A Bit of Riffing
After finishing my little diddy called “Art of Diplomacy” I kinda feel as if I don’t have that much material to write on. I suppose I could go leafing through a couple of articles and come up with something I have strong opinions about. But then, it isn’t really a new idea. Heck, I am not even sure if I will keep running this blog. I like the site, but in the end, I don’t think I can really tap into the same issues that others get into.
Good lord, I’m starting to sound like I did on Deviantart.
This is a strange thing about my Internet cyborgs, they correlate in very different ways and it is nearly impossible for me to seperate them from the subjects they are applied to. Things that involve my life seem to be overtaken by a whinier me. At least, I get the impression that I am whining, or at least bemoaning my existence when I talk about myself.
When in a game where I become competent, I tend to be congenial, friendly and charismatic.
My real self is more of a self-pitying, angry at the entire world for no good reason. Cynical and mean spirited, I took on a very defensive attitude. I just really didn’t like people often because I feel they always had an agenda. Which they did. First phsyical relationship turned into a messy affair which ended up with me being the subject of a rebound. (If you thought being dumped in a legitimate relationship was bad.) Followed by missing your chance with someone who you felt was your true love. At least, I believe she was, but then, I’m a romantic at heart.
I still have the Governator on my list for messing up my first date. (I consider dates and relationships a little different. One is short term, one is long term.) Anyway…
Since I really don’t have many fully formed ideas, I decided to just chat about what comes to mind. And aside from needing to study for my finals and getting my bloody final presentation done, the thing that is realyl sticking in my mind and my craw is the announcement of the Fourth Edition Rules of Dungeons and Dragons.
Christian watchdog claims aside, Dungeons and Dragons is a combination of war gaming and theatre sports. One playing plays the guy who comes up with the situations while the other players take on the role of characters that they replay over several sessions of gameplay. The director guy’s job is to make the war game aspect of the game, usually involving the pseudo-physical characters the players portray as they manage their resources and deal with various scenarios from catching a crook in the city, to exploring trapped-filled ruins. The fun aspect is from the players working together to accomplish their character’s personal goals and completing the director’s objectives. The end goal is just to have fun, a directive that is shared by the gameplay aspect of MMOs, although the director may string together scenarios so that they create an overarching story with a beginning and end, so that it isn’t a case of the game changing and the characters staying the same.
The creators of the rules and the majority of material to help directors create games, is a company known as Wizard’s of the Coast, the ones responsible for Magic the Gathering, a collectable card game. This company is further owned by Hasbro, a toy company that you probably recognize. Anyway, the point of editions is to come up with new versions of the rules so that they are easier for players to understand, but also still maintain the overall ‘feel’ that the game is supposed to possess. Of course, this is also a way to get more money as new players will likely purchase the newest version of the rules, and current players will either enjoy the new version more, or purchase it so they can play with those who are running on the new edition.
The problem is the timing. (For those of you who know about the game and don’t need to hear my swill about the history, just skip past the conjoined paragraphs.)
In total, Dungeons and Dragons came out with seven versions. (Though I may be mistaken.) ‘Hold the phone: They’re only on #4 and there have been six previously?’ How it worked was the the original Dungeons and Dragons was pretty well the sale of a living room set of rules to make war games more engaging aside from simply annihilating other armies. But of course, the game was essentially incomplete. So they can out with an ‘advanced’ version that had more rules and more complete details on various aspects.
2nd Edition then came out, which was pretty well the solid version that could be merchandised and started the business model to attract new players. Then they brought an advanced rules set for 2nd Edition which again gave a more detailed game for players who wanted it.
3rd Edition came out about 8 years ago after the original company that created it was bought out by Wizards. It was intended to really stream line the rules by reducing the number of charts, tables, and calculator use that could sometimes become too overbearing in previous versions. This also made the game highly modular, making it easier for players to write their own material for their games. Of course, there were several places of confusion in the rules. Thus, Wizards created what was intened to be an eratta, a single book that simply explained the rules better and adjusted things that were just plain wrong. However, this ended up becoming a whole new edition called 3.5E that was practically incompatable with 3E. These ‘update’ was released in 2003.
4th Edition is coming out in the summer of 2008.
As I was say, the problem is timing. Between 3rd, 3.5E and 4th is a span of only 7 years, compared to a daunting 11 between 2nd Edition and 3rd. Having played Wizard’s other cash cow, Magic, I am very certain what their model is turning out to be. Magic also has a series of alterations as time passed and has gone through numerous editions. (I lost count after the 9th Edition) along with the ‘official’ card sets were supplementary card sets. This is exactly the same course that Wizards is taking with Dungeons and Dragons. They are constantly redoing the rules in order to make the previous versions obselete so that they can re-release the rulebooks and supplements.
Perhaps it was just a fantasy, but for a lot of DnD nerds, we fantasize that the original creators of the game never meant for it to be this cantankerous money making scheme, but that may be far from the truth. The only problem is it feels a lot more obvious when Wizards is doing it because we recognize them more as a business rather than a household operation. It is still very aggravating that Wizards has chosen to be as obvious with it as they had been with their card game.
For a lot of nerds, we often throw our fists in the air in outrage over the business models used by the creators of our beloved games, but in the end, we can’t seem to break away from the siren song. It is a pitifully vicious cycle but the subculture revels in it, just as much as the masses revel in their uninspired films and TV programming. I imagine that literature has developed a great deal of superficiality that has been masked by the elitism of the medium.
I feel that this is a great example of what I call the loss of creativity. We may claim to be creative, but high art and movements like we had prior to Cold War have ceased to be and have since been replaced by the massed marketibility of a product. No real sense of symbolism is even maintained, and when it is, I am certain that the artist is talking through their butt, their hubris, or that frail ego surrounded in a bubble of false passion. Even my prose is rather rank, if you ask me. I like to cling onto the idea of a Second Renaissance that can clear this away and give us a meaningul sense of creativity again, but I suppose that’s just the hopes and dreams of a romantic fool with a chip on his shoulder.
Who knows. Time will tell.
I hope.
Microwaved Malice 