The Gaming Den

Hello all.

Found this board after reading Apocalypse World and feeling strange feelings of isolation from most of the internet stemming from my impression that it's a pile of steaming crap. Read a few threads about that and other topics and was generally happily surprised about the general tone and substance of the boards.

Hoping to be able to contribute to discussions at large and to ask for opinions and critique of some of my own ideas.

Cheers!

/DZ

Welcome

Digital Zombie wrote:Hello all.

Found this board after reading Apocalypse World and feeling strange feelings of isolation from most of the internet stemming from my impression that it's a pile of steaming crap. Read a few threads about that and other topics and was generally happily surprised about the general tone and substance of the boards.

Well, we do tend to think *everything* is a pile of steaming crap. But there is usually some real insight behind the angry profanity.

The reason the Den gives people the vapors is that we actually tend to hold products accountable for failing to live up to their own billing, a habit that can be surprisingly rare in this hobby. People are so used to the DIY approach that RPG community as a whole has grown accustomed to buying "player aids" that maybe offer a little inspiration but don't really save you any time or address problems you couldn't figure out a solution to on your lonesome.

Which, ultimately, was my real big issue with Apocalypse World beyond all the bear fights I had with the infamous Silva. There just isn't a lot of substance to the game. There's no clever mini-games beyond the base resolution system so everything is just stage directions for you to playact with rather than anything related to system mastery. That wouldn't be absolutely fatal in and of itself, but upon finishing the book you also still have to collaboratively create the characters, opposition, factions and setting with your play group. And despite all the ranting Silva did about games needing to provide a solid structure and theme for play to revolve around he sure was quick to overlook that the game barely even had a genre--after all, even by 2010 there was a lot more to the post-apocalyptic "genre" than just Mad Max. So, ultimately, I consider Apocalypse World to roughly comparable to an overly long and slightly skeevy game of Cops 'n' Robbers, which rather invites the question of why I should fork over actual moneys for it.

Hello and welcome to the den.