ESPG Other Games An Interview with Steve Jackson The FC Team 10 VIII 08 The Forbidden Cove staff is proud to bring you the following interview with the creator of "Evil Stevie's Pirate Game", Mr. Steve Jackson. Q: Tell us about yourself, and your company, 'Steve Jackson Games'? A: Steve Jackson, founder and editor-in-chief of Steve Jackson Games, is a longtime SF fan, and gets away to cons when he can. He writes folksongs (adequately) and sings (very badly). He is a confirmed net addict. His other hobbies include gardening, dinosaurs, LEGO, and tropical fish. In his copious free time, he reads, eats and sleeps. Since starting his own company in 1980, he has created a number of hits, starting with Car Wars . . . followed shortly by Illuminati, and later by GURPS, the "Generic Universal Roleplaying System." In 1983, he was elected to the Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame - the youngest person ever so honored. He has personally won 10 Origins Awards, not counting the others the company has received. Woo hoo. In 1990 and 1991, Steve got international press due to the Secret Service's invasion of his office. The EFF made it possible for SJ Games to bring suit against the Secret Service and the US government and win more than $50,000 in damages. You can read about it at www.sjgames.com/SS/. He now spends a good deal of his time helping to manage Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, which at the moment employs 25 people. But he continues to write, as well. His current big hit is Munchkin, a very silly card game about killing monsters and taking their stuff. His current projects include a variety of Munchkin follow-ups and the continuing quest to get his games translated into digital form. The company website is www.sjgames.com. Q: Are you an AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO)? Do you belong to any LUG (LEGO User Group)? A: Definitely a FOL. Whether I qualify as "A" must be left for others to judge. I do not belong to any user groups, darnit. It would delight me to have other local fans to play with. Q: What is your favorite LEGO Pirate set(s)? A: The one I'm building now, or the one sitting there WAITING to be built. Q: What other LEGO themes do you like or collect? A: Castle. Monorail. TRAINS!!! And I have a bunch of soccer sets that I have (sigh) never assembled. I'm not even any special soccer fan. The theme just appealed to me. Q: How did you get the idea for ESPG, and when did it all begin? A: I have no memory of this :-) It's been a while. I like pirates; I like LEGO; at some point in the dim past, I started figuring out how to put them together. Q: Have you ever considered videotaping the game, or of the standard moves, etc., so that fans online could watch and learn how to play in that way? A: No, but it sounds like a neat idea, what with YouTube and all. Ye who are reading this, go do it! Arrrr! Q: Have you ever considered doing an "Admiral Steven's Imperial Game" (focused on Imperials chasing down pirates)? or any other game that utilizes LEGO sets or parts? A: We've done an Imperial-vs-Pirates game. I built a LARGE Imperial port facility that has NEVER been used . . . it was like the guy who built a boat in his basement. Finished it and then couldn't get it out! In this case, it's "built a whole lot of buildings and then realized that transporting them 1000 miles to a convention was impractical." Besides, they have no game *purpose*. The port could be represented by one building, or one brick. They were just for pretty. Q: Where can LEGO fans see the next ESPG played at? (Anything scheduled for the next calendar year or so?) A: I have nothing scheduled. I'm sure not the only one who runs it, though. Hmm. There really needs to be an ESPG forum, doesn't there? Q: What's the longest and shortest rounds of ESPG played? A: The longest game that I've been involved with would be one that we ran at Miscon (Missoula, Montana) lo these many years ago. The scenario started one day and continued through the next, and I'm not SURE that the room ever closed at all . . . though I was not there all night myself! Shortest? Wow. No idea. Since a proper setup with 30+ ships and lots of islands takes more than an hour, and a careful repacking takes just as long, it would be the height of madness to run a game of less than a couple of hours, unless it was just, say, "3 ships vs. 3 ships." Which of course you could do. Q: Is ESPG more of a game of skill or a game of chance? What's the secret to winning? A: Totally skill. If you take a lot of shots, the dice average out. There is no secret to winning except "Pay attention to the objectives of today's scenario, and cooperate with the captains on your team!" Q: ESPG has been around for a long time... can you give us the names/nicknames of some of the best players out there? A: The two who immediately spring to mind are "Admiral" Derek Schin (Hi, Derek!), and Frank Filz, who has run the Pirate Game at various conventions without me even being around. Q: Have you ever considered making a short version of your game which requires fewer bricks, minifigs, etc. (or a new version of the ESPG perhaps, that includes smaller LEGO Pirate sets?) A: No. Never considered a "shorter version." I just continue to try to make the basic game run more quickly. A lot of the details turn out to be huge fun to play a couple of times, but afterwards they just slow things down... for instance, men overboard being eaten by sharks. In fact, I'm about four years behind in updating the website to match the way I run it now. Sorry... Q: What is your favorite pirate movie, book, etc.? (Where do you get your inspiration)? A: Arrr. I could not even name my favorite DOZEN. The most wonderful pirate thing I have seen recently was the series by Gideon Defoe that started with "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists." Q: Would you like to add any additional comments about ESPG or the LEGO Pirates theme? A: I think I'll just point you at my newest Pirate project: Munchkin Booty "Evil Stevie's Pirate Game", links to the ESPG hompage, game rules, and content are copyright, Steve Jackson, and used on ForbiddenCove.com with permission. Many thanks to Steve Jackson for his time and support. If you want to learn more about "Evil Stevie's Pirate Game", please click here.  Home | Archives | Gaming | Events | Sets | How-to | Creations | Stories | Links | Contact  © 2008-2011 ForbiddenCove.com. Site design © Anthony Sava, Benjamin Ellermann, and Nelson Yrizarry. All rights reserved. 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