GURPS: Transhuman Space

[matt_arnold]

I loaned rikhei some of my GURPS: Transhuman Space roleplaying sourcebooks at ConFusion. Instead of hijacking her LJ comment to talk at length about this, I'll make a new post here. David Pulver's GURPS: Transhuman Space series is one of my favorite works of science fiction ever, despite not being a novel. It's almost a compendium of a certain radial

Comments

[metalfatigue0]

Different gamers want different things. Some want to experience a simulated reality in intense detail, some want to generate a collaborative story, and some want an imaginative tactical challenge. TS is a very, very Simulationist game, and satisfying in that regard, but I can't imagine playing it myself.

(random-walking through my FOAF list...)

[matt_arnold]

Although the group I'm in happens to be only interested in a collaborative story, you're totally correct. In fact, my friend Ken Burnside (who this year went to work for SJ Games) made rules a couple of years ago to adapt his ultra-hard-SF space combat simulation game Attack Vector Tactical to work with ships from Transhuman Space. Playing AVT was what taught me that I am not a simulation fan. I adore AVT's back-story though, and it is truly a work of genius.

[matt_arnold]

"Qua" means "by the standard of" or "for the sake of." For instance, "a better game qua game" means "better as a gameplay experience per se, without non-game considerations like better writing, better art, better scientific accuracy, better this-or-that." What a non-gamer might want is too often applied as a standard to games, when one could argue games are an end in themselves for their own sake.

The reason I avoid the word "qua" is the philosopher Ayn Rand and her movement, Objectivism. I like a lot of what she said, which is why I'm libertarian, but she was obnoxious and started a cult of personality. Many of her followers used to parrot her phrases like "A is A" and incessant use of the word "qua" (man qua man) to sound philosophical.

[matt_arnold]

I'm glad.
I'm also curious as to which expectations I have defied.