Rating:
(4 reviews)
Author: Michael J. Tresca
ISBN : B004I5BN0Y
New from $17.25
Format: PDF
You can download Free Download The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games from with Mediafire Link Download LinkTracing the evolution of fantasy gaming from its origins in
tabletop war and collectible card games to contemporary web-based live
action and massive multi-player games, this book examines the archetypes
and concepts within the fantasy gaming genre alongside the roles and
functions of the game players themselves. Other topics include: how The
Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings helped shape fantasy gaming through
Tolkien's obsessive attention to detail and virtual world building; the
community-based fellowship embraced by players of both play-by-post and
persistent browser-based games, despite the fact that these games are
fundamentally solo experiences; the origins of gamebooks and interactive
fiction; and the evolution of online gaming in terms of technological
capabilities, media richness, narrative structure, coding authority, and
participant roles.Books with free ebook downloads available Free Download The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games
- File Size: 2252 KB
- Print Length: 238 pages
- Publisher: McFarland (November 16, 2010)
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B004I5BN0Y
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #436,203 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
Free Download The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games
The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games is a great book to learn how and why certain RPG game mechanics came to exist. I was surprised to learn just how little I knew about the background of role-playing games. While incredibly informative, the book is also very interesting to read. Tresca definitely knows what he is talking about and judging by the sheer volume of references found throughout you can tell he put a lot of work into this book. Highly recommended for any and all fans of the RPG genre.
By Alexander Hinkley
Compared to earlier works on the history of role-playing games, Tresca does an admirable job. From Tolkien to tabletop to digital, as well as some other variants, he shows the main paths by which role-playing games have changed and evolved, in style and content. He even pays special attention to the way certain phenomena (particularly larps) have much more complex roots. Tresca has made a serious attempt at being inclusive, even as he concentrates on American fantasy games, and while he does not get all of the facts always right, the effort has to be applauded. Nordic immersion debates and Forgean design theorists, for example, do get discussed, so it is obvious that he has done his homework.
There are some more serious problems, though. Most prominently, the author tends to ramble. He spends loads of time explaining unnecessary things like game minutiae, quoting friends and family, and mentioning anecdotal material probably of interest to mostly just himself. Certain definitively significant games are never discussed, and several references he uses are missing from the list at the end. The effect is that the whole work comes through as ambitious and impressive in scope, yet sloppy.
Somewhat flawed as it may be, Tresca's book is nevertheless absolutely mandatory reading for all serious role-playing scholars. As far as providing an "official history" of role-playing games goes, I think he has all in all succeeded quite well.
By Harviainen Jussi T