An interesting piece about the #ttrpg media landscape: https://personable.blog/media-crowdfunding/
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@Printdevil @strangequark @Taskerland
I don't think the US ever had White Dwarf, but Dragon Magazine sustained me back during my teenage years when actually *getting to play the game* was pretty much only a dream.But even that eventually went through decay.
1/2
@Printdevil @strangequark @Taskerland
Even as professionally-constrained as it was, older Dragon still used to be heavy on the imaginative parts of the game, and gave tiny glimpses of what else was out there through reviews. When it became more focused on presenting new 3.5 mechanics, which were so widely considered unbalanced that they had to slap "no, we're official, honest!" onto the cover, I let my sub lapse. WotC's website was better at being Dragon than Dragon at the end.2/2
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@Printdevil @strangequark @Taskerland
Even as professionally-constrained as it was, older Dragon still used to be heavy on the imaginative parts of the game, and gave tiny glimpses of what else was out there through reviews. When it became more focused on presenting new 3.5 mechanics, which were so widely considered unbalanced that they had to slap "no, we're official, honest!" onto the cover, I let my sub lapse. WotC's website was better at being Dragon than Dragon at the end.2/2
the UK had some great gaming magazines on and off. White Dwarf obviously, but Imagine and Arcane both had great stuff from time to time.
And there was a dreadful magazine called Fantazia that they let any old gargoyle write for back in the day
<_<
>_>
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the UK had some great gaming magazines on and off. White Dwarf obviously, but Imagine and Arcane both had great stuff from time to time.
And there was a dreadful magazine called Fantazia that they let any old gargoyle write for back in the day
<_<
>_>
@Printdevil @strangequark @Taskerland
I did like the idea of possibly writing an article for Dragon, but unfortunately by the time things aligned such that it would have been practical (as opposed to an outsider looking in trying to write about something she had no practical experience with), Dragon had changed too much and stuff like blogging and making d20 supplements had supplanted it as industry entry paths. -
@Printdevil @strangequark @Taskerland
I don't think the US ever had White Dwarf, but Dragon Magazine sustained me back during my teenage years when actually *getting to play the game* was pretty much only a dream.But even that eventually went through decay.
1/2
@pteryx The first 100 issues of #WhiteDwarf are all on archive.org if you want to take a look:
https://archive.org/details/white-dwarf-magazine-001-100/White%20Dwarf%20001/
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@pteryx The first 100 issues of #WhiteDwarf are all on archive.org if you want to take a look:
https://archive.org/details/white-dwarf-magazine-001-100/White%20Dwarf%20001/
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And Imagine if you look around individually
Imagine Magazine 06 : TSR U.K. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
This should be added to the magazine rack, Imagine Magazine page!!! If I can find the Special Edition issue, I will upload that one for inclusion in the same...
Internet Archive (archive.org)
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And Imagine if you look around individually
Imagine Magazine 06 : TSR U.K. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
This should be added to the magazine rack, Imagine Magazine page!!! If I can find the Special Edition issue, I will upload that one for inclusion in the same...
Internet Archive (archive.org)
Imagine was an odd one because it was by TSR UK but its city building and maps were lovely.
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the UK had some great gaming magazines on and off. White Dwarf obviously, but Imagine and Arcane both had great stuff from time to time.
And there was a dreadful magazine called Fantazia that they let any old gargoyle write for back in the day
<_<
>_>
@Printdevil @pteryx @strangequark @Taskerland GM and GameMaster International weren’t bad, either, just quietly, though I found the former’s large format and stapled binding didn’t survive well.
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@Printdevil @pteryx @strangequark @Taskerland GM and GameMaster International weren’t bad, either, just quietly, though I found the former’s large format and stapled binding didn’t survive well.
Did any of you ever come across Tortured Souls by Beast Ents.? It was a UK magazine of D&D adventures in the 1980s. I owned several issues, long consigned to the dustbin by my mother who disapproved of That Kind Of Thing.
Production values were very high. As I remember, the adventures came with full-colour floorplans. I can't remember much about the content. One was a Dwarvish lair or mine or something.
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Did any of you ever come across Tortured Souls by Beast Ents.? It was a UK magazine of D&D adventures in the 1980s. I owned several issues, long consigned to the dustbin by my mother who disapproved of That Kind Of Thing.
Production values were very high. As I remember, the adventures came with full-colour floorplans. I can't remember much about the content. One was a Dwarvish lair or mine or something.
@strangequark @davej @Printdevil @Taskerland
I hate parents who treat their kids' possessions, files, or even *space*, as something they have superior dominion over to that degree. And people wonder why we have a society where people don't understand concepts like privacy and consent... -
Did any of you ever come across Tortured Souls by Beast Ents.? It was a UK magazine of D&D adventures in the 1980s. I owned several issues, long consigned to the dustbin by my mother who disapproved of That Kind Of Thing.
