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Draxar
draxar
12 March 2008 @ 04:03 am
Links, a quick linkrant, and more links  
Green card lottery – a random ad link I accidently clicked on on another page. This just seems strange to me – there are a lot of people with a need to get to a new country, a lot of people with skills who want to get there, and a lot of people whose life would be greatly improved by, and who would improve the country. Yet, they're letting in a bunch of people based on dumb luck. Why?

Fallout (the computer game) pictures – they look pretty damn cool. Reasonably big pictures, so may take a moment to load. Beautiful in the way that only post apocalyptic scenes of destruction can be

Sam and Max TV series DVD and Comic. Wow, that's pretty cool. Also some other nifty stuff on that site, but those two are the main things. Via [info]karohemd



White Wolf want you to graduate your game, i.e. give up D&D for exalted. Now, I thought this was amusing, and a fun idea – they're giving out graduation certificates, posters and suchlike. Sure some people will get annoyed by this, but hey. And I think Exalted is better than D&D, and will be better than D&D 4th ed when that arrives. And I think giving away a core book for free is a great way to get more people interested in that game, and gaming in general.

Then I read the requirement – you have to give them a copy of D&D 3.5 to get your Exalted 2nd Ed. Now I think that's a really bad idea. Sure, they'll still get interest, sure it ties in with the other gimmick, sure there are probably some people with a D&D 3.5 book they read then realised they thought it sucked, but didn't want to splash out on a new book. But it's no longer a 'free' book, you're having to give stuff up for it. And also, while there are some people willing to give up their 3.5 because they're going to get 4th ed, I'm guessing there are also a lot of people holding onto their 3.5 books, just in case it turns out that 4th ed sucks. I know that had there been a similar promotion for old World of Darkness core books when the new world of darkness was approaching, I wouldn't have gone for it, even if the book I'd get in return looked really good; I'd want to hold onto the old books in case the new game sucked (as it did), and either way so I can play the old game – I'm a confirmed Exalted fan, and I'm likely to get a copy of 4th Ed D&D.

Two quick caveats – from the cyncial PoV, you can use this to take advantage of the fact that even a new copy of 3.5 costs less than Exalted 2nd, therefore it's a way to save money. Which isn't neccessarily a bad idea, but the thing still tastes sour to me, especially since they'll likely be throwing those 2,500 copies of D&D away. Oh, and it's America and Canada to any UK types wanting to take advantage of it.

Which brings me to a question – how many people are system monogamous? I used to be, or only very occasionally straying, to the World of Darkness, but I'm currently playing in 3 different systems, and am prepared to play in most, providing the system is at least reasonable. But are there still great bastions of "We play only one game?"

Anyway, back to the links.



Bionic eye anyone? (2nd link has more info on it). Via Digg.

Not so free education – more issues with faith schools.

You want me to swear allegiance? I might be willing to do so, I'm not sure off the top of my head. You want to get children to swear allegiance? Fuck that. It should be the act of a consenting adult, not the rote repetition of a child told to do something.
 
 
Current Mood: cynical
Current Music: Levi Weaver - Family Feud (Doc Holliday Mix)
 
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You Savour Your Dying Breath[info]hawklord2112 on March 12th, 2008 07:25 am (UTC)
system monogamy: x

one of my problems is that i get BOOOORED of games very quickly. admittedly not so bad now but, i'd have three different ideas for new games over the course of a weerkend.
Laurence J Sinclair: Shock[info]shakalooloo on March 12th, 2008 08:08 am (UTC)
Swear allegiance? No no, this is a cause to swear allegiance to.
Mark "Pooka" Mapp: Random - Who Is John Galt?[info]mapp on March 12th, 2008 08:41 am (UTC)
We need our children to swear allegiance when they leave school so we can have more patriots. Eventually, if we're really lucky, we'll have a culture where you can go "they're not a patriot!" and that'll be all you need to villify them.

Forget swearing allegiance and forget patriotism.
Dainul[info]dainul on March 12th, 2008 02:45 pm (UTC)
Yeah, was in the states for a year, saw the brainwashing, the terrible sense of belonging, of us and them that such things can create. I was never specifically asked to swear allegiance, what with not being American, but I did feel like I should stand when the others did and stuff. I think by then end I was reciting it along with the rest of them because you don't want to be one of them, you know? Not that I thought in those words then, but still. Ugh!
Carrie: Stripey[info]littlebus on March 12th, 2008 09:03 am (UTC)
That Green Card lotto site isn't run by the goverment. They help people fill in the paperwork to apply for Green Cards as a business but have no say in who gets one or not. The lotto thing is a gimmick.

