Shannon Appelcline

From the outset, it is important to set expectations with the book - as the subtitle indicates, it is a *System History* of Traveller. The focus is purposefully narrow, and while I personally was hoping for a somewhat more expansive history, it would be uncharitable for me to judge a book based upon what I wish it was rather than what it set out to do!

As a System History it is fantastic - my personal introduction to Traveller occured after the fall of Game Designer's Workshop (GDW), and show more given the different iterations of Traveller over the decades, it is refreshing to have it all laid out in a generally chronological fashion. Appelcline works to his strength here, systematically exploring the development of each edition of Traveller, as well as the contributions from fan magazines and societies. The work is semi-academic - unfortunately it shuns the the use of footnotes/endnotes typical of a scholarly work, but the author thankfully includes all of his sources at the end of each chapter. As one would expect, it is heavily reliant on the "internet footprint" left by Traveller's contributors - forum or blog posts, particularly valuable where the contributor is unfortunately no longer with us. The checklist of publications is extensive, and a collector would likely find it to be a valuable resource given the sometimes conflicting information found on the internet.

There are however, two main areas which I found to be somewhat disappointing. The first is the discussion of influences upon Traveller's creators - this is only discussed in passing, and then only very peripherally - for example on pg. 24:

"There were certainly some obvious influences such as Isaac Asimov, E.C. Tubb and Jack Vance, making [i]Traveller[/i] and RPG for the Golden Age of Science Fiction but that was supplemented with then-modern ideas about science-fiction realism."

Given the scope of the tome, at the very least few extra sentences would have been beneficial to expand upon this slight sentence - or ideally an entire chapter. While I understand this is discussed in somewhat greater detail in Appelcline's [i]The Science Fiction in Traveller[/i], the reviews I have seen also note that aspect to be lacking there as well. That H. Beam Piper is not mentioned at all feels like a minor travesty. While "influences" may stray somewhat from the scope of a "System History," it would nonetheless have made for a more fully rounded volume.

The second is what feels to be a lack of something akin to an interview process with the surviving contributors. While it is true that Marc Miller & Matthew Sprange are listed as "Original Sources," at the end of certain chapters, it does feel as though Appelcline does not use those resources as much as might be desired. While quotations from designers commonly appear, they all seem to be sourced from publications, blogs, forums, etc rather than personal interviews. Perhaps given the sometime fraught relationships detailed in the book, certain contributors may not wish to have been contacted, but that does not seem to be the case for for Miller & Sprague. If anything, it feels as though the more recent sections could have used a round of follow-up questions to add more depth and character to the system's story. The Mongoose and T5 sections also feel as though they are treated with a bit more of a "kids gloves" approach compared to earlier publishers. Edition criticisms which would have been discussed had they been about a now-defunct publisher are not even mentioned, which unfortunately detracts from the work. I can understand not wanting to bite the proverbial hand that feeds you, but even if some of the controversies may have been relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, not mentioning them seems unfair given the similarity to certain criticisms levied at earlier editions which are mentioned in the book.

On the other hand, my favourite aspect of the work are the "what could have been" sections. Here Appelcline lists for each publisher various supplements and publications which never wound up being published, for one reason or another. It's a tantalising glimpse of what the playerbase missed out on given Traveller's at times tumultuous publishing history.

As a "System History," this work is a complete success - and for anyone struggling to keep all of the varying editions and timelines straight in their heads, it is a valuable resource. A comprehensive history it is not - nor does it aim to be - which nevertheless does not keep part of me from wishing that it was! show less

Meeples Together is an encyclopedic treatment of cooperative boardgames. Given the paucity of good books about boardgames design, period, this book is important for game designers in general, and absolutely vital for anyone making a cooperative boardgame.

While competitive boardgames are made interesting by opposing tactics and hostile interference, cooperative boardgames pit the players against the rules. In order to make this interesting, to make it truly cooperative, the game must be show more flawed in some way, with imperfect information, randomness, or hidden teams and traitor mechanics. Meeples Together surveys the history of cooperative games, develops a general theory of what makes them fun, deeply investigates key mechanics for games, and conducts in depth case studies on about a dozen games. The paradigm games are Pandemic, The Lord of the Rings, and Arkham Horror, though other games come up frequently.

While this is an excellent book, it is on the dry and technical side. And given the otherwise exhaustive nature, I was puzzled by the omission of two games, the complex Pandemic successor and heavy gamer darling Spirit Island, and 2017 Spiel de Jahrs finalist Magic Maze. Certainly, a complete review of all games is hard, but both games are major contemporary coop games. show less

I wanted a history of roleplaying, however this is a history of the roleplaying industry in the 1970's. Which is exactly what the subtitle said, so I'm not complaining. It did the job that it advertised and I found out things I didn't know which is excellent. Sadly it all becomes repetitive, but it is a great reference guide and for that I give it high marks.

The second part of Shannon Appelcline's history of the roleplaying game industry. This part concentrates on the 1980s, arguably the most productive time ever for RPGs. However many companies also went bust during this time. It was still a small industry and the actions (or failure) of one company could (and did) have a ripple effect on others and on the whole industry. Book industry returns, liquidity problems, licensing issues (licences generally became more expensive and litigious over the show more period) were each factors in the decline of individual businesses of the time. Military RPGs were popular in the decade, but not really before or since.

I found I wasn't as interested in these companies as I was in the mythology of the 1970s ones. The 1980s was when I began roleplaying. However this book did remind me of a few treasures I missed the first time round, so I might keep an eye out for them. I found the histories of Iron Crown, R.Talsorian and Columbia games most interesting, but that is probably because I bought their games either at the time or later. show less