Well folks, if you're like me and can remember when the Baptists were picketting game and toy stores because DnD summoned the Devil, you'll be sad to hear about the passing of another gaming great.
Two weeks ago, on 16 March, Professor MAR Barker passed away at a hospice home in Minneapolis MN.
For those who don't know of him, Professor Barker was a multiple PhD in Seriously Obscure Languages [his PhD is in Klamath tribal languages in the Southern Oregon/Northern California region] and designed the Empire of the Petal Throne/Tekumel milieu.
One of the most detailled, literate, sociologically well designed environments ever created, EPT/Tekumel was a wonder to explore. If Basic DnD was roleplaying at the kindergarten level, The Forgotten Realms was the elementary level, and Greg Stafford's Glorantha was high school, then EPT/Tekumel was post-grad study.
So, folks, in the last 4 years we've lost Gary Gygax [1938-2008], N. Robin Crossby (created HARN) [1954-2008], Dave Arneson [1947-2009], and Prof. Barker. I have no-doubt missed some people.
So, before you go blazing out to get the newest, hottest thing on the market, talk to an Old Geek and see about looking at some of the older settings like Tekumel, Skyrealms of Jorune, Talislanta, MERP, etc. What you find will amaze you.
Here are a couple links, one on Prof. Barker and another on Tekumel itself, just to give you a taste.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAR_Barker
http://tekumel.com
