The Forum

Dear PTGPTB,
Just wanted to let you know I really liked your history of RPG's. Very well-written and informative.

Regards,
Rob Kroese

Dear PTGPTB,
May I extend yet another commendation for Steve Darlington's excellent nine-part History? I'm deeply impressed, not only by the depth and care of his scholarship but also on the way he managed, despite limited space, to promote any number of games (I'm thinking Pendragon and Ars Magica, in particular, but not alone) which deserve to be brought more to the attention of those who may read his piece but are not veterans of the art. Bravo, indeed bravura.

This also has the effect of encouraging me to look further at your 'zine. I'd checked it out (via banner ads on RPG.net) but had previously found it uninspiring and somehow lackluster - I'm not sure exactly what it was, but I suspect that a slightly greater degree of annotation and draw-you-in on the TOC would help; especially with the grey background (which I do understand and even appreciate) the 'zine itself could use some kind of 'pick-up line' for idle gamers.

Keep the $0.02,
Eric Finley

Thanks for the feedback -- we know Steve loves it -- and thanks for your feedback on our sites feel. What do you think about the new 'teaser' on the frontpage?

Dear PTGPTB,
I just thought I'd say thanks for putting a link to my stuff in the October issue of PTGPTB. I hadn't noticed it was there until I started going through all the links sections of each issue and I spotted my webpage. That's just cool. I should have more stuff posted to my webpage soon, I've been pretty busy with collage lately, so I haven't had the chance to mess with the site.

Thanks again,
Tim "Galfraxas" Boser

Dear PTGPTB,
Steve Savage from The Page of Generators here! Just wanted to say I'm flattered my site was selected to be in your resource section! Glad it proved to be worth including!

BADGER
aka Steven Savage

Dear PTGPTB,
Interesting articles in the mag. Definitely will be prowling around and reading more indepth.

However, have you guys thought about doing a PTG,PTB t-shirt? That was the first thing that came to my mind when I read the phrase. You ought to consider it.

Thanks for the time investment in this project, I certainly wish there were more intellectual RPG resources like this out there.

=Nadine=

Thanks Nadine. Actually, we're currently talking to a supplier about producing some PTGPTB T-shirts but we're just not sure how popular they'd really be. But thanks for letting us know you'd like one.

Dear PTGPTB,
I've been interested in seeing some of the Tabletop games for a while, and I was wondering why I haven't been able to find anything on the net. I'm particularly interested in the types of systems and mechanics that the Japanese have in their rpgs.

Thanks,
Chistopher Chinn

Thanks for your interest Chris. We have forwarded message to Andy and as interested as you to hear his thoughts! Ed.

Dear PTGPTB,
Just wanted to know if you guys would be able to do a little something on LARP in Brisbane. At the moment I am planning the first adventure for my new LARP group and as there are none in existance that I know of so it is a bit hard to get the word around.

Thanks,
Ben Moran
Game Warden, Spirit Of Adventure

Ben: I am afraid that I do not know much at all about the Brisbane LARP scene (so there must be an article waiting to be written :-)). I would guess that there must be a few Vampire groups lurking around the place.

Can anyone else help? Raymond Smith, Webmaster

Dear PTGPTB,
Thanks for the great laugh. By the way we have a group of roleplayers in Wynnum, Brisbane always looking for new players so please feel free to pass on my e-mail. After reading your DM is God article I am glad I GM the way I do and someone out there understands!

Thanks,
Melynda

Thanks for the praise. You'll have to remind us which article you mean so we can pass your comments on to the writer. If you are looking for new players, our online forum is a great place to post (we see you figured that out without us). Ed.

Dear PTGPTB,
Ummm... I'm not sure if my last email was sent... so I'm just gonna write another one just in case. (If you have gotten last my email, skip this one.)

First off, tributes. Thank you Steve for producing what is perhaps the best web mag about roleplaying ever.

Second, I'm also in need to of some help. Well, here's the deal. My professor wants us to write about a current rendition of a classical myth. I proposed that I do D&D in context to that. He gave me the green light to go ahead. Problem. I do not know where to look for good resources examining the behavior of roleplaying. My local library while has a lot of stuff on acting and fairytale archtypes, nothing really helps me look into the game itself.

Then it dawned on me that if anybody can help me out, it'd be you guys. Where do you find all your resources for analysis? I mean, are there books out there that actually talk about roleplaying in that particular light?

