games... I dislike that some of them cannot do it without
becoming arrogant and annoying.
Sometimes I think they confuse being passionate with being right. If
you're passionate enough, then whatever Zennish bullcrap you spout
about your game design must be true.
--
Carl D Cravens (raven@phoenyx.net) Gamers List Owner
[ The Fudge List -- http://fudge.phoenyx.net/ ]
ERROR: Unable to comprehend lame tagline.
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