Mystery Boxes

I'm a fan of the TED Talks.  There's a lot of inspiration to be found in these short presentations.  To me, its often quite surprising how many ideas can be jam-packed in 22 minutes (I think that's the time limit for these presentations, set by the TED folks).

One of my favorites is a talk by J.J. Abrams (of Lost and Fringe fame).

In his talk, he discusses mystery and making things and imagination.  I think these things are at the heart of what it takes to be a good DM.  These concepts are also at the core of the OSR, by my way of thinking.  He also makes come comments about the 'democratization' of movie making -- comments that also apply to the OSR.

"No community is best served when only the elite have control." -- J.J. Abrams

Too much in there to excerpt -- you need to watch it for yourself.  You won't regret it.