Now, I know that you guys are all busy people, so I'll stop pestering you with this email. But anyway, if you find that you happen to have some free time on your hands and you have a sudden urge to write to some strange college kid for the sake of his research paper, thank you thank you thank you thank you.

Once again, thank you for the most intellectually stimulating roleplaying experience ever,
Elliott Wu

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "current rendition of a classical myth". Do you see D&D as reinterpreting the heroism of Greek mythology in allowing some kind of participatory storytelling. You'd have to take a close look at what was meant by heroism in Ancient Greece, was it the all pulling together in the phalananx or rushing around like that idiot Achilles? The answer is not straightforward but then it isn't in RPGS either. Or is it something else?

I must say my inpsiration is from what I see in roleplaying rather than referring to any external source but we've got an article coming up on how to use Gothic Poetry in roleplaying. The author's interest springs from his literary background and the realisation of the commonality of themes.

On the whole there aren't many books that look at roleplaying in an academic way. There are for the therapeutic kind of roleplaying but that is really a whole different kettle of fish. There are a few theses out there on the web looking at RPGs that you might find with www.google.com , otherwise you can look at websites like www.indie-rpgs.com for the Ron Edwards' point of view. On the whole I don't agree with Ron but he is helpful if you post to his boards. The other references you might use are Andrew Rilstone and John Kim.
Ed.

Dear PTGPTB,
I really enjoy your 'zine. It is one of the few grownup sites devoted to gaming. Thanks so much.
Carey Hannan

We are glad you enjoyed it! 'Grownup' isn't something we have tried for, but we guess it is what you get when you aim to provide content over appearance and have an editorial team who are all over twenty-five. Ed.

Dear PTGPTB,
I was just searching around for infos on the fate of Dallas Egbert and found an excellent (and I mean it) article in your mag. I liked most of what I read of it up to now.

Looking forward to a new issue,
Daniel Hoernig

Thank you for your kind words of appreciation; our authors always love feedback from our readers. We are very glad you have found our zine informative and hope this issue does not disappoint.

Dear PTGPTB,
It's great to see you guys still plugging away with ptgptb. I always enjoy reading each issue.

Keep up the good work guys,
Adam Briggs
Adamant Ink (Home of "Gothika RPG)

Why, thank you very much Mr Briggs. We have just had a peek at your site from work and it looks damn impressive. We will be sure to take a longer look. Ed.

Dear PTGPTB,
I just happened to come accross this magazine by accident one day - what a find! I'm just now beggining to read the articles, but I wanted to make sure you got at least one encouraging email today.

Keep up the good work,
James Zaldivar

Thank you James, your encouragement is much appreciated. Feedback like this keeps PTGPTB going between issues. Ed.

Dear PTGPTB,
Thanks for adding a link to Hermes' Portal from your page. Issue #4 should be released at the end of April. If you like, I'll be pleased to send you a free copy.

Best regards,
Eric Kouris
Hermes' Portal

You are welcome! It is our pleasure to link to other informative sites. Ed.

Dear PTGPTB,
I am not sure how I even came to discover your site tonight. I was in a wistfulmood and followed a few links till I was suddenly miles from the path I originally set foot on in my web wanderings. I cannot remember because I now have no idea what i was looking for when I stumbled upon your site, and intrigued by the fact that this Steve bloke, who was finishing up as editor, lived in Qld (I'm from Tassie). The next thing I know I see he has written a series of articles on the history of roleplaying, and momentarily overcome withnostalgia decide to have a read. What I was doing before that has now been effaced from my memory, i have been engrossed ever since.

It has taken me four hours to read the enitre series of nine. "Why so long?" you might well ask. Well I am now surrounded by piles and piles of games stretching over my 21 or so years of roleplaying. I am almost embarressed to admit how overcome with emotion I am as I recall a lifetime of gaming. As every article talked about more and more games I found myself in our 'spare room' pulling dusty tomes from the shelves. I call it our spare room but in reality its filled with bookcases bowing under the weight of hundreds (maybe a thousand or more) gaming related items. Until I read this article i didn't quite realise how much of roleplaying's history I have sitting in that room.

Not only was I moved by the nostalgia of my own gaming history and the fact that this man had captured so accurately the feelings I have had over the years-the joys, and yes, the persecutions in the dark days when any fruitloop who killed themselves or someone else blames RPGs. I also learnt a few things i never knew about the things that have given me so much joy over the years.

I will be getting my tremendously patient wife (long since gone to bed now) to read this series of articles in its entirety. Nothing I could tell her about these strange games I play will say it any better. She never questions or complains about it, even now that our son has just begun to take up the sword too, she just rolls her eyes good naturedly and brings us more dips.

