RPG Lexica:GHI - Revision history

XopherH: /* G */ Changed the URL of "Eric and the Gazebo," since it directed to an old Geocities page that is LONG GONE. Now goes to the Wayback Machine's archive of that page.

2018-08-21T16:01:57Z

G: Changed the URL of "Eric and the Gazebo," since it directed to an old Geocities page that is LONG GONE. Now goes to the Wayback Machine's archive of that page.

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:01, 21 August 2018
Line 16:		Line 16:


	;Gazebo: In addition to the common meaning of a pagoda or turret built to offer an attractive view, also a reference to a famous gamer comedy story: [http://www.geocities.com/rpgsig/articles/gazebo.html ''Eric and the Gazebo''], written (and copyrighted!) by Richard Arenson. In the story, the [[GM]] of a group tells them that they see a gazebo in a field they are approaching. One of the [[player]]s - Eric - does not know what a gazebo is; he therefore assumes it to be a monster and attempts to engage it in combat (which ends with Eric fleeing after multiple magical arrows amazingly failed to wound the gazebo). Used as a jokey reference to an unknown creature, or to something which has been attacked by mistake.		;Gazebo: In addition to the common meaning of a pagoda or turret built to offer an attractive view, also a reference to a famous gamer comedy story: [http://web.archive.org/web/20080420121621/http://www.geocities.com:80/rpgsig/articles/gazebo.html ''Eric and the Gazebo''], written (and copyrighted!) by Richard Arenson. In the story, the [[GM]] of a group tells them that they see a gazebo in a field they are approaching. One of the [[player]]s - Eric - does not know what a gazebo is; he therefore assumes it to be a monster and attempts to engage it in combat (which ends with Eric fleeing after multiple magical arrows amazingly failed to wound the gazebo). Used as a jokey reference to an unknown creature, or to something which has been attacked by mistake.
	:By extension, may also be used to refer to a part of a description that does ''not'' have any in-game effect, to differentiate it from those that do (i.e., what the mention of the gazebo ''should'' have been). Usage: "Should we ask the priests if they can help us against those 'spooky shadows' we saw?" "Naah, I think it was just a gazebo."		:By extension, may also be used to refer to a part of a description that does ''not'' have any in-game effect, to differentiate it from those that do (i.e., what the mention of the gazebo ''should'' have been). Usage: "Should we ask the priests if they can help us against those 'spooky shadows' we saw?" "Naah, I think it was just a gazebo."

99.46.176.64: /* G */

2018-03-07T03:05:57Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:05, 7 March 2018
Line 59:		Line 59:
	;GMPC		;GMPC
	:'''G'''ame '''M'''aster [[player character\|'''PC''']]		:'''G'''ame '''M'''aster [[player character\|'''PC''']]
	#An [[NPC]] that's ~~basically an avatar of~~ the [[GM]] running the game. ~~Can be acceptable and even helpful if his~~ "divine favor" is ~~toned down and/or used in moderation, but more often becomes something like #2:~~		#An [[NPC]] that's controlled by the [[GM]] running the game for an extended period of time and participates in combat. May have "divine favor" if the GM feels he is critical to the story.
	#Derogatory term for an 'uber' NPC, one who's abilities and assistance overshadow the [[PC]]s, who is still supposedly on the PCs 'side', but manages to dominate the game because of his "divine favor".		#Derogatory term for an 'uber' NPC, one who's abilities and assistance overshadow the [[PC]]s, who is still supposedly on the PCs 'side', but manages to dominate the game because of his "divine favor".
	:Note: By "divine favor" I mean things like: die rolls being adjusted in his favor, access to the setting's "bigwigs", absolutely ''amazing'' equipment (say, artifacts in ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' games), being able to break inconvenient rules ([[IC]] or [[OOC]]), et cetera. Any time the GM may be said to be cheating in favor of "his" character, it's a GMPC. Also known as a '''Pet NPC'''.		:Note: By "divine favor" I mean things like: die rolls being adjusted in his favor, access to the setting's "bigwigs", absolutely ''amazing'' equipment (say, artifacts in ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' games), being able to break inconvenient rules ([[IC]] or [[OOC]]), et cetera. Any time the GM may be said to be cheating in favor of "his" character, it's a GMPC. Also known as a '''Pet NPC'''.

99.46.176.64 at 02:53, 7 March 2018

2018-03-07T02:53:53Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:53, 7 March 2018
Line 8:		Line 8:
	;Game That Must Not Be Named, The: The role-playing game FATAL. The wordy phrase is often abbreviated to '''TGTMNBN'''. FATAL itself stood for "Fantasy Adventure To Adult Lechery" in the game's first edition, but was subsequently changed to "From Another Time, Another Land". FATAL "Must Not be Named" because of two inter-related reasons. First, because mentioning this game on certain web sites all but guarantees the start of a flame war about it, possibly including vigorous and verbally aggressive defense from the game's authors. Second, because by most standards of basic game design and even social decency the game is truly, truly awful. It is not just poorly conceived and written, but outright offensive.		;Game That Must Not Be Named, The: The role-playing game FATAL. The wordy phrase is often abbreviated to '''TGTMNBN'''. FATAL itself stood for "Fantasy Adventure To Adult Lechery" in the game's first edition, but was subsequently changed to "From Another Time, Another Land". FATAL "Must Not be Named" because of two inter-related reasons. First, because mentioning this game on certain web sites all but guarantees the start of a flame war about it, possibly including vigorous and verbally aggressive defense from the game's authors. Second, because by most standards of basic game design and even social decency the game is truly, truly awful. It is not just poorly conceived and written, but outright offensive.

	:The most infamous and prevalent form of objectionable material is FATAL's bizarre and juvenile sexual content. For instance, character creation includes the calculation of statistics such as "Areola Size", "~~Vaginal Circumference Potential~~", and "~~Hymen Resistance~~". Worse, the game blithely condones rape as a character activity and contains many other instances of blatant misogyny, not to mention casual racism - for example. magic items included cursed armour types which would transform PCs into racial stereotypes. Of secondary concern is the monstrously overcomplicated rules system, which requires unwieldy dice rolls, convoluted mathematical formula and tables for everything the designer could conceivably make one for, many of which are bizarre, such as the infamous Magical Fumbles Table and, again, sexually obsessive, such as a formula for increased penile penetration during a certain position of intercourse.		:The most infamous and prevalent form of objectionable material is FATAL's bizarre and juvenile sexual content. For instance, character creation includes the calculation of statistics such as "Areola Size", "Hymen Resistance", and the infamous "Anal" and "Vaginal Circumference Potential". Worse, the game blithely condones rape as a character activity and contains many other instances of blatant misogyny, not to mention casual racism - for example. magic items included cursed armour types which would transform PCs into racial stereotypes. Of secondary concern is the monstrously overcomplicated rules system, which requires unwieldy dice rolls, convoluted mathematical formula and tables for everything the designer could conceivably make one for, many of which are bizarre, such as the infamous Magical Fumbles Table and, again, sexually obsessive, such as a formula for increased penile penetration during a certain position of intercourse.

	:If such a thing is possible, FATAL generated further controversy via the infamous [http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/14/14567.phtml "S&M" review]: the long, extensive, profanity-strewn (and, in its own way, screamingly funny) RPG.net review by Darren MacLennan and Jason Sartin in which they basically rip the game a new one. Two of the authors of FATAL--Byron Hall, the primary author and editor, and "Burnout"--wrote a rebuttal to the review (in which they nitpick over the tone while failing to address any of the points the review makes), and posted it on the web; a copy of this [[FATALReviewRebuttal\|"Childish Review and Author's Defense of F.A.T.A.L."]] is saved on this Wiki.		:If such a thing is possible, FATAL generated further controversy via the infamous [http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/14/14567.phtml "S&M" review]: the long, extensive, profanity-strewn (and, in its own way, screamingly funny) RPG.net review by Darren MacLennan and Jason Sartin in which they basically rip the game a new one. Two of the authors of FATAL--Byron Hall, the primary author and editor, and "Burnout"--wrote a rebuttal to the review (in which they nitpick over the tone while failing to address any of the points the review makes), and posted it on the web; a copy of this [[FATALReviewRebuttal\|"Childish Review and Author's Defense of F.A.T.A.L."]] is saved on this Wiki.

