h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

No problems I can see with grammar and spelling. I'd like to see you mention something more about the dice and their odd shapes - 20-sided, 12-sided, 10-sided, 8-sided, the normal 6-sided, and 4-sided. That random number generation is such a key element to the game.
Overall I liked it, though the tone of the graph about the 80s seemed a little out of place given the rest of the entry. Out of 10, I'd say 7.5.

As with the game, my article is now in its second edition, awaiting your comments. After considering the idea of an expanded, detailed article, I've come to the conclusion that I'm not really interested in doing that much work. If another researcher wants to expand the subject, I would gladly link my page to that one. Maybe we could name them "D&D for Morons" and "More on D&D" respectively

But I have added an additional paragraph with more information, including a bit on how important the dice are. It comes right before the controversial 80's section, which, you may notice, still exists in its original form.

And I've wrapped it all up with a lame joke, which may fall flat...please let me know if it does. Thanks everyone

I wandered in after the revision, so oh well.....I also cheated and read the other's comments before I posted - probably a good thing, since my comments would have all been repeats.

At any rate, I think this is very well done. It is definitely written in the spirit of the guide, and would seem to be the sort of article the editors are looking for. (Especially if a sub-editor liked it)

I hate to repeat other comments, but I really believe you need more focus on the dice. I only played D&D a few times (although I spent one long summer wasting my days away with Battletech) but from my recollection, the dice were nearly as important as the player's immaginations. I suppose it depends on the DM you play with, but without the dice, the DM controls everything. Perhaps you can discuss how the dice are related to the character attributes (rolling against your dexterity when climbing the rock wall, rolling against your stamina when crossing a desert, etc.)

Our DM went a little far, though. Want to fall asleep? Throw the dice. Going to cross the shaky bridge? Throw the dice. Want to know where my kid sister hid your car keys? Throw the dice.

Forgot a score......um.....8

Good article.
I played D&D at school in the early '80s and thoroughly enjoyed it as it integrated imagination, storytelling, lateral thinking and problem solving. Then I discovered girls and realized all those skills were useful
An (ex)D&D obsessive could add page after page of extra info about the game (one example could be to mention that a DM could create their own dungeon or buy a 'readymade' scenario to play e.g. my fave was 'Expedition to the Barrier Peaks' which had D&D characters come face to face with alien spaceship technology - geeky to the power of n ), but I think your article covers most of what D&D is about without getting lost in a miasma of irrelevencies. I agree - that is what forums should be for.
A well-written 8/10.

Good article.
I played D&D at school in the early '80s and thoroughly enjoyed it as it integrated imagination, storytelling, lateral thinking and problem solving. Then I discovered girls and realized all those skills were useful
An (ex)D&D obsessive could add page after page of extra info about the game (one example could be to mention that a DM could create their own dungeon or buy a 'readymade' scenario to play e.g. my fave was 'Expedition to the Barrier Peaks' which had D&D characters come face to face with alien spaceship technology - geeky to the power of n ), but I think your article covers most of what D&D is about without getting lost in a miasma of irrelevencies. I agree - that is what forums should be for.
A well-written 8/10.

Frink: When I played the game, I quickly realized that there was too much math and too many die rolls getting in the way, so my group got together, and we started weeding through some of it and simplified where we could. For instance...different sized shields had different effects against missile weapons...we did away with that. Armor effects against certain weapons types...gone. Many times, the DM would eschew a die roll and make up a result, but if it was detrimental to the party, the players would make him roll anyway. It may have taken a bit of realism out of the game, but who wants realism from fantasy roll-playing? We just wanted to have fun

I have added a second paragraph on the dice, since apparently my first effort fell short of expectations. I'm still avoiding getting bogged down by minutiae, but I think this last addition will satisfy gamers and nongamers alike. If not, I have no doubt I will be properly chastised.

Hey GB!

I just read your article since you revised it, and I must say, it's a lot better. Those two extra paragraphs in the middle gave me that bit of information I wanted earlier on. Well done! It now ranks an 8!

Astrodome 'Well, I'm glad we got that cleared up' Goth

I liked it before, and I like it now. You might want to throw a few crunchies into that candybar, though.

A good article gets even better. If changing my score is allowed, I now give it a 9.

Frink: improving the piece is what this article is all about, and if scores go up, I know I'm going in the right direction. I truly believe the article is better now than when this started. Many thanks to everyone involved for the great feedback, and to vegi for engineering the whole thing.

If I said anything about D&D I'm going to come off sounding like a redneck, so I won't. A pretty good read but I thought you could do with a few headings or some such to break it up into bite size chunks.
I'd give a 7

The final, final update. With thanks to Bruce's GuideML clinic, this page now has a few of the bells and whistles that people have been clamoring for. I now refuse to look at this article ever again! Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate all the feedback.

GB: Just took a peek at the final release. I didn't proof-read or anything, but I wanted to let you know I think the article rates a job well done.

Hey GB, I see this is about to go official. Congrats!

Thanks. I was rather shocked and stunned to see three of my articles get subbed in the same week, one of which has already made its dramatic appearance on the home page.

Congradulations! *jumps around*

Erm.. CongraTulations, too. *sigh* Never h2g2 on a.. erm... Oh never mind.. that's the whole point!

An accepted guide entry, and on Thanksgiving Day no less! Thanks once again to everyone, for your contributions on what is surely one of the top five articles accepted today!

Next up: Rogue.