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437) Kevin and Brian Blume sell their shares of stock to Gary Gygax instead of Lorraine Williams. The gaming community is spared the marketing disasters of the Buck Rogers and Dragon Dice games. Gary is able to consolidate his finances and TSR emerges as the dominate fantasy game producer, eventually buying an upstart company called Wizards of the Coast and their emerging card game called Magic the Gathering. Gary never sees the need to create a new edition of jis flagship game and everyone continues to enjoy AD&D and its extensive and ever-growing library of support material and adventure modules. This essentially ends the "edition wars" before it could start. Later, TSR acquires Hasbro and Milton Bradley, along with all of their subsidiaries, becoming the largest producer of games in the world. Its tag line becomes, "Games, by gamers, for gamers."
It also negates the existence of powergaming as chance increasingly becomes the only deciding factor in what your character is and what it can do. Since you cannot optimize Luck, munchkins disappear in thin air, as does Treantmonk and any optimization guide out there. Guides into roleplaying odd combinations created through random happenstance abound though. In fact, the Gygax company becomes the most powerful entertainment tycoon in the world and the worldwide lottery for playing a Paladin character becomes THE event of the year, including public performance by Beyonce and any required nipple-slip. The Black Market for even moderately playable characters is brisk.
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HEY!!!! I LOVE DRAGON DICE!!
437) Kevin and Brian Blume sell their shares of stock to Gary Gygax instead of Lorraine Williams. The gaming community is spared the marketing disasters of the Buck Rogers and Dragon Dice games. Gary is able to consolidate his finances and TSR emerges as the dominate fantasy game producer, eventually buying an upstart company called Wizards of the Coast and their emerging card game called Magic the Gathering. Gary never sees the need to create a new edition of jis flagship game and everyone continues to enjoy AD&D and its extensive and ever-growing library of support material and adventure modules. This essentially ends the "edition wars" before it could start. Later, TSR acquires Hasbro and Milton Bradley, along with all of their subsidiaries, becoming the largest producer of games in the world. Its tag line becomes, "Games, by gamers, for gamers."It also negates the existence of powergaming as chance increasingly becomes the only deciding factor in what your character is and what it can do. Since you cannot optimize Luck, munchkins disappear in thin air, as does Treantmonk and any optimization guide out there. Guides into roleplaying odd combinations created through random happenstance abound though. In fact, the Gygax company becomes the most powerful entertainment tycoon in the world and the worldwide lottery for playing a Paladin character becomes THE event of the year, including public performance by Beyonce and any required nipple-slip. The Black Market for even moderately playable characters is brisk.
Hmm...the death of optimization intrigues me, but I think there might be unforeseen unpleasant consequences.
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Hmm...the death of optimization intrigues me, but I think there might be unforeseen unpleasant consequences.437) Kevin and Brian Blume sell their shares of stock to Gary Gygax instead of Lorraine Williams. The gaming community is spared the marketing disasters of the Buck Rogers and Dragon Dice games. Gary is able to consolidate his finances and TSR emerges as the dominate fantasy game producer, eventually buying an upstart company called Wizards of the Coast and their emerging card game called Magic the Gathering. Gary never sees the need to create a new edition of jis flagship game and everyone continues to enjoy AD&D and its extensive and ever-growing library of support material and adventure modules. This essentially ends the "edition wars" before it could start. Later, TSR acquires Hasbro and Milton Bradley, along with all of their subsidiaries, becoming the largest producer of games in the world. Its tag line becomes, "Games, by gamers, for gamers."It also negates the existence of powergaming as chance increasingly becomes the only deciding factor in what your character is and what it can do. Since you cannot optimize Luck, munchkins disappear in thin air, as does Treantmonk and any optimization guide out there. Guides into roleplaying odd combinations created through random happenstance abound though. In fact, the Gygax company becomes the most powerful entertainment tycoon in the world and the worldwide lottery for playing a Paladin character becomes THE event of the year, including public performance by Beyonce and any required nipple-slip. The Black Market for even moderately playable characters is brisk.
TSR would buy up Games Workshop and the Warhammer Settings...whether they cut back on the Miniatures/wargames associated with the setting because of their unpopularity with the more mainstream side of D&D is uncertain.
