When I originally came up with the TSR/OSR parody I didn't intend on it being taken seriously. I am flattered that it made it on the cover of a couple of books though. It's nice to have a logo as an identifier for older edition friendly gaming material. It makes it easier to identify what will work with a campaign or gaming ideas for the OSR crowd.
Part of me wonders if this could engender a group think mentality. Not just the identification alone, but could it turn into a form of elitism or "my way or the highway" mentality. For the most part I don't believe this will be the case, it might happen on a individual level but not as a whole. I think group think is partially what lead to the demise of TARGA. Group think wasn't the original idea behind TARGA, it was supposed to be a hub for like minded gamers to share ideas and news on "Old School" events. But somehow it turned into a "let's label this officially "Old School" and that off limits for our club.
I wish TARGA had been a success, I wish that we could've had this resource where everyone could meet and exchange ideas and maybe even a forum for online gaming. But maybe it's for the best that it didn't work out. After all should an open form of gaming be constrained by a list of do's and don'ts of OSR gaming?
It's okay to play a game of D&D, Tunnels & Trolls, Traveller or Top Secret and then decide to play Vampire the Masquerade or Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play. And there's no reason why a product with the OSR identifier couldn't be used with a "New School" game. As long as fun was had, and nobody (other than a few orcs) was hurt in the end. I've been finding that my game time has been few and far between for me to get really picky anyways. Just remember that the "All Seeing Die" is watching!
As always, Keep Rockin' and Roleplayin'!
I think that in the case of your OSR logo, memetics makes a better explanation than groupthink. Some things on the internet just tend to become memes and spread. In the case of the logo, it's clever and it sparks a moment of recognition ("hey... TSR... OSR... why didn't I think of that?"). So it's been adopted, never mind what was originally intended.
ReplyDeleteNaaaaah, it's cool. When I see it, I think, "Oh, hey, here's somethin's gonna be useful for old-school-type shenanigans, when I wish to get up to those".
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think you're both right. I just have that nagging voice in the back of my head that says "You know this could be seen as conformity..." I'm probably over thinking it though.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you created the logo, but I think it's magically delicious.
ReplyDeleteI had no involvement with Targa, but it did have a bad name.
Yeah, I did the original one and Dr. Ducker did a much better version of it later.
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