This issue of The Matrix Gamer focuses on articles by John Cash. John has written a number of things in the last year that I've wanted to publish. Now is the time to do it. By way of introduction. John is not, I repeat, NOT a gamer. He has certainly played the odd board game and probably a few role play games, but he does not self identify as a gamer. That being said, I've been pleased to see John play in the Play By Email Matrix Games of the last year because of his outsider perspective. John is a Folklorist at Indiana University and know a lot of history through historical reenactment groups (as well a college). And what seems to draw him to Matrix Games is their story telling aspect. For years now, John has tried to get me to follow through with my musings of doing a "Space 1889" game. The thought of telling Jules Vernsian stories makes him want to play. I've resisted because running an RPG is a lot of work. Also I think he would be disappointed in the story line because RPGs are really too restrictive to allow good story telling. When one is limited to only what your own character does then story telling falls short. I think John would quickly realize this. While in Matrix Games each player can make actions for anyone in the game. So if the story requires Dr. X to make a mistake then anyone can make it happen. Which makes for a very dynamic story telling game. John does not play war in his games. Each time he has come into a game he has made up new and interesting people. He has formed a vision of what he wants to see happen in the game and doggedly set out to make it happen. I think he sees games like I do. As movies, where there are many different scenes and several stories running at the same time. John has not just seen this as a theory but has made it an actuality. I think he is showing all of us another way to play a game. Not a wargamers way – but a story tellers way. It is my hope that more story tellers will join us as Matrix Gamers Back to Table of Contents -- Matrix Gamer #13 To Matrix Gamer List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by Chris Engle. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com