Megan Robertson's page

BobSlaughter - I've just updated my Paizo product list (not done all the individual pages yet).

Depends on what you are trying to accomplish with a review.

Me - I'm trying to give as good an impression as I can of what you'll find in that product and how it might contribute to your gaming experience if you purchase it.

I may put in the odd personal aside, but rarely as it's unlikely to tell you anything about the product... you don't read my reviews to find out about ME, you read 'em (if you do) because you want to know about the product, particularly if you are considering a purchase.

And now I've got my breath back (and told my husband that he needs to build some shelves!), congratulations to the other 4 as well.

WOW!!!!

I am absolutely gobsmacked - thought I was a rank outsider with no chance for a year or two.

Thank you very much, all those who supported my candidacy.

I think I have to go and lie down now....

Not always up-to-the-minute, but I tend to add things as published to http://www.rpg-resource.org.uk/index.php?article=3092&visual=8

Actually, it's due an update, I've been doing other things recently on RPG Resource.

Thanks, Watcher... and anyone else who voted a) at all and b) for me!

Me again. Voting ends tomorrow (Sunday 9th August) so if you have not voted yet, please consider doing so. If you have (irrespective if for me or the other fine contenders), thank you for taking part in the ENies process.

Megan landed one of my votes, Mark another. Scott also picked up one so even if it's not the four of us around the table at the end, I'm hoping you three make it. Megan, you have had my vote from the beginning simply because you're awesome :D

I'll vote for you two... maybe all 3 of us will be selected. That'd be fun!

[update: Been and cast my vote!]

So am I, dear hearts.... Megan Robertson.

And if you like the way I look at RPGs... you can make me your third vote!

Wow! What can I say? I'd dropped in to introduce myself and ask for consideration as you good people decide who you want for next year's ENnies Judges... Thank you for your kind remarks, Masika.

After over 30 years' pleasure from role-playing, it's time to put something back, so I am running for ENnie Judge 2010.

Why me? Best bet is for you to see how I look at games, and if you like what I have to say please consider voting for me. There are plenty of my reviews on this site (and probably another one later on if I stop wasting time whittering about myself and get back to my books!), and even more on my own site, http://www.rpg-resource.org.uk/

Irrespective, thank you for taking time to participate in the ENnies process!

Oh yeah!!!

This is a surprise - I've been in Mallorca for a week!

The mischievous side of me wants to bundle up a huge stack of legitamately-acquired WotC PDFs and research how to loose them on every torrent I can find...

More seriously, it means the end of my 4e reading as the entire collection is PDF. Given the way that the hobby is going, I doubt that I am alone and this in itself shows evidence of poor business ability on the part of Wizards.

Add to that the archival side of access to materials no longer in print and it moves from a lack of business competence to every sign of not wishing to continue in the business of supporting role-playing at all.

As a final straw, the crass way in which Wizards have chosen to implement their new policies serve only to alienate role-players even further.

(Please note, anyone who uses my site, that I have no intention of spending this next week - which I have off - removing defunct links... I prefer to spend my free time writing reviews of product from publishers who still support the hobby!!!!)

Tell us what you think!!!!!

As regards the 'family feeling' - I am on their reviewers list. When last December I had a stroke, my husband let my contact at Paizo know there might be a while before any reviews got written - next thing I know there's a "Get Well" card signed by darn near the whole company arriving, hotly pursued by a box of books to read 'when you feel better.'

Hey, folks - it worked. Almost full recovery and able to return to work. And reviewing, of course!

Hugs from Megan
http://www.rpg-resource.org.uk/

Many congratulations to all at Paizo for your well-deserved successes.

Stuck here in the UK, but consoling myself by being curled up writing my review of Pathfinder Beta... considerably superior to D&D 4e in my opinion.

Love and Hugs from Megan.

I think that the RPG industry was thrown a lifeline with the OGL, and the Internet was one of the things that led to the really big explosion of all manner of things - not just supplements but whole new games written using the D20 game mechanic.

