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Post by raito on Dec 10, 2004 17:18:28 GMT -5
www.alwaysblack.com/blackbox/bownigger.htmlA word of slight caution -- although the word 'nigger' appears in the article (and indeed, in the URL itself), its use would likely be compatible with a modern version of the Comics Code (the user gets it in the end). Personally, I prefer good vs. good.
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Post by Otagiri Tatsuzou on Dec 11, 2004 23:06:35 GMT -5
Would I have made and worn my first hara-ate twenty-two years ago if computer games existed as they do now? Who cant understand putting down the DnD dice in order to pick up a sword? But is it harder to put down the keypad? Is "becoming one with the keypad" more satisfying than "becoming one with the dice". I think so, because the computer game is generally much richer than the the DnD gamemasters recitation.
I probably always had an idea that physical fitness was a part of life - a greek-christian concept of a physical, mental, and spiritual dimension to life. But do kids today? Will their kids? Is the SCA doomed by the X-Box? I hope not, but I cannot help but wonder.
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Post by Ryokai on Dec 13, 2004 1:28:02 GMT -5
Doomed, probably not. So long as people look to their past and wonder; "What would it be like if..." there will always be a niche, however small, for the SCA in modern society. Granted it might dwindle, but then again, (and I bow prostrate and make clear my intentions of benevolent humon before I make this remark about my venerable elders) some of the "old guys" out there will continue to impress the value and necesity of historical preservation upon those that didn't even think they wanted to understand it in the first place. Just like you Otagiri-dono as well as Shogun Eric, O-kami Ibrahim further extending these words to all above me in rank, age and standing.
And after reading that article I guess we could pose that question on a similar level, do we play good and evil even in the SCA or do we all play by the rules, is it Hobbes or Locke that champions our personas?
Aaaany ways, that just my 2 cents on the matter.
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Post by raito on Dec 13, 2004 11:48:18 GMT -5
Otagiri-dono, I think you played with the wrong GMs. Part of the experience of RPGs is to use your imagination to fill in details. Then again, when I began in the SCA, DnD was maybe a couple years old, and the only computer games available were the Colossal Cave Adventure and the old, old, version of Star Trek. There a reason that most of the early adopters of RPGs and computer games were, first and foremost, people who read books -- lots of books.
I don't know that the SCa is doomed by the X-box, but it doesn't help when, say, a candidate for knighthood gets lost to Everquest (just sayin...). The modern games don't require much in the way of imagination.
Personally, while I like playing, there's no substitute for being able to actually do it. For some, that's a problem. They prefer to use words and a bunch of numbers to let others know how great they are, instead of actually having to be able to back up their words. In teh SCa, there's no character sheet. If you say, 'I am a great warrior', other will say, 'OK, put on your stuff and let's go', and you must prove it.
Ryokai-dono, I wouldn't say that the SCA in general is a good medium for historical preservation, but it's improved since I joined.
As for good vs. evil, it's unfortunate that even in our idealized Society, there's still evil. I don't play at good vs. evil, I attempt to do it for real, and I try not to confine it to the SCA.
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Saionji Shonagon
New Member
One dreamed of becoming somebody. Another remained awake and became. (Found in a fortune cookie.)
Posts: 7,240
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Post by Saionji Shonagon on Dec 14, 2004 10:19:54 GMT -5
Is the SCA doomed by the X-Box? I hope not, but I cannot help but wonder. Behold, I bring you tidings of great joy. I recently met a young man from the College of Saint Katherines (the SCA branch based at UC Berkeley). He's been a member of our Society barely three months, and has all the enthusiasm of a golden retriever puppy, proudly sewing his own tunics, amassing armor, going to practices and events, taking classes, barging into feast kitchens to wash dishes. You know, DOING stuff. We're not doomed. Not as long as people keep discovering that showing up and doing things among like-minded maniacs is more fun than staring into a monitor. Makiwara
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Post by Otagiri Tatsuzou on Dec 14, 2004 17:42:30 GMT -5
Imagine the the future ...
You strap on your wired armour bits. You pick up your gryo-ed sword. Stand on the motion sensitive pad. Drop on your VR googles.
*Poof*
You are standing in whatever armour you like in a detailed environment taken out of 16thC Japan, or 14C Europe, or 100AD Rome, or Ancient Greece ...
You get to fight a live opponent or a computerized one. Each blow that lands is felt through by a thump in your strapped on armour. Each sword blow you land or is blocked is felt via resistance in the gyros. The fight is not a keyboard exercise. You must move with real footwork - strike and block with real swordwork.
Would such a game be more or less realistic than rattan combat in school gymnasiums?
I only hope that I am fit enough to play them when they come out. Probably within the next 10 years. Most of the components are already available - just not cheap enough yet for public gaming.
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Post by Otagirii on Dec 23, 2004 20:09:29 GMT -5
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Post by raito on Dec 23, 2004 23:24:34 GMT -5
Unfortunately, I must disagree. The SCA has its griefers as much as anywhere else. The difference is the lack of anonymity that one has while online (or, less anonymity. How many people in the SCA do you really know well? How many have you spent time with outside the SCA?)
My opinion is that the phenomenon shows some part of human nature. If you can do whatever you want, without anyone knowing you did it, and no repercussions, what would you do?
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Saionji Shonagon
New Member
One dreamed of becoming somebody. Another remained awake and became. (Found in a fortune cookie.)
Posts: 7,240
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Post by Saionji Shonagon on Dec 24, 2004 14:05:15 GMT -5
Unfortunately, I must disagree. The SCA has its griefers as much as anywhere else. The difference is the lack of anonymity that one has while online (or, less anonymity. How many people in the SCA do you really know well? How many have you spent time with outside the SCA?) Ah, yes, what I refer to as "the a**hole quotient." Every group has them, particularly a group as large as the SCA. However, social pressure works reasonably well, particularly as most SCA members pay at least token lip service to the concept of courtesy. And if the person continues to be a problem, there are sanctions, some quite severe. Makiwara
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Post by raito on Jan 3, 2005 17:42:05 GMT -5
Ah, yes, what I refer to as "the a**hole quotient." Every group has them, particularly a group as large as the SCA. However, social pressure works reasonably well, particularly as most SCA members pay at least token lip service to the concept of courtesy. And if the person continues to be a problem, there are sanctions, some quite severe. Makiwara Unfortunately, I find that for the worst cases social pressure doesn't work at all, precisely because the greater part of the quotient has to do with being so socially unskilled that one does not recognize exactly the pressure being brought to bear to force change. This does not refer specifically to actionable offenses, but to those objectionable people that you wish would just go away. Just being a jerk won't get you kicked out.
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Post by raito on Jan 3, 2005 17:44:34 GMT -5
Imagine the the future ... Would such a game be more or less realistic than rattan combat in school gymnasiums? I only hope that I am fit enough to play them when they come out. Probably within the next 10 years. Most of the components are already available - just not cheap enough yet for public gaming. Last answered first. All the components are available, and affordable at least for arcades (I spent about 3 years working on that sort of technology, and that was several years ago). It's still less realistic, because the other guy isn't there.
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