Summary: In this episode, we take another look at roleplaying and running fear, but not in the same sense as before, way back in an early episode (3 or 4 or something). We talk a bit about invoking a fear response and doing it responsibly, and a bit about fear in a game. In the Three Parter, Nathan talks a little about What He’s Into with the retro PC game, Pool of Radiance from SSI. Ethan raves a bit on Conspiracy Theories and how they make games better. Finally, Jeremy reviews the new AMC television series, The Walking Dead. Running time on this episode is 95 minutes. Commodore version of the box cover for the game About Pool of Radiance Pool of Radiance is a computer role-playing game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc (SSI) in 1988. It was the first adaptation of TSR‘s Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D or D&D) fantasy role-playing game for home computers. It is the first in a four-part series of D&D computer adventure games. The other games in the “Gold Box” series used the game engine pioneered in Pool of Radiance, as did later D&D titles such as the Neverwinter Nights online game. Pool of Radiance takes place in the Forgotten Realms setting, with the action centered in and around the city of Phlan. Just as in traditional D&D games, the player starts by building a party of up to six characters, deciding race, sex, class and ability scores for each. The player’s party is enlisted to help the city by clearing out the marauding inhabitants which have taken over. The characters move on from one area to another, ultimately confronting the powerful leader of the evil forces. During play the player characters gain experience points, which allow them to increase their capabilities. The game primarily uses a first-person perspective, with the screen divided into sections to display pertinent textual information. During combat sequences, display switches to a top-down perspective. Generally well-received by the gaming press, Pool of Radiance won the Origins Award for “Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game of 1988″. Some reviewers criticized the game’s similarities to other contemporary games and its slowness in places, but praised the game’s graphics and its role-playing adventure and combat aspects. Also well-regarded was the ability to export player characters from Pool of Radiance to subsequent SSI games in the series. About Conspiracy Theories Conspiracy theory was originally a neutral descriptor for any claim of civil, criminal, or political conspiracy. However, it has become largely pejorative and used almost exclusively to refer to any fringe theory which explains a historical or current event as the result of a secret plot by conspirators of almost superhuman power and cunning. Conspiracy theories are viewed with skepticism by scholars because they are rarely supported by any conclusive evidence and contrast with institutional analysis, which focuses on people’s collective behavior in publicly known institutions, as recorded in scholarly material and mainstream media reports, to explain historical or current events, rather than speculate on the motives and actions of secretive coalitions of individuals. Scholars argue that conspiracy theory goes beyond the boundaries of rational criticism when it becomes non-falsifiable. Such a theory is a closed system of ideas which explains away contradictory evidence by claiming that the conspirators themselves planted it. The term conspiracy theory is therefore often used dismissively in an attempt to characterize a belief as outlandishly false and held by a person judged to be a crank or a group confined to the lunatic fringe. Such characterization is often the subject of dispute due to its possible unfairness and inaccuracy. According to political scientist Michael Barkun, conspiracy theories once limited to fringe audiences have become commonplace in mass media. He argues th[...]
