general, I’m in agreement with Mr. Weiser. There are some differences, nuanced maybe, but differences they remain. So I’ll try to explain my position as best I can without diverging into a rambling mess or a rant, and If I do so my apologies in advance. My comments are mine alone, and do not represent any other member of the DC Working Group (contributing or otherwise).
As to the Canonicity of the DC Working Groups work, this really doesn’t matter to me. It certainly isn’t canon in the narrowly defined view of what some posters have stated, since it wasn’t produced by GDW. However, then from the first time any GM touches “Escape from Kalisz” every campaign is noncanonical from that point forward. Second, the original game creators left so much of the back story vague, that I cannot accept that there is any issue with creating material for personal use, and displaying it for others. I would not consider any such material canon in any sense, it simply is our vision for the T2K universe, and it is freely presented for others to use, adapt, or discard depending on their own needs, desires, and campaigns.
IMHO our work at the DC Group started simply as an effort to fill in the blanks, left out by canon. We diverged almost immediately from that when we adopted Webstral’s “the Storm in Germany” along with the core of the V1 history, as our agreed starting point (within the DC group). As we did research, we came upon different issues which we felt needed to be addressed in what we perceived as a logical manner, based on RL Cold War planning from the mid to late 1980’s, and extrapolated what our best guess would be regarding that planning had the Cold War continued into the 1990’s. This has lead us to look issues like Naval Power (to include CW planned building schedules), Mobilization Plans (NATO & WP), national industrial output & it’s mobilization for war, etc. Critics have said that we give too much strength to the U.S., maybe, but on balance I think we’ve been fair to every participant in the war as evidenced by the Massive WP OOB which Chico recently posted.
As we researched and addressed those issues, more questions and gaps appeared to us (perhaps we dug too deeply, but we for the most part enjoy doing the work), and we felt compelled to address them, or at least talk about them. From this point I was my intention to build a comprehensive vision of the T2K world with likeminded enthusiasts, for a game I’ve loved for over two decades that is internally consistent, and follows our shared perception of theT2K world. Call it T2K: DCWG.
Others in the group have felt that some of our critics have been on the verge of personal attacks regarding the content of some of our posts. I personally have not felt this way about any of my posts on this or the previous board, but I have seen responses here that seemed to take on that character which were directed towards others in the DC Group. I find it juvenile, and while it will not stop me from posting, I can see where if would drive others to a position of “F-This, F-Them” well you get the point.
Our material is not Canon. While I appreciate the intent of Kato’s elevation of our status to that of Canon, it seems inappropriate to me. Use, adapt, or discard our material as you wish. We don’t do it to force it on you; we do it because we like doing it. If the board likes something, of course I’m happy (more so if I contributed to the product), but that’s not my motivation. My motivation is to create a T2K vision I’m happy with, and would use as a back drop to a campaign.
Personal attacks are not good, for the community as a whole. Any criticism should be view (and I try to do so) as an attempt by the critic to help the author improve, or point out issues that may have been overlooked with an eye towards improving the overall quality of fan produced material in our community. When this devolves into arguments over canonicity, it discourages some from posting their Ideas; when in truth everything everyone creates for their own T2K visions in not canonical, and that is OK.
If our vision of T2K changes history for another game we don’t play… ummm I really can’t say I care, I don’t play T2300. If you do, you don’t have to use our stuff, or play an alternate T2300, whatever floats your boat. We just aim to present an internally consistent vision of the T2K world, our T2K world, T2K: DCWG. Use what you like, discard what you like (or everything), or amend our work to suit your needs.
I don’t think I’d like to see a separate sub forum for our work, as I’m interested in the comments others make on our works, and hearing constructive criticism. I think that a sub forum will just isolate us from the remainder of this community, which I don’t view as a positive outcome.
One Semester left of Grad School, hopefully after May, if my kids let me I will be once again producing closer to my former level, which was present on the prior board.
Kato, thanks for providing this forum, and I wish you the best in your personal trials.
To the rest of you, let us all keep this discourse civil, at it provides an escape for more than one of us, from life’s trials, so let’s keep it civil, or better yet fun.
One Semester left of Grad School, hopefully after May, if my kids let me I will be once again producing closer to my former level, which was present on the prior board.
|