Car News

Hello everyone. My apologies for my absence. I needed to step back
until I finished school.

In my absence, however, I have been up to a few things. First off, I
worked on a test for a business card. I'm doing some traveling in a
few weeks, and would like to have some cards on me for some possible
recruitment. I think it's important that we start branding ourselves,
so I also made up a possible logo for the organization (as I could not
find one).
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150643168360234.690845.604895233#!/photo.php?fbid=10150643169000234&set=a.10150643168360234.690845.604895233&type=1&theater
Please ignore the picture quality (JPEG is a terrible format). I have
a master template in Adobe InDesign that I can edit, and it has a
fairly high quality output. Please let me know what you think, as I
would like to get some of these printed for my trip.

I started writing an article on some game management theories that
I've been thinking about. Basically, the article is an adaptation of
the Buddhism Bodhisattva Precepts. I'm doing this for a few reasons.
One concern among North American Buddhists is how one can apply what
they practice into their daily lives. Another reason came from a
number of discussions with a game designer I lived with while I was in
Japan. We often talked about concerns that came up in game, such as
killing and looting. Anyways, this article will be a set of
philosophical guidelines for in and out of game matters. For example,
not taking what is not given to you touch on respect for fellow
players and not wasting time. This will make a little more sense when
I finish and share the article.

Recently, there were two very interesting threads on RPG.net that I
was following (I can dig up links if folks want).

One thread concerned itself with age dynamics in groups. The
discussion was one of appropriateness and willingness to play with
younger players. I did nit get a chance to formulate a meaningful
response, but the general trend of the thread and some of my thoughts
are:
-Players in their teens may not terribly picky as to who they play
with. I see this all the time in stores, as teens are introduced to
games by adults.
-When players reach their 20's, they are openly hostile towards
younger players. There are a number of reasons for this. First off, by
around age 20, everything is one's life is turned upside down as
friends move away for school or work. In this period, young adults
want to associate with their peers, and may struggle to retain
relationships with childhood friends. I see this at school all the
time, when High School friends pretty much stop talking to each other
within days of starting university.
-When players hit their 30's, there is a shift in attitude. A player
probably finds a new group to play with, and starts thinking about
their hobby. During this period, players start to settle down, get
families and careers, and become less picky about who they play with.
-Players in their 40's or older seem to be not at all concerned with
playing with those younger than them. There is a passing of the torch
at this point, as older players try to keep their hobby alive with
younger players. While younger age groups are opposed to associating
with those younger than them (claiming maturity and even concern over
becoming a social pariah), older players are no longer concerned with
this.

The other thread I was following was about the preamble in gaming
books. It was a discussion as to whether or not the "What is a
roleplaying game" sections common in books are useful, and if
something more helpful could be used instead. I did respond to this
thread, sharing some details from Japanese games. I mentioned that
Maid (the first translated RPG from Japan) contains a number of
scripted exchanges explaining rules and providing examples of play. As
games become less straight forward, I feel that this approach would
not only help new players by actively showing them what games are like
instead of passively telling them about it, but could also be useful
for experienced players who are trying to buy into a new product.

I will be completing my degree shortly, and recently learned that, as
an Alumnus, I may still have access to the research databases
subscribed to my my school. So that's kind of awesome.

In other news, I've been slowly building up my collection of important
or historical gaming books. I recently acquired Laserburn (a combat
resolution system for roleplaying games ca. 1980, and later influenced
the Warhammer 40,000 miniature game), and a digital reprint of Little
Wars (a miniature game written by HG Wells ca. 1913 or so). I also
purchased GURPS Cyberpunk (the whole Secret Services thing) in a
charity auction for the Blackburn family following the death of their
daughter (thanks again to whoever put the book up for auction). These
join my copy of Sword World (the first Japanese roleplaying game) and
Maid (the first translated roleplaying game from Japan), and a few
other older treasures.

In the coming year, I am hoping to do a bit of recruitment in Canada,
get some local research started, continue work with Alan (and Paul) on
the CAR-PGa archive, and maybe work on some more branding.

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