The Fanboy Explained - An explanation for the fragmentary nature of gamers!

A really cool article on this blog at The Tech Report talks about the science of fanboyism, with an overview of the underlying and very deep psychology at work. It's an interesting read, and I think sheds some light on the state of the role playing game hobby today (well, D&Ders in specific), which has fragmented into so many separate brands and subgroups that a realistic "reknitting" of the hobby may be this niche of a niche's only hope for recovery back into the realm of coherence...then again, maybe not.

The thing I find interesting is that as a hobby RPGs have always had fractionalized brand/gamer loyalty, and its always been really diverse....but it wasn't until the Top Dog D&D began to fracture over the last few years into the various OSRs, 4E, Pathfinder, C&C, Fantasy Craft and so forth that the hobby started to develop a feeling of impermanence or fragility. Based on this article, I can see why this might be so. Anyway, interesting read.

And now for the Smartly Dressed Warrior Woman of the Week!



Not sure of the origin of this illustration, but I quite like it. These three warriors are wearing stylish non-western armor which is fully functional and also suited to mounted combat. They look like they could get into a scrap and come out with all limbs intact. Picture found here.