Buddy/Ignore List
04-13-2015, 03:07 AM
Head Honcho,
That's well taken and thoughtful, but I have a slightly different take, and this may be part of the friction some of the old time players are feeling.
I agree, if we were playing Axis & Allies or Risk or another board game where all rules are literally on the table, it would of course be necessary to reveal everything.
But even a game like Dungeons and Dragons doesn't have everything known by the players. They know their 5th level fighter should fight at an expected level against certain opponents, can take so many blows before perishing, can get healed, etc. But they don't know about this new enemy, what this magic user might do, how strong these strange people are in combat, etc.
"Alamaze" is a poor choice of name for a commercial enterprise. It doesn't conjure anything to people that haven't heard it before. It was named after my fairly massive college days D&D campaign. When I first did the initial six player Alamaze game, it was 1984 or early 1985. Those six players were so into it I was taken by surprise. They would have secret meetings to conspire and form deception and feints. The first IBM PC with 64k (yes, k, not m) memory and 10 MB (yes, meg, not gig) hard drive was out. I did it as a personal challenge, never really expecting it to become a franchise of sorts.
Ah, waxing sentimental I suppose. What I am saying is players sometimes like to say, "its a wargame". Well, I am not aware of a "war game" that has all the aspects Alamaze provides to its devotees. We invented lots of concepts never seen before, and some still not seen elsewhere, although MEPBM tried to copy some as best they could.
It was always intended as sort of a grand strategic fantasy adventure. To be enjoyed, savored, and not necessary for players to develop databases and spreadsheets to amplify their chance of winning. A big part of it, and I believe what sustained it for many years with no development, was that there was always the unknown, and always something new to be learned. Not that someone had it all figured out.
That's well taken and thoughtful, but I have a slightly different take, and this may be part of the friction some of the old time players are feeling.
I agree, if we were playing Axis & Allies or Risk or another board game where all rules are literally on the table, it would of course be necessary to reveal everything.
But even a game like Dungeons and Dragons doesn't have everything known by the players. They know their 5th level fighter should fight at an expected level against certain opponents, can take so many blows before perishing, can get healed, etc. But they don't know about this new enemy, what this magic user might do, how strong these strange people are in combat, etc.
"Alamaze" is a poor choice of name for a commercial enterprise. It doesn't conjure anything to people that haven't heard it before. It was named after my fairly massive college days D&D campaign. When I first did the initial six player Alamaze game, it was 1984 or early 1985. Those six players were so into it I was taken by surprise. They would have secret meetings to conspire and form deception and feints. The first IBM PC with 64k (yes, k, not m) memory and 10 MB (yes, meg, not gig) hard drive was out. I did it as a personal challenge, never really expecting it to become a franchise of sorts.
Ah, waxing sentimental I suppose. What I am saying is players sometimes like to say, "its a wargame". Well, I am not aware of a "war game" that has all the aspects Alamaze provides to its devotees. We invented lots of concepts never seen before, and some still not seen elsewhere, although MEPBM tried to copy some as best they could.
It was always intended as sort of a grand strategic fantasy adventure. To be enjoyed, savored, and not necessary for players to develop databases and spreadsheets to amplify their chance of winning. A big part of it, and I believe what sustained it for many years with no development, was that there was always the unknown, and always something new to be learned. Not that someone had it all figured out.