Production values were very high. As I remember, the adventures came with full-colour floorplans. I can't remember much about the content. One was a Dwarvish lair or mine or something.
Unsurprisingly I have most of those.
Including the box of the Dwarven Mines.
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@strangequark @davej @Printdevil @Taskerland
I hate parents who treat their kids' possessions, files, or even *space*, as something they have superior dominion over to that degree. And people wonder why we have a society where people don't understand concepts like privacy and consent...I blame my mother throwing my stuff out for why I am a packrat now.
Also my packrattyness
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Did any of you ever come across Tortured Souls by Beast Ents.? It was a UK magazine of D&D adventures in the 1980s. I owned several issues, long consigned to the dustbin by my mother who disapproved of That Kind Of Thing.
Production values were very high. As I remember, the adventures came with full-colour floorplans. I can't remember much about the content. One was a Dwarvish lair or mine or something.
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@Printdevil @pteryx @Taskerland I don't want to object to people enjoying that style of gaming. I just feel sad that some people don't know about the broader range of possibilities, especially when they clearly want to play in a way D&D doesn't accommodate well.
@foolishowl @Printdevil @Taskerland
What bugs me the most is that *because* of a combination D&D tunnel vision and people's refusal to learn new systems (which is less about "system mastery" as *I* understand the term and more about sheer laziness combined with a failure to understand the concept of "right tool for the right job"), people *try to design games* that are supposed to be very different from D&D, yet use 5e mechanics because they don't understand the distinction between them and RP. -
@foolishowl @Printdevil @Taskerland
What bugs me the most is that *because* of a combination D&D tunnel vision and people's refusal to learn new systems (which is less about "system mastery" as *I* understand the term and more about sheer laziness combined with a failure to understand the concept of "right tool for the right job"), people *try to design games* that are supposed to be very different from D&D, yet use 5e mechanics because they don't understand the distinction between them and RP.That's the exact silo I find chatting about games at the local shop. You get so far with people and then.. 5e just is the cognitive block.
Dogmatic entrenchment they call it in problem solving.
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The whole combat effectiveness type approach to gaming is why I find it hard to chat to local gamers, in a gaming shop, who are gaming.
Because it just looks like an RPG
But it isn't.
@Printdevil @pteryx @foolishowl @Taskerland This is so essential and needs to be more at the front of everyone's minds.
So many people who would love ttrpgs get excited to "try DnD!" and then glaze over when you try to explain the action economy to them. They'd love to get back to talking to a merchant and making plot decisions, but they're stuck 50% or more of the time playing something that's more Warhammer than RP.
It's fine that DnD is that. But it alienates newbies who SHOULD be here.
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@Printdevil @pteryx @foolishowl @Taskerland This is so essential and needs to be more at the front of everyone's minds.
So many people who would love ttrpgs get excited to "try DnD!" and then glaze over when you try to explain the action economy to them. They'd love to get back to talking to a merchant and making plot decisions, but they're stuck 50% or more of the time playing something that's more Warhammer than RP.
It's fine that DnD is that. But it alienates newbies who SHOULD be here.
@Printdevil @pteryx @foolishowl @Taskerland I especially hate that DnD is the defacto gateway for new people to the hobby, when something like pbta would be more user friendly AND a better representation of the hobby than 5e.
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@Printdevil @pteryx @foolishowl @Taskerland I especially hate that DnD is the defacto gateway for new people to the hobby, when something like pbta would be more user friendly AND a better representation of the hobby than 5e.
@humanadverb @Printdevil @foolishowl @Taskerland
It doesn't exactly help that a lot of people with only a casual understanding don't understand that "D&D" is not the generic term for a roleplaying game. As I've said before, people using "D&D" to refer to *all* TTRPGs rather than only to D&D-like ones grates on me, and strikes me as like using "Kleenex" to refer to all disposable paper products, from envelopes to sticky notes, rather than just tissues. -
@humanadverb @Printdevil @foolishowl @Taskerland
It doesn't exactly help that a lot of people with only a casual understanding don't understand that "D&D" is not the generic term for a roleplaying game. As I've said before, people using "D&D" to refer to *all* TTRPGs rather than only to D&D-like ones grates on me, and strikes me as like using "Kleenex" to refer to all disposable paper products, from envelopes to sticky notes, rather than just tissues.@pteryx @Printdevil @foolishowl @Taskerland Nice.
Seriously, "it's like calling all paper products 'Kleenex'" is such a perfect summary of what's happening here.
