What Did He Mean By That???

My last post may have left a few folks scratching their heads and wondering the points that I was getting at. Others may want to know where I exactly stand in the tons of game theory arguments you find in places like the Forge. So let's do a quick set of where I stand:

1. A Game needs to be designed at the begining to fulfill it's design goals. Adding things after the initial design will inevitably clutter the initial vision and leave those who were drawn to the original vision a bit confused about the result.

2. A thousand and one supplements, to produce a publishing pyramid/splatbook series, just for the purpose of milking money out of gamers playing a game system or setting is a bad idea.

3. Universal Mechanics aren't. All Universal mechanics are in some way lacking in one or more categories of being universal. A System that claims universal but does a category or style badly, if not at all, is not universal and should re-think their advertising.

4. You need to pick, choose and shape a mechanic to fit a setting, genre and style. You need the right tools for the right job. Just because you have a hammer doesn't mean it will work as a saw or a paintbrush effectively.

5. You need to understand the fundimental flaws, problems and vision in a game system before using it to run a game as a GM. If you can't put the time in to really know your game then you shouldn't be GMing. GMing takes TIME, EFFORT and a willingness to READ and COMPARE.

6. To make any game work, you need to know what your players want. Their desires, needs and interests must be represented in a game setting and mechanic or they will get bored or upset. It's not just the GM's playground, the players should have a certain level of input, power and control over the flow of the game.

Now, I'd like to hear back from some of the folks who have read these blog posts. I need to know if anyone is reading them, or if I should just consider this blog a fignment of my ego and concentrate my writing efforts elsewhere.

So, leave me a comment on this post. Even better, leave me a piece of info. Let me know who YOU are reading on blogger/blogspot that's regularly writing about roleplaying games and roleplaying game design. I'd like to get to know other bloggers on here and get a feel for the discussions they thing would make good discussions.

I also need to see a bigger picture of what is out there gaming, so if you are playing a non-standard roleplaying game (Indie or Small Press) then make a comment here and tell me which such games you are playing (and if poissible some info about the game, where it can be found or who publishes it or where on the net it lurks for discovery etc.) And tell me what you like about the game, and what you hate/dislike.

I figure this could be informational for all of us. One can always learn new things, if one is open to look at new things and ideas. So, let's educate each other!