71.150.228.117: /* G */

2017-11-09T07:32:08Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:32, 9 November 2017
Line 30:		Line 30:

	;Geek social fallacies: A list of five fallacies, originally presented in an essay by Michael Suileabhain-Wilson, supposedly indicating classic social errors made by "geek" types and responsible for the stereotypically dysfunctional interactions of such groups. The five geek social fallacies are:		;Geek social fallacies: A list of five fallacies, originally presented in an essay by Michael Suileabhain-Wilson, supposedly indicating classic social errors made by "geek" types and responsible for the stereotypically dysfunctional interactions of such groups. The five geek social fallacies are:
	# Once initially accepted by a peer group, ~~nobody may be excluded from anything involving that group~~.		# Acceptance is forever. Once initially accepted by a peer group, one is a part of it indefienitely.
	# Friends may never criticize friends.		# Friends may never criticize friends.
	# Friends must put their friendship above all else.		# Friends must put their friendship above all else.
	# A friend-of-a-friend is a friend (thus, all of one's friends ~~must~~ be friends with each other).		# A friend-of-a-friend is a friend (thus, all of one's friends are expected to be friends with each other).
	#Friends must involve friends in all activities they do.		#Friends must involve friends in all activities they do.

71.87.104.74: /* I */

2016-10-17T01:48:38Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:48, 17 October 2016
Line 128:		Line 128:

	;IST''x''KO		;IST''x''KO
	:Typically used in forum thread titles, an abbreviation for "I seek the ''x'' knowledge of", properly followed by the subject of inquiry. The variable ''x'' is the name of the forum, implying a request for the aid of the forum community as a whole. It seems to have originated on the RPGnet Tangency forum as "I ~~seek~~ the Tangency knowledge of" (later abbreviated "ISTTKO"), used by those seeking information on an obscure topic, often before even trying to Google for it. Replacing "Tangency" with a variable forum name came later; widely used on the RPGnet Open forum is ISTOKO (where ''x'' = Open, obviously). While this terminology originated on RPGnet, it is unknown to this contributor if its use has spread to other fora.		:Typically used in forum thread titles, an abbreviation for "I seek the ''x'' knowledge of", properly followed by the subject of inquiry. The variable ''x'' is the name of the forum, implying a request for the aid of the forum community as a whole. It seems to have originated on the RPGnet Tangency forum as "I summon the Tangency knowledge of" (later abbreviated "ISTTKO"), used by those seeking information on an obscure topic, often before even trying to Google for it. Replacing "Tangency" with a variable forum name came later; widely used on the RPGnet Open forum is ISTOKO (where ''x'' = Open, obviously). While this terminology originated on RPGnet, it is unknown to this contributor if its use has spread to other fora.

24.242.90.201: /* G */

2016-08-30T20:06:27Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:06, 30 August 2016
Line 6:		Line 6:


	;Game That Must Not Be Named, The: The role-playing game FATAL~~. The "...Not Be Named" label was possibly coined as a reference to Voldemort's appellation in the Harry Potter novels~~. The wordy phrase is often abbreviated to '''TGTMNBN'''. FATAL itself stood for "Fantasy Adventure To Adult Lechery" in the game's first edition, but was subsequently changed to "From Another Time, Another Land". FATAL "Must Not be Named" because of two inter-related reasons. First, because mentioning this game on certain web sites all but guarantees the start of a flame war about it, possibly including vigorous and verbally aggressive defense from the game's authors. Second, because by most standards of basic game design and even social decency the game is truly, truly awful. It is not just poorly conceived and written, but outright offensive.		;Game That Must Not Be Named, The: The role-playing game FATAL. The wordy phrase is often abbreviated to '''TGTMNBN'''. FATAL itself stood for "Fantasy Adventure To Adult Lechery" in the game's first edition, but was subsequently changed to "From Another Time, Another Land". FATAL "Must Not be Named" because of two inter-related reasons. First, because mentioning this game on certain web sites all but guarantees the start of a flame war about it, possibly including vigorous and verbally aggressive defense from the game's authors. Second, because by most standards of basic game design and even social decency the game is truly, truly awful. It is not just poorly conceived and written, but outright offensive.