I swore alliegence to "the flag of the United States of America and to the goverment for which it stands" five times a week from age 5 to 15. It's just words to me, with no meaning - and when we first memorised it it was half just sounds as I didn't know the meaning of big words like "alliegence". Did it make me a better citizen? Likely not. Hey, I still did my year of service and pay my taxes and whatnot but I doubt that was because of some sounds I learned when I was 5.
Draxar[info]draxar on March 12th, 2008 05:19 pm (UTC)
Ah, fair cop, I should've looked into it more.

To me allegiance is something that should matter, it should be a choice and not a rote repetition.
ephrael[info]ephrael on March 12th, 2008 12:25 pm (UTC)
D&D:
I never graduated onto 3.5, when my regular group play its AD&D. I tried Exalted when it first came out, and while I liked some of the magic effects (OK, I like death of a thousand obsidian butterflies) I don't like the game mechanics.
The Weasel King[info]theweaselking on March 12th, 2008 03:07 pm (UTC)
how many people are system monogamous?

My sister and her husband are mad D&D geeks who won't play anything else. I don't get it. I personally stick to Savage Worlds 90% of the time, but that's because I happen to like what I can do with it and how fast it is. I won't refuse to play in most other games.
Draxar: Cheesemaking[info]draxar on March 12th, 2008 05:21 pm (UTC)
Exactly. I'm guessing there are lots of little packets of people playing just one thing, probably largely D&D. But going "No I won't play anythning else" makes no sense to me.
The Weasel King[info]theweaselking on March 12th, 2008 05:33 pm (UTC)
They just don't have any desire to play something different, and nobody who wants to run a game using something else for them. So they don't want to pick up a new system, learn it, get players, teach THEM the new system, then run a game, when they get everything they want by just skipping right to "run a game of D&D".
Draxar: baby dwarves[info]draxar on March 12th, 2008 08:53 pm (UTC)
I can somewhat understand not seeking out new systems; if you're enjoying what you're planying, why jump to something else (because it migh be better, and either way it will have the fun of being different) but it's an attitude of not wanting to play anything different even when offered it that I don't understand.
ash1977law[info]ash1977law on March 12th, 2008 07:15 pm (UTC)
I was system monogomous for a long time because I didn't know anything else, then came that brief but wonderful period when Virgin stores carried RPG books. I found a GM who ran exciting and exotic games like Pendragon and Vampire and Call of Cthulhu. Well, they were exotic for me at the time, given that I'd been raised solely on D&D.

Now? Now I'll play in just about anything if the game and GM are good. I'm fortunate that some really good GMs live close by.
Draxar: Times New Roman[info]draxar on March 12th, 2008 08:57 pm (UTC)
Yeah, system monogamity 'cause that's all you know/have access to is reasonably understandable, it's more the "Won't play something else" crowd that I don't understand, and also White Wolf for wanting people to give up their rulebooks.
omniscient_fool[info]omniscient_fool on March 12th, 2008 08:45 pm (UTC)
The trading-in thing is pretty horrible. Who benefits? It means the marketing campaign targets existing gamers rather than bringing in new ones, and encourages people to take a really dogmatic, exclusive view to the game they play rather than just getting into gaming in general. It's also stupid as lots of gamers like to keep books of old editions for reference even if they aren't using them regularly. Gaming history is important too! Even if I get round to 'upgrading' I will never get rid of my 3rd ed PHB as it was my first D&D book. Grrr.
Draxar: Times New Roman[info]draxar on March 12th, 2008 09:19 pm (UTC)
Exactly, especially as the rules for shops participating is that they send in just the outer cover of the PHBs – presumably it's to save postage, but it means that they're destroying or at least heavily defacing the books. It also shows that they aren't intending to do anything useful with those PHB's either, like giving them to poor children or somesuch, they're just wasting them. I don't neccesarily have any problem with them targeting existing gamers, trying to convert D&D'ers before 4th ed comes out; its the wasting of books, and taking the valueable resource of old rules and setting away from people is what annoys me

And I know what you mean about old books – the amount of direct use I'll get from my 2nd ed D&D or 1st ed 40k books is fairly minimal. But the joy of re-reading, and the ideas that can be applied to new stuff are priceless. Rogue Trader is a great resource for background stuff for the new Dark Heresy 40k RPG, as it's so detailed and intricate.