Comments for Syntax Error

Comment on #10 Jonas ‘Jonesy’ Jones by iwvpdkumsir

iwvpdkumsir — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:43:57 +0000

Comment on #10 Jonas ‘Jonesy’ Jones by Terry

Terry — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 08:22:20 +0000

Oh yeah, there’s also . It looks like nhotrern slopes and shaded areas in the Buckhorn Wash area still had some snow, but not nearly as much as the higher elevations.

Comment on Uniting the Editions, Part 1 by Llanwyre

Llanwyre — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:25:03 +0000

Outstanding commentary! I’ve been trying to wrap my head around what seems so absurd about the DnD5e project, and you’ve hit the nail on the head. The best RPGs really are the ones where the rules work smoothly create a particular experience, so how can one rules set give us multiple possible experiences without being incredibly watered down? (And what kind of game designer would want to work on that game–one that, by definition, denies any unifying vision he might have?)

What I hope is WotC’s move will cause some discontented players to look away from DnD and to some of the great indie games out there!

Comment on The Rules Are Not a Thermostat by DMTonyF

DMTonyF — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:06:28 +0000

Thus cooking analogy really connects with me. In fact, this is the specific lesson that Cooks Illustrated (America’s Test Kitchen) has taken to heart with their material. They don’t just tell you to “mix ingredients together” they tell you how to and why your doing it (with examples of the results of bad mixing to go with it). Applying this approach to teaching D&D and more importantly “How to DM” would be challenging, but done right it could be incredibly effective!

Comment on The Rules Are Not a Thermostat by Kit

Kit — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:29:51 +0000

Yup, exactly.

I guess what I’m really saying is that it makes me think of Vincent’s thing about rules and system (http://lumpley.com/comment.php?entry=23) and how one can make a fine game from ingredients poached from some purchased rules. If one already has those skills.

Comment on The Rules Are Not a Thermostat by Sage LaTorra

Sage LaTorra — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:44:19 +0000

That’s a really good thought, and one I hadn’t considered. What I feel is weird is that so many gamers don’t want recipes. They know how to make a good dish and they’re not interested in ways to make that dish better or ways to make different dishes, unless they discover them on their own. They want to buy ‘cookbooks’ that give them ingredient lists.

Comment on The Rules Are Not a Thermostat by Sage LaTorra

Sage LaTorra — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:38:41 +0000

I was aiming for something possible but not easy, including stuff that even an adventurous home cook might not use. I’ve never used a pressure cooker, for instance. So it was intended to be a little weird but not impossible. Kind of like the rules to a lot of games.

Comment on PYS Review: Icons by David

David — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:04:42 +0000

[...] I've petcidred the demise of netbooks before, and even if Apple haters completely ignore the iPad, I'm still convinced that the future of netbooks is coming. Soon. [...]

Comment on The Rules Are Not a Thermostat by Tommi Brander

Tommi Brander — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:30:29 +0000

I think the cooking analogy works better. I interpret it thus:

1. I find it easy to make food that tastes fairly good and gives enough energy and nutrients. (Just do an omelette or soup with vegetables and some source of protein.) For reference, I have been cooking my own food for less than 3/2 years.

1′. Likewise, I find it easy to run a fairly entertaining roleplaying session. (Just take a situation with pressure and conflict and roll dice in some reasonably way when there’s uncertainty. Or take some mystery and let player characters interact with it.)

2. I would have a little chance of making adequate food for someone with troublesome allergies or very restrictive taste, but a recipe or some studying would make it possible.

2′. For a style of gaming unfamiliar to me, I would need an explicitly designed game to get it to work, or need to read play reports and advice on how to do it and internalise it.

3. Rarely do I cook something that tastes very good. It takes luck and a good recipe.

3′. Likewise, excellent gaming really needs a good system, people who like each other, and luck.

Give me a list of fairly familiar ingredients and I can cook a familiar dish with them, and it will be okay. That’s enough for me. I suppose the analogous situation is enough for most roleplayers, also.

Comment on The Rules Are Not a Thermostat by Kit

Kit — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:52:45 +0000

Hm. I might make that. But I’d skip the pineapple (can’t stand that) and add some rice to put it on. Probably sauté some other veg, make an approximate bibimbap.

Which is of course all a metaphor for “I am confident in my GMing, know what I would do with those elements in the abstract, have ideas about how I would combine them, and wouldn’t play the game as written.”

But now I actually want to make that.