	:The most infamous and prevalent form of objectionable material is FATAL's bizarre and juvenile sexual content. For instance, character creation includes the calculation of statistics such as "Areola Size", "Vaginal Circumference Potential", and "Hymen Resistance". Worse, the game blithely condones rape as a character activity and contains many other instances of blatant misogyny, not to mention casual racism - for example. magic items included cursed armour types which would transform PCs into racial stereotypes. Of secondary concern is the monstrously overcomplicated rules system, which requires unwieldy dice rolls, convoluted mathematical formula and tables for everything the designer could conceivably make one for, many of which are bizarre, such as the infamous Magical Fumbles Table and, again, sexually obsessive, such as a formula for increased penile penetration during a certain position of intercourse.		:The most infamous and prevalent form of objectionable material is FATAL's bizarre and juvenile sexual content. For instance, character creation includes the calculation of statistics such as "Areola Size", "Vaginal Circumference Potential", and "Hymen Resistance". Worse, the game blithely condones rape as a character activity and contains many other instances of blatant misogyny, not to mention casual racism - for example. magic items included cursed armour types which would transform PCs into racial stereotypes. Of secondary concern is the monstrously overcomplicated rules system, which requires unwieldy dice rolls, convoluted mathematical formula and tables for everything the designer could conceivably make one for, many of which are bizarre, such as the infamous Magical Fumbles Table and, again, sexually obsessive, such as a formula for increased penile penetration during a certain position of intercourse.

92.20.77.232 at 12:27, 2 September 2014

2014-09-02T12:27:36Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:27, 2 September 2014
Line 30:		Line 30:

	;Geek social fallacies: A list of five fallacies, originally presented in an essay by Michael Suileabhain-Wilson, supposedly indicating classic social errors made by "geek" types and responsible for the stereotypically dysfunctional interactions of such groups. The five geek social fallacies are:		;Geek social fallacies: A list of five fallacies, originally presented in an essay by Michael Suileabhain-Wilson, supposedly indicating classic social errors made by "geek" types and responsible for the stereotypically dysfunctional interactions of such groups. The five geek social fallacies are:
	# Once initially accepted by a peer group nobody may be excluded from anything involving that group.		# Once initially accepted by a peer group, nobody may be excluded from anything involving that group.
	# Friends may never criticize friends.		# Friends may never criticize friends.
	# Friends must put their friendship above all else.		# Friends must put their friendship above all else.

207.206.238.230: /* G */

2013-05-10T04:10:18Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:10, 10 May 2013
Line 2:		Line 2:

	;Game Balance: A catch-all term for a range of different properties which are considered desirable in a game system, related to ensuring that the game exhibits fairness and scope for creativity. Typically, these will include ensuring that each player is able to contribute an equal amount to the game (the ''Decker problem'' is an example of a failure of this); ensuring that encounters are difficult enough to be challenging but not overwhelming; ensuring that no particular game ability is necessary for every character; and similar.		;Game Balance: A catch-all term for a range of different properties which are considered desirable in a game system, related to ensuring that the game exhibits fairness and scope for creativity. Typically, these will include ensuring that each player is able to contribute an equal amount to the game (the ''Decker problem'' is an example of a failure of this); ensuring that encounters are difficult enough to be challenging but not overwhelming; ensuring that no particular game ability is necessary for every character; and similar.

			:Occasionally used in other places as an attack against systems that players think borrowed too much from the MMO genre and video games in general. Most often seen in System Wars between people who think that Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition was a decent system with a few flaws and people who think it was the World of Warcraft edition.

