Editorial

Hi there. We haven’t met.

Welcome to the very first issue of Places to Go, People to Be, a brand new Internet fanzine devoted to role-playing and role-playing games. The magazine is written by gamers, for gamers, and we are dedicated to bringing you the best possible articles, discussions and delectations about our hobby.

To make sure we are succeeding in this, we need as much feedback as possible. After looking through our magazine, please drop us a line and tell us what you thought of it, and any ideas you have about what you would like to see changed, or added. We’re also on the lookout for some more writers, so if you’ve got anything you’d like to see published, don’t hesitate to send it to us. There’s more information about this in the Submissions section.

We are especially looking for submissions for two of our columns. "Splenetics" is our column for writers to vent their spleen over whatever it is that annoys them about the hobby. This issue, Gary Pellino tells us exactly why Gary Gygax and all his TSR cronies should be put to death. Then there’s "Once Upon a Time", a column for veteran players to share the touching or comical misadventures they had when they first began to role-play.

If you don’t feel like venting your spleen or recalling your past, but still feel you have something to say, or ask, about the industry, then perhaps our Readers’ Forum is for you. We’re hoping that this will become a site for the free and thoughtful meeting of intellects, or, at the very least, a really big bitch session.

Woah! Before we go any further, we mustn't forget the big news of late: a number of big companies will be boycotting GenCon (the US-wide gaming convention, and the biggest in the world) this year. Find out more in our RPG News section. And if you're a local, living in the tropical death zone that is Brisbane, Australia, check out the Local Gaming Scene for what's happening around town. We're also looking for people to help us keep both these sections up to date and on the ball.

This month our theme is "In Praise of the GM". I mean, let’s face it, the GM is a pretty darn good guy. Their whole job is to entertain us, they do all the hard work, and without them, we can’t even play. So let’s hear it for the GM! Let’s make sure they know just how great we think they are - when was the last time you thanked your GM for running a session?

Anyway, along these lines we have an article about how to make your GMs job easier (by me), an article for GMs about how to run better games (by me), and an article with some hints for GMs using magic in their games (also by me - did I mention we need some more writers?).

Lastly, in this issue we begin a series of articles about the history of role-playing. The writer, who prefers only to be known as Astinus, tells me that the vast, epic tale of our hobby’s past requires not one, but five articles, so let’s hope we can go the distance.

On top of all this, we also have some great plans for the future. We're hoping soon to start up a column devoted to gaming humour - especially funny stories from your games. We're also examining the idea of occasionally including gaming resources, such as campaign settings or adventure ideas. Another suggestion was a classifieds area where players can sell or buy games, and connect with gamers in their area, but we need to know if there is a demand for such things. So let us know if these are the kinds of things you want, and send us any submissions you might have for them. If you tell us what you want, we can make the mag better for you.

Well, that's it from me then. We hope you enjoy the mag, and we hope to see you back here for the next issue.

Game On,

Steve Darlington

Editor.

Have a question for the editor? Mail him here.