Talk:Paranoia (role-playing game)
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So what happend to paranoia? I was under the impression that when W.E.G. claimed 'chapter 11', W.E.G. sold some of their copyrights off. I heard a roumer that Wizards of the Coast now holds the rights and is making/has made a D20 system version of paranoia (game).
From Greg Costikyan's personal site, costik.com: "Eric and I finally got the rights back from the now-defunct publishers. Skotos is currently working on a text-MUD version, and we may find someone to bring the game back into print soonish." 64.231.165.143 08:41, 6 Oct 2003 (UTC)
Wow, Costikyan deals with Paranoia again? Good news. Well I have heard in 2000 Torg 2 will be released in GenCon 2000, (deleted for security reasons) and I subscribed there to their newsletter on reprint of Torg comic, blah blah blah anyway Happiness is mundatory. Then I think Acute Paranoia and the scenario-I-can't-mention-without-getting-treasonous-points-but-with-a-mustasch-oomigod should be listed on related items. How about them? Have a nice daycycle, Citizen. KIZU 15:29, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)
- Possible fodder for an external link? Paranoia XP Design Blog DanaJohnson 02:57, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC)
I'm working on a large rewrite of the Paranoia article in my user space, the main idea being to give more information about Alpha Complex and the differences between the editions. Feel free to drop by and edit or leave comments/suggestions in the talk. Vogon 19:24, Oct 10, 2004 (UTC)
User:Radiant's recent changes ([1]) appear sincere, but they focus too much on specific interpretations. It's particularlly noteworthy given Paranoia XP, which provides for a wider range of play styles (including a low-humor "Straight" game) and discourages intentionally dooming the PCs. I'm contemplating a serious edit to remove big chunks, verging on a revert. (Relatedly, Vogon's rewrite is looking like it's reasonably far along. Any reason not to just drop that in place now?) Alan De Smet | Talk 22:55, Dec 20, 2004 (UTC)
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[edit] The (non-existant) 5th Edition
I feel that some mention should be made of ParanoiaXP's rather humorous in-character bout of "Product Denial" when it comes to some of the... less enjoyable modules made in the past, including the disasterous 5th edition. I'd do it myself, but I'm worried that I wouldn't be able to keep the academic voice in this case, since I'm a huge fan of the game and find it difficult to NOT use the in-character voice when discussing the game. Fieari 21:24, 17 Mar 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Pictures
Who the HEL Sector randomly added XP covers throughout the article? Now it just looks weird and confusing.
[edit] Nonlinear time
Ummm. . . .
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- 1st edition (ISBN 1869893) - written by Greg Costikyan, Dan Gelber, and Eric Goldberg - published in 1986 by West End Games. In 1985, this edition of Paranoia won the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Rules of 1984.
Anville 20:21, 24 July 2005 (UTC)
Strange, that shouldn't be. I'll change it back to 1984. --01:54, 26 July 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Copyvio is treason
Commie mutant traitors have uploaded pictures to your friend, the wikipedia, without copyright classification. Copyvio is treason! Andjam 04:44, 29 November 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Alpha Complex a communist state?
The main blurb states that "Ironically, Alpha Complex is, itself, a communist state, inhabited solely by mutant secret society members". Back in the old days I played some highly enjoyable sessions of Paranoia, enough to remember that much of the fun is derived from the fact that everything is self-contradictory, and that the Computer often "fights" against itself. However, I don't remember the Alpha Complex being communist. Does the rulebook even state this? It is a completely invasive totalitarian state, but that is not the same. In fact, wasn't the Computer built during the cold war in order to fight Communism? To suggest that the Alpha Complex is communist is Treason, Citizen!
(I've modified the original line accordingly; if someone can support the original claim with a link to the rules, I'll have no problem restoring it) 157.92.4.2 20:34, 27 February 2006 (UTC)
- It was referenced in the Paranoia XP rulebook. The original Alpha Complex wasn't communist but it certainly was highly planned and ordered, people had their possessions largely provided by the state and there wasn't much use for money. --Kizor 13:20, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
- As they say, people often become what they most fear. It's a few years since I played 'Paranoia', but could certainly agree that Alpha Complex had become a communist state in an attempt to protect itself from communism: though I couldn't find a definitive quote to that effect. Mark Grant 13:23, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
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- Methinks if it's blindingly obvious enough, you might not need a definitive quote. On the other hand, to quote Arthur C. Clarke, it sometimes takes a genius to see the blindingly obvious ... --Yar Kramer 15:22, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
Sorry I don't know how to format, but, I do have information that is relevant. In the new Traitor's Manual, it mentions, under communists, how confused Alpha commies get if they get ahold of actual ancient Communist dogma and literature, as it so resembles day to day Alpha.
There is no direct mention of Alpha Complex being communist, but in XP there is a paragraph that mentions how the Computer carefully controls the economy and takes "from each according to his ability and gives to each according to his [CLASSIFIED]" (This is an approximate quote.)
The society of Alpha Complex, especially in pre-XP editions, was clearly based on the Soviet Union's implementation of communism, with a focus on the discrepency between the the claims and the reality. In theory all citizens are equal, but in practice many are more equal than others. Citizens theoretically rise to their optimal level of service, but the system is deeply buerocratic, corrupt, and disfunctional. All of a citizen's necessities are supposed to be provided by the state, but in reality people turn to black markets and illegal contacts to survive. XP's addition of semi-private service firms is a clear echo of perestroika (the Soviet attempts at economic reform). I deleted the claim that Alpha Complex is instead a totalitarian dictatorship, it's not mutually exclusive (it seemed to work for Stalin), and it's not relevant (The point is the irony of Alpha Complex being anti-communist). Alan De Smet | Talk 02:47, 12 September 2006 (UTC) (Editted to clairify and correct own points. Alan De Smet | Talk 05:46, 12 September 2006 (UTC))
[edit] Tone of "Secret societies" section
The society descriptions are a marvellous read and - here's the thing - due to the nature of Paranoia, work far better as descriptions than bland, serious ones would. Whoo. --Kizor 16:58, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
Thanka. I really put some thought into it. Although, I see they're putting it up as needing Cleanup. Seriously. I'm all in favor of equal, even information distribution on Wiki, but, for something like paranoia, the zing is what makes it appealing The societies lose their edge if you try to bare bones lay them out. It's a commie plot, really. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.145.167.215 (talk • contribs) on 27 August 2006.
I'm not about to slap the cleanup tag back on it, but the secret societies section needs an overhaul. As an encyclopedic article the goal is to factual and succinct, not amusing. Coverage of humor should explain the humor, not attempt to be funny in and of itself. Alan De Smet | Talk 23:46, 28 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Scrubbing the article
The article has gotten more than a little out of control. It's a little too much into the game, reading more like an enthusiastic review and less like an article in an encyclopedia. It's full of unexplained in-game terminology. Listing names for fictional foods eaten by various security clearances is useless for a reference work. There are lots of jokes (especially about treason and executions) that are inappropriate (this is a reference) and simply incorrect for the Straight style of play. I've gone through and scrubbed several sections. More work is needed. Alan De Smet | Talk 00:18, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
- I Swear I'll get an account soon. Me again, The one who wrote the too-goofy Secret society blurbs. Well, I've had another crack at it, and expanded on some of the ones left short. I've tried to keep it drier this time, so as not to be seen as overdoing it. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.145.167.215 (talk • contribs).
[edit] No Paranoia game by Manifesto Games?
I deleted the claim that "Greg" from Manifesto Games is planning on creating a Paranoia game. It lacks a citation. It's implausible as the point of Manifesto Games is to support other developers, not develop games itself. It's not been announced anywhere I can find (including the blog of Greg Costikyan, the founder of Manifesto Games, nor the MG site itself). My guess: someone suggested such a game could be created, and Greg said it sounded great and he'd love to add it to what Manifesto Games offers. If someone finds some evidence to support this claim, you can find my edit here, the better to reapply it. Alan De Smet | Talk 04:07, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
- Email from Greg:
- Just for the record, I never said any such thing. But hey.
- --AdamM 23:41, 2 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Infobox graphic
Curious as to why the representative picture in the infobox is from the 2nd edition cover rather than the most recent version. TheBrigand 09:39, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