438. A man in New England dies in the late 1890s but before he dies he kills his young son. The son's name? Howard Phillips Lovecraft. As a result, either the Cthulhu Mythos doesn't exist or is fairly different.
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440. Some Mexican soldiers walk past a pastry shop in Mexico owned by a French baker rather than damaging it. As a result The Pastry War is avoided.
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442. Rasputin manages to convince Tsar Nicholas II and other key individuals to seek a peace with Germany during the First World War. Peace is declared on the Eastern Front in 1916, allowing significant German reinforcement against the Western Front and allowing Austria-Hungary to quell internal tensions and increase the strength on the Italian front.
440. Some Mexican soldiers walk past a pastry shop in Mexico owned by a French baker rather than damaging it. As a result The Pastry War is avoided.
Huh. Never heard of it. [Reads on]
440. Some Mexican soldiers walk past a pastry shop in Mexico owned by a French baker rather than damaging it. As a result The Pastry War is avoided.Huh. Never heard of it. [Reads on]
Neither had I.
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1987--Doctor Who gets an advertising budget and retains it's traditional slot rather than being put up against Coranation Street. While the Sylvester Mccoy era is considered a modest success and is credited with saving the show, along with the writing by Andrew Carmel, the show really takes off in the early 90's with improved special effects, a charismatic 8th doctor and the recruiting of New Zealander Peter Jackson as the showrunner and an unknown Kate Winslet as the new companion in 1993 on the advice of writer Russell T Davies.
447. Brazil and Argentina in the War of the Triple Alliance in the 19th century decide that merely defeating Paraguay isn't enough and conquer Paraguay completely, dividing the territory between them.
That's an interesting one. Makes me wonder what would have happened if Panama lost their war.
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446. Julius Caesar takes bodyguards with him to the forum and the Ides of March conspirators decide not to move against Caesar. Caesar remains in control of Rome and continues the building of what will become the Empire period in Roman history.
But he wouldn't have needed guards if Lucius Varenus had been there!
447. Brazil and Argentina in the War of the Triple Alliance in the 19th century decide that merely defeating Paraguay isn't enough and conquer Paraguay completely, dividing the territory between them.That's an interesting one. Makes me wonder what would have happened if Panama lost their war.
We'd probably have a canal in Nicaragua instead...?
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449. Heron of Alexandria decides to apply his mechanics knowledge to something useful. The Industrial revolution gets started centuries ahead of schedule.
Not sure about this one. I think the values of the larger society in part prevented this. People looked and said 'cool, steam engine' and didn't see additional uses for it.
On a Doctor Who kick.
450. 1981 Tom Baker, while negotiating an extention to his contract on Dr. Who, doesn't threaten to quit and in turn have the BBC say fine. The next Baker clashes publicly with new producer John Nathan-Turner, who is sacked. Tom Baker retires a year latter citing problems in his marriage to former co star Lalla Ward (they divorce after four years and one daughter, who eventually marries the 12th doctor, David Tennet).
New Doctor Peter Davison (originally short listed by Nathan Turner) takes over in 1983 and serves for four years, nearly quite after season three but is impresssed by the quality of the script for Time and the Rani that he stays for another season.
After some retooling in the early 90's, the show continues uninterrupted until the present day.
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John Law, a Scots adventurer is killed in a duel instead of his opponent. This means he never immigrates to France and the French economy grinds on and the Mississippi Bubble never develops.
452.) A young Japanese programmer, Hironobu Sakaguchi, creates his last-ditch attempt at a game concept to pitch to Nintendo. Despite looking like a long shot, his company invests in it and gives it a daring attempt. Sadly, the game sells very poorly in Japan, only outdone by the infamous ET game, and is never ported to the US.
Sakaguchi quits the gaming industry to return to school. His employer, SquareSoft, does a few more low-budget games before eventually folding. The name Final Fantasy never gains fame, a poor-quality NES product regarded only for its rarity. The JRPG genre never gains a foothold in the US.
What a dark reality. Still, I wonder if jsrpgs would have risen to prominence.
