And Per Se And

Now I don't think the above actually counts as knowing the rules. D&D is a relatively crunchy game that actually rewards system mastery and actually learning how to play D&D well, as in to make mechanically informed tactical decisions and utilizing the mechanics to your advantage, is actually a skill that needs to be learned and cultivated. None of that is to say that you need to be a perfectly tuned CharOp machine to know how to play D&D. But to actually start to make the sorts of decisions D&D as a game rewards you kind of need to know the rules.

And like, a lot of people don't seem to know the rules. They know how to play D&D in the most abstract sense of knowing that they need to say things and sometimes the person scowling at them from behind the screen will ask them to roll a die. But that's hardly engaging with the mechanics of the game, like the actual game part.

When you have people that have actually done some reading on the rules vs. people that just coast and foist the majority of the game onto the GM, it makes it appear like the more knowledgeable players are sweaty power-gamers or rules-laywers.

My point is not to say that people who don't want to learn the rules shouldn't play, only that people who don't actually know the rules aren't necessarily engaging with the game to its fullest, especially in the case of a relatively rules-heavy game like D&D, and that as the previous poster mentioned it can actually result in a bad rules dynamic where the DM needs to do more work due to player unwillingness to learn the rules as well as casting players who actually know the rules and can engage with them in unfavorable light. All of these are negative elements of the culture of play surrounding.

Like, there isn't anything meaningfully gatekeepy about saying "players who don't know the rules of the game aren't as good at playing the game as the people who know the rules of the game." Because playing games is a skill that can be cultivated and knowledge of the rules is an important part of that skill.

I actually want to dial in on the phrasing here, which seems - insidious isn't quite the right word - but really weasely to me. There's this reflexive attempt to position the writer as the victim, from the way things are phrased to the actual sentiment. "I feel gatekept" (note that its not "I have been gatekept") is a pretty transparent attempt to claim victimhood, and gain the reader's sympathies. Likewise "I just wanna" and such. But then you have the sentiment of "I just want to play a silly game" and this carries this, like, baggage that game design is *not worth* taking seriously. Same with 'play it how u want', it's working to undermine the idea that you could *care* about this stuff, and it positions taking the artform seriously as an act of aggression against the poor victim who just wants to *not think about things.* Which is to say its classic anti-intillectualism. "It's just a [song/tv show/book/game] don't take it seriously" is like classic anti-intellectualism, and generally comes from a fairly regressive infantalised place.

Have you or are you currently being excluded from event and play spaces on the grounds of "(x group) shouldn't be here?"

Have you or are you currently being interrogated over who "got you interested" in the hobby, and is self discovery not being accepted as an answer?

Have you or are you currently having your play materials taken away from you by others?

Have you or are you currently having to hide information about your identity (gender, race, sex, religion, ethnicity, etc.) from fellow players, because they have said that people of that identity don't belong in the hobby?

If you answered yes to any of the above, you are being gatekept. I know, since this is the kind of shit I would see all the time.

Here's what invitation into the hobby (the exact fucking opposite of gatekeeping) looks like:

Providing materials for engagement

Assuming that the materials have been seen or used by parties present

Asking and discussing detailed questions about the material

Using the materials as presented for beginners, and explaining how they work

Encouraging further and deeper engagement with the material

So, no, asking that you read the fucking rules is not gatekeeping. Never has been. That is literally an invitation to engage.

To write a bartending RPG, I started Va11halla last week. I like the writing and characters. It's so relaxing and lively.

I notice it spiritually is a visual novel. The drinks, animations and music distracts me from the illusion of clicking text boxes. I'm losing myself at conversation and work.

Personally it feels different in this approach. Va11halla is paced expertly.

It introduces characters to understand Jill and break boredom. Donovan discriminates the world (his "Augmented" "Eye"). Then Jill shows her beliefs.

Dorothy is my favorite character. She's complex! But bright and honest. I like how forward she is about her career and keeps nothing hidden. But she feels like something deeper is there. I watch a few characters expose themselves more when she's in the bar. Her honesty lets them feel comfortable about being honest too.

