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On theory
I'm only marginally interested in narrow games/theory -- games that tell me how to limit my experience to a specific desired one, theory that tries to cut everything up and put it into a box.
Nor am I all that interested in games that try to sell me on a type of fun I'm not already interested in, especially when they claim it's what I'm already doing.
What I'm mostly interested in is theory that tells me how my fun works, and which offers ideas on how that fun could be expanded and varied. And systems which do this -- which structure mostly-freeform in novel ways without interfering more than necessarily with the structure of play, or which provide an interesting framework in which to develop a freeform game, or which offer a solution to a problem in a freeform-compatable way.
Ideas that interest me:
GMless games: one problem with a GMed freeform is that you're not always up for running. It would be nice to have some ways to share around the work while keeping things comfy. (I'm not, however, interested in either mechanics that make sure everyone's comfy with a decision before it goes forward or ones that provide a way to resolve every concievable player-conflict. And I don't want to force adversity into a game, or conflict into every scene -- in-character conversations are fun!)
Analysis of how scenes start and end. (However, I don't want hard rules about this, like "players take turns starting scenes," or "a scene ends when its out of conflicts")
Why are my favorite games (OTE, Everway) so good for freeform? Sure, part of it is that there's not much there, and part is the slide -- in OTE, you can roll on every blow, once for an entire conflict...or you coud not roll at all. Is that all?
The thing is, I'm an invertate gamer. I enjoy board and card games, roleplaying games, fencing, and even some computer games. I'll try anything. But that doesn't mean I don't have more fun with some things than others. And as much as a lot of new-nar games are interesting and have interesting things to say, they're not good games, from my perspective, crowding out the fun parts of gaming for...other fun parts, and filling up the inner spaces with tons of glue.
I don't want every game to be a clone of OTE (far from it; one reason I've mostly ignored the Window and Risus). But I'd like to try more games whose primary advantage is doing what OTE already does well -- just differently, or who do some things that OTE can't do well (frex: gradual but constant character advancement) without losing the key features of OTE that make it a non-pareil freeform-player's game.
Nor am I all that interested in games that try to sell me on a type of fun I'm not already interested in, especially when they claim it's what I'm already doing.
What I'm mostly interested in is theory that tells me how my fun works, and which offers ideas on how that fun could be expanded and varied. And systems which do this -- which structure mostly-freeform in novel ways without interfering more than necessarily with the structure of play, or which provide an interesting framework in which to develop a freeform game, or which offer a solution to a problem in a freeform-compatable way.
Ideas that interest me:
GMless games: one problem with a GMed freeform is that you're not always up for running. It would be nice to have some ways to share around the work while keeping things comfy. (I'm not, however, interested in either mechanics that make sure everyone's comfy with a decision before it goes forward or ones that provide a way to resolve every concievable player-conflict. And I don't want to force adversity into a game, or conflict into every scene -- in-character conversations are fun!)
Analysis of how scenes start and end. (However, I don't want hard rules about this, like "players take turns starting scenes," or "a scene ends when its out of conflicts")
Why are my favorite games (OTE, Everway) so good for freeform? Sure, part of it is that there's not much there, and part is the slide -- in OTE, you can roll on every blow, once for an entire conflict...or you coud not roll at all. Is that all?
The thing is, I'm an invertate gamer. I enjoy board and card games, roleplaying games, fencing, and even some computer games. I'll try anything. But that doesn't mean I don't have more fun with some things than others. And as much as a lot of new-nar games are interesting and have interesting things to say, they're not good games, from my perspective, crowding out the fun parts of gaming for...other fun parts, and filling up the inner spaces with tons of glue.
I don't want every game to be a clone of OTE (far from it; one reason I've mostly ignored the Window and Risus). But I'd like to try more games whose primary advantage is doing what OTE already does well -- just differently, or who do some things that OTE can't do well (frex: gradual but constant character advancement) without losing the key features of OTE that make it a non-pareil freeform-player's game.