The 1970s were a very different time in many ways. Authors write what they know and are of course heavily influenced by the times they live in. I recently reread Roger Zelazny's Nine Princes In Amber and was very cognizant of the time warp I was experiencing. There were no disco balls (that I recall) in the book, but the text was full of other popular culture references from the 1970s. For one thing, the characters lit-up a cigarette on almost every page - that screams 1970s (and before) to me. Add side burns, bell bottom pants and polyester shirts to complete the picture.
This is the decade when Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson created White Box and in which I discovered their new game and fell in love with it. I had been a wargamer enjoying tabletop boardgames and historical miniatures battles for a number of years. I was also driving a yellow 1967 Dodge Dart and attending the local college. Sports, wargames, art, and reading history and science fiction fantasy stories were my passions. In high school I had discovered the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft. I had read Tolkien at an earlier age and in college had stumbled onto Fritz Leiber - Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. These and other authors are listed as influential works in Gary Gygax's Dungeon Master Guide, Appendix N.
The Little Brown Books were a hit with gamers and a new hobby, adventure games or role-playing as it came to be known, was born. Other designers had ideas too and soon there were a number of new games to choose from. TSR's original game continued to gain popularity and sales grew. Years passed, then decades, and new material was added to the original product, and finally new editions were released , all reflecting the changes over time in culture and popular taste. What we have available today is descended from the original game, but is also influenced by many sources not present in the original design of the 1970s.
We can not help but look at White Box through our modern eyes of today, but it is also helpful to be aware of its context at the time of its writing and introduction. Perhaps this is the historian in me, but I think this is an important point. I recently heard a hobby personality say something on YouTube to the effect that half of the sources listed in Appendix N were crap. This shocked me. I recognize that tastes differ and while I may enjoy a book, you may dislike it and vice versa. I have read more than half the titles and authors listed in Appendix N and while the quality of the writing varies as does the originality and creativeness of the content, I would not consider any of it "crap". It is all written better than I can do (which may indeed be crap). Much of it will not suit the modern sensibility and may seem archaic or even sexist and racist given modern standards (to be clear, I do not condone sexism or racism). Being archaic doesn't make the stories "crap", however. Not in my eyes. It may make the literature, especially the "pulp" sources "reader beware" - there may be things presented as acceptable behavior which will offend you.
White Box is heavily influenced by the games and fantastic fiction available up to the time of its writing. It is also written for wargamers by wargamers. Additionally it is a product of its time and place, the 1970s American Midwest. The design and writing reflects all of these and I choose to evaluate it with respect for the time and place it was written. As a result I think there is a very fine game in those Little Brown Books.
No comments:
Post a Comment