Taylor (a brain in a jar) and her are the functionally the same in Glitch City. But their forms are approached differently. Something about dolls and how they're viewed as more object than individuals?

For bartending RPG. I know I want players to put dice in the ice shaker. Ingredients make the dice. Results make the story.

But I'm still stuck on how to track character stories. I have an idea to use solitaire cards. You can build a 'ladder' with prompts to write the story if you pour a drink.

White Witch in a tarot card

The ferrofluid concept is so cool. I wanted to show it interacting with the environment in a way that reflected its traits.

Check out my other (non-lancer) tarot card illustrations here and here

thats just the thing: this is about almost every single english language magical girl game i have ever encountered. this is about princess: the hopeful, this is about girl by moonlight, this is about starlight burnout, etc etc etc. just look at these inspiration lists:

there are seven listed inspirations here. of them, two are magical girl shows, in a game purporting to replicate the dynamics of the genre.

nine listed inspirations; two magical girl shows, one magical girl 'deconstruction' fic.

nine inspirations, three magical girl shows. noticing a pattern with which two shows get featured every time?

A lot of people are wistfully nostalgic about Sailor Moon but allergic to touching any other mahou shoujo... especially works actually geared at young girls.

I totally get disliking PreCure, I don't like it either! Only the very first Futari wa Pretty Cure looks appealing to me. But, it's really not the only magical girl anime out there. You loved 90's Sailor Moon? The same cast went on to make the only shoujo demographic adaptation of Cutey Honey, Cutey Honey Flash! It's even in the same art style as Supers and Stars. (The original Cutey Honey of the 70's, while concieved as a girl's show to sell clothes-changing dolls, wound up only securing a late night time slot and was reworked into more of an ecchi show for older male viewers, although some young girls still enjoyed the stories! Go Nagai would later go on to make another mahou shoujo series, Majokko Tickle, for a shoujo demographic.)

You like idol anime and magical girls? Creamy Mami! Magical idol anime are their own genre too.

You mostly liked the filler expanding on the characters in the 90's? You liked the slice of life scenes best of all? You like bittersweet anime with elements that make you cry your heart out? Full Moon o Sagashite, about a 12 year old with terminal cancer who gets to be older with the help of the reapers tasked with claiming her soul in one year, which she learns in the very first episode... the manga a little more than the anime, as it goes more into depth into their lives and the soul reapers' past lives, but the anime expands on her idol career and has a different ending from the original author, so it feels true to the characters and satisfying.

You want to see a magical girl anime that's inspired by Sailor Moon, but Takeuchi Naoko also greatly enjoyed it and made fanart of it? Wedding Peach!

You want those early cute witch magical girls without any big enermies to face? Just dealing with everyday things? Marvelous Melmo (an orphaned girl gets the ability to change her age with the help of red and blue candies from Heaven given to her by her dead mother's spirit, but she also later learns she can shrink back into an undifferentiated zygote and turn into whatever creature she was thinking of beforehand! It's sex education for girls in the 70's, but with a lot of comedy and heart too), Sally the Witch (the original! .... I did not see this one, but it's inspired by the 60's show Bewitched!), Minky Momo (although, Minky Momo can get heavy sometimes, it's usually fun, about a princess from the land of dreams trying to bring her planet back in orbit because it's drifting away due to humans losing faith in their dreams... it's also the one where Shudo Takeshi, head writer of the Pokemon anime, famously gave a toy company that wanted to pull the plug on the successful anime that just wasn't selling toys, by having the first incarnation of Momo KILLED BY A TRUCK FULL OF TOYS... she revives in the same episode, but it sure was a loud and clear message... second Momo stars in her own season and is reborn as the biological daughter of the earth couple the first Momo brainwashed Chibiusa-style into believing they were her family.)

You like cute and colourful characters and care a lot about the environment and endangered animals? Tokyo Mew Mew! I didn't watch this one yet, but I really do wanna see the reboot and it was super popular back in the day. ^^ All the designs look so cute.

