From: flindholm@mta.ca
Subject: Re: SF Poll
Reply-To: flindholm@mta.ca
Organization: Mount Allison U, Sackville, N.B. Canada 
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 18:59:21 GMT

In article <1if5mnINNpvo@titan.ucc.umass.edu>, dunkelza@titan.ucc.umass.edu (KEITH C MCCORMIC) writes:
> 
>     Continuing on my previous thread about the potentially huge market for
>Science Fiction RPGs, I figured to formalize my request as a poll.  So if
>you in anyway care at all about this, please post a response, or e-mail me 
>one.
>
>  BACKGROUND:
>    1.  Do you like a heavy background in a game?  Another words, do you like
>        a game to have huge amounts of material available? Why?

      I like games with lots of background material. I think it helps keep 
consistancy in the game.

>    2.  If a background is very fixed, such as the one for Shadowrun, does
>        it turn you off?  Why?  (I mean very fixed in that if you alter the
>        background it totally changes the flavor of the game.)

      I prefer fixed backgrounds (again because of consistancy). However, I 
am, more than willing to change a background in the begining to make the game 
more enjoyable but stick with it from then on.

>    3.  Do you prefer Soft SF (High Tech, Low scientific accuracy)
>        or Hard SF (Lower Tech, High accuracy)?  Why?

     It really depends on the game. Games that are set in our present time or
in history I like to have a high accuracy. For me it helps to make the game
more real. Futuristic games are better with lower accuracy but with good (but
bogus) explanations why the impossible works (warp drives, hyperspace, etc,)

>    4.  Do you prefer Cyberpunk ("Hoi, chummer.."), Space Opera ("Hand me 
>        that hydro-spanner, will ya Chewie?"), Exploration ("To boldly
>        go..."),   Future War ("We're gonna hit them bastards, and hit
>        `em hard..."), or some mix and match of the above?  Why? 

     My favorite future genre is Cyberpunk. It is close enough to the present
day that we can still easily relate to it but still gives all the excitement
that futuristic games do. I also like the fobodding atmosphere.

>    5.  Would you or do you by games just for the Background?  Why? 

    I buy games more for the background than for the rules. I find rules are
much more easily adapted to or adapted than trying to rewrite a whole world.

>  MECHANICS:
>    1.  Do you prefer accuracy or simplicity in a system?  How far are you 
>        willing to bend either way?  Why?

   I would like a simple but accurate system (wouldn't we all) but since that
seems to be an imposibilty I'd say it depends on the game. Games that are more 
role playing in style (eg.Vampire) dom better with simple rules while more 
complex games (in terms of needing exactness) do better with more accurate
rules (eg.Cyberpunk)
 
>    2.  Do you feel that realistic combat at a cost of speed and ease is an
>        acceptable trade-off?  Why?

     Again it depends on the game. Less combat oriented games can live without
realism in firefights. Games where fighting tends to be integral (eg.Shadowrun)
need more detail for fighting.

>    3.  Do you prefer combat that is quick and dirty, quick but clean-cut,
>        just dirty, or just clean-cut?  Why?

      I like combat to be quick and clean cut. I prefer to know exactly what
happened and what it effected in order to make combat fairly realistic. Very
short non plot effcting fights are better dealt with in the quick/dirty metheod
however.

>    4.  Do you prefer realistic but challenging Random roll creation or
>        less realistic but simpler to handle Point Allocation? Why?

    I prefer point allocation systems. I know that random roling really is more
accurate in that there really are people who are just better than evberyone
else but Point allocation lets all the players start out on a (relativly) even
footing. No one can loom over everyone else because of a fluke bunch of roles.

>    5.  How many die rolls are too many to perform an action (Shooting, 
>        Driving a car, tying shoes, etc.)?  Why?

      Tying shoes is an easy action not worth rolling for. I try to get the 
players to do things without rolling whenever possible because it makes things
go faster. Something like shooting a gun is a stand alone action that I'd say
only needs one roll to complete. Something like running would need more than
one role as the charecter would need a certain amount of succeses to get away
from the pursuer.

>    6.  How long is the ideal combat turn (Time it take to perform one action)
>        in your opinion?  Why?

      2-3 seconds. This is enough time to do relativly complex things but still
short enough to realisticly perform an action that you would be hurrying over 
(eg.shoot someone).

>    7.  Would you or do you buy games just for their mechanics?  Why?

     I would not buy a game for it's mechanics unless it was a proven mechanic
system that was readibly adaptable. (eg.GURPS)

>  ART:
>    1.  Do you consider role-playing game design, and role-playing in general
>        to be an art worthy of notice? Why?

     I think that if it can be considered an art it should be considered an art
such as arcitecture with writing built in. It is a difficult thing to build
a workable system no matter how lacluster it may be. Coming up with a
background for it is equaly difficult. You have to come up with a whole new
idea the way professional writers do. This is probably why most RPG's are 
not really knew ideas but are based on a pre-existing ideas (eg.sword&sorcery,
cyberpunk, futuristic). 

>    2.  If so, can you find some examples of self-expression and emotional
>        meaning in any well-known games on the market?  What are they?  
>        What is the author saying?  Why?

     Alot of different games try to give alot of different ideas and meanings.
Vampire: beware the beast within, Twighlight 2000: horrors of modernwarfare
StarWars: Good vs Evil, hope, Cyberpunk: Man does anything to survive; all 
are different games that give different feelings and ideas.


>Dunkelzahn
 
               Cyrus

Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc