Blog, Jvstin Style

Yes, it is, without question, although it is a different kettle of fish from FTF gaming, certainly.

PBEM is roleplaying in a literary vein. Arref does have a good point, the storysetting is harder to get across in words sometimes than in gestures and actions in a FTF role. I will give my over-the-top depiction of the death of King Oberon in IT's A Mad Mad Mad Amber as an example--I could not have done that in a PBEM. PBEM sensibilities are filtered through words and only occassionally images and other media.

It is roleplaying though...since I consider letter games such as De Profundis to be roleplaying, or things like the quiescent Bete Noire. Granted, it takes players and GMs who can write and like to write. There is nothing more frustrating for me than a GM to get a one word or one line answer from a PC...it kills my roleplaying mood like almost nothing else. On the other hand a lack of time can halt a PBEM game in its tracks. There is almost a presumption of flow in a PBEM, when it is violated by the GM or the player, the "shared space" of the game disintegrates. I try hard on turn turn-around and when players drop off, my interest in their part of the constellation of my game fades, too.

I do love and will steal Arref's definition of RP:
Roleplaying is a parlor game where Players choose Characters that will react to the presentation of a Storysetting by a Gamesmaster. The improvisation of the Characters (and Gamesmaster) determines the outcome of conflict and events.

I would amend and extend it as follows:
That form of the parlor game can take in a variety of "parlors" and media, ranging from Live Action Role playing, through face-to-face "tabletop" roleplaying, to PBEM games, to "letter" games, in which the latter have a virtual rather than an actual shared space, and the values shade from the Acting of LARP over to the Literary.

Saddam Hussein and George Bush, after a couple of beers, decide that war is bad, wrong and it wouldn't do a bit of good. Instead, they will have a pool match to determine the outcome of the dispute. If Saddam wins, we have to live him alone, live and let live and all that. If Bush wins, Saddam has to disarm and abdicate and go live on some Caribbean island for the rest of his life.

As the pair walk toward the pool table set up for the event, Saddam turns to his opponent and asks "You rack, or Iraq?"

Lightbulb jokes

Q: How many Amberites does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: Six. One to do it, two to form a cabal with him or her, and three more to form a cabal opposing the first cabal.

Q: How many Jvstin's does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: "I'm glad you asked me that. As I am changing the bulb, let me tell you about the history of the lightbulb starting with its first successful creation by Thomas Edison. Alva was his middle name you know...
...and if you look at the spectrum of light from a bulb, you will see it is not the same as visible light...
...and that's why in cartoons when you see a character get an idea, a lightbulb appears over their head...
...and that's how stars evolved and why they show the colors you do. Oh, wait, we were talking about lightbulbs!"

Yesterday, Ginger wrote an entry about NPCs and the depthness to them that is a large part of the appeal of the Amberverse, in relation to James Maliszewski's comment about games and soap operas. One of the commenters to that, Chuck, said:
"To do this properly, of course, you’d have to let your NPCs have lives of their own, which would involve you, the GM, roleplaying all of their interactions, whether or not a PC was witness to them. This could be time consuming…"

I've been thinking about this and I wanted to share my thoughts. I do think that as an Amber GM, you have to have at least a shorthand for what the NPCs have been doing, are doing, and will do. Having them frozen in time and place, just waiting for a PC to interact with them, well, that reminds me of old (and not so old) computer CRPGs, where it seemed that the little boy's sole purpose in life was to tell you that the bridge has a troll under it.

I do admit, however, a preference for PCs to interact with, influence and affect, and witness major events. Such events lose a bit of their definition and reality when PCs aren't involved in any way. And yes, its time for an example from
Strange Bedfellows. Even better, because it happened a while ago game time (although the information has not "disseminated") this will be news and possibly quite shocking to the PCs, although they will find out about this. I have made the spoiler text invisible, though. You read it at your own risk, then.

One of the lesser advertised plotlines in SB, beyond the Omphalos, beyond Brand and all that has been the machinations of Moire. For years she has been studying the Sapphire of Justice, the Rebman counterpart to the JOJ. And as the game opened, she decided upon a fateful course.
IMC, Rebma is a dependency of Amber. Much in the same way that the Queen of England is a titular figure in independent countries of the British Commonwealth, so too is the King of Amber to Rebma. In the times of Oberon, this control was more explicit...in the Interregnum and the rule of Eric, Rebman independence was more pronounced.
Moire decided that the best way to achieve true freedom from Amber would be to have a power base of its own. Its established in the books she sent people on the Rebman Pattern, trying to walk it. IMC, after Patternfall, she decided on a bolder approach--she would rewrite the Pattern, using the Sapphire.
One of the original batch of PCs was a son of Moire and Corwin named Triton, played by Fynn. I thought this was perfect for my concept of PCs involving themselves in large scale plots. He actually stole the Sapphire from Moire for himself for a time, when he learned of Moire's plans. He considered himself, a son of Corwin, merely part of that plan and nothing more. So Moire's plans were delayed during the theft, and it was a well and interesting bit of roleplaying up to his capture. Anyway, much to my lament, Fynn dropped off the face of the earth, and Triton became, perforce, an NPC.
Now, with Moire having recovered the Sapphire, her plans could go forward. However, I still wanted a PC "there", to give the event more heft, but I had already lured some PCs down to Rebma early in the game, and two of the PCs I might have coaxed there (having made a tie to Moire during that visit) were both off in Omphalos-land.
Thus, when Bridgette offered to do a second PC, a Rebman, I just knew her character would be up to her gills in Moire's plot. It has worked out well, although Priya still is a bit baffled just what happened and where she was transported to.
The "re-drawing" wouldn't have been the same, though, without her.
The rest of the game will learn about Moire's actions shortly...at the Ball, in fact.

Good stuff on Voyager (remember the Voyager probes?)
over on Cosmic Log.
I really do hope they can issue the "soundtrack" on CD/DVD. And I wish I had cable to watch Cosmic Journey tonight.

Okay, I am in a political mood today...but I recommend to you this piece published in Britain
by John Le Carre (of the spy novels). The United States has gone mad.

Provocative title? Yes. But sometimes parallax is a good thing. See what a Brit thinks of "W". And of us.

The Doritos President

However, when I read this, I burst out laughing, because Bush has been all over the airwaves lately with his "bold" proposals on his dividend tax cuts, and now his new found engagement with North Korea.

Bush...the Doritos President. He's cheesy, he's crunchy, tasty perhaps in small doses but the more you have of him, the more you will regret it.

Finally finished
The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community by William O'Neill. today. 800 pages of world history was quite a bit to slog through, although it wasn't torturous like, say, 800 pages of a bad Tolkien clone. The writing is definitely very 1950's ish, America uber alles sort of thing...history converging to produce American civilization. The trick is, O' Neill cops to this in an essay written in '89 that serves as a new forward. Refreshing that someone can actually say 25 years after their masterwork that they had some serious blinders on. Still, while I argued aloud constantly as I read it, I did enjoy the book. It was worth the effort.

Some new fiction coming up on the reading list. Finally I am going to get to reading some books I've really wanted to read for a while--The Years of Rice and Salt, Perdido Street Station (I can see Gabe looking at me with googled eyes that I've not read Mieville's work yet--hey, give me a break. I've just managed to read my first Graham Joyce recently.) and some other goodies. After a lot of world history, I need some unreality.

Also, I got an email from John Marco when I entered the latest of his famous contests. Now he I discovered on my own, and early, and I emailed him on several occasions. One particualr email, when his first series was complete. I suggested that while some of his fans would love to see endless stories set in the Tyrants and Kings universe, I was all in favor of seeing what else he could do. His Eyes of God, first in a new series in such a new world, is ALSO on my reading pile, albeit somewhat further down. Anyway, he remembered who I was when I entered the latest contest. I didn't think I made an impression at all. Funny that.

Well, the Jets got spanked last weekend, much to my lament. One half of a game does not a victory make, the inexperience of the team hard to take. The Oakland Raiders showed their guile and might and thus the Jets' dreams extinguished like a dying light.

Now, though, there are four teams left and I thought, although its certain to bore most of you, describe the possibilities for the Super Bowl. Indulge me, if you would, there are exactly three NFL postseason games left, and then nothing for months. Its not like the NBA or NHL whose postseasons seem to last as long as their regular seasons.

1. Oakland Raiders (AFC) versus Philadelphia Eagles (NFC)
This is the most likely matchup, as both teams have home-field advantage for the championship games this coming weekend.
Oakland features the best offense in the game, a passing attack that was for a while on pace to break the all-time single season record held by Dan Marino. Philadelphia has a very good defense, and the "one man gang" of their quarterback, Donovan McNabb, possibly the second best of the new breed of QB's (the best, Michael Vick, got knocked out by the Eagles last week when the Eagles beat the Falcons). Oakland's weaknesses? Their secondary, their pass defense. They are pretty good up front, as the Jets learned, but they are vulnerable to long balls. Philadelphia on the other hand, lacks that deep threat and that is their weakness.
Projected winner of an Oakland-Philadelphia matchup: OAKLAND

2. Oakland(AFC) versus Tampa Bay (NFC)
Less likely than #1, because the warm-loving Buccaneers will have to find a way to win in Philadelphia to make it happen. Plus, the last two years, the Buccaneers have been bounced from the playoffs by, you guessed it, the Eagles, badly losing both times. So, its a mountain to climb for them. Given that, however, the Buccaneers bring the best defense in the league...and possibly one of the best ever, ranking up there with the Ravens of the 2000 season, and the Bears of the 1985 season. Their weakness, however, is that much like that Baltimore team, their offense is lackluster at best. Without turnovers and good field position, they often fare poorly, even with the flamboyant and arrogant Keyshawn Johnson as their deep threat. On the other hand, the very similar aforementioned Baltimore team took apart the Raiders on their way to the Super Bowl. The Bucs, if they get past the Eagles, might be built just right to derail Oakland.
Projected winner of a Oakland-Tampa Bay Super Bowl: Tampa Bay

3. Tennessee (AFC) versus Philadelphia (NFC)
Tennessee, perforce, to get to the Super Bowl must defeat the Oakland Raiders in the "black hole" of Network Associates Coliseum. A daunting task, as the Jets learned to their sorrow, the place is a nightmare for opposing teams because of the crowd noise. Plus, Tennessee and Oakland played in the regular season--and Oakland won, 52-25. Not precisely a small mountain for Tennessee to climb.
Given that, the Titans' strength is their tenacity. After a 1-4 start (including that loss to the Raiders), they rallied behind their quarterback, who played injured for weeks and willed them to victory after victory. They have no true dominant strengths, but no weaknesses either. Philadelphia, though, holds a defensive edge.
Projected winner of a Philadelphia-Tennessee matchup: Philadelphia

4. Tennessee (AFC) versus Tampa Bay (NFC)
The most unlikely matchup, the two underdogs this weekend both winning to advance to the Super Bowl. Its a matchup that favors Tennessee, if they can beat Oakland, they will find a way to beat the Bucs, whose one-dimensionality might not be enough against a well rounded team without significant weaknesses.
Projected winner of a Tampa Bay-Tennessee Super Bowl: Tennessee

When I played it, TKC was a very emotional game. Karen was good, almost too good, at pushing those sorts of buttons. She was especially good in the couple of times that, instead of email, we played it face-to-face at ACUS. I do recall poor Felicia getting quite upset over a turn of events happening with her mother, and I got somewhat twisted when Laertes' father let his displeasure at Laertes' actions become known.

Looking at the blogs today, both Liz and Djinn have remarked on tbe most recent game session. I just wanted both of you ladies to know--I've been there.

I had a dream last night. I hesitate to call it weird because, quite frankly, in discussions with other people--MOST of my dreams are weird.

I don't remember the entirety of it, I only remember the last act. I was in this corridor, some sort of futuristic place, and was debating putting on some virtual reality gear when this ferocious bear appeared in the corridor. He was large, and brown, and looked like Bart from The Edge.

I debated putting on the virtual reality gear and "shooting the bear"...but I didn't want to hurt the creature, even if it was far from docile. Instead I started moving down the corridor, wondering how to handle the creature. It advanced toward me, slowly, growling. Although there was plenty of corridor behind me, I didn't turn and run, I knew it would be futile. I also debated somehow taking the bear on hand-to-hand but I couldn't figure a good way to scare the creature off.

Bears are not a common symbol in my dreams. I'm much more of a Lion, Tiger and Wolf sort of person, so on that level, I am not sure why a Bear would appear in my dreams, pugnacious and angry.

Ginger's WISH #30

Lightbulb jokes

The Doritos President