71.126.55.138: /* I */

2012-12-29T20:03:10Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:03, 29 December 2012
Line 114:		Line 114:


	;Impossible Thing Before Breakfast: For the GM to maintain complete authorial control of the story while the players at the same time retain complete protagonist control of their characters. That is, for both the players and GM to simultaneously run the game as exclusively "their" story. Although this paradox is often unintentionally presented as the ideal model for running RPGs, it is quite possibly impossible and attempts to achieve this unattainable situation have been responsible for a lot of failed role-playing. It's coinage as a term in RPG theory is by [[Ron Edwards]] - the phrase itself originated in ''Alice in Wonderland'', where the Queen tells Alice that "sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."		;Impossible Thing Before Breakfast: For the GM to maintain complete authorial control of the story while the players at the same time retain complete protagonist control of their characters. That is, for both the players and GM to simultaneously run the game as exclusively "their" story. Although this paradox is often unintentionally presented as the ideal model for running RPGs, it is quite possibly impossible and attempts to achieve this unattainable situation have been responsible for a lot of failed role-playing. It's coinage as a term in RPG theory is by [[Ron Edwards]] - the phrase itself originated in ''Alice in Wonderland'', where the Queen tells Alice that "sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." It's also possible that it entered the lexicon via Douglas Adams' ''Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' series, where the advertising campaign for Milliways, a restaurant that exists at the end of the universe, is "If you've done six impossible things this morning, why not round it off with breakfast at Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe?"

GORT: Reverted edits by DrDucker (talk) to last revision by 58.175.132.93

2012-06-13T21:41:17Z

Reverted edits by DrDucker (talk) to last revision by 58.175.132.93

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:41, 13 June 2012
Line 8:		Line 8:
	:The most infamous and prevalent form of objectionable material is FATAL's bizarre and juvenile sexual content. For instance, character creation includes the calculation of statistics such as "Areola Size", "Vaginal Circumference Potential", and "Hymen Resistance". Worse, the game blithely condones rape as a character activity and contains many other instances of blatant misogyny, not to mention casual racism - for example. magic items included cursed armour types which would transform PCs into racial stereotypes. Of secondary concern is the monstrously overcomplicated rules system, which requires unwieldy dice rolls, convoluted mathematical formula and tables for everything the designer could conceivably make one for, many of which are bizarre, such as the infamous Magical Fumbles Table and, again, sexually obsessive, such as a formula for increased penile penetration during a certain position of intercourse.		:The most infamous and prevalent form of objectionable material is FATAL's bizarre and juvenile sexual content. For instance, character creation includes the calculation of statistics such as "Areola Size", "Vaginal Circumference Potential", and "Hymen Resistance". Worse, the game blithely condones rape as a character activity and contains many other instances of blatant misogyny, not to mention casual racism - for example. magic items included cursed armour types which would transform PCs into racial stereotypes. Of secondary concern is the monstrously overcomplicated rules system, which requires unwieldy dice rolls, convoluted mathematical formula and tables for everything the designer could conceivably make one for, many of which are bizarre, such as the infamous Magical Fumbles Table and, again, sexually obsessive, such as a formula for increased penile penetration during a certain position of intercourse.

	:If such a thing is possible, FATAL generated further controversy via the infamous [http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/14/14567.phtml "S&M" review]: the long, extensive, profanity-strewn (and, in its own way, screamingly funny) RPG.net review by Darren MacLennan and Jason Sartin in which they basically rip the game a new one. ~~Twwiki.rpg.netf~~ FATAL--Byron Hall, the primary author and editor, and "Burnout"--wrote a rebuttal to the review (in which they nitpick over the tone while failing to address any of the points the review makes), and posted it on the web; a copy of this [[FATALReviewRebuttal\|"Childish Review and Author's Defense of F.A.T.A.L."]] is saved on this Wiki.		:If such a thing is possible, FATAL generated further controversy via the infamous [http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/14/14567.phtml "S&M" review]: the long, extensive, profanity-strewn (and, in its own way, screamingly funny) RPG.net review by Darren MacLennan and Jason Sartin in which they basically rip the game a new one. Two of the authors of FATAL--Byron Hall, the primary author and editor, and "Burnout"--wrote a rebuttal to the review (in which they nitpick over the tone while failing to address any of the points the review makes), and posted it on the web; a copy of this [[FATALReviewRebuttal\|"Childish Review and Author's Defense of F.A.T.A.L."]] is saved on this Wiki.