From: Andrew Ragland [araglan@us.ibm.com] Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2001 6:59 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Homeschooling Game No, I haven't. We've got Christians, Catholics, and a Pagan or two in the rolegaming group, and not a peep of any such nonsense. Mind you, I pitched the idea to the parents fairly carefully, bringing the books to a meeting, talking about how the science in BP is hard-core, and stressing the skills transfer in a multidisciplinary study environment that engages the kids on multiple levels. Buzzword, buzzword, buzzword. We don't have any major fundies in the Rockford HOUSE group; it doesn't lend itself to such, being in its mission statement a secular homeschooling group. While we do have deeply religious members of many faiths, they all have come to Rockford HOUSE in search of a homeschooling approach based not on faith but on secular values. At the statewide HOUSE conference, we had an even wider variety of religions represented, and none of the people I spoke with, including the guy who ran the Saturday RPG for the kids, had any such hassles. I suppose I should light a candle to Bridget and/or Ogma for the smooth sailing I've had thus far. Andrew Ragland Information Hunter/Gatherer: Explorer, Mapmaker, Guide araglan@us.ibm.com t/l 348-6665 ph (847) 240-6665 Skytel 1731111 "It is our choices ... that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." -- A. Dumbledore "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Bob" @lists.ient.com on 03/13/2001 05:58:36 PM Please respond to blue_planet@lists.ient.com Sent by: owner-blue_planet@lists.ient.com To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com cc: Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Homeschooling Game This is only barely related to your homeschooler game itself, but in regards to it, I had a question. Have you had any trouble with any fundamentalist nutcases who think that D&D and other RPGs are Satanic? I'm just curious to know if you've been accused of being a recruiter for the Dark Lord, luring children into a twisted web of the occult, or somesuch nonsense that Pat Robertson or Jack Chick spouts. ____________________ Necromancer Bob, Superfly Visit The Gate: Necromancer Bob's Domain at: http://www.intws.com/necrobob AOL IM: NcroBob ICQ #78542780 *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Megan C. Robertson [mcrobertson@phoenix.co.uk] Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2001 3:59 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Homeschooling Game Greetings dear hearts, especially 'Necromancer Bob, Superfly'. I am a newcomer to this list, but not to roleplaying (23+ years), so I'll say 'Hello' to you all and respond to this query all at once :-) In 1984 I was cornered (a stitch up by officials of the then TSR UK!) by a radio reporter from a religious affairs programme, who was investigating the usual 'D&D = devil worship' thing at the time of a major RPG convention. Reporter: "Do you think that playing these games leads people to believe in the existence of the Devil and evil spirits?" Me: "All Christians ought to believe that the Devil exists - he's mentioned in the Bible. If you don't know about evil, how can you fight it?" Retreat of reporter in state of confusion. The interview was broadcast, quite put me off my breakfast the next morning! It is not so prevalent over here in the UK, but does occasionally crop up. Best policy is - unless you are enough of a theologian to meet them on their own ground - to ignore them. Let them have their say, smile sweetly, and get back to your game :-) Hugs and kisses, Mexal. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Heivilin, Jim [banzai@missouri.edu] Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2001 9:21 AM To: 'list, blue planet' Subject: [FWD] Re: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - wowser > -----Original Message----- > From: "Poh Tun Kai" > To: > Subject: Re: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - wowser > Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 10:43:54 -0500 > > > This is not necessarily true. Many times, something as > specialized as > BP takes a long time before it becomes widely popular. A lot > of the old > scifi authors have taken a long time to get to the level of > renown which > they are currently at. It's often said that the great ones are never > appreciated in their own time. > > These days, long time to payoff = death. The SF book > industry, and indeed > the publishing industry as a whole, has become hit-based, > much like movies. > Nobody cares if your mid-list, moderately-selling author is going to > gradually become popular. The book, or game, or whatever, has > to become > hugely popular in a short period of time, or it's going to be > a commercial > failure. > > The old SF authors who did succeed did so when the fiction publishing > industry was very different from how it is now. Today, there > are just too > many fish in the sea. In the case of RPGs, there are two > really big fish > with corporate power behind them (D&D and Star Wars), a few > mid-sized fish > (White Wolf and some of the breakaway hits like L5R and > Deadlands), and > Everybody Else down at the bottom. BP's best chance is to > develop at least > into a hit the size of Deadlands or L5R and start spawning > spin-offs as fast > as possible. > > Slow and steady doesn't win the race anymore. > > *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Heivilin, Jim [banzai@missouri.edu] Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2001 9:25 AM To: 'list, blue planet' Subject: [FWD] Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Running a game at a Con > -----Original Message----- > From: "Poh Tun Kai" > To: > Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Running a game at a Con > Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 10:15:40 -0500 > > Mike Z wrote: > > The deadline for the prereg book has passed. > > The deadline for the onsite book is April 23. > > The link for information is : > > > > > http://www.wizards.com/origins/2001/main.asp?x=2001/event_submission_instructions,3 > > You have to be registered for the con to submit > an event. Troy, you can always run a pick-up game, and let the FFG or Biohazard guys know when it's for, so that they can tell people who come by their booths... Origins' current management is quite incompetent at scheduling and advertising for any registered event not involving a WotC property, anyway. So you're not missing out on much by not being able to submit an event. I remember one time the con book accidentally listed Biohazard Games' motto as "Enduring The Mundane"...how ironically appropriate! Kai Poh Malaysian Lagomorph *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Heivilin, Jim [banzai@missouri.edu] Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2001 9:58 AM To: 'blue_planet@lists.ient.com' Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Scientific Background (was: Homeschooling Game) > -----Original Message----- > From: Andrew Ragland [mailto:araglan@us.ibm.com] > Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Homeschooling Game > No, I haven't. We've got Christians, Catholics, and a Pagan > talking about how the science in BP is hard-core, and > stressing the skills transfer in a multidisciplinary > study environment that engages the kids on multiple levels. > Just for those curious, Jeff has a masters in Wildlife Biology (his research was on Kites in the bootheel of Missouri) as Greg was (when we met him) working on his PhD in Philosophy (IIRC). Jason Werner has a bachelors in psychology, has graduated from medical school and is doing his residency. John Sneed I don't know about. Jim Givens has either a bachelors or a masters in Physics. I don't know the credentials of our other writers off the top of my head. Jim Jim Heivilin, System Administrator IAT Services, Open Systems Team University of Missouri at Columbia mailto:banzai@missouri.edu, 573-884-3898 *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Wagner [utiel@df.ufscar.br] Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2001 10:05 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [FWD] Re: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - wowser Excellent Poh Tun Kai. Besides White-Wolf, Steve Jackson Games is well too. Some companies like Chaosium has some problems. Fasa, ICE and many others failed. The guys of White-Wolf was very intelligent they created a small community to play theirs games (a more adult RPG). Blue Planet has this chance too. For example, if the people of Bioharzard publish a supplement with deep details about the politic and social structure of Solar System (in the line of the last chapter of moderador guide), we would have a more political and social game. Supplements about guns, gears and guys that use big guns are good but the target public for this games will prefer to play BESM or GURPS or another cyberpunk/SF RPG. All these games have this type of supplements. The main problem with BP, in my opinion, is a lack of a public target strategy. You have to know who will buy your game and why. The public for Hard SF is very small (in these days a public for cyberpunk is small, see Talsorian with CP2020, Fasa with Shadowrun) and now we will a new HSF from SJG, Transhuman, and David Pulver is a very good designer. I really don't know about the BP... Wagner > > -----Original Message----- > > From: "Poh Tun Kai" > > To: > > Subject: Re: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - wowser > > Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 10:43:54 -0500 > > > > > This is not necessarily true. Many times, something as > > specialized as > > BP takes a long time before it becomes widely popular. A lot > > of the old > > scifi authors have taken a long time to get to the level of > > renown which > > they are currently at. It's often said that the great ones are never > > appreciated in their own time. > > > > These days, long time to payoff = death. The SF book > > industry, and indeed > > the publishing industry as a whole, has become hit-based, > > much like movies. > > Nobody cares if your mid-list, moderately-selling author is going to > > gradually become popular. The book, or game, or whatever, has > > to become > > hugely popular in a short period of time, or it's going to be > > a commercial > > failure. > > > > The old SF authors who did succeed did so when the fiction publishing > > industry was very different from how it is now. Today, there > > are just too > > many fish in the sea. In the case of RPGs, there are two > > really big fish > > with corporate power behind them (D&D and Star Wars), a few > > mid-sized fish > > (White Wolf