The Cam Coord
This won't be a happy, positive post, so feel free to stop reading now if you think that will offend you.
Exercise your free will.
Skip this one over.
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As far as I am concerned, there is one primary sin in OWBN: you do not tell people how to play their characters. Certinly, there are specific rules for some things that can impact your character -- a blood bond, a flaw, the use of a discpline -- where your RP is impact and you may require direction if your not doing quite right. What I am talking about is telling people that they are somehow playing their entire concept -- a construct of their own creation -- somehow *incorrectly*, as if you somehow knew better then the creator.
There are some very broad guidlines that do need to be followed, sure. There are mechanical limitations also in placed for game balance reasons that need to be respected. However, if someone plays something seen as 'wrong' -- an Anarch Tremere, a fluffy Malkavian, a double betraying Nosferatu -- then it's their concept to play. Will it survive? Perhaps not, death and PvP is a part of the setting. However, perhaps it will. It will come down to the interaction and roleplay that person has with other people. Maybe tha Anarch Tremere can play his way through a tribunal and convince everyone he should be allowed to do what he is doing. Maybe that Nos can avoid getting caught, or even better, pin his antics on someone else. Maybe that Malkavian will lose the soft edge, or even better, be used by other Malkavian as a double blind for some prank they are going to pull.
That is the fun of this game after all. To go out there, play what your going to play, and see what happens. Based on what you do, who you are, and how you do it, maybe you get greased at the door. Maybe you become Prince someday. The only 'wrong' thing is telling someone that they are not allowed to try, because you feel you know better.
This is why I couldn't stand Alan. Because he didn't just break THIS rule (and condecendingly so, with that whole 'it makes sense if you read the background' he repeated so often), he decided all of OWBN was 'doing it wrong'. Any previous precedent or genre was established that did not fit his world view was simply incorrect, and had to change. Any character that he felt shouldn't exist was being played 'wrong', or should simply just die. Roleplay, history, and precedent didn't matter. Essentialy, to Alan, the game *itself* didn't really matter at all, only the end result did.
His version of OWBN is not something I had any intrest playing in, because it would have taken all the creativity and fun out of it. Your charaters must fit into the following boxes. They must follow the following social rules -- roleplay need not apply. The end result of X conflict is Y response. It's one step away from having scripts.
Obviously, Alan and I built up a fair amount of personal animocity in our time. I think we both have good reasons, as neither of us has been particularly kind to each other or our perspectives.
The funny thing about Alan is that ... I really like roleplaying with him.
Jack is a cool character. He's an excellent Brujah concept, and watching him give a book of erotic poetry to Queen Anne on her embrace day party was fairly awesome. Jack is good mix of iconoclast and idealist concepts, and I think he adds a perspective in the clan that is really rather nice to have around. In a clan filled with powerful personalities, Jack certinly is one in his own way.
Alan as a Coord though? Not so much. I'm glad it's over, and anyone who enjoys OWBN for the reasons I do should be as well.
Exercise your free will.
Skip this one over.
**********************
As far as I am concerned, there is one primary sin in OWBN: you do not tell people how to play their characters. Certinly, there are specific rules for some things that can impact your character -- a blood bond, a flaw, the use of a discpline -- where your RP is impact and you may require direction if your not doing quite right. What I am talking about is telling people that they are somehow playing their entire concept -- a construct of their own creation -- somehow *incorrectly*, as if you somehow knew better then the creator.
There are some very broad guidlines that do need to be followed, sure. There are mechanical limitations also in placed for game balance reasons that need to be respected. However, if someone plays something seen as 'wrong' -- an Anarch Tremere, a fluffy Malkavian, a double betraying Nosferatu -- then it's their concept to play. Will it survive? Perhaps not, death and PvP is a part of the setting. However, perhaps it will. It will come down to the interaction and roleplay that person has with other people. Maybe tha Anarch Tremere can play his way through a tribunal and convince everyone he should be allowed to do what he is doing. Maybe that Nos can avoid getting caught, or even better, pin his antics on someone else. Maybe that Malkavian will lose the soft edge, or even better, be used by other Malkavian as a double blind for some prank they are going to pull.
That is the fun of this game after all. To go out there, play what your going to play, and see what happens. Based on what you do, who you are, and how you do it