You might not have taken the time to check out our highly selective list of tolerable links. Allow me call your attention to the Fear the Boot podcast.
Fear the Boot began as a "how to role-play good" show. More recently, the FTB crew has been detailing how to create a marketable tabletop RPG. As an example, they are offering a behind the scenes look at the creative process behind Skies of Glass, their post-apocalypse game where radiation does not give characters superpowers.
If you've ever wondered why some games use d20s and others rely on d6s, you should check it out. And if you've never thought about that (I didn't), then you really should give it a listen. Understanding how a game's mechanics match its feel (what you want to do in the game vs. your odds to succeed) will help you to spend your game time wisely.
The latest Fear the Boot podcast is an interview with Ryan Dancey, the guy responsible for Wizards of the Coast buying out D&D. There's a lot of stuff in there to interest role-players, even those of the casual, lapsed, and MMO variety. He discusses how games are marketed more to players than DMs, how White Wolf changed the gamer demographic, and how MMOs are both killing the tabletop market and offer the chance to bring real role-playing to the Internet. (I'm still waiting for that point and click meets Ventrillo RPG interface that Neverwinter Nights always wanted to be.)
They also do bonus episodes on subjects ranging from videogames to the D&D movies to cigars and candy. I highly recommend the Ryan Dancey interview, though. It's the most interesting podcast I've listened to since that guy on GFW got my hopes up about Vanguard.
Go forth and listen, and in the future we will celebrate World Wide Wing Night with buffalo sauce and copious amounts of beer.
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Per a suggestion, here are specific show reccomendations for Fear the Boot. The math of game mechanics is dealt with in Fear the Boot episode 28, "First Steps in Game Design." "Interview Episode 1 - Ryan Dancey" is the Ryan Dancey interview. Both that episode and the latest installment, episode 39 on "Character Creation," delve into the subject of what players want vs. what DMs want out of role-playing games.
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