Monday, June 26, 2006

Weekly Review Jun. 18th to Jun. 24th

While not a common question in RPG theory, this week's developments started by expanding on how RPG theory applies to RPG design.

Putting the Pieces Together

Thomas Robertson expands on his reference to RPG theory from last week. Thomas contrasts the state of theory between engineering and RPG design. He suggests that while the potential exists for theory to guide design as much as it could, we have much more to do to bring RPG theory to that level. Later, Adam Dray discusses a similar process on the matter of fantasy heartbreakers. In particular he distinguishes design tinkering which tends to produce a heartbreaker from the broadening of understanding which is part of developed RPG design.

Color

Later in the week, Thomas Robertson discusses the importance of color, the details of the imagined space that isn't setting, system, character, or situation. He suggests a different interpretation of color. He presents it as the building blocks for the shared context that lets us relate to other imagined aspects. While the character may not be color, how we think of him may be largely determined by the ephemeral details of which color consists.

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