My reasons for not copying materials to the web site have a lot to do with the line between recommending a product and endorsing a producer.
====At your level, not a concern. This is like the guy in tenth place in a track meet getting all worried about his gold medal acceptance speech which he is not going to give. He will be lucky if he gets a bronze.
It also has a fair amount to do with the fact that I have a tremendous workload, and cleaning up and coding and posting hundreds of articles by many people is more than I can commit to doing.
====A more serious issue. However, you should be so lucky as to have this problem. If you had this problem, you could hire someone to do it for you out of the money you'd be rolling in.
As it is, I am behind on web work both professionally and personally. It is much easier simply to link to an existing document.
====I'm willing, as I stated to make one 'Agglomerated Doc' per major topic. Vampires, Guns, Ecosystems, Major Social Structures, World Designs (like 'Music Wars'). I also would strongly like to see other designers who make smaller items to be treated more kindly than you're treating me. It is necessary to encourage someone to become a full-fledged participant, and telling them they have to jump a ten foot fence when they can barely handle a two foot fence is a way to keep other people from helping you.
I would like your assurance that you are interested in, and willing to back up the process of seeing a group of designers for this project. Because making a too high entry fence for beginners is a swell way to keep them out.
It also looks better for the company and for the writer.
Linking to someone's work elsewhere, and having them link back to us, creates more of an appearance of the popularity of the game;
====Creating a ton of worlds, and world design tools, and characters, and items that can be dropped into any world would do Much, Much better at that.
putting these articles on our site creates more of the appearance that we had our friends write stuff for us to post.
====A more professional look than linking someone to a blog post would be better. I do not intend to create websites. However, if you want the slightly, sloppy look, then so be it.
You do wonderful work, Eric, and I appreciate it; but you aren't part of the company, and it is better for you and for us to maintain your independence.
====Your company needs something, I don't know what. Perhaps a dose of Tadeusz the Sledgehammer would be good for it.
As you once said to me, I am supposed to think that Multiverser is the best game out there. So is everyone who works in this company. That automatically discredits us, to the point that we're not allowed to write reviews of our materials, even if those materials are not written by us individually. You, on the other hand, are a fan,
===Not really a fan. When someone writes a game book on the Net, and writes a novel based on the game....that line in the sand that said 'fan' is long gone behind us.
someone who sees the merit in the game without being part of the company. I was a fan before I became an author; John was a fan as a playtester before becoming a stockholder and director and officer. We're all fans of our own game, but because it is in some sense "our own game", we're discredited. You have more credibility if your stuff is not on our website: it's not your game, but you like it and support it.
====I think you overstimate the value of the "Eric R. Ashley" brand name. Sure, I'm a brilliant GM, and much of my world designs are better than some of the ones published, but when people meet me and I ask them to game they frequently don't seem overwhelmed with joy. Its only after they sit down to game, and then get up many hours later with dazzled smiles of joy that they realize how lucky they were. Evidently, I don't cut that great of an impression.
I'm good at 'Get out of the large, irritated man's way', but not so good at 'follow me'. However, once fate puts me in charge, I am pretty good, or great as a GM.
I also don't have to pass as strict a judgment on anything. Most of what is on our support site itself comes directly from one of our books; the exceptions are formal answers to questions we've been asked and materials from future books. We could have included the extensive martial arts materials, but they are not official--they are on my personal web site for that reason.
====Your decision on the MA stuff is a mistake. Go look at the D20 website for suggestions on what you want.
I can set links to things that are "good" and "useful" without giving them the status of official Valdron publications.
====This is what the 'Optional' opening remarks that you made me include was about. Now the bar is raised again.
Note that this includes much of my own work, which is not official Multiverser material but is linked as useful.
As to the natures of the articles, yes, I have a prejudice against lists, and a greater prejudice against "dX" lists. The creation of a world, to my mind, should not be a randomized approach in that way.
====1) Thats your view as gamemaster. A valid view, mind you. But you're a producer for a game system, not a game master. Repeat after me "There is no One True Way to Roleplay".
I had one guy run an AD&D game where he rolled the dice, opened the Monster Manual to the page indicated, and said we met that monster in that room.
Are you going to tell him that he can't play your game?
Yes, its a horribly silly way to play, and he even knew it. But he lacked the creativity to improv on the spot, and he didn't have a game. I think I may have been too tired, and/or I might have been running into the 'Not Impressive Sounding as a GM/Leader thing' I have.
All of those factors either matter or do not matter. If they matter, then the world designer should intelligently choose those items that fit his vision of the world, and not let the dice give him flintlock pistols and supercomputers.
====Flintlocks and supercomputers sounds like an interesting world. Have you seen the latest Flash Gordon series. It has similar incongruities which are well explained.
Frequently such incongruities lead the way to more interesting worlds.
However, my view of lists is primarily as Wodium said a few weeks back. They serve to remind the GM. Sure I know what an oligarchy is, but I'm not likely to think of it when I'm world designing. Roll it on a list, and interesting possibilities can pop up in one's head.
Your insistence on full details of a situation such as a full scale description of 'oligarchy' is not the usual way game designers do things. At most, they might give a paragraph.
Another advantage to a list of guns is the ease of use. Your system is math heavy which I assume is necessary. (I'm not enough of a game designer to say otherwise). But even in less heavy systems, list of guns are an easeful thing.
The question to ask is this: "Would making a simple job dead easy and simpler be a bad or a good thing?" So even if your system is as easy as you think it is, still lists of guns are a good thing.
Note: AD&D managed to sell something like TEN Books of Magic by alphabetical order, and Marvel Comics sold something like that amount of extra-large comics which were just the pics, and backgrounds of most of its characters (I should know because I bought a number of them). Champions sold tons of books which were character stats and backgrounds and personality notes along with a good quote.
Nowadays they tend to mix it up with a bit of Characters, and Background, and Campaign for Champions. Now, yes, D20 is less likely to sell only characters, but then they sell Monster Manuals which is pretty much the same thing.
Palladium put out a very cool book which was at least half tiny sketches of weapons, and stats. The other half was about siege tactics, and the different types of armor that people in different eras and places wore. Its a wonderful resource. If you have the chance, you should get it.
Since you're Multiverser--You should be doing ALL of the above. You can't. I know. Time. Money. Energy. But when someone comes along and offers to do one of those things, the response of 'yeah, baby' seems normal.
If they don't matter, Multiverser already has a "randomized" mechanic for determining such details: general effects rolls tell the referee if this is what the player wants and expects, or if it goes against him.
====GE is a very clever idea, and an excellent mechanic, and not at all suited to this task. Think about it. You're getting way too enthused here. I can honestly tell you that Starsong is good, and that it reaches a whole new market that you're not familar with, and a lot of other nice things. But if I tell you its the greatest thing since Forgotten Realms, you need to usher me back to Earth.
Besides, a list of possible governments or economic systems might be useful to someone trying to design a world, but only if it gives some insight into how to use the list and what the items on it mean. Mention that the government is an oligarchy and I have a word I can slap onto a system; discuss how oligarchies work and how one can be different from another, and I have advice on how to design a world.
===="Men seldom need to be told something; they frequently need reminding." Jerry Pournelle likes to quote this. I think it may be Samuel Johnson. Its a good point.
Let us start with a list, and some notes. Let us build the first floor. It will be a bit rickety. Some parts will not be as brilliant as other parts. But it will improve. Ba'ke'gn is better than NagaWorld. And you should publish NagaWorld even if it came out now instead of then. Sure, there is better stuff (Symbiont Academy, Doom of the Mech Empire, Starsong, Lilith's World....but its good enough.) So thats two points there: 1)Let it get better with practise. 2)Recognize that more content that is good enough is a benefit.
I am not against linking to well-organized articles that are primarily lists and instructions for how to use them; I am against linking to cluttered forum threads that are a list and discussion of how to improve it.
====I am against linking to cluttered forum posts as well.
You've got a list of guns, and a list of bullets; not all guns can use all bullets.
====I've got a list of Bullet Modifiers. Any bullet can be a 'Wildcat' round. When it comes to Transhumanism and 'Starsong' or Guns there are some topics I know a bit about. My knowledge of Law on the other hand is fairly slim. I'm not Shawn or JohnA1Nut, but I did have a brother who owned a whole slew of guns including Dessert Eagle .50 calibre, a Thompson Center Contender, and a whole lot of other guns. And I used to carry a Star Firestar .45 loaded with Black Talon hollowpoints (I think it was hollowpoints and not jacketed hollowpoint or jhp.) I carried it in the full knowledge that it was likely that I'd be tried for murder if I used it successfully because the Establishment did not like Black Talons. They had a ferocious reputation as man-killers. But, better to be tried by twelve than carried by six.
Put it together in a discussion of how to choose firearms and equipment for a world or for any particular unit within the world (e.g., in Why Spy it's typical for the official military support units to have M-16s and the terrorist and rebel groups to have AKs, because the former are better and the latter cheaper and easier to maintain)
====That comment about M-16's being better might cause some dispute in certain quarters. M-16's were designed to wound the enemy on the theory that a wounded man means two to carry him. Me, I'm a proponent of 'nuke the ground until the bedrock glows' so this 'too clever by half' strategy doesn't make me happy.
But part of the problem is that this List of Guns is so that someone (like me) can quickly come up with say...a list of situations for Mary Piper in the Caribbean where Emerald is the name for the best brand of Cocaine, and then just plug in the weapons needed with no fuss, no muss. You know that was funny, just go ahead and laugh.
Sure adding detail is useful, but again, its like my English teacher told me....you gotta have something on the paper before you can revise it.
And most people don't need analysis. Most GM's would be happy with a quick list of weapons so when their player who is fighting off the Mafia's invasion of Mexico wants to walk into a gunshop, and buy a weapon they have a ready list they can use to remind them of the names of the weapons,a nd so they can gauge the relative power and what effect it will have on the game, and so they don't have to stop the game to flip open the Big Black Book and write up the stats. This world might have totally different reasons for its guns than ours. It might even Not Really Have Reasons (which is probably the most common reason for a MV world created by a typical gm.) other than the GM thought they sounded cool.
That ordinary GM would like your help. Other games help him. Anything that makes his life easier is a good thing.
, maybe thoughts on peripheral equipment that might be used (automatic pistols often can have silencers, some guns can use scopes), and put the lists together in an article. A list of guns is only useful to someone who already knows what those guns are, and in that case he can probably make his own list.
====Peripheral equipment is a good idea. Thanks. Now back to ragging on you. "Only Useful"....bzzzzzz. 'He can make his own list'....spoken like an elitist. "I don't see why Wal-mart has to sell tents for cold weather. Why anyone who can survive a snowed in campsite would know how to create their own tent from a tarp, two ropes, and a piece of wadded up bubblegum.' 1)Its not as easy as you think it is. 2) Easier is better. Write a Post-It note, and put it on your monitor with those words. Or better yet, don't. After all, my sketch worlds don't have rules mechanics. I think the GM can manage without them (and they probably can).
The thing is...embrace the diversity. You need to see that not everyone does it your way...in fact, most people probably cannot do it your way. Most GM's are IQ 120, and only moderately creative, and have a small bit of improvisation. Thats okay, most of them probably make more money than me, and they are probably better off as they are than as someone freakish like me.
Yeah, some GM's can handle the load of a sketch world or making up in ten minutes a list of fifteen guns (of course, a sketch world kind of implies the GM doing the work beforehand). But even most of them would probably be grateful for the help. And those that aren't because they are so talented and individual....well here's hoping that they are soon sending you links to world designs to post on your site.
A list of guns with information about how to incorporate them into world design and decide what goes with them would be a valuable reference.
I'm not looking for an essay on vampirism. An article on vampires with several different types listed and described is fine.
====I'm presenting about ten different vampire characters. I'll include a small description of what makes each type different from the other type. By now, you know my opinion that your game needs this.
The other problem with these short posts of lists is that it's easy to see how there could be hundreds of them in very little time at all.
====Again, aglomerated. Two, yeah, you're lucky. You're welcome. A set of ten or twenty links to aglomerated docs is not a bug, its a feature. If you can't see that, then we do have a problem. You'll think I'm trying to sell ice to an Eskimo, and I'll think I'm trying to give water to a man dying of thirst.
This idea is a serious problem. You are a man in a dessert. You do NEED water. If you can't accept that, then I probably need to stop, and go back to being a drone.
You yourself have mentioned dozens, maybe scores, of lists you think would be useful. That's hundreds of links on the support site, which makes it unweildy.
====Let's let the list get to twenty links before getting worried. One, I may get bored which happens. You've seen me wander from topic to topic before. Two, I may finally get up the gumption to publish more (after all, I'm finally kinda sorta tackling the rules system). Three, I expect that some aglomeration of aglomeration might take place.
You might end up with a link "Weapons", and a link "Social Structures", and a link "Details of Ordinary Life", and a link "Magic"....with each link leading to ten more links, and each of those being an agglomerated document.
You should be so lucky.
Somewhere on this long list of lists there's a list of guns; somewhere a list of swords; somewhere a list of bullets; somewhere a list of holidays; somewhere a list of governments; somewhere a list of cults; somewhere a list of religions; somewhere a list of economies; somewhere a list of vehicles; somewhere a list of--wading through lists of lists, this is not a useful way for a support site to be structured.
====I've dealt with most of this concern several times. And I just dealt with the rest.
I want people who come to the support site to be able to find what they're seeking, not to be able to spend months wandering around the Internet trying to figure out why a particular forum thread was relevant. They have Google for that.
====But remember, there first has to be something there for them to find. And you really want to have something easier than Google. A simple tree network of links would be of use once and IF the documents got big enough to need it. Right now, you're borrowing trouble from next year.
So if you like the "list in a forum thread" format, well, that's all right. Give me an article somewhere that links all those lists and explains how to use them, and I'll link to the article. I don't have the time to create that article on our site, and that's not the format we're using there. The objective there is to list the best and most useful resources out there, with brief summaries, and let the creators of those resources in turn point people who come to those resources to other resources.
I really don't want to stifle your efforts. I want to minimize the amount of work I have to do and the amount of clutter it creates on our site, while maximizing the usefulness of our materials and yours.
Thanks.
====I hope I've clarified things. I personally want to see Multiverser become great and mighty. And the way Windows beat out Apple was to make it easy to be a software developer for Windows. Apple tried to hang onto the power, and nearly went bankrupt.
D20 conquered the world by giving it away.
Its a New World, and the old methodologies of hiding, and controlling don't work that well.
Legos will allow you to order your own set of blocks. And they will post on the site block set designs.
Maybe some day a voting mechanism of Diggs could be used on your site. And the propspective GM could look at the reviews and votes, and decide to order a POD book with a his own mix of worlds chosen from a list of several hundred, and a list of articles of nearly a thousand which got awards for being "The Web's Largest Resource for World Design".
The GM would perhaps choose...
1. Lilith's World
2. Doom of the Mech Empire with Contingent
3. Playground
4. Dancing Princesses with the Seven Addtional Variants
5. First Contact/First Murder
6. Orc Rising
7. Only the Insects Survive
8. Fantastika and Gothika
9. NagaWorld
Or he could choose another list. And he adds a list of weapons, and a list of clothing information. A bit of advertisement is added free of charge, and his book will be at his house in two days since he paid priority shipping.
He checks out the Wiki where new articles and worlds are frequently born. He goes by the website to see the live games. He goes back on the easy links to the Free and Easy Links which lead him to a menu:
1. Character of the Day which is an always new character.
2. Sketch World of the Day
3. Problems and Answers by MJ
4. GUI
5. Books by any author (a link that leads to a page where any author that wrote a world can also link any novel they are selling)
6. New Magic Spell or Item
7. Cool Quote of the Day: Forex: "Nothing really has hurt me that much in the verse, well, except for the nuclear weapon."
He checks back frequently, and logs on to the chat forum where ideas are discussed. There are new things frequently too lure him to come back.
He reads the blog which is very personal, and then reads the other blogs which are likewise,a nd starts to feel like he is involved.
Pretty soon, he is sending out a new world for others to look at. Per the rules of the Newbie World Design Forum, his rather lame ideas are treated very gently. He gets some useful advice, and runs it. His buddies think it was great. He's enthused.
Fifteen years later, he's a director in your company.
Life's good, but Power...just might be an illusion.
--M. J. Young