If you want more modern magical girl anime that are on the cute and chill side, but actually geared at girls and it's not just PreCure, Cocotama is full of magic and adventure, while being very cute... I caught some fun episodes with witches and dragons and quests, but also some Hamtaro-esque episodes where it's just the cute mascot characters navigating a much bigger world and interacting with each other, it's fun!

I think it starts with the inclusion of Girl by Moonlight as the first example, which I think is a misrepresentation of how those touchstones are presented in the book. "Brink of the Abyss" etc are the playsets within the book, that's not a list of overall touchstones for the entire project. It's "if you are trying to play a game like this, use this playset", which is different from "these are the media I referenced when making the game". A subtle difference, I'll grant, but one that I think makes a difference. GbM doesn't have that overall list, so it is the closest we get, but that's still not interchangeable.

Beyond that, it feels a little gatekeeping to me, but I think framed more academic than usual. I don't really think you need a Complete Historical Education of a Genre to write about it. You just need to be excited and interested enough. You can learn genre conventions without consuming the entire genre.

It feels like the post makes a lot of assumptions about why things were or weren't included. I can't speak to the intents of the designers making these books, but I know that touchstones are usually selective. Half of the time, I feel like I end up including ones that I'm worried people will accuse me of cribbing from if I didn't call them out. The other half, I'm picking my favorites.

And I'm still always learning about media I simply had never heard about until after the book was written.

I'll admit to not knowing the Magical Girl Genre particularly well, but to my mind the prime example is Sailor Moon. It's likely the go-to for most people because that's what was available. Whether it's The Most example of the genre is pretty subjective, and the older shows were much harder to find.

I don't think that a lack of deep, esoteric knowledge hampers my ability to write about a subject. I'm one person with a limited amount of time. I can still write about things that excite and interest me without putting a full college Syllabus in the Appendix. I'll try to research what I can, but the world is a huge place and I've got only so much time. I'll do my best, and hopefully leave room for people to add what they like.

Going on with the Magical Girl Genre, I wouldn't even consider writing a game emulating it because the only shows I've watched about it are Madoka, Utena, She-Ra and DoReMi when I was a kid. These are excellent works, but they exist in conversation with previous works that I am woefully unaware of like those presented by previous posters. This does not mean I can't write about the genre, but I should be aware of my own shortcomings within that genre. That should at least make me ponder whether I am equipped to create a work within the genre.

Furthering deadgenerations' point about the subtle orientalism of this problem, this whole conversation changes drastically when you swap "genre" with "culture". We can all agree that orientalism has been a huge problem in the ttrpg hobby and it still is for the most part. It is extremely easy to see that it's not ok for a western person to write about samurai without having previously put at least some degree of effort towards understanding japanese culture. Because otherwise that hypothetical author risks falling in tropes and stereotypes that fail to properly represent the historical period they are trying to write about. Roughly paraphrasing Asians Represent discussion about this kind of behaviour, the problem is not the writing in itself, it is the lack of self-awareness about an author's own lack of knowledge paired with some type of audacity that makes them feel entitled enough to disregard that knowledge in the first place.

Genres, of course, hold less weight to most people than whole cultures. But that doesn't make genres simple or lacking their own structures, communities and expectations. And thus we should approach them at least with a minimum of respect and curiosity before asserting we are equipped enough to participate in it.

thats just the thing: this is about almost every single english language magical girl game i have ever encountered. this is about princess: the hopeful, this is about girl by moonlight, this is about starlight burnout, etc etc etc. just look at these inspiration lists:

there are seven listed inspirations here. of them, two are magical girl shows, in a game purporting to replicate the dynamics of the genre.

nine listed inspirations; two magical girl shows, one magical girl 'deconstruction' fic.

nine inspirations, three magical girl shows. noticing a pattern with which two shows get featured every time?

A lot of people are wistfully nostalgic about Sailor Moon but allergic to touching any other mahou shoujo... especially works actually geared at young girls.

