Episode 402: Too Soon? LOTS of discussion topics!

[BG_Meg]

http://brilliantgameologists.com/b-40/
They are all embedded in the show notes. What do you think about any/all of these?


Grinds My Gears

What do you think of the phrase Dime a Dozen?

RPGs as Kid's Shows

Wonderpets is either brilliant or brilliantly horrible. And no one is voting for the former
It reminds us of Burning Wheel
What Kid's Shows remind you of RPGs? Or vice versa?

The Culture War

Based on the Book
Are you Progressive or Orthodoxy?

Drinkin'

Should you drink at the game table?

Other Questions
What do you think of our interstitials? What should we go with?
Are you pro or con Ming Ming?
Do you like our new format? Psych, I don't care what you say, we're doin' it.

[Arturick]

Grinds My Gears:  Brittle, easily offended people are a dime a dozen.

RPGs as Kids Shows:  Would've been a good point to state why it was like Burning Wheel.  Have you guys ever talked about Wild Talents RPG?  It reminds me heavily of Superfriends, and other kid oriented super-hero material where you constantly ask yourself, "Wait... if he can do *blank*, why doesn't he use it *blank*?"

The Culture War:  The term "progressive" is so obnoxious, since it suggests that you are supporting something "new," which you generally are not.  I mean, the Spartans were offing deformed kids 3000 years ago, so wouldn't someone who supports the abortion of a Down's Syndrome kid be Ultra-retro-conservative?  And how is a neo-Victorian stance on sexuality a more "orthodox" position than an ancient Athenian approach to sexuality?  "I'm right because this is the way it has ALWAYS been done!" and "I'm right because this is THE WAY OF THE FUTURE!" are equally insipid and vacuous arguments.

Likewise, the terms hardly apply to the gaming situation you failed to describe in more detail than "Grognards are ULTIMATE EVIL while we... umm... progressives are ULTIMATE GOOD!"  The concept of equality at the table and abiding to the rules are kinda the fundamentals of gaming, going back to things like Go.  The God-Douche-DM is a "progressive" concept that evolved from the idea that RPGs were supposed to be different than their parent war-games with strict rules and egalitarian player relationship. 

The attempt to link social conservatism (defined as EVIL for the purposes of the podcast) with Grognardia was also pretty laughable.  I rarely encounter socially conservative gamers (a few Libertarians is about as far to the right as it gets), but I have had PLENTY of railroading, Gygaxian, Douche Masters.

Drinkin':  Yes.

Other Questions:

Formatting was good.  The kid was cute.  I enjoyed the Attack of the Stool.  "Damn you and your stupid semen" needs to be a shirt or something.  Red wine and coke sounds disgusting.  If you're looking for something sweet and barely alchoholic, you could always pick up some Boone's Farm.

[Talonas]

First of all DAMN is it good to have you back.

Dime a dozen: Hmm, in Australia that phase may not be as overused. I have heard it often enough, but not so much as to be annoying. I however do NOT think that good ideas are in fact terribly common.

Rpg's as kids shows: I have only two things to say on the matter;

1: One of the greatest one-shots I ever played in was a friends game of "The Babysitter Club meets Cthulhu"...As overused as the whole "X meets Cthulhu" thing is these days, it was my first exposure to it and was as horribly wonderful as it sounds.

2: "Avatar" needs an RPG (or a system that fits it well)....That is all.

The Culture War: Hmm, I would like to caution against giving up hope of conversion. I was (I think) orthodox, but was actually changed over by both your podcast. I came with my own admittedly uneducated opinions and knew little else, but I WANTED to learn more. I truly believe that changing sides is not only possible but increasingly common these days. I have successfully done the same with several of my gaming buddies (due in no small part to directing them to your podcast).

As a side note for my own information (and possibly to save confusion) I would like to request a detailed explanation of terms/traits/general opinions that fit exclusively into one camp or the other. I am still a little unsure of some of the finer details. Does the GM as arbiter on rules disputes qualify as Orthodox? What about favoring more traditional, Abrahamic systems (D20/fate/savage worlds/Dungeon world) but running the game in a egalitarian fashion?

(I would like to count myself as firmly on the progressive side of the scale, however it may be I am only a few feet over the line)

Drinkin: Generally yes in moderation. Subjective to the particular game, more or less may be required. (Fiasco/Dungeon or Apocalypse world = More... Dread/Dogs in the vineyard = less)

Other Questions: Format rocks, small human is adorable, high production values get higher. Well done indeed!

P.S More reviews and discussion of terms gaming language this season please.  And PLEASE let the next "Grinds my gears" be the increasingly high misuse of Literally.

[BG_Meg]

I've had more thoughts on the conservative vs. progressive talk too so I think we'll definitely need to revisit that.

Thanks both for amazing feedback!