>>From the quote that ends "are highly overrated."
Skimming through the thread on FF that has created such a stir, one
thing kept pinging. There is a subtle call for FF's demise, and a
counter by many saying "dont." What the reading of the discussion
suggests is that there is profound lack of consensus on what FF should
be and even where it is. What I am saying is not mean to fan the
flames already on going, but to sift things out.
I believe Carl has a vision on how FF should be. However, he commented
that Fudge itself is sort of like the Norwegian Blue--if it had not
been nailed to the perch by being open; it would have died years ago.
I would say that this should not be coming from an editor of the
community's one fan 'zine, although I understand it was more from
Carl's general level of frustration.
I would say, however, that the death of FF is not an option. I don't
believe FF belongs to one person to make the decision to kill it, I
agree that the Community needs to affirmatively assent to this. I will
restate my willingness to host FF if it comes to the point that there
is a lack of willingness to continue it. I have the space that's
already paid for, so it's no skin off my nose. So, when the decision
comes to kill FF, remember there is always another option.
Fudge is the Perl of role-play: TIMTOWTDI (There is more than one way
to do it). Some have called for Fudge to be rebranded "New Fudge,"
like New Coke. I should remind people that New Coke came about because
the old formula was about to be released to the public. I always
thought the New Coke was a way of forcing people to forget about the
old Coke so Coke Classic could make its debute--it tastes nothing like
the original formula. (You in Europe have something tasting more like
the real thing.)
Python is starting to beat Perl because TIOOWTDI (There is only one
way to do it). That is, while there are many routes that could take
you to Rome (as all road lead there), only one is the best route. So,
does that mean that Fudge should be redone in a TIOOWTDI fashion?
Perhaps Fudge is too ethereal? Perhaps there should be more focus on
"commercially successful" strains of Fudge. I mean, if ten years of
Fudge has produced a few popular ways of doing it, we as a community
should embrace those and find out how to change the Vanilla Fudge to
highlight this. Even as I type this, I find this a hard thing to
accept at face value. I know it will be hard to unify the many shards
of Fudge fans, but it may be necessary. I see Fudge as the better
option over d20, so I would not want to see it zombie off into the
night.
--
Ben Wilson
" Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur"
-- -----------------------------------------------------------
The Fudge List FAQ is at http://fudge.phoenyx.net/listfaq.html
The Fudge List Guide to Fudge http://fudge.phoenyx.net/