Re: Wargames Vs. RPG's

----Original Message Follows----
From: Allan Goodall <agoodall@interlog.com>
Reply-To: gzg-l@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU
To: gzg-l@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU
Subject: Re: Wargames Vs. RPG's
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 15:15:24 -0500

On Wed, 15 Mar 2000 22:48:07 PST, "Brian Bilderback" 
<bbilderback@hotmail.com>
wrote:

 >9. Wargames USUALLY only gather 2 geeks at one place at one time (3 if
you
 >use a referee).  With an RPG, the number of nerds is limited only by
the
 >GM's organizational skills.

I've run Call of Cthulhu games with as much as 13 players. The largest
non
LARP game I've seen was 25. LARPs can go into the hundreds...

BB: Which, I believe, was my point.....

 >8. Wargamers USUALLY learn something about real historical events. Try
 >writing a paper for history class on the Seventh Dynasty of the
Wizards of
 >Pendathel.

Obviously you haven't been playing with our group. *S* I've had to
research
1920s history, and another friend set very historic games in the
Georgian 
era.

BB: No, But I HAVE run/beeen in campaigns set in Vietnam, the modern
day, 
the 1920's, the 1930's, and in Renaissance France. Again, this was just
a 
generalization for the sake of humor. Perhaps I shouldn''t have
bothered.

 >7. The collapse of your left flank, while a serious matter, is usually

less
 >devastating than the death of your alter ego.

Unless the collapse of your left flank during an RPG results in the
death of
your alter ego, in which case you get the worst of both worlds (yep,
this
happened in a CoC game... *S*).

BB: Whee, sign me up. *l*

 >4. Wargamers seldom insist that their friends refer to them as "Melara
the
 >Wood Elf."

No, but I haven't seen many roleplayers goosestepping and yelling "Seig,
heil!" in public! *L*

BB: true, but then, that behavior is not relegated to just wargamers in
SOME 
parts of the world, sad to say.

 >3. Alienated teens rarely have access to real Panzer Divisions.

As opposed to alienated roleplaying teens who have access to magic
spells?

BB: Actually, I had in mind as opposed to alienated teens in general
with 
access to guns, knives, explosives.  That DOES happen, you know.

 >2. To the uninformed, the phrase "Wargames" conjures up images of
Matthew
 >Broderick and Computers.  The phrase "Role Playing" conjures up images
of
 >"Mistress Dominixa" and leather.

Actually, to the uninformed the phrase "Wargames" conjures up guys in
camouflage running around shooting paintballs at each other; they
consider
them gun nuts who are just THIS far away from taking out a McDonald's.
Meanwhile, roleplaying conjuring up leather and bondage gear? Uh...
well,
yes... and as recent magazine articles have shown, this is becoming
socially
acceptable. In fact you get a wider range of people in Toronto walking
into
Northbound Leather than you do walking into Crossed Swords. *S*

And I do NOT want to see the average wargamer in PVC rubber pants! *L*

BB: All of which seems like good material for a rebuttal top 10 list,
which 
I shall begin work on shortly (I DID, after all, say I am guilty of BOTH

hobbies).   On the other hand, given the reception my attempts at humor
have 
received so far, maybe that's not such a good idea.

Brian B
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