Luke and I were interviewed on the Geek Nights podcast (with hosts Rym and Scott) and we said many terrible things.

GeekNights 20100727 – Luke and Jared on RPGs

Expanded Show Notes – Show Run Time: 01:29:51

Time | Notes
———+———————————————————-
00:00:00 | Intro
00:00:36 | Beginning of interview
| – Introduction of Luke Crane
| – Discussion of how drunk Rym was when he first met Luke Crane
| – Introduction of Jared Sorensen
| – Note of games Jared and Luke have created
00:03:29 | Main Topic
| # What is a role-playing game?
| – Tangent on game shows that haven’t been invented
| – Do people really care what is and isn’t an RPG?
| – RPG Examples
| – Discussion of using house rules in existing games
| – Discussion of Legend of the Five Rings
00:07:51 | # What makes a GOOD RPG?
| – What are the things someone looks for in a good game?
| – Game needs Player Agency
| – Player has to be able to make meaningful choices and have effects on the world
| – - The ability to make irrational decisions as a player character
| – Player priorities are important as well
| – - What the player wants to do shoudl be factored in
| – Game needs not just mathematical conflict resolution but also takes player choices into account
| – Choosing not to choose should still have consequences
| – The game should have a philosophy and it can either coincide or conflict with the player’s philosophy
| – Jared: There are no characters in an RPG, there are only players
| – Rym notes that many players may internalize the role-play and only burst out for certain parts
| – Turtle = Player that just sits there and does nothing
| – Roach = Player that is active until the spotlight is on them
| – Discussion of players that have huge backstories for their characters
| – Note that players can make decisions within the framework of a character they have built
| – Note that “what my character does” can be somewhat schizophrenic and disassociate the player from the game.
| – Discussion of playing characters that don’t fit with the game mechanic (e.g. pacifists, Deckers)
| – When is it the GM’s part to address that versus a broken game mechanic?
| – Some games require certain you be a certain character in order to play the game
| – Discussion of how Political games don’t work in D&D
| – Many games don’t tell you how they work up front
| – Many players won’t admit they are playing a game that’s bad or poorly constructed
| – Do computer/video game RPGs count as RPGs?
| – JRPGs fall prey to the Sunk Cost fallacy
| – Tangent into Jared met Roger Ebert, gave him a copy of octaNe and Against the Reich!
| – Tabletop RPGs allow for a greater degree of avatar embodiment
| – Tabletop RPG characters have memory and history, video game RPGs have levels and quest goals
| – How are characters in WoW not like tabletop RPG characters?
| – Jared: Because those characters don’t have memories.
| – Luke: So do characters exist or not?
| – Jared: for an RPG the player’s memory of the events and the character’s memory are similar but disparate
| – Jared: The events that happen to the character are not the events that happen to the player
| – The character sheet is a record of the character’s history that is filtered through the player
| – Discussion of translations of Luke and Jared’s works for other countries
00:30:19 | # Games Luke and Jared have played recently
| – “Pandemic” & playing it like an RPG
| – D&D is not a theatrical experience, behavior like that has been emergent
| – Discussion of Inception and how Jared already did a game like that called Lacuna
| – Tangent into films
| – Luke won’t ever do a Noir-themed RPG because people won’t get into character
00:35:49 | # If role-playing is a natural emergent behavior, what is the purpose of a Role-Playing Game?
| – Answer: to reward that behavior
| – Discussion of emergent role-playing in games versus role-playing games
| – The quality of the mechanics of a boardgame are very different from an RPG
| – Discussion of the evolution of the mechanics of Freemarket
| – Discussion on how a game mechanic can ruin the role-play aspect
| – Discussion on how some board games can mathematically eliminate a player without ending the game
| – On hitting the point where there are no more meaningful decisions in games and mechanics to get around it
| – Tangent on memes and internet infiltration into games
00:50:01 | # What we like about RPGs, how to get someone into a new game and away from D&D
| – People at cons seem to be more open minded about it
| – Discussion on convincing your own gaming group
| – - Make it as low-commitment as possible
| – - Try to make it fun for everybody
| – Tangent on Jungle Speed
| – - Don’t rock the boat too much
| – - People are bad at arguing
| – - People are bad at learning instructions
| – - People are bad at arguing
| – - People are bad at having an open mind about things
| – A lot of gaming groups are dysfunctional (mainly due to geographical limitations)
| – Discussion of Gaming Group Drama
| – Discussion of The Sword and the mechanics of it
| – Burning Wheel question – do the female dwarfs have beards?
| – Answer: You can’t play a female dwarf because there is no lifepath for them.
| – Reason: Dwarfs in BW are conservative to the point of being fascists
01:06:21 | # What games should people out there be playing?
| – If you liked Inception, play Lacuna
| – Discussion on Lacuna
| – Kagematsu by Danielle Lewon – Feudal Japan theme RPG
| – Tangent on violent/disgusting movies
| – Mouse Guard RPG
| – Fiasco RPG – a game of small time capers gone bad
01:17:49 | # Pimp Your Games & Cons
| – Adventure Burner – Book 5 of the Burning Wheel core books
| – Discussion on Adventure Burner
| – Parsely Games will be sold in a bunch at GenCon
| – Freemarket will launch at GenCon
| – Discussion on Freemarket
| – Pimpage of the websites
01:28:55 | Outro