Game in the Brain

There are so many skills and knowledge that goes into the hobby, and a lot comes from everyone’s own unique experience. You’d wonder if there is a Wiki where everyone discusses the gaming skill sets.

I’ve been listening a lot to happy jacks and the content is great, so much that i feel I wish the core skills or lessons are on paper or documented. There are many aspects of the skill or technique that can be elaborated so that it makes the most impact.

• Gaming prep – Diagrams: Mind Maps, Ven, Gant, 
• Prop Creation – Cards, 
• Improvisation: Yes And or Yes But! let the PCs build the world, etc…
• Group Organization – Electronic Calendar Events, Communities, Groups, etc… 
• How to detail your world – various approaches…

False Dichotomy – Complex Rules vs Simple Rules.
Some say rules are getting more complex, i find that an over generalization. its like as you refine a technique, you have more data that supports a particular pattern of activity. More knowledge and experience BRINGS data into the picture. Now how we interpret the data, how we make elegant rules of thumb, formulas, etc… all make for how we present the tools and how we can easily use the tools. All that data can be compressed and made elegant – thats what we all are trying to aspire. We are trying to get our experiences about life and compressing it into a set of rules that allow us to better simplify it. Life is so complex, but we can simplify it condensing information in a formula, pattern or intuition.

Its not a Dichotomy of complex vs simple rules. its Complexity arising from Experience and Learning, and we try to Simplify it. We simplify it but we encounter challenges to our formula, technique or heuristic and we make stop gap measure… then after a while it gets complex… then someone comes along and Simplifies it all with a new approach and theory. This is the evolution of technology and knowledge, its not a bad thing – we are in constant transition.

if you make a Wiki about all that knowledge, you put it in a place where EVERYONE can comment and make an inquiry. Someone will try to simplify it, and Viola a more elegant solution… then the cycle repeats itself.

I COULD start it, but I’m not the guy with a lot of PULL lol. The heavy weights who have hundreds of followers and a handful of active followers are in the best position to start this. I actually think Happy Jacks should move the data from their forum into a Wiki. Since they hit the essence, the underlying philosophy, so well I think they have the most fertile ground to start.