Personally - and I hope it's not just wishful thinking - I think it will survive even if Wizards keep 4e closed. It will be them who lose out, as it will become 'just another game' rather than the flagship that 3e has been. Over the past couple of years there has been a resurgance of people writing their own rulesets, often people who cut their teeth on writing material under the OGL.

Open gaming is, and will remain in my opinion, the true future of role-playing.

And as for the other discussion that crept in: if teachers got paid more I could afford all the RPG books I wanted!

How would spell the Welsh name?

They are pronounced differently too, as Welsh is a completely phonetic language (i.e. every letter is pronounced as written). I'm not quite sure how to convey to you the difference between 'th' and 'dd' in writing, though! Think of the 'dd' as a softer more muted sound...

It's not often I get to hold forth about my native tongue!

Excellent development in the ongoing world of RPGs... You have the full support of RPG Resource.

He will be sorely missed. Hours of talking, playing D&D and drinking rather too much beer.

My daughter was sad to hear that her Uncle Gary is no more.

Fascinating insights, thank you.

When D20 D&D was launched back in 2000, I was quite heavily involved with the RPGA in the UK. A lot of us were involved in playtesting at various stages, everyone was throwing round ideas and watching the game shape up and so it really hit the ground running when the first shipment of the Player's Handbook showed up at GenCon UK at the end of August 2000. Everyone wanted to try it out, to the extent that the Living Greyhawk team were grabbing anyone they could catch to DM for the eager hordes. And that's British gamers. We've always been a bit more restrained in our enthusiasm.

Then the openness of the D20/OGL system brought loads of other publishers large and small on board right from the get-go. So material was there from the outset - like Green Ronin's first Freeport adventure Death in Freeport. The rise of the internet helped as well, as people who until then wrote wonderful adventures, settings and source material for their own groups were able to self-publish in PDF or on the web.

About 18 months after D20 D&D, AEG released Spycraft. They saw how the buzz and excitement had pre-built a market for D&D, and did even better - starting the precedent for free 'lite' or demo versions of a game that are actually playable in their own right. The designers were there on the company website and discussion boards, talking about what was going on and encouraging people to get involved.

Unfortunately Wizards don't seem to remember the marketing strategy they themselves launched on the gaming world. Carefully-crafted pieces that seem to be more 'how wonderful' than 'what and how' - yeah, right. How do I start thinking about what I'm going to do with it without the basic information? How do I decide if it even fits in with the way I and my players like to role-play? And where is the Lite version to let us try it out and be convinced we want more, and go get the core books when they are released?

However, one of the more heartening things is the number of people - for example Kenzer & Company with their Kingdoms of Kalamar line - who are moving back inventory of D20 product into PDF, where it can be available in perpetuity with little cost to the publisher.

And if shameless plugs are in order, you can always read my reviews of, well anything role-playing I can get my hands on, at http://www.rpg-resource.org.uk/

(If it's sold here, the review appears here as well, of course!)

Company after company appear to be winding down popular and successful D20 Dungeons and Dragons lines. While there's always the urge to be up ahead with the current trends, do they really think that everyone's going to drop 3rd Edition D&D like a hot potato come the summer?

Even if 4th Edition D&D is as good as Wizards seem to think it will be, it's going to take time to percolate through the gaming community; while a lot of people remain ready to be convinced that the switch is worthwile at all.

Please, publishers, do not slam the door shut...

I don't know - the pap that is coming out of WotC at the moment gives insufficient information to even think about deciding.

It is fair to say that game mechanics are not that important for me, it is all about creating an alternate reality in which whatever game system is used just provides guidelines for task resolution anyway!

Never having played a game with the lady, I cannot comment on the standard of her play. However her writing is appalling: trivial, dull, all about HER and very little about role-playing. A complete waste of space, doing all gamers - let alone us female ones - a great disservice. If WotC had wanted a 'female view of gaming' could they not at least have found a woman who can write?