Kenneth Hite argues that the long-running, H.P. Lovecraft-inspired Call of Cthulhu franchise differs from traditional tabletop role-playing in its focus on suspense rather than character growth. Hite's analysis suggests that in its origins and emphasis on narrative structure Cthulhu is a highly literary game.
The source is the essay-review on www.electronicbookreview.com written by Kenneth Hite.
"A scenario in Call of Cthulhu can be organized like the layers of an onion. On the surface, suppose that the scenario looks like it's about a conventional haunted house. It might even look like a hoax. (...) The sixth edition version is slightly less proscriptive than the first, substituting "can" for "should," and being headlined "An Example of A Plot" rather than the sterner "How to Set Up a Scenario" from the first edition.The sixth edition also provides a sidebar with step-by-step guidelines for "Building a Scenario":(...)1) A mystery or crisis is posed. . .2) The investigators become linked to the problem. . .3) The investigators attempt to define the mystery. . .4) The investigators use the clues and evidence to confront the danger. . .5) The mystery or problem is solved. (Ibid., 136)."
The quotes was directly pulled out of the essay.
Erik Mona takes a first step toward measuring the cultural impact of Gygax and Arneson's Dungeons & Dragons by providing a pocket history of the game's generation and evolution. Mona explains the addition of character development as a game goal - the innovation that distinguishes D&D from its predecessors, and started the role-playing revolution.
The source is the essay-review on www.electronicbookreview.com written by Erik Mona.
Thirty-one years after the invention of Dungeons & Dragons, the original role-playing game remains the most popular and financially successful brand in the adventure gaming industry. This fact is so well established in the conventional wisdom of the adventure games industry that it's difficult to find adequate sourcing for the assertion, and it seems ridiculous to even try. In that time, D&D has introduced millions of readers to the concept of role-playing. Even those who eventually move on to other systems usually get their start with D&D. Most gamers' understanding of "what happens" in a role-playing game is therefore shaped by how D&D explains these concepts. ;An analysis of how D&D's manuals have explained the duties and roles of players throughout the game's many printings therefore offers a glimpse at the evolution of the role-playing form itself. If Dungeons & Dragons is the lingua franca of most role-playing gamers, its definition of the role-playing experience defines an important touchstone helpful for critical study of the role-playing phenomenon.
The quote was rewritten directly from the essay.
In the books, Wild Cards Day is celebrated every September 15, in memory of September 15, 1946, the day that Jetboy spoke his immortal last words while Dr. Tod loosed an alien virusover Manhatten.
The quote was rewritten directly from the essay.
Greg Costikyan revisits the narrative versus game-play debate that continues to be a staple of both Game Studies and Game Design. He presents a spectrum that ranges from game-focused forms to narrative-centric models, and suggests that free-form role-playing may be the most desireable marriage of narrative and game-play.
The source is the essay-review on www.electronicbookreview.com written by Greg Costikyan.
Before 1973, if you had said something like "games are a storytelling medium," just about anyone would have looked at you as if you were mad - and anyone knowledgeable about games would have assumed you knew nothing about them.
The quote was directly rewritten from the essay.
In the chapter that begins this section, Greg Costikyan elegantly oulines a spectrumof game-story forms - all of which are discussed, sometimes at lenght, by other contributors to this book. Costikyan, who began his career in tabletop game design before he became a respected designer and scolar of many different types of games, still retains a noticeable fondness for the tabletop role-playing game (RPG) form, as do the editors of this book.
The quote was rewritten directly from the book chapter's description.
How should we explain to someone what a game is?
I imagine that we should describe games to him, and we might add:
"This and similar things are called 'games'." Ad do we know anymore about it ourselves? It is only other people whom we cannot tell exactly what a game is?
But this is not ignorance. We do not know the bounderies because none have been drawn.
- Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosphical Investigations, aph. 69.