Re: GZG DS2 Mikko: Genres for DS2.

On Fri, 11 Sep 1998, Tom Sullivan wrote:

> Heinleinian Jump troops, for one.  Grav-capable Infantry, for another.
 
> Beyond that, I can't think of anything.

Look at it the other way around: You want a movement mode that gives you
a
X" basic speed over Z & Y terrain. You don't care what it's called. You
don't care whether it requires a fusion plant or not. You just want the
points cost for the ability.

> It seems everyone is missing the point here.	I may be doing the same,

> but at least I am missing the point in a different way!  

No Tom, you got the point all right. It just seems that some people get
mighty defensive when someone dares to suggest that GZG games might not
be
the best thing since sliced hobbit and get sidetracked into minor
details.
I must admit that I also get sidetracked when a posting simply can't go
without a reply...

Take the Slammers advocacy: I presented it as *one* example among a
dozen
or so well-known scifi backgrounds vanilla DS2/SG2 doesn't do too well.
Now we're lost arguing whether supertanks rate a PDS or not.

> Not all of us, 
> alas, have the option of playing against a regular group of opponents.
 
> Some of us are restricted to pick-up games at the local Hobby Shop,
and 
> you can't really go into a game like that with a bunch of improvised
and 
> house rules.	People don't like that.  Frankly, you just can't expect 
> people to accept them without first familiarizing themselves with
them.  
> And sometimes, not even then....  All of the solutions listed involve 
> making things up, and that's fine as far as it goes.	However, you are

> going to have to fight for every single rule change that you
introduce.  
> And you will have to do it Every Damned Week.  I don't much care for 
> that myself.	The entire point of a "Bring and Battle" game is to be 
> able to walk in with your troops, sit down and start playing against 
> your opponent(s).  And please--let's not argue the virtues of this
kind 
> of game.  They are fun, for one thing--there is something nice about 
> being able to pit your trrops against another's in an even fight--and 
> they are sometimes your only gaming option.

Exactly, and it's not only with complete strangers. With the frequency I
get to play "sideboard" games, it has to be ready, playtested and
working
as printed when I pull it off the shelf.

> DSII cannot support all genres in a B&B environment.	Sorry.	It's a 
> fact.  That is not a flaw in the system; it was not intended to be
able 
> to do so.  

"Dirtside II is a comprehensive set of *generic* rules for simulating
science fiction battles in *virtually*ANY* background or 'future
history'." -Dirtside II back cover blurb, presumably Jon Tuffley, 1993
(emphasis added)

Maybe it's because English is a second language for me... 

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