WW General rules discussion - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

satansaloser2005 · 08-21-2010, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mormegil

Overall it looks good. I will post it in a few days when the is a general consensus. I say 5 games is sufficient before you mod. Also I am VERY tempted to say that Tolkien theme is mandatory. I guess if it is not taken seriously and mods continue to deviate too far too often I will make it such.

Quite honestly I don't think that would be fair to the game mods. Sure, you could easily mandate that a game can't be themed on another book series, movies, fandom, etc., but to say that each game has to be Tolkien-themed could cut out some fabulous game ideas.

That's just my two cents, which probably aren't worth much, but there you go.

mormegil · 08-22-2010, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by satansaloser2005

Quite honestly I don't think that would be fair to the game mods. Sure, you could easily mandate that a game can't be themed on another book series, movies, fandom, etc., but to say that each game has to be Tolkien-themed could cut out some fabulous game ideas.

I've been fairly open on this topic and I have mentioned once but I will do so again. The admins have discussed in the past of banning WW altogether for its lack of Tolkien theme. The rules on this forum are very clear. I have been exceptionally lax in the WW department but it may be worth taking this opportunity to tighten it down. That way if the admins ever look in on this again they will see that there is some Tolkien theme to it and will perhaps smile on us instead of smite us.

satansaloser2005 · 08-22-2010, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mormegil

I've been fairly open on this topic and I have mentioned once but I will do so again. The admins have discussed in the past of banning WW altogether for its lack of Tolkien theme. The rules on this forum are very clear. I have been exceptionally lax in the WW department but it may be worth taking this opportunity to tighten it down. That way if the admins ever look in on this again they will see that there is some Tolkien theme to it and will perhaps smile on us instead of smite us.

I should have been much more clear, for which I apologize. I don't think mandating that there should be a Tolkien element to every game is a bad idea, but sometimes it's hard to make a theme expressly Tolkien. I do, however, see your point, considering the nature of the forum and all. And to be fair there have been a lot of other fandom games (though of course they were fun!) so I'm certainly not against saying that either X% have to be Tolkien-related or saying that there can't be other fandom games on the board. I just was concerned about how strictly you would enforce the "Tolkien only" rule and how it might affect the game mods' ability to come up with unique ideas.

Macalaure · 08-22-2010, 01:16 PM

Is somebody preparing a final draft for the glossary right now, by the way?

Feanor of the Peredhil · 08-22-2010, 01:24 PM

It's a Tolkien website. We should be playing Tolkien games.

That said, it's really not difficult to come up with creative ideas within constraints.

The very first game, introduced and modded by His Wightness Himself, was 'Tolkien'-ish just by having werewolves be the bad guys.

If you want a pirate game, just call them corsairs from Umbar. Evil horsemen? Nazgul. Talking animals? Set it in the Shire, where there's Hobbitish precedence for talking foxes. Or in Dale, where the birds chat with folk, if you know the language.

It does not constrain the types of roles a mod may choose to include, it merely constrains the types of story lines of the narratives. And really, it doesn't do that much either.

As a sign of respect to our admins and to the website that we're on, a literary discussion forum that's dedicated to J.R.R. Tolkien, I quite firmly think that games, whether traditional or experimental, should be Tolkien-oriented.

I mean, you could stretch it to calling the ordos 'linguists' and calling the werewolves 'publishers' and it would still relate to Tolkien and the spirit of the website.

We should at least be making a cursory attempt to pretend like we care about the TOLKIEN website whose resources we are utilizing.

Folwren · 08-22-2010, 01:37 PM

I have a question that doesn't really pertain to the immediate conversation (whether or not games should be Tolkien-based):

Do the badguys have to turn to werewolves in the night, or can they just be bad? Like supposing there was a game based around dwarves, and in the night instead of some of the dwarves turning into some creature, the badguys are just a group of evil dwarves who mean everyone else harm and meet together?

-- Foley

satansaloser2005 · 08-22-2010, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Feanor of the Peredhil

I mean, you could stretch it to calling the ordos 'linguists' and calling the werewolves 'publishers' and it would still relate to Tolkien and the spirit of the website.

You just gave me a horridly brilliant idea.

Anyway, to the rest....

I'm not saying we shouldn't have Tolkien based games. I was just making sure that we wouldn't be disallowing elements that weren't tied to Tolkien. Repeat, elements, not necessarily themes. I personally think we can bring in elements or references to other things and still have Tolkien-related games, and vice versa. I'm not saying you disagree with this, of course, because it's totally possible to pull it off. I'm just expressing this here so that new players or mods who read this don't think they have to be tied to werewolves devouring hobbits or elves coming in to save the village from baby-stealing Gollums. (Although....) I think each game should have explicitly Tolkien themes inherent in its construction, but we also can reference other things as well. I'm not saying you're trying to shove out anything that's not expressly Tolkien related, because I know you and I have both modded games that didn't have explicit Tolkien themes, but I want to make sure that we can be as unpredictable and wide-based in our game ideas as possible.

In short, I agree. Let's make sure we at least try to have something of a Tolkien nature. Whether it's Phantom's pub game, my Denethor seer, or Brinn's Downs itself related game, there should be at least an attempt to include a Tolkien theme. Even if you have a non-Tolkien theme there should be at least Tolkien-tied roles or characters. It is a Tolkien board. Even the craziest theme can involve a Rings role or make references to Tolkien's life or works. We don't have to be tied to wolves or rangers or palantirs, but we can at least try to involve Tolkien somewhere. As you said, we owe it to the board we're on.

Then again, the day we start having Tolkien characters in Mario world, we know we're in trouble. But as long as everyone is creative but sane we should be fine.

Now here's hoping this post doesn't give anyone any ideas.

EDIT: x'd with Foley

08-22-2010, 01:24 PM	#5
Feanor of the Peredhil La Belle Dame sans Merci Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: perpetual uncertainty Posts: 5,517	It's a Tolkien website. We should be playing Tolkien games. That said, it's really not difficult to come up with creative ideas within constraints. The very first game, introduced and modded by His Wightness Himself, was 'Tolkien'-ish just by having werewolves be the bad guys. If you want a pirate game, just call them corsairs from Umbar. Evil horsemen? Nazgul. Talking animals? Set it in the Shire, where there's Hobbitish precedence for talking foxes. Or in Dale, where the birds chat with folk, if you know the language. It does not constrain the types of roles a mod may choose to include, it merely constrains the types of story lines of the narratives. And really, it doesn't do that much either. As a sign of respect to our admins and to the website that we're on, a literary discussion forum that's dedicated to J.R.R. Tolkien, I quite firmly think that games, whether traditional or experimental, should be Tolkien-oriented. I mean, you could stretch it to calling the ordos 'linguists' and calling the werewolves 'publishers' and it would still relate to Tolkien and the spirit of the website. We should at least be making a cursory attempt to pretend like we care about the TOLKIEN website whose resources we are utilizing. __________________ peace

08-22-2010, 01:37 PM	#6
Folwren Messenger of Hope Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: In a tiny, insignificant little town in one of the many States. Posts: 5,076	I have a question that doesn't really pertain to the immediate conversation (whether or not games should be Tolkien-based): Do the badguys have to turn to werewolves in the night, or can they just be bad? Like supposing there was a game based around dwarves, and in the night instead of some of the dwarves turning into some creature, the badguys are just a group of evil dwarves who mean everyone else harm and meet together? -- Foley __________________ A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. - C.S. Lewis

08-22-2010, 01:16 PM	#4
Macalaure Fading Fëanorion Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: into the flood again Posts: 2,911	Is somebody preparing a final draft for the glossary right now, by the way?