and some of the breakaway hits like L5R and > > Deadlands), and > > Everybody Else down at the bottom. BP's best chance is to > > develop at least > > into a hit the size of Deadlands or L5R and start spawning > > spin-offs as fast > > as possible. > > > > Slow and steady doesn't win the race anymore. > > > > > *************************************************************************** > To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com > with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. > > *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: chalz@earthlink.net Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2001 10:35 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: RE: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Homeschooling Game **** I am a newcomer to this list, but not to roleplaying (23+ years), so I'll say 'Hello' to you all and respond to this query all at once :-) ** G'day! I'm really quite new to roleplaying myself, and only clock in 23yrs of life total so far ;) **** Retreat of reporter in state of confusion. The interview was broadcast, quite put me off my breakfast the next morning! ** Hehe... That's a great story ;) **** It is not so prevalent over here in the UK, but does occasionally crop up. ** Actually, it strikes me as just not being all that big a deal hardly anywhere other than the US. Well, sure, there are more 'religious states', but in most of them games like D&D just aren't that well known. If you ask me, with the US's overwhelming population of 'free speech'- and 'freedom of religion'-fanatics, a lot of them take it to mean they can use their free speech to spout their own free religion upon everyone else. Like how people think it's okay for them to push their beliefs on someone else like a gun down the throat, but as soon as you try and fight back, they scream 'free speech' and you're labeled as Evil. Kind of like the anti-abortion group who said that a court ruling stating they can't use their bodies to form human barricades around abortion clinics was unjust. "Who are they to dictate what we can or can't do with our own bodies?" *slaps self on forehead* Wow, teach me to write a message half-asleep first thing in the morning. -C -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mail2Web - Check your email from the web at http://www.mail2web.com/ . *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Greg Benage [gbenage@ix.netcom.com] Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2001 1:31 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - wowser ----- Original Message ----- From: "David R. Crowell" To: Sent: Monday, March 12, 2001 10:38 AM Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - wowser > How about it Biohazard guys? Are we allowed to use the Synergy System in > games of our own design? I really like the mechanics and am thinking of > adapting them to some of my favorite gaming genres. Of course -- you don't need our permission for that. Unless you plan to publish and profit from the resulting game, in which case, ACCESS DENIED! :) Greg Benage FFG *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Troy Gustavel [troy_nevermore@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2001 2:23 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [FWD] Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Running a game at a Con --- "Heivilin, Jim" wrote: > > -----Original Message----- > > From: "Poh Tun Kai" > Origins' current management is quite incompetent at scheduling and > advertising for any registered event not involving a WotC property, > anyway. > So you're not missing out on much by not being able to submit an > event. Tell me about it, in the four? years I was associated with the shadowrun tournament andon never once managed to get everything right sigh ===== Troy Gustavel 5825 Bolender Rd. Akron, OH 44319 (330)882 5468 Troy_Nevermore@Yahoo.com "Once upon a midnight dreary..." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - Buy the things you want at great prices. http://auctions.yahoo.com/ *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: David R. Crowell [gpfarm-dave@northnet.org] Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2001 6:58 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] -Distributing new Synergy based games That's what I thought. So, to clarify, would it be ok to distribute a Synergy based game for free or at printing cost as long as I credited BioHazard etc for their intellectual property? Not that I have immediate plans to do so. If I thought I had something with the potential to sell at a profit I would of course contact FFG and BH re licensing agreements etc. But I am curious about the policy on distributuion beyond my immediate gaming group. Some companies say "thou shalt not." others say "Go ahead just give us credit". Just wanted to clarify what your policy is. ----- Original Message ----- From: Greg Benage > > > How about it Biohazard guys? Are we allowed to use the Synergy > System in > > games of our own design? I really like the mechanics and am > thinking of > > adapting them to some of my favorite gaming genres. > > Of course -- you don't need our permission for that. Unless you plan > to publish and profit from the resulting game, in which case, ACCESS > DENIED! > > :) > > Greg Benage > FFG > *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.