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> On 30 Sep 96 at 12:28, Jason McVean wrote:
>
> > Martin Traynor wrote:
> > > Good concept, but please don't allow it to become what 'Magic' is; a
> > > game where how much you can afford to spend on the cards influences
> > > your capabilities in the game.
> >
> > Admittedly, I haven't played the game that much but I did play
> > with some people who had way more cards than me and never found I
> > was completely out-classed.
>
> Fair enough. I was speaking as one who has never played it at all and
> was basing my impressions on what had been posted to the list. Sorry
> about that. As my own first step I'm going out at lunchtime and
> buying a few packs of these cardgames (I remember seeing a whole
> bunch of them the last time I was in 'Forbidden Planet') so that I
> can familiarise myself with how these games are played.
[CLIP]
> Potential strategies could include building a monolithic complex of
> mutually supporting memes or using small, self-contained memelets (is
> that a word?).
It passes Chomsky grammar. It's a word.
> > Just rambling...
>
> Keep it up ;)
>
> BTW, I notice the virus-game list has now been set up. Are
> we moving across there imminently or are we fleshing the ideas out
> some more first? Also, is the new list specifically for the game or
> does it also include Virian Tarot? Sorry if this has already been
> answered.
My understanding is that we are exploring two levels in parallel. The
'divinatory'/'psychology-defining' variant is currently code-named Virian
Tarot, while the 'game' variant current uses code-names 'Virian Magic'
and 'Virian Tarot'. It turns out that the same deck can be slanted
towards two entirely different audiences.
Virian Tarot proper is aimed at a New Age subculture, with possibilities
for mass memetic infection as scientific memes find inadequate vaccimes
and overwhelm. [If we choose sufficiently technical
nontechnical-sounding definitions, we may even completely bypass
'antiscience' vaccimes! However, the artwork is already enhancing things.]
Virian Magic is aimed at a RPG(Role Playing Game)-analog subculture, with
equally impressive possibilities for mass memetic infection. This
variant gets a boost from the well-observed fact that playing a game
requires emulating ideas you don't believe in normal roles. This is a
basis for a cultural block against most RPGs in ultraconservative
Christian culture.
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/ Kenneth Boyd
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