I will now be making PTGPTB a part of my routine.

Please pass on my thanks to the author,
Dave

Thanks very much for getting in touch, we are always glad to hear from our readers. Although I'm now the editor and English, the zine is still at heart an Aussie zine and it's great to hear from someone who seems to have much in common with Steve, and the rest of us.

If you fancy writing some more about you own roleplaying experiences, we'd only be too happy to put it in the next issue.

Dear PTGPTB,
I'm a student at the Utrecht school of arts in the Netherlands. There I'm following a course called "Design for Virtual theatre and games", is some sort of game design coures. Currnetly I'm working on a paper, an I was very interested in some articles at your website. I wanted to use them as a reference but i could not find any names, or dates or other kinds of reference information especially on the History articles.

Thanks,
Jelle van der Ster

The History of Role-playing in all its parts was written by Steve Darlington. You can find the dates of publication in the matching issue numbers. Your assignment sounds interesting, perhaps there is an article in it for us :-)?

Dear PTGPTB,
I am a long-time fan of your excellent magazine, and I notice that number 21 seems to be a little late. Now obviously you know that and I can't be the only person who's spotted this, but I'm just interested to know when we can expect it?

I'd also like to point out that in no way at all is this intended to denigrate your fine product :-) After all I know only too well how tricky it can be to keep bringing out a webzine on anything even remotely resembling a regular timescale, just check out my sig line for proof...I guess we bring it upon ourselves eh? :-)

Yours in gaming.
Lee Williams
Associate Editor - DEMONGROUND: Reflections of a Darker Future

We've had a change of personel with Steve Dempsey taking over as the editor from the previously impeccable Steve Darlington. We've had some problems but I promise that things are due imminently. As long as you're not writing in to gloat about your Origins nomination ;-) Not that it isn't richly deserved.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Ed.

Dear PTGPTB,
I'm a "lapsed" gamer in the sense that I still create games and backgrounds for role-playing, but in that I have no players. I moved an hours trek away from my old home town, work every weekend and seem to find reasonable excuses not to "game."

Sad, really.

But I want to game. Really. So I talk to freidns via email and the phone, and one says "Hey, check out www.indie-rpgs.com. They got some great resources that might help with your Iron Dragon rpg (yeah, my five year "pet project"). So I do, and then I find a link to PTGPTB. And I check it out, and I read some of the articles. And I've got the itch to game so bad...

So I gotta cut this short, as I need to send out a few emails to my friends, who live an hour, three hours and 1500 miles away and see if we can start internet-gaming in a chat room sometime soon. And hope my wife doesn't get offended if I\'m not spending a few hours with her every week.

And all because of an online gaming magazine.

Thanks
Joseph Becker

Such is our insidious power that we make grown men into children. We're note sure where you are mailing from but I suggest you also check out RPG.net. There's a game chat forum somewhere on there. Ed.

Dear PTGPTB,
Please thank Ivan for his comments. I don't think we are in such disagreement - I finish the article with a discussion of how to play (and what might happen to) a wizard with a fetish for 2-handed swords if you recall. I guess the point (if there was one that didn't get buried in the crunchiness) was that even D&D3E, which seems almost "cultureless" in its portability from fantasy world to fantasy world and range of character choices (which Ivan praises) has a lot of assumptions about social structure, culture, setting, etc buried in it, which are pretty much those of renaissance europe. I was trying to drag some of those out into the light so as to make the experience a bit richer. I'd be curious as to whether Andy thinks the "western" fantasy setting is a turn on or a turn off for Japanese gamers and what different assumptions they tend to make in gaming.

On a different note, I was slightly suprised that the forum topics seem to have little if anything to do with the articles - are some of the topics (the "GMs workshops" for eg) going to get turned into articles? (Don't point the finger at me - I'm in thailand for a year and have very irregular email access. see how much I luv youse guys?)

James Haughton

Thanks for your comments, James. We'll publish them in the next issue, and we'll pass your question on to Andy.

The reason, we wager, that the forum topics have little to do with the articles is that the ongoing nature of the forum disassociates it from the magazine somewhat. When a new issue comes out, of course, that changes for a short while, as with the current posts about One Last Thing. As to whether the posts will become articles, that's up to the posters themselves. Ed.

The Forum is your page; it is entirely up to you what you fill it with, or even if you fill it at all. So get on your soapbox and send your spiel to editors@ptgptb.org, or for spirited interactive discussion click to our online forum.