Re: Interactive Drama: Why I've lost interest

[wfreitag@aol.com]

From: Morbus Iff morbus@disobey.com  Fri, 25 Mar 2005 07:42:29 -0500

 

I'd much rather see a comparison between, I dunno, the evolution of previously social games like paper RPGs, than the introduction of the computer. With that said, there hasn't been much goodness in the evolution of that department either - while publishing odd and inventive little things is a lot easier, the stuff that is getting /played/ has devolved into card games and My First Warhammer 40k introductions, none of which are very heavy on idrama. 
 

I'm on the road and will have to be brief. I'll have more to say about the main topic in a few more days. But I have to point out that in the world of paper RPGs, this lack of apparent evolution is an illusion of perspective. If by "the stuff that's getting played" you mean the stuff that's being widely distributed in game stores, then you're correct. (How much of the material that gets sold actually gets played is the topic of some debate.) But in the indie RPG world, there has been a tremendous burst of evolution going on in the last few years, with fascinating and deeply important results, much if not all of which goes right to the heart of idrama. Anyone interested in idrama should be aware of (that means play, if possible, or at least read, or at the very least read comprehensive reviews and/or actual-play accounts of) Universalis, InSpectres, Sorcerer, Trollbabe, My Life With Master, The Mountain Witch, Dogs In The Vineyard, The Riddle Of Steel, and probably a dozen or two others (but those will do for a start). To overlook these because they're under the three-tier distribution radar of a fundamentally dysfunctional game publishing industry is no longer consistent with a working interest in idrama; it's like continuing to struggle to start a fire with damp tinder and shivering in the cold while ignoring a river of molten magma flowing by a hundred feet away. I recommend The Forge at  www.indie-rpgs.com for information about this important body of creative work.

 

Best,

 

Walt Freitag