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Dear PTGPTB,
Re: Give Your GM A Break: This is a truly great article. I'm so glad that I found it. I've been struggling with a group of uncooperative players, and so many of the things in this article confirm that it's not just my imagination. Many thanks to Steve Darlington for writing this article, and to you for reprinting it.
Lael Buchanan
Dear PTGPTB,
First off, thanks for the praise in the editorial... I'll have a hard time
squeezing my ego through the door now, but I'm sure I'll manage.
Secondly, and more importantly, my congrats to Steve on another fantastic column!
I'm in full agreement that Conventions are an important part of gaming. Not
only do we get to practice those little-used social skills that people keep
telling us are important, but we also get to try out new systems without
having to force them on our usual groups. Plus the ability to view new
style of role-playing or GMing can further us in our Gaming Evolution.
Although I have no columns about conventions coming up, I know where to link
to when I do! Looking forward to the next issue!
Erich S. Arendall, "Shadow Sprite"
Nicely summed up, Erich. We're also looking forward to your next great column on RPG Net.
Dear PTGPTB,
You said:
I didn't mean to imply that RIFTS was the first multiple-genre setting, rather that it was the first to use this to tie multiple games together.
What about Chaosium's Worlds of Wonder? (I never had this game in my hands,
but I know that by the mid eighties it had Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and
Super-heroes all in one box, and all following the same basic concepts)
Sergio Mascarenhas de Almeida, Portugal
Thanks for the tip! I have to say I have never heard of this game, but if anyone cares to enlighten us further, we'll correct the mistake.
Dear PTGPTB,
Your style and humour is a lot like the stuff we do in Denmark. Its a shame you can't read our language because I think we could share a lot of material and mutual inspiration. I guess that there is three features about your project that appeal to me, and
probably to Danish roleplayers in general.
1) You have an open approach to roleplaying and an interest in the
relationship between roleplaying and other medias. We can talk about
roleplaying, and not about the games we play. In Denmark there is a lot of
discussion about the future of roleplaying and potential applications outside
the established hobby. The last couple of years I've made my living by working
as a consultant on how to apply principles from roleplaying to management,
games, internet solutions and education. The possibilities are growing and we
need a broarder mind and scope when we discuss our media.
2) You got humour and ability to ironice about the established (american)
industry. It's nice to read stuff from people who don't worship Gygax or White
Wolf on every page. Denmark is too tiny to support a traditional roleplaying
industry, we don't have any large companies with full-time employees (they got
some in Sweden).
3) You don't write about specific game systems. It's pretty boring to read
about new traits for Vampire or how to use multiclasses in AD&D. For this
reason most of the american web-zines about RPG are uinterestering. In Denmark
most people are very much into "non-system" gaming or they use a minimal
system.
There is a lot of good stuff that you could use from us, but it's in Danish. A few
people writes in English, but the quality of their work is low. There is a
proud tradition of scenario-writing for conventions and each year more then
hundred scenarioes is written all over the country. Many of those are of great
quality and very large (50+ pages).
If I stumble over any good stuff in English, I'll give you a hint.
Salut,
Ask Agger, Denmark
Dear PTGPTB,
I have only just started reading this magazine, and it looks quite good.
You have some very interesting articles and have seemed to put articles
in that answer a few questions that I have regarding roleplaying in
general. Thanks very much and keep up the good work.
I was wondering if you guys knew of a site or if you yourselves hosted a
page where roleplayers could put there names down for roleplaying
groups.
Anthony Ashton
We've had a lot of requests for such a thing, and we're thinking about implementing David's suggestion below as a way to make this easier. In the meantime, can anyone in Sydney (Australia) help Anthony?
Dear PTGPTB,
About the graphics:
Concerning the question in this issue's reader forum, I really like the background pattern. It rarely - if ever - interferes with the letters, and makes the page easier on the eyes (less contrast). The 'PTG, PTB' title graphic, however, doesn't sit quite right with me - something about the colors I think... Though it hardly detracts from the zine as a whole, I think a more discrete graphic would complement the rest of the page better. As it stands, the impression I get of it is of those annoying banners the free web hosters make people put on their pages.
About the layout:
I've realised that I did have an 'other' for the wanted additions question above, but I'm too lazy to go back, so here it is - A guestbook-type area that visitors can use to comment directly and publicly on the stories, without having to wait until the next forum comes out. I don't know what the hit rate is like for the site, but with enough visitors, the conversations might even move someone to contribute an article because 'these guys just doesn't understand what I mean'.
I would enjoy something at least in the links section for music to Role-Play to... Not necessarily soundtracks of movies or these samples that ship with CRPGS, rather I mean bands like Blind Guardian or Days of Yore with a decidedly fantastic and role-playing atmosphere, respectively. These two bands are power metal, which IMO = perfect RPG mood music. The former is heavily influenced by Tolkien (their latest album actually follows the plot of The Silmarillion). I'm sure other examples could be easy to find (not necessarily sticking to the heavy metal genre, of course). Hrm, perhaps I have found a contribution topic...
David Bradley, Pittsburg
Thanks for some smart, direct comments, David. We like the idea of a guestbook approach, stay tuned on that one. And your ideas on RPG music sound like the makings of a great article - why not write it yourself? On the banner, we appreciate your problems with it, but we're fairly happy with it. There's also the problem that we have no other alternatives - unless some budding artists out there would care to make us some?
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