From:	Wage Mage wagemage@**.rr.com
Subject:	Mike Mulvihill on STATE OF THE ART
Date:	Thu, 26 Oct 2000 08:40:13 -0400

><snip>
> The shadowtalk gave me that option, and I liked it.
>
>But that was exactly the problem for FASA, as I understand it. They'd get
>lots of questions from unimaginitive players who wanted to know exactly
>how the unreliable gun was unreliable, and what would happen if something
>went wrong to it (not to mention when that something _would_ go wrong).
>
>FASA's solution appears to be to cut these comments altogether, instead of
>the other option, namely giving rules that support the shadowcomments. And
>I know the objection against that solution: it limits the players'
>imagination. Still, OTOH at least it would mean the items would still have
>that extra bit of color.

I understand and I'm not really surprised about that really. What
concerns me is the fact that since Fasa is gunning for new players (ie
those who have never gamed before) the color and imagination level of the
rules has been and perhaps will be cranked down to the lowest common
denominator. I don't like that.
Unimaginative players shouldn't BE players. I realize that this
isn't much of an argument to Fasa who's goal is to sell books, but Joe
Sixpack the frat guy is never gonna play SR. Lets not fill the game with
keg references in an attempt to get him to.