I totally get disliking PreCure, I don't like it either! Only the very first Futari wa Pretty Cure looks appealing to me. But, it's really not the only magical girl anime out there. You loved 90's Sailor Moon? The same cast went on to make the only shoujo demographic adaptation of Cutey Honey, Cutey Honey Flash! It's even in the same art style as Supers and Stars. (The original Cutey Honey of the 70's, while concieved as a girl's show to sell clothes-changing dolls, wound up only securing a late night time slot and was reworked into more of an ecchi show for older male viewers, although some young girls still enjoyed the stories! Go Nagai would later go on to make another mahou shoujo series, Majokko Tickle, for a shoujo demographic.)

You like idol anime and magical girls? Creamy Mami! Magical idol anime are their own genre too.

You mostly liked the filler expanding on the characters in the 90's? You liked the slice of life scenes best of all? You like bittersweet anime with elements that make you cry your heart out? Full Moon o Sagashite, about a 12 year old with terminal cancer who gets to be older with the help of the reapers tasked with claiming her soul in one year, which she learns in the very first episode... the manga a little more than the anime, as it goes more into depth into their lives and the soul reapers' past lives, but the anime expands on her idol career and has a different ending from the original author, so it feels true to the characters and satisfying.

You want to see a magical girl anime that's inspired by Sailor Moon, but Takeuchi Naoko also greatly enjoyed it and made fanart of it? Wedding Peach!

You want those early cute witch magical girls without any big enermies to face? Just dealing with everyday things? Marvelous Melmo (an orphaned girl gets the ability to change her age with the help of red and blue candies from Heaven given to her by her dead mother's spirit, but she also later learns she can shrink back into an undifferentiated zygote and turn into whatever creature she was thinking of beforehand! It's sex education for girls in the 70's, but with a lot of comedy and heart too), Sally the Witch (the original! .... I did not see this one, but it's inspired by the 60's show Bewitched!), Minky Momo (although, Minky Momo can get heavy sometimes, it's usually fun, about a princess from the land of dreams trying to bring her planet back in orbit because it's drifting away due to humans losing faith in their dreams... it's also the one where Shudo Takeshi, head writer of the Pokemon anime, famously gave a toy company that wanted to pull the plug on the successful anime that just wasn't selling toys, by having the first incarnation of Momo KILLED BY A TRUCK FULL OF TOYS... she revives in the same episode, but it sure was a loud and clear message... second Momo stars in her own season and is reborn as the biological daughter of the earth couple the first Momo brainwashed Chibiusa-style into believing they were her family.)

You like cute and colourful characters and care a lot about the environment and endangered animals? Tokyo Mew Mew! I didn't watch this one yet, but I really do wanna see the reboot and it was super popular back in the day. ^^ All the designs look so cute.

If you want more modern magical girl anime that are on the cute and chill side, but actually geared at girls and it's not just PreCure, Cocotama is full of magic and adventure, while being very cute... I caught some fun episodes with witches and dragons and quests, but also some Hamtaro-esque episodes where it's just the cute mascot characters navigating a much bigger world and interacting with each other, it's fun!

I think it starts with the inclusion of Girl by Moonlight as the first example, which I think is a misrepresentation of how those touchstones are presented in the book. "Brink of the Abyss" etc are the playsets within the book, that's not a list of overall touchstones for the entire project. It's "if you are trying to play a game like this, use this playset", which is different from "these are the media I referenced when making the game". A subtle difference, I'll grant, but one that I think makes a difference. GbM doesn't have that overall list, so it is the closest we get, but that's still not interchangeable.

Beyond that, it feels a little gatekeeping to me, but I think framed more academic than usual. I don't really think you need a Complete Historical Education of a Genre to write about it. You just need to be excited and interested enough. You can learn genre conventions without consuming the entire genre.

