John Zinser is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

game designer Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in ...

who has worked primarily on

collectible card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...

s and

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

Career

In 1992,

Jolly Blackburn Jolly Randall Blackburn is best known as the creator of the comic strip ''Knights of the Dinner Table''. Biography Jolly Blackburn went to Ball State University. Jolly Blackburn majored in anthropology, history, and classical cultures in colle ...

added John Zinser and David Seay as partners in

Alderac Entertainment Group Alderac Entertainment Group, or AEG, is a publisher of role-playing game, board game, and collectible card game products. AEG was formed by Jolly Blackburn in 1993 and is based in the city of Ontario, California. Prior to getting into their cur ...

. In 1994, Zinser was working on an original CCG, ''

Legend of the Five Rings Legend of the Five Rings (often abbreviated ''L5R'') is a fictional setting created by John Zinser, Dave Seay, Ryan Dancey, Dave Williams, DJ Trindle, Matt Wilson and John Wick and first published by a joint venture between Alderac Entertai ...

'', which began as an idea from a conversation between Zinser and Seay discussing the 1980 RPG ''

Bushido is a moral code concerning samurai attitudes, behavior and lifestyle. There are multiple bushido types which evolved significantly through history. Contemporary forms of bushido are still used in the social and economic organization of Japan. ...

''. Blackburn left Alderac in 1995 because he felt that Zinser and Seay were looking for success in the CCG industry while he wanted to keep the company fun and small and focus on ''

Knights of the Dinner Table ''Knights of the Dinner Table'' (''KoDT'') is a comic book/strip created by Jolly R. Blackburn and published by Kenzer & Company. It primarily focuses on a group of role playing gamers and their actions at the gaming table, which often result in ...

''. According to Zinser, he wanted the in debt company to grow at a faster pace than Blackburn was comfortable with. so, a split was agreed upon, with Blackburn leaving with the rights to ''Knights of the Dinner Table'' and a few other properties. In 1996 Five Rings Publishing Group was formed, with Robert Abramowitz as the President of the new company,

Ryan Dancey Ryan S. Dancey is a businessman who has worked primarily in the collectible card game and role-playing game industries. He was vice president in charge of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' at Wizards of the Coast. When the publisher of Dungeons & Dragon ...

becoming VP of Product Development and Zinser becoming VP of Sales. Zinser was listed as providing advice on

Pinnacle Entertainment Group Pinnacle Entertainment Group is a publisher of role-playing games and wargames. History When Shane Lacy Hensley decided to create a 19th-century miniatures game he contacted Charles Ryan's company Chameleon Eclectic about publishing it. The resul ...

's RPG '' Deadlands: Hell on Earth'' (1998).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zinser, John Living people Role-playing game designers Year of birth missing (living people)