I have a copy of Universalis somewhere - haven't looked at it ages, but your post bmakes me want to find it and reread it.
2008/6/24 Ian Cooper <ian_hammond_cooper_at_...>:
> --- In HeroQuest-RPG_at_yahoogroups.com <HeroQuest-RPG%40yahoogroups.com>,
> "Lawrence Whitaker"
> <lawrence.whitaker_at_...> wrote:
> > well, I'm sorry but I haven't heard of Mike at
> > all,
>
> Poor Mike ;-)
>
> Mike is one of the authors of Universalis. He is one of the indie
> crowd who liked HeroQuest. I suspect, but don't know, that Mike got
> wind of HeroQuest on the forge, where Ron Edwards championed Hero Wars
> and later HeroQuest as example of indie gaming, until it moved on from
> the technical definition of indie.
>
> Mike wrote some smart articles (I think one or two are up on the
> Glorantha website) about how the storytelling engine in Hero Wars
> could best be used. Mike was not the only person who helped out with
> that of course, check out the excellent Well of Souls adventure by
> Chris and Peter for example, but he made an impact on this list,
> either because he was better at explaining story gaming than the rest
> of us, or just thicker skinned.
>
> Mike also contributed to the MoLad site when a lot of the using
> HeroQuest for Storytelling game discussion moved away from the Forge.
>
> You can still find Mike over at Story Games. He might even still be here.
>
> Hero Wars and later HeroQuest emerged at a time when a lot of folks
> were trying to make storytelling games (games like Prince Valiant were
> very influential) like Sorceror. A lot of folks were figuring out how
> to use these games, and sites like the forge, despite some aspersions
> about the theory there, were good at exploring technique, through
> Actual Play (this post is not about the Forge, I realize it raises
> strong feelings, but seeing as it has even influenced the design of
> D&D 4e then its impact can't be denied. BTW Hero Wars went on to
> influence the later generations of storytelling game designers such as
> Clinton Nixon.
>
> Hero Wars was perhaps a little too cutting edge or ahead of its time
> and so the wider audience struggled to understand it. Mike was one of
> the people that helped folks here to get how to play storytelling
> games. We should give him kudos for that, but he was not, by any
> means, the only one (and I am sure he would agree) to help folks with
> their issues.
>
> Storytelling games such as HQ are still niche, certainly the market
> for indie games is in the hundreds and low thousands, not the sales of
> D&D or even RQ, but do seem to be gaining wider visibility. That's
> just one reason why discussing how to play is so valuable and why
> actual play is the best way to do that.
>
>
>
-- One day I feel I'm ahead of the wheel And the next its rolling over me... Rush - 'Far Cry'
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