tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post5754791059922073764..comments2023-10-14T03:58:59.333-06:00Comments on The Tao of D&D: Printing PressAlexis Smolenskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-65057076048980225132011-06-11T00:45:14.620-06:002011-06-11T00:45:14.620-06:005stonegames,
Thank you, very educational. I had t...5stonegames,<br /><br />Thank you, very educational. I had thought skill and a feel for the metal was gained from practice and had nothing to do with how something is done, but I see that I’ve been wrong. Also, I hadn’t realized the state of historical scholarship was such a disastrous minefield in the 60’s, and that virtually all the genius work has been done since then. Thank you for enlightening me.<br /><br />I’m pleased that you’ve corrected my assumptions about the limits of work that can be done by people who are 24 and 33. It’s reassuring to know that no one of those ages could possibly do better than Gygax and Arneson. They truly were stunning intellects to which all other young people everywhere, regardless of their educations, must bow.<br /><br />Of course, I agree that no scholarship that existed in the past can measure with the scholarship being done today. Papers and books written without the internet? Ridiculous. People back then should have known better than to waste their time with such worthless, sub-par ‘history writing’ efforts. I know I'm going to throw my Arnold Toynbee away.<br /><br />Thank you 5stone, you’ve hit the nail on the head. I shall correct my short-sighted perceptions in future.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-58758712440945203682011-06-10T16:10:43.030-06:002011-06-10T16:10:43.030-06:00A couple of things, making a sword from a book isn...A couple of things, making a sword from a book isn't as easy as you think and making a good sword is even harder.<br /><br />It still requires skill and a bit of instinct for metal. If its a fantasy world, a little magic won't hurt either and that may or may not be something that anyone can learn <br /><br />Also re: Medievalism, well D&D is a more Conan than anything and as such is lensed more by "whats fun" that whats accurate. <br /><br />Even if they had wanted more accuracy <br />Gygax and Arneson et all were working within the limits of their age as much as any Medieval person was.<br /><br />While sure books were plentiful and cheap in the late 60's and 70's but scholarship was often bad, limited by Victorian preconceptions or simply as yet undone.<br /><br />And yes sure there were some very good books they could have selected, Durant, Gies etc but D&D is a game made by accident not design.<br /><br />Even later games such as Runequest suffered from those limits. RQ combat was very good for a game of its period but its HtH rules were informed by a very new combat sport the SCA. Access to Fetchbuchs was essentially unknown and as such they has to guess. <br /><br />Scholarship on that period when wanted is simply more available now than ever as as denizens of such an age we are spoiled. <br /><br />I guess its kind of a happy coincidence that D&D got a lot of us into scholarship and the Medieval period and as the same groups of people were into computer too, well the knowledge spread.<br /><br />Now my rare reprint of Silver's Principles of Defense (some SOB took it years ago) is now commonplace and I can have it or dozens of others for the asking and a few (or no) bucks and I think that is an indirect product of D&D5stonegameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10694550968360550229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-74216808243975785932011-06-10T14:16:28.226-06:002011-06-10T14:16:28.226-06:00Fish? I can work with that. Quick research tells...Fish? I can work with that. Quick research tells me your schooner can manage 1,608 lbs. of cod per day.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-70028729810417830072011-06-10T13:16:45.745-06:002011-06-10T13:16:45.745-06:00*chuckle* Leaving little bomblets for those rabid ...*chuckle* Leaving little bomblets for those rabid fans to pick up and have explode in their faces... and while I'm on vacation even! <br /><br />I think it was rather a focused, limited knowledge that wargamers would have, versus a well rounded knowledge that a historian might have. I believe Messrs. Gygax and Arneson had different goals for their game of D&D as you do. <br /><br />That does nothing to invalidate your point, rather it strengthens it. <br /><br />Bar Harbor is gorgeous. I think rather than mustard farming, I'd take up fishing or lobster harvesting though.Michael S/Chgowizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052820400496340137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-63832090699772614162011-06-10T11:09:46.721-06:002011-06-10T11:09:46.721-06:00Yes, Gygax's one-year of anthropology courses ...Yes, Gygax's one-year of anthropology courses at a junior college more than demonstrates how I'm wrong in that. His experience with Avalon Hill games in the 1960s satisfies certainly all the historical background anyone creating an RPG based on history needs.<br /><br />I grant you, Gygax was 33 when Chainmail was released in 1971. On the other hand, Arneson was the ripe old age of 24, and had one whole year of post-secondary history to his credit from the University of Minnesota.<br /><br />So I stand corrected.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-80024382549894288452011-06-10T10:52:19.457-06:002011-06-10T10:52:19.457-06:00I think probably because most of the creators and ...I think probably because most of the creators and writers of the game ignorantly believed in this sort of hokum. They were, after all, merely college students, with little conception of the greater world beyond their mother's apron strings and their paid-for dormitary rooms. <br /><br />I think your more then a bit off on this notion. <br />Most of the writers/developers were beyond college. Arneson and Gygax were both working regular jobs when creating/publishing D&D.Dead Horsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02642056427083826090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3871409676946408069.post-63320853705969714382011-06-10T10:23:06.737-06:002011-06-10T10:23:06.737-06:00"It is the modern mysticism that we place beh..."It is the modern mysticism that we place behind technological innovation that prevails in descriptions of impossible-to-make Japanese swords that were really only as 'complicated' as the making of biscuits."<br /><br />Ha! Well put.jgbrowninghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16274622778419965618noreply@blogger.com