452.) A young Japanese programmer, Hironobu Sakaguchi, creates his last-ditch attempt at a game concept to pitch to Nintendo. Despite looking like a long shot, his company invests in it and gives it a daring attempt. Sadly, the game sells very poorly in Japan, only outdone by the infamous ET game, and is never ported to the US.
Sakaguchi quits the gaming industry to return to school. His employer, SquareSoft, does a few more low-budget games before eventually folding. The name Final Fantasy never gains fame, a poor-quality NES product regarded only for its rarity. The JRPG genre never gains a foothold in the US.
453. The Catholic Church allows early banks to charge interest. Financial planning becomes more widespread as a result.
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454. Governor Montfort Browne of the Bahamas takes warnings that the American rebels would try to raid Nassau seriously and requests (and receives) additional forces. The American force sent to Nassau fights on but is routed and many officers including John Paul Jones are captured or killed. The US Navy develops differently.
456. The RMS Lusitania is not attacked; the United States does not cease communications with Germany. The Zimmerman Telegram is never sent, intercepted, or deciphered. The United States remains out of the war and continues selling to both nations. Britain falls; the US, is next attacked due to its ties to Britain. Both sides come out of the conflict battered and economically weakened. There is no Treaty of Versailles; Germany is no worse off than its neighbors; WWII is averted.
Fritz Haber never discovers how to create liquid nitrogen out of air making it impossible to support the current population levels.
on a side note he also never creates chemical warfare.
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459. Britain never makes a commitment to Belgian neutrality in the years leading up to the First World War. Britain does not get involved in the fight and the alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire win the conflict with France, Italy and various parts of Eastern Europe falling under the winners control. The German Empire, intimidated by the strength of the Royal Navy agrees to a long lasting peace treaty and eventually an alliance with the British Empire.
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460. The US Navy Task Force 38 adjusts its position off the Philippines in December 1944 in response to intelligence about Japanese activities. Unfortunately the course adjustment puts them even more directly in the path of Typhoon Cobra and the task force suffers even more casualties including a then lieutenant Gerald Ford, killed after he fell overboard into the raging sea. More ships are lost and it takes longer for the surviving ships to re-enter active service.
461. William the Conqueror never declares himself the King of England and never invades.
Then (possibly)
England is never unified.
The basis of our modern political system is never set up.
No English Empire.
No Canada or USA or Australia or NZ.
----
Pretty important dude for a guy born "William the Bastard" in Normandy 1000 years ago.
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462- King Louis XVI does not develop phimosis. As a result, his sexual desires develop more normally and he has a great many children with his Prussian wife, resulting in a more stable monarchy/nobility. The French Revolution still occurs, but it is shorter and less kind to the revolutionaries, as his wife does not spend ostentatious amounts of money on new hairstyles and other frippery, and Louis is more aware of the social situation.
A man known on a certain messageboard as Comrade Anklebiter is noticeably quieter.
463- Will Smith takes the role of Neo and Sean Connery takes the role of Morpheus in the Matrix. The movie is more Hollywood and less indie, and spawns only one sequel, which is, if possible, more convoluted than the original, the pair of movies beloved only by the most zealous of fans. The only good thing to come out of this is that the increased sci-fi screen time results in Connery taking the role of Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings movie a few years later...
In this same universe, Jack Nicholson takes the role of Michael Corleone in the Godfather, and Johnny Depp takes the role of Ferris Buller in Ferris Buller's Day Off. Al Pacino is never discovered, but Matthew Broderick becomes a Broadway sensation.
464- The owners are a lot more courteous to the players, and as a result, are able to reach an agreement in 1972 that avoids the first-ever baseball strike. Charlie Finley never falls behind in his payments to or for Catfish Hunter in 1974. As a result, free agency never develops, and baseball player salaries never grow to mythic proportions, although they are paid better than the average person.
465- Spartacus is not betrayed by the Sicilian pirates. He and his people travel to Sicily, and an age of piracy against Rome arises, causing a small, but noticeable bump in seafaring technology at the time.
