Re: SGII Newbie Question

>On a side note:  I think SGII will suffer because it does NOT
'spoon-fed' a 
>history.  It would seem most of the people that play sci-fiction
miniatures 
>seem to WANT to be 'spoon-fed' a history.  But don't ask me why!  I
have 
>always been puzzled by the seeming LACK of imagination in this area
when it 
>comes to people that play a game that REQUIRES an ENORMOUS amount of 
>imagination to begin with!  If someone has an idea on this 'score'
please 
>explain it to me as I have been trying to figure this one out for quite
some 
>time...  :-[

First of all...I wanna see your variant Threat tables, goshdarnit! 
Sorry
for the harsh language, but it needed to be said.  I want some ideas for
MY
aliens!  And my Orcs are basically Huns in space, with a lot of found
technology.

Secondly...I don't know.  There's a very vocal faction on r.g.m.m. who
claim that fluff is what makes a game GOOD.  If the backstory is good,
so
they say, it will redeem even the worst of rules.  And no matter how
good
your rules are, they aren't worth anything if they don't have a good
background behind them.

Needless to say, I disagree.  The game's the thing, in my opinion, and I
MUCH prefer to make up my own fluff.  The only "Official" background
that
I've felt at all compelled to use is DemonBlade's, and that's only
because
they don't take it all seriously.  I like games with a sense of humor
(anyone else remember Hol?).  But it appears that a compelling
background
is a major selling point to a lot of players.

Actually, let me quote one of the Fluff advocates directly:

>>Obviously someone can't deal with the fact that a game is useless
without
fluff.
"So your troops crest the hill"
"Who are we fighting?"
"Who cares your military, your fighting."
"Well I'd like to know something about my enemy."
"So it wasn't in the fluff, who cares?'
"I do, what's the point of this battle anyway?"
"To kill the enemy!!"
"Who was the enemy again?"<<

So anyway, yeah: it matters to some.  Not to me, but to many others.

John X Crimmins
johncrim@voicenet.com
  "...is one of the secret masters of the world: a librarian.
They control information.  Don't ever piss one off."
  --Spider Robinson, The Callahan Touch.