It feels like the post makes a lot of assumptions about why things were or weren't included. I can't speak to the intents of the designers making these books, but I know that touchstones are usually selective. Half of the time, I feel like I end up including ones that I'm worried people will accuse me of cribbing from if I didn't call them out. The other half, I'm picking my favorites.

And I'm still always learning about media I simply had never heard about until after the book was written.

I'll admit to not knowing the Magical Girl Genre particularly well, but to my mind the prime example is Sailor Moon. It's likely the go-to for most people because that's what was available. Whether it's The Most example of the genre is pretty subjective, and the older shows were much harder to find.

I don't think that a lack of deep, esoteric knowledge hampers my ability to write about a subject. I'm one person with a limited amount of time. I can still write about things that excite and interest me without putting a full college Syllabus in the Appendix. I'll try to research what I can, but the world is a huge place and I've got only so much time. I'll do my best, and hopefully leave room for people to add what they like.

Going on with the Magical Girl Genre, I wouldn't even consider writing a game emulating it because the only shows I've watched about it are Madoka, Utena, She-Ra and DoReMi when I was a kid. These are excellent works, but they exist in conversation with previous works that I am woefully unaware of like those presented by previous posters. This does not mean I can't write about the genre, but I should be aware of my own shortcomings within that genre. That should at least make me ponder whether I am equipped to create a work within the genre.

Furthering deadgenerations' point about the subtle orientalism of this problem, this whole conversation changes drastically when you swap "genre" with "culture". We can all agree that orientalism has been a huge problem in the ttrpg hobby and it still is for the most part. It is extremely easy to see that it's not ok for a western person to write about samurai without having previously put at least some degree of effort towards understanding japanese culture. Because otherwise that hypothetical author risks falling in tropes and stereotypes that fail to properly represent the historical period they are trying to write about. Roughly paraphrasing Asians Represent discussion about this kind of behaviour, the problem is not the writing in itself, it is the lack of self-awareness about an author's own lack of knowledge paired with some type of audacity that makes them feel entitled enough to disregard that knowledge in the first place.

Genres, of course, hold less weight to most people than whole cultures. But that doesn't make genres simple or lacking their own structures, communities and expectations. And thus we should approach them at least with a minimum of respect and curiosity before asserting we are equipped enough to participate in it.

thats just the thing: this is about almost every single english language magical girl game i have ever encountered. this is about princess: the hopeful, this is about girl by moonlight, this is about starlight burnout, etc etc etc. just look at these inspiration lists:

there are seven listed inspirations here. of them, two are magical girl shows, in a game purporting to replicate the dynamics of the genre.

nine listed inspirations; two magical girl shows, one magical girl 'deconstruction' fic.

nine inspirations, three magical girl shows. noticing a pattern with which two shows get featured every time?

A lot of people are wistfully nostalgic about Sailor Moon but allergic to touching any other mahou shoujo... especially works actually geared at young girls.

I totally get disliking PreCure, I don't like it either! Only the very first Futari wa Pretty Cure looks appealing to me. But, it's really not the only magical girl anime out there. You loved 90's Sailor Moon? The same cast went on to make the only shoujo demographic adaptation of Cutey Honey, Cutey Honey Flash! It's even in the same art style as Supers and Stars. (The original Cutey Honey of the 70's, while concieved as a girl's show to sell clothes-changing dolls, wound up only securing a late night time slot and was reworked into more of an ecchi show for older male viewers, although some young girls still enjoyed the stories! Go Nagai would later go on to make another mahou shoujo series, Majokko Tickle, for a shoujo demographic.)

You like idol anime and magical girls? Creamy Mami! Magical idol anime are their own genre too.

You mostly liked the filler expanding on the characters in the 90's? You liked the slice of life scenes best of all? You like bittersweet anime with elements that make you cry your heart out? Full Moon o Sagashite, about a 12 year old with terminal cancer who gets to be older with the help of the reapers tasked with claiming her soul in one year, which she learns in the very first episode... the manga a little more than the anime, as it goes more into depth into their lives and the soul reapers' past lives, but the anime expands on her idol career and has a different ending from the original author, so it feels true to the characters and satisfying.

