Feedback

Dear PTGPTB,
I am looking for a Call Of Cthulhu Gamers group in Brisbane. Haven't played for quite a few years but keen to get involved again. I am hoping you can help.
Matthew Paine

Dear PTGPTB,
I've just moved to Oz and have settled in Sydney. Im looking for an RPG club...
Keith Brian, Feb 14th

- Kids, two thirds of the editors don't live in Australia. Our blessed Steve Darlington states that probably your best bet for Brisbane is to come along to the Big Weekend in May (www.bigweekend.com or so). Big Brisbane con where you'll be able to meet a whole bunch of gamers, and maybe find a group! Otherwise, Ace Comics and Games in the Queen Street Mall have a noticeboard you could try. We're sorry our zine is not devoted to helping gamers find groups. - Ed.

Dear PTGPTB,
I am a member of the Israeli Roleplaying society.
I saw your article on roleplaying in Japan and am very interested in it. I am now visiting Japan (just for a little while unfortunately), and it gave me an idea to write an article about roleplaying in Japan. Then I found your article.

We have a newsletter that goes out 6 times a year and concerns roleplaying issues. The society is a non-profit organization and the newsletter is not for profit making.
So... I ask if I can use informaiton from your article? Thank you very much,
Adi Yogev

- We are glad you liked the article and would be happy for your Society to reproduce it. Perhaps you'd like to write an article about role-playing in Israel? -- Eds.

Dear PTGPTB,
...The articles, Designer Roleplaying, Parts 1 and 2, were referenced from a link in a NWN article on how to design a campaign... Would like to design my own NWN module and hope the articles, if still published, will help with the finer points.
Bill, Jan 12th

- Yes we are still in businness... we just are part-time redactors. Glad you appreciated Designer Roleplaying, which are quite consistent  heavy articles, that need reading more than once. ;-)
Patrick O'Duffy's "Meccano..." in issue #18 would be something I guess would fit you too.
"the force of the story" in #22 may have some global insight too. - Eds.

Dear Alex Locke,
Just thought I'd tell you that I saw your article on the history of role-playing and have to congratulate you on an almost complete lack of historical accuracy.  But the spirit of the piece seems about right, and I'd like to help you get the facts straight (er).  If you're gonna have me and my game vanishing into the wilds somewhere, I'd suggest Arizona instead of Wisconsin. That's Gygax and Arneson country, and I never go there, never been there, and never will--if my luck holds out. Yep, yep, trolls are an arizona phenom.

...Long may the parodies continue!  Certainly the entire gaming scene is ripe for such treatment
Bwa ha ha ha hah!
Ken St. Andre, jan 14th

Dear PTGPTB,
I just read through the entire series [of History] and appreciate the work you have done and the writing. As a long time gamer (26 years) and a former game store owner, I enjoyed the trip down memory lane. Thanks again
John Burt, jan 18th

Dear PTGPTB,
I am looking to buy a RPG type site and would like to know if you would like to sell yours?
karl, jan 20th

Karl, just say a 8-digit figure in a strong currency (i.e. not USD) ;-) - Eds.

Dear PTGPTB,
I just have one thing to say, I'm stunned, really stunned with this complete history. IMHO of the best entertainment and creative hobby ever created by men.
Congratulations for this great work! I know you finished it some years ago, but only now it came into my hands. Too bad it is not up-to-date anymore, but nonetheless it's a fantastic and I can imagine very tiring job.
Once again, I'm stunned and very pleased with your dedication!
Markus Runk A Brazilian Role-player, Feb 10th

Dear PTGPTB,
My name is Cateane and I'm from Brazil. I'm writing monography and I need to reference "The History of Role-Playing", ... The author is Astinus, it's possible to know their name?

(...) I'm developing "A tool to aid RPG by Net" in my monography. Nothing else then a WEB System to replace the Play By Mail. The system will dispose of Artificial Inteligence to automate some burocrathic aspects of the setting, including simples NPCs. Its a try for help the GM to concentrate in the main elements of the setting, plus a more ergonomics way to play RPG by net.

I'm a newbie in RPG, but I'm trying to learn all about and have a lot of fun in making my monography!
Cateane, Mar 26th

- Steve Darlington is the author of "The History of Role-Playing". He fell the mask in the other parts of the history.  - Ed.

Dear PTGPTB,
The article "Narrativist - a new breed of Munchkin?" struck me personally as very relevant. Lemme say first that I enjoyed the article a lot.
... I thought the article raised a really interesting suggestion about so-called Narrativism. Granted, I wouldn't dispute the existence of people who *actually* want to tell a story instead of just winning, or maybe want to tell a story in which they do pretty well.
But we've all seen the look in a buddy's eyes that says "I'm gonna WIN, dang it!" I don't doubt for a second that there are folks who are in it for the story but who're just as determined to win as the most stereotypical Gamist.

I think it might be interesting to focus just as much on losing as winning in game mechanics: maybe describe what'll happen if a PC loses in just as much detail as if she wins. Actually, something I've been thinking about fits in here: what if PCs were actually rewarded with more Authorship by choosing to lose? 

I'm trying to build a game around that, and I'm hoping that it will encourage both balanced win/lose narratives AND the possibility of Tragedy as a narrative style. After all: if you have your PCs "lose" in the events and conflicts of the story, you, as players, would get a lot more shared control over the storyline.
... Feel free to drop me a line with any thoughts on the subject.

...I actually did a bit of playtesting, and I came up with ... "Loser: the RPG". I realized I was actually making things too easy for the protagonist: not that things have to be really difficult, but I want to emphasize things like "mitigated success" and "win some, lose some". 
Claire, Mar 27th

- Claire, how did noone have this idea before? ;-) If you end up with a reflection on success/failure in RPG, please let us know. - Ed.

Dear PTGPTB
My name is Luke, and I'm trying to set up a presence in Tokyo in regards to (...) the new World of Darkness line.

Is there a place I could go online to find a registry of gamers, either Japanese or foreigners in Japan?

I live in Misawa (near Hachinohe in Aomori) and frequently go to Okinawa, so I miss Tokyo altogether most of the time... and those bullet trains get expensive. ;) any help you can give me would be awesome.
Luke, Apr 6

- anyone here to help Luke? We know there are a few cons every week in Tokyo, but he doesn't stop there! - Ed. 

Dear PTGPTB
I was looking for a history of role playing and have been throughly impressed with the article. I would like to see more writing of such indepth education.
Erin, Apr 28

Dear PTGPTB
I ended up looking around your site and have already forward the article about narratavist munchkins to my gaming buddies. I'm looking forward to digging in deeper here. Best wishes to all involved.
Ethan Roberts, May 5th

Dear PTGPTB
I am doing a term paper on the importance and subsequent relevance on J.R.R. (...)

My paper will basically refute other "scholars" who deny Tolkien his earned credit, by stating that if he (Tolkien) was not such an influencial character in our history of literature, then we would not have a multi billion dollar industry which deals with not only RPG's but card games, computer games, etc. etc. 
Would you happen to know of a place where I can find statistical information dealing with Tolkien's books as well as D&D sales figures and possible computer sales figures consisting of Nintendo, Playstation, Playstation 2, and computer platform as well?
Vincent Cordone, May 5th

- anyone here to help Vincent? We redirected him to the archive of a WoC report on the RPG market, but we don't know much more  - Ed.

Dear PTGPTB
I really like the elegance and simplicity of your approach. The articles are good and informative, but not too slanted. You should also have full runs of multi issue articles available (or more navigation between them - take more advantage of the web!). A search for your site would be great too
Kelly Berger, May 16th

Your comments encourage authors and editors alike. Please keep them coming in!