world-design mailing lists?

[Dr. Rich Staats]

Did you check out world-create, which is already an established Yahoo group?

Yes. I'm still up in the air on this, but world-create seemed to have a
stronger RPG focus.
I've actually moved world-design to be under 'arts - humanities -
writing, etc'.
I'm still up in the air on the need for it - I'll let time and the
nature world world-create decide that.

Greetings!

I've run a number of world-building seminars for the gaming and
fiction communinities.

One of my favorite convention experiences was at Arisia 2000 where we
ran a series of five panels. The first had Hal Clements and I talk
about world building in general, and then the audience helped design a
general world. In the next panel, three famous authors talked about
storyline development, and the audience developed a storyline based on
the world created in the first panel. Etc.

It might be helpful to check out:


http://www.geocities.com/dr_games

or


http://www.geocities.com/dr_games/staats2.htm

In service,

Rich

[James Nicoll]

Post by Dr. Rich Staats
One of my favorite convention experiences was at Arisia 2000 where we
ran a series of five panels. The first had Hal Clements and I talk

Hal Clement. But still, you lucky, lucky bastard.

Post by Dr. Rich Staats
about world building in general, and then the audience helped design a

For the non-hard SF readers, Hal Clement was the pen name
of Harry Stubbs, a genuinely good natured, well educated guy who
liked to think up interesting applications of natural science and
then write stories that turned on those points, like _Close to Critical_
(set on a world where the temperature and pressure are such that liquids
can change to gas and back with very little change in volume or temperature,
very annoying if you happen to be the seed that triggers the formation
of a very large water droplet around you) or _Mission of Gravity_, set
on a high mass, rapidly spinning world where the centrifugal effect of
the planet's rotation means a difference of about a factor of a hundred
in the gravity felt at the equator and at the poles.

I picked up the NESFA collection put out a few years ago (
the anthology was volume 2 of a 3 book series) and was surprised at
how prescient some of the stories were, including what may be one of
the earliest uses of a form of nanotech, which he called "pseudolife".



He died in his sleep last fall so meeting him is no longer an
option.

[Hong Ooi]

Post by James Nicoll
He died in his sleep last fall so meeting him is no longer an
option.

That's what raise dead is for, ninny!