Comments on "Roll dice and kick ass!": General gamism

Hello John. Thanks for taking the time to read and...

2006-09-09T23:49:00.000+01:00

Hello John. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment on this old post of mine. Thank you too for your comments which show that you understood my remarks nicely. I was more concerned to challenge the presumed novelty of the artistic conception of roleplaying than anything else. And I freely admit that my little anecdote contributes nothing to the discussion of the issue other than

Well, a lot of people argue that rpg's are art, an...

2006-09-08T20:54:00.000+01:00

Well, a lot of people argue that rpg's are art, and believe that they are saying something strong about the virtues of roleplaying, something to its benefit. I think that this is instead a weak statement about rpg's. Far from highlighting roleplaying's distinct virtues, the artistic conception submerges those virtues by choosing to evaluate rpg's according to standards that are quite simply

No, not really defensive, at least when it comes t...

2006-03-09T02:10:00.000Z
No, not really defensive, at least when it comes to those specific behaviors/motives. Defensiveness is certainly there in response to attacks, real or imagined, or even personal insecurities about the value of one's hobby. I think it's also an understandable response if someone comes by and denigrates what you're doing by saying "it's not roleplaying", "it's not fun", "it's just wankery". Then

Thanks for the 20x20 room link Elliot. That's a us...

2006-03-08T20:52:00.000Z
Thanks for the 20x20 room link Elliot. That's a useful exchange of opinions on the subject. Jonathan Walton puts his case clearly and simply and in a manner that is easy to engage with, for which he deserves credit.

Your own comments make a lot of sense to me. You have caught exactly the conclusions that I and others drew about our 'artistic' roleplaying companion, especially with your

blogsearch.google.com is a great way of turning up...

2006-03-08T19:07:00.000Z
blogsearch.google.com is a great way of turning up all sorts of stuff.

What interested me about your "games as art" comments is that the context really brings up an important power dynamic that was hinted at but not fully developed in one of the

Hello there Elliot. Thanks for your kind words. Fi...

2006-03-08T09:49:00.000Z
Hello there Elliot. Thanks for your kind words. Finding RD/KA! through a web search? I hope you'll forgive me a moment's warm glow of satisfaction at that. :)

Meanwhile, as for your question. Yes, I hope to say more about the 'rpg's as art' issue later. For now, I guess I could sum my thoughts up by saying that I believe this view is ultimately a defensive one. That

I'm enjoying your blog (which I just found through...

2006-03-06T20:05:00.000Z
I'm enjoying your blog (which I just found through a web search--that's why I'm commenting on an old post).

Maybe you get to it later, but at this point I'm wondering what you see as the significance of the fact some people are advocating RPing as an art? And have you seen the working-over this topic got back in December, in places such as the 20x20 room, John Kim's RPG journal, and

Oh, and you will love this:http://video.google.com...

2006-01-28T13:46:00.000Z
Oh, and you will love this:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7521044027821122670

Another excellent article... Let me just add thoug...

2006-01-22T11:19:00.000Z
Another excellent article... Let me just add though that RPGlike rules could be used to keep improvisational theater together... I've seen it happen and it's definetely interesting