317. Pope John XXIII does not die during Vatican II. Through his influence, nuns are declared to be equal to priests. Priests and nuns are allowed to marry. The scandal of the Catholic church never happens. One hundred years later a Mother Superior is elected Pope.
One wonders about the private armies that might be spawned for the church as a result...
466- For primarily financial reasons, DC Comics decides to cut down the size of their epic "Crisis on Infinite Earths" by half. With only six issues to work with, the storyline is tightened significantly and there is a lot less death and introduction of new characters, particularly the confusing Harbinger storyline is dropped, and Pariah assembles the various heroes and villains instead in a bid to defeat the Anti-Monitor instead. Flash lives, although he loses his powers permanently in a bid to save the earths, and Superman dies in Supergirl's place, and his comic is turned over to then-Superboy-Prime.
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480. Hannibal Barca, following his cunning defeats of the Roman armies in the field, makes a dangerous gamble and directly attacks the city of Rome with the forces he has left. With his victory, Carthage, not Rome, becomes the dominant power in the Mediterranean, meaning everything from our language and alphabet to our systems of law are different, emerging instead from Carthage's culture.
480. Hannibal Barca, following his cunning defeats of the Roman armies in the field, makes a dangerous gamble and directly attacks the city of Rome with the forces he has left. With his victory, Carthage, not Rome, becomes the dominant power in the Mediterranean, meaning everything from our language and alphabet to our systems of law are different, emerging instead from Carthage's culture.
CARTHAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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What'd I say? What'd I say?!
Also, 481. Publius Quintilius Varus heeds the advice of Segestes not to trust the Germanic prince and Roman citizen Arminius, and in doing so avoids losing three whole Legions in the Teutoberg Forest to Arminius' treachery. Though he still loses a great deal of men due to the German forces knowing and utilizing the terrain better than his Legions, he deals a lasting blow to the German tribes and establishes a permanent Roman presence east of the Rhine.
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449. Heron of Alexandria decides to apply his mechanics knowledge to something useful. The Industrial revolution gets started centuries ahead of schedule.
Notices a cool breeze caused by motion of the steam ball. Merges the Steam Ball with 'fan blades' to create a steam powered fan for indoor use. Discovery of primitive Air Conditioning systems allowing cooling of even the most primitive mud brick hut...
482. Chris Claremont is bound by a nondisclosure agreement when he works for marvel, and as a result much of the gossip about x men remains unsubstantiated. Gambit is revealed to be the third summers brother, and sabertooth is revealed to be wolverines father as originally intended.
462- King Louis XVI does not develop phimosis. As a result, his sexual desires develop more normally and he has a great many children with his Prussian wife, resulting in a more stable monarchy/nobility. The French Revolution still occurs, but it is shorter and less kind to the revolutionaries, as his wife does not spend ostentatious amounts of money on new hairstyles and other frippery, and Louis is more aware of the social situation.
A man known on a certain messageboard as Comrade Anklebiter is noticeably quieter.
A year late:
Bullshiznit! Comrade Anklebiter will never be silenced, alternate history or otherwise!
Vive le Galt!!
(Also, I'm not a filthy pinkskin, I'm a goblin! Say it loud: I'm green and I'm proud!)
Huh. So, a while backs I was reading Simon Schama's Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution and posted Schama's paragraph on Louis's pecker problems (here), but when I looked up Louis XVI on wiki just now it, disappointingly, reads: "However, it is agreed amongst most modern historians that Louis had no surgery[14][15][16] – for instance, as late as 1777, the Prussian envoy, Baron Goltz, reported that the King of France had definitely declined the operation.[17] The fact was that Louis was frequently declared to be perfectly fit for sexual intercourse, confirmed by Joseph II, and during the time he was purported to have had the operation, he went out hunting almost every day, according to his journal. This would not have been possible if he had undergone a circumcision; at the very least, he would have been unable to go out hunting for a few weeks after. Their consummation problems have now been attributed to other factors, around which controversy and argument still continue today."
*ahem* young master goblin, this is an alternate history thread, not an alternate explanation of historic events thread. Now get back in the time stream and muck things up!
Seeing as how it invovles genitalia, I think we can make an exception.
Goblins, with or without phymosis, do it in the street!