You want to see a magical girl anime that's inspired by Sailor Moon, but Takeuchi Naoko also greatly enjoyed it and made fanart of it? Wedding Peach!

You want those early cute witch magical girls without any big enermies to face? Just dealing with everyday things? Marvelous Melmo (an orphaned girl gets the ability to change her age with the help of red and blue candies from Heaven given to her by her dead mother's spirit, but she also later learns she can shrink back into an undifferentiated zygote and turn into whatever creature she was thinking of beforehand! It's sex education for girls in the 70's, but with a lot of comedy and heart too), Sally the Witch (the original! .... I did not see this one, but it's inspired by the 60's show Bewitched!), Minky Momo (although, Minky Momo can get heavy sometimes, it's usually fun, about a princess from the land of dreams trying to bring her planet back in orbit because it's drifting away due to humans losing faith in their dreams... it's also the one where Shudo Takeshi, head writer of the Pokemon anime, famously gave a toy company that wanted to pull the plug on the successful anime that just wasn't selling toys, by having the first incarnation of Momo KILLED BY A TRUCK FULL OF TOYS... she revives in the same episode, but it sure was a loud and clear message... second Momo stars in her own season and is reborn as the biological daughter of the earth couple the first Momo brainwashed Chibiusa-style into believing they were her family.)

You like cute and colourful characters and care a lot about the environment and endangered animals? Tokyo Mew Mew! I didn't watch this one yet, but I really do wanna see the reboot and it was super popular back in the day. ^^ All the designs look so cute.

If you want more modern magical girl anime that are on the cute and chill side, but actually geared at girls and it's not just PreCure, Cocotama is full of magic and adventure, while being very cute... I caught some fun episodes with witches and dragons and quests, but also some Hamtaro-esque episodes where it's just the cute mascot characters navigating a much bigger world and interacting with each other, it's fun!

I think it starts with the inclusion of Girl by Moonlight as the first example, which I think is a misrepresentation of how those touchstones are presented in the book. "Brink of the Abyss" etc are the playsets within the book, that's not a list of overall touchstones for the entire project. It's "if you are trying to play a game like this, use this playset", which is different from "these are the media I referenced when making the game". A subtle difference, I'll grant, but one that I think makes a difference. GbM doesn't have that overall list, so it is the closest we get, but that's still not interchangeable.

Beyond that, it feels a little gatekeeping to me, but I think framed more academic than usual. I don't really think you need a Complete Historical Education of a Genre to write about it. You just need to be excited and interested enough. You can learn genre conventions without consuming the entire genre.

It feels like the post makes a lot of assumptions about why things were or weren't included. I can't speak to the intents of the designers making these books, but I know that touchstones are usually selective. Half of the time, I feel like I end up including ones that I'm worried people will accuse me of cribbing from if I didn't call them out. The other half, I'm picking my favorites.

And I'm still always learning about media I simply had never heard about until after the book was written.

I'll admit to not knowing the Magical Girl Genre particularly well, but to my mind the prime example is Sailor Moon. It's likely the go-to for most people because that's what was available. Whether it's The Most example of the genre is pretty subjective, and the older shows were much harder to find.

I don't think that a lack of deep, esoteric knowledge hampers my ability to write about a subject. I'm one person with a limited amount of time. I can still write about things that excite and interest me without putting a full college Syllabus in the Appendix. I'll try to research what I can, but the world is a huge place and I've got only so much time. I'll do my best, and hopefully leave room for people to add what they like.

Going on with the Magical Girl Genre, I wouldn't even consider writing a game emulating it because the only shows I've watched about it are Madoka, Utena, She-Ra and DoReMi when I was a kid. These are excellent works, but they exist in conversation with previous works that I am woefully unaware of like those presented by previous posters. This does not mean I can't write about the genre, but I should be aware of my own shortcomings within that genre. That should at least make me ponder whether I am equipped to create a work within the genre.

