Almost every day there's a Spam comment posted somewhere in the articles section; since when I log in over there it tells me where all the new comments are posted, I get to find them and delete them--but I also get reminded of articles I or someone else wrote years ago, and sometimes I re-read these articles.
I remember maybe a couple years back that I was going to attempt to re-introduce all the Game Ideas Unlimited articles in sequential order, week by week. That project fell by the wayside somewhere along the way, mostly because I didn't have time every week to look up the next article, find the correct link, and post it. But since the Spam posts give me links to the old articles, it becomes easy to get the links and post them here. So here are a couple of old articles from which you might benefit, either because you weren't around when they first appeared or because you (like I) have forgotten them.
The first is one of the quarter summary articles--in the series, every thirteenth article represented the end of three months and thus provided a quick index of the old ones. The links have been repaired, so you can trace back to the other (many interesting) articles it indexes possibly all the way to the beginning of the series (this is the eighteen month mark, article number 78 if I did my math right--yes, got the same answer doing it a different way). It's called Game Ideas Unlimited: Reports, and covers the ideas of having your players submit in-character reports to some in-game superior about their in-game activities. This has a lot of interesting benefits, covered briefly there and in the article cited there (whose link has also been repaired).
The second, Game Ideas Unlimited: Cumulative, is an examination of one of the quirks of dice probabilities often overlooked by players, referees, and designers alike. It's worth reading, just so that next time you pick up the dice you'll realize the hidden dangers in making that roll.
You're welcome to post comments there, or here, or in new threads on the forum. I look forward to new thoughts on old ideas, but even to old thoughts repeated by way of reminder. New threads here are probably the best option, because more people will participate.
--M. J. Young
