The What I'm READING Thread!

[Tsidkenu]

A very emotional read when the true desecration of Australia's First People's way of life is laid bare before your eyes. Must read for any Australian as the book entirely destroys the notion of our indigenous community being primitive hunter gatherers. They were advanced agriculturalists with sophisticated systems of vegetable, fruit, grain, fishery and 'livestock' (mostly kangaroo) husbandry, at least until Europeans and their unsuitable livestock (sheep, cattle) came along and took it all away from them. The Europeans dispossessed them of their traditional lands, livestock ate indigenous crops to the dirt (particularly the important murnong yam) and then compacted the soil to the extent that within 2-4 years of 'colonisation' the land became largely 'unarable', at least for the unsuitable European crops. It still remains that way for great swathes of our beautiful country that could very well be supplying us with thousands of tonnes of native grains.

[Steve]

The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons & Dragons

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultu ... nd-dragons

Some people come to it late...but better late than never!

[chad878262]

A buddy turned me on to The Dresden Files. Pretty cool story based on a Wizard Detective operating in Chicago during the ~present day.

[taintedseraphim]

A buddy turned me on to The Dresden Files. Pretty cool story based on a Wizard Detective operating in Chicago during the ~present day.

Mister!!!

I'm a true crime nut and I'm currently reading:



And



I just finished this one, and HIGHLY recommend both it and the show based off it.

[Mac]

If you are a true crime fan you have probably already read In Cold Blood, if not I strongly recommend it.

The last book I read was Ready Player One, which was great. It's been made in to a movie and is going to be released soon.

Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-vGWwRF_Qc

[taintedseraphim]

In Cold Blood is what got me hooked on the true crime genre. Ann Rule was another author who drew me in, after I learned as a teen that she'd actually worked alongside of Ted Bundy at a crisis hotline center.

True story; I had read one of her books in which the story of a state trooper had been harming women along his route was covered. It turns out, the trooper was an inmate I had dealt with when I was working as a corrections officer. He has a -serious- dislike of all females, and I recalled having to write up a DR on him for disrespect (a disciplinary report; he'd made a threat against my safety). I wrote Ms. Rule an email telling her how much I had always enjoyed her writing and relayed the encounter with the trooper. She actually wrote me back and told me a bit more about the trooper, and gave me a sneak peek into what her next book was about.It was just a chapter but I of course went out and bought it!

[Steve]

"[Dungeon Masters] primary role, however, is not revealing the world to players, but enabling them to create it, in both its largest and smallest aspects."

“Permadeath,” the impossibility of returning to a character once he or she has died, is the center of this narrative gravity, the mechanism that elevates Armageddon MUD from glorified digital Dungeons and Dragons to the level of art.

A very interesting essay on MUDs, and the basis for Role-play games. And...wishful thinking!!

http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/64/lucas.php

[Tekill]

I used to play a couple muds back in my college days. It was very hack'n'slash though. Nothing like what was described in that article. I think I now understand the plus side of a permadeath system. I think I am actually sold on it now- a converted.
With the hack and slash mud I played (it was called Stickmud), it was just an grindfest with socializing or PKing when bored. More addictive than fun.

What turned me off about permadeath of course was that it would be heartbreaking if/when your character died. It would be the same feeling you get when a favorite character in a novel dies.

But, that is the point. You would actually care.

___________________________

I am almost finished reading Anathem by Neal Stephenson. It's a real thinker- I love it and I recommend it.

[Steve]

The essay does have some beautiful moments, and plays up the nostalgia for the MUD. Thankfully, there are a few paragraphs that deal with the issue of "the Veil" and whether the MUD has a sense of fairness and balance...but I figure this is just an issue with all forms of organization and secrecy (hello? government in RL being a prime example! lol).

Anyway, the case for Permadeath is compelling IF AND ONLY IF the entire Game Environment is built to support it. For one, if all PCs and even NPCs are played under this, then a new level of gaming occurs, because of the intensity.

It is also fair to say that a MUD doesn't have random crashes, lag deaths and other issues which make dying oh so easy á la BGTSCC. But this aspect which probably is never going away, could be mitigated by making PermaDeath something that only happens in DM Events.

What is probably the most compelling aspect of the essay on Armageddon MUD is the 1-PC per player, at a time, and that must be applied for beforehand. THAT is a fundamental difference from BGTSCC, where Characters are made simply for mechanics benefits for other PCs of the same player (like through-away crafters and merchants with no real existence in the game world).

I'm sure 50% of the BGTSCC would fret and rage-quit over having the 1-PC per Player at a time rule. But those that stayed would probably be rather stupendously invested and give great effort to pulling off some stellar Role-play. And, most all stories would instantly become epic, for the Player, and for others! Not to forget to mention how much easier it would be for DMs, to work with a PC/Player of single character for a long -term investment. By the Gods, that would be great.

It would, for lack of better words, make BGTSCC a much more serious source for a gaming experience. I, myself, would prefer this, but at the same time lament not being able to go grind out the days troubles by killing goblins for an hour on some random power build.

But I'd give that up in a heartbeat if I knew that the exchange would be greater means for directly effecting the environment of the BGTSCC gameworld, having more interactions with the world via DMs, and knowing that other Players around me were quite serious about their own "crafting" of a Character, and that it wasn't just No. 48 of this-and-that new combo build because No. 47 got boring to play at lvl 17.

[Hoihe]

Generally speaking, I've been Reading the Expanse novels by James S. A. Corey.

At the moment though, having read Persepolis Rising, I'm reading the Songs of the Dying Earth on and off. Alas, I sometimes need to read Chemistry textbooks from various authors and whatnot. Bloody exam period.

[taintedseraphim]

I just finished one, which if you go by the title sounds like it's scandalous but it's actually quite an eye opening look at gritty, vicious street life back in the days of Robert "Iceberg Slim" Beck, who started off as a normal kid and ended up not only as one of the most notorious and feared street pimps in the U.S. but also inspiring rap artists and many others. Even though he portrayed an exterior of being as cold and immovable as an iceberg (hence his nickname), he actually in the book reveals just how terrified he was most of the time and how he actually did feel empathy for those whose lives he was destroying while building his own wealth.

[Miyuki]

I'm re-reading at the moment. I read it several times already, but i still love it.

Evermeet - the Island of elves
(Click me, i'm a link. )

I can especially recommend this for those who would like to play an elf from Evermeet or elven priest with some background knowledge. The battle for Arvandor, History of the elven deities and other things are well written. It also offers something to learn about Sun elves and the most famous elven houses. All of that packed up in a great story. Some may be surprised how some of the original and traditional elves really cam be.

[Maecius]

Did you know that our game is good for your health?

At least according to Amazon:

http://comicbook.com/gaming/2018/04/22/ ... alth-book/

[Lockonnow]

how can i trust what you say which book is good or not if i havent read them hehe and it is the same with this mad world

[Slunko]

...it's good. Thousand sons is better.