Furthering deadgenerations' point about the subtle orientalism of this problem, this whole conversation changes drastically when you swap "genre" with "culture". We can all agree that orientalism has been a huge problem in the ttrpg hobby and it still is for the most part. It is extremely easy to see that it's not ok for a western person to write about samurai without having previously put at least some degree of effort towards understanding japanese culture. Because otherwise that hypothetical author risks falling in tropes and stereotypes that fail to properly represent the historical period they are trying to write about. Roughly paraphrasing Asians Represent discussion about this kind of behaviour, the problem is not the writing in itself, it is the lack of self-awareness about an author's own lack of knowledge paired with some type of audacity that makes them feel entitled enough to disregard that knowledge in the first place.

Genres, of course, hold less weight to most people than whole cultures. But that doesn't make genres simple or lacking their own structures, communities and expectations. And thus we should approach them at least with a minimum of respect and curiosity before asserting we are equipped enough to participate in it.

thats just the thing: this is about almost every single english language magical girl game i have ever encountered. this is about princess: the hopeful, this is about girl by moonlight, this is about starlight burnout, etc etc etc. just look at these inspiration lists:

there are seven listed inspirations here. of them, two are magical girl shows, in a game purporting to replicate the dynamics of the genre.

nine listed inspirations; two magical girl shows, one magical girl 'deconstruction' fic.

nine inspirations, three magical girl shows. noticing a pattern with which two shows get featured every time?

A lot of people are wistfully nostalgic about Sailor Moon but allergic to touching any other mahou shoujo... especially works actually geared at young girls.

I totally get disliking PreCure, I don't like it either! Only the very first Futari wa Pretty Cure looks appealing to me. But, it's really not the only magical girl anime out there. You loved 90's Sailor Moon? The same cast went on to make the only shoujo demographic adaptation of Cutey Honey, Cutey Honey Flash! It's even in the same art style as Supers and Stars. (The original Cutey Honey of the 70's, while concieved as a girl's show to sell clothes-changing dolls, wound up only securing a late night time slot and was reworked into more of an ecchi show for older male viewers, although some young girls still enjoyed the stories! Go Nagai would later go on to make another mahou shoujo series, Majokko Tickle, for a shoujo demographic.)

You like idol anime and magical girls? Creamy Mami! Magical idol anime are their own genre too.

You mostly liked the filler expanding on the characters in the 90's? You liked the slice of life scenes best of all? You like bittersweet anime with elements that make you cry your heart out? Full Moon o Sagashite, about a 12 year old with terminal cancer who gets to be older with the help of the reapers tasked with claiming her soul in one year, which she learns in the very first episode... the manga a little more than the anime, as it goes more into depth into their lives and the soul reapers' past lives, but the anime expands on her idol career and has a different ending from the original author, so it feels true to the characters and satisfying.

You want to see a magical girl anime that's inspired by Sailor Moon, but Takeuchi Naoko also greatly enjoyed it and made fanart of it? Wedding Peach!

You want those early cute witch magical girls without any big enermies to face? Just dealing with everyday things? Marvelous Melmo (an orphaned girl gets the ability to change her age with the help of red and blue candies from Heaven given to her by her dead mother's spirit, but she also later learns she can shrink back into an undifferentiated zygote and turn into whatever creature she was thinking of beforehand! It's sex education for girls in the 70's, but with a lot of comedy and heart too), Sally the Witch (the original! .... I did not see this one, but it's inspired by the 60's show Bewitched!), Minky Momo (although, Minky Momo can get heavy sometimes, it's usually fun, about a princess from the land of dreams trying to bring her planet back in orbit because it's drifting away due to humans losing faith in their dreams... it's also the one where Shudo Takeshi, head writer of the Pokemon anime, famously gave a toy company that wanted to pull the plug on the successful anime that just wasn't selling toys, by having the first incarnation of Momo KILLED BY A TRUCK FULL OF TOYS... she revives in the same episode, but it sure was a loud and clear message... second Momo stars in her own season and is reborn as the biological daughter of the earth couple the first Momo brainwashed Chibiusa-style into believing they were her family.)

You like cute and colourful characters and care a lot about the environment and endangered animals? Tokyo Mew Mew! I didn't watch this one yet, but I really do wanna see the reboot and it was super popular back in the day. ^^ All the designs look so cute.

If you want more modern magical girl anime that are on the cute and chill side, but actually geared at girls and it's not just PreCure, Cocotama is full of magic and adventure, while being very cute... I caught some fun episodes with witches and dragons and quests, but also some Hamtaro-esque episodes where it's just the cute mascot characters navigating a much bigger world and interacting with each other, it's fun!

I think it starts with the inclusion of Girl by Moonlight as the first example, which I think is a misrepresentation of how those touchstones are presented in the book. "Brink of the Abyss" etc are the playsets within the book, that's not a list of overall touchstones for the entire project. It's "if you are trying to play a game like this, use this playset", which is different from "these are the media I referenced when making the game". A subtle difference, I'll grant, but one that I think makes a difference. GbM doesn't have that overall list, so it is the closest we get, but that's still not interchangeable.

Beyond that, it feels a little gatekeeping to me, but I think framed more academic than usual. I don't really think you need a Complete Historical Education of a Genre to write about it. You just need to be excited and interested enough. You can learn genre conventions without consuming the entire genre.

It feels like the post makes a lot of assumptions about why things were or weren't included. I can't speak to the intents of the designers making these books, but I know that touchstones are usually selective. Half of the time, I feel like I end up including ones that I'm worried people will accuse me of cribbing from if I didn't call them out. The other half, I'm picking my favorites.

And I'm still always learning about media I simply had never heard about until after the book was written.

I'll admit to not knowing the Magical Girl Genre particularly well, but to my mind the prime example is Sailor Moon. It's likely the go-to for most people because that's what was available. Whether it's The Most example of the genre is pretty subjective, and the older shows were much harder to find.

I don't think that a lack of deep, esoteric knowledge hampers my ability to write about a subject. I'm one person with a limited amount of time. I can still write about things that excite and interest me without putting a full college Syllabus in the Appendix. I'll try to research what I can, but the world is a huge place and I've got only so much time. I'll do my best, and hopefully leave room for people to add what they like.

Going on with the Magical Girl Genre, I wouldn't even consider writing a game emulating it because the only shows I've watched about it are Madoka, Utena, She-Ra and DoReMi when I was a kid. These are excellent works, but they exist in conversation with previous works that I am woefully unaware of like those presented by previous posters. This does not mean I can't write about the genre, but I should be aware of my own shortcomings within that genre. That should at least make me ponder whether I am equipped to create a work within the genre.

Furthering deadgenerations' point about the subtle orientalism of this problem, this whole conversation changes drastically when you swap "genre" with "culture". We can all agree that orientalism has been a huge problem in the ttrpg hobby and it still is for the most part. It is extremely easy to see that it's not ok for a western person to write about samurai without having previously put at least some degree of effort towards understanding japanese culture. Because otherwise that hypothetical author risks falling in tropes and stereotypes that fail to properly represent the historical period they are trying to write about. Roughly paraphrasing Asians Represent discussion about this kind of behaviour, the problem is not the writing in itself, it is the lack of self-awareness about an author's own lack of knowledge paired with some type of audacity that makes them feel entitled enough to disregard that knowledge in the first place.

Genres, of course, hold less weight to most people than whole cultures. But that doesn't make genres simple or lacking their own structures, communities and expectations. And thus we should approach them at least with a minimum of respect and curiosity before asserting we are equipped enough to participate in it.

Which is to say that they don't really see RPGs as their own thing but rather a thing that exists only as a blend of other things. Play culture is basically about which of these circles you put your weight on in play. Therefore some people want to think about how to add more circles like "cooking" or "musical composition" or how to bring in MORE of one of the basic circles like rarer aspects of games. But you see, I see RPGs more like this: