Play with me, damn you!
Some of you may recall, some months ago, my having posted about an online roleplaying game I had joined (and some other group of you may not remember it, but may learn of it by means of clicking on the handy and informative link embedded in that sentence!). At the time, it seemed quite interesting to me, but fairly shortly thereafter, I learned that it was perhaps not so interesting after all: Though the setting presented what seemed on the surface to be a fascinating mystery, I would soon thereafter learn that the mystery was mere window dressing; there was no solution to it, no underlying meaning or motive to any of what was going on. It was merely meant to be a backdrop for interactions between characters, hanging around, being chummy, chatting, and getting depressed about their captivity.
Naturally, I dropped it like a hot potato.
Nevertheless, I had the bug by that point. I was in the mood to genuinely engage with a game of that nature where there was something to be engaged WITH. And so I looked, and I found another game. One which on the surface is actually rather similar, save for several important differences: (1) There is an actual meta-plot, things happen for a reason, and that reason is discernable with enough digging and work. (2) Characters retain any abilities they may have had prior to their imprisonment in this environment, because the game is not simply about hanging around and chit-chatting; it is about a giant supernatural conflict, in which such powers might be relevant! (3) Unlike that other game, where EVERY SINGLE PERSON I invited to apply got rejected because of the arbitrary and snobbish standards of the people running that game, this game seems apt to accept a wide range of characters, either pilfered from existing canons or else original characters of your own creation, and are actually really welcoming and accommodating.
Naturally, when I decided to apply to play in this game, I went balls-to-the-wall crazy, and applied to play as Lucifer, the lead character from the Vertigo comics series of the same name. I was almost-immediately accepted, after some brief discussion with the mods about how best to incorporate him into the story. I’ve been having a grand time with him, and he’s been like a hurricane moving through the setting, setting everyone he comes into contact with into motion according to his own trajectory. It’s been a lot of fun.
The game does seem to suffer from one of the principle flaws that a lot of these sorts of games seem to: Everybody wants to play the young, attractive heroes. There’s a real deficit of villains in this game. I’m planning a couple of outright brutes, including an original character who is a 2007-era Blackwater Mercenary, taken from the streets of Iraq, with a head full of bad wiring, apocalyptic delusions (which in this game are actually not completely delusional), and a badly misaligned moral compass.
The other thing it presently suffers from is a somewhat depleted player-base; just as I was joining, there was something of a drama explosion, which caused a number of long-time players to leave as a clique, which has slowed things down somewhat. It could use some fresh blood to get things humming along.
So, hey, if any of you - especially those who were so cruelly mistreated when you attempted to join me in the previous game - and ESPECIALLY especially those who might like to bring some villains into the mix - should like to join me in this one, I should certainly be glad of it. It’s a good group of players, an interesting setting and storyline, and I would love to have some more familiar company there.