The Gaming Den

http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/ ... ttext_0618

This speaks for itself.

I think I failed my sarcasm check. I don't know if he's pro-gamer or just mocking gamers.

To be fair, gamers have problems with new editions that have bad rules or don't play like the editions they loved.

Like cookbooks, a new edition of an RPG fails if you have to resort to tossing out the book and winging it.

I remember making a rhubarb pie from the Baker's Illustrated cookbook. The recipe for the crust called for way more shortening than I was used to, but they kept going on about how perfect and carefully tested everything was, so I stuck with the recipe. The pie ended up totally fucked up; the amount of shortening was an error or typo (about 4 times too much). They later corrected in in the errata, but that was only easily available to people with a subscription to their magazine.

Now, the next time I made rhubarb pie it turned out just fine because I used my house recipe for the crust (actually lifted from the 1964 Joy of Cooking), but for me making a pie is a pretty big deal. I was still pissed about how the first one had failed.

True story. I'm not sure how it applies to RPG gaming, but since we're talking about cooking...

I can't wait for the additional cookbooks to come out. They'll show us how to make the same thing with fewer ingredients in less time! It's probably because they need to keep sales up while they finish up the latest edition of The Joy of Cooking.

I can't wait! Now I'll be able to make chicken parmesan with only one pound of chicken!

It's kinda pathetic how accurate this all is.

I thought that link was hilarious. And my gaming style is similar to my cooking style: I get the point, understand the principles, then ditch the recipe and make up something on my own.

Same here, Maj. And I especially disregard what it says for how much sauce/seasoning/marinade to use, instead just adding stuff as I see fit until it seems about right.

On one occasion, my "tasty stuff (TM)" turned out a bit too strong in sweet chilli sauce - the dog and I were the only ones who could eat it, and any super-absorbent vegetables such as broccoli were really fucking strong. It was quite hot.

But I'm sure those of you who eat habaneros would have no trouble.

Oh, and Frank's coca cola marinade idea worked, and was tasty, when I tried it. I just need to use a less sweet chocolate next time, because it seemed too sweet for a vegetable dish.

I actually have multiple editions of 'The Joy of Cooking'.

Luckily, none of them have severe typos.

But each was made to bring a different grasp to cooking - the oldest one was to have a breadth of recipes so that a cook would be able to do something with each ingredient they were likely to encounter. Beaver is in that edition.

The middle one - the first bought with Sammi - they focused on making cooking quickly, with the most commonly available ingredients. That means that many things are substituted when in actuality I don't need to travel to a specialty store to get them, and some things aren't great ideas are in there. But speed is sometimes useful.

The latest one repeats (mostly) a version prior to the middle book we have. It has more basic recipes (like our oldest), and a breadth of knowledge, but did not replace the basic information with the speed options, instead letting them be add-ons to the basics. It doesn't have beaver, but it does have the pie crust I prefer and the corn bread from the eldest book (both of which I knew before buying the book).

I don't need a new cookbook every year. But I can't simply use the oldest book - and reprinting the beaver recipe and the cotton-lard margarine blend uses is silly, seeing as neither is sold anymore. Literally.

-Crissa

I love the squirrel skinning illustration.

Now I'm beginning to wonder if 4E or Pathfinder were made by the equivalent of the Swedish Chef from Muppets (who my ex assures me sounds more like a Norwegian - but you'd expect a Swede to say that).

Well, that sucked. But it did make me surf to:
http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/ ... ttext_0528
A commentary of the Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe video game.

Cielingcat wrote:It's kinda pathetic how accurate this all is.

See, our sarcasm is accurate, his mockery is a flawed metaphor. If anything, rpg editions can be likened to computers or cars. Every so often, a new model comes out with new tech that basically makes it so you have to pay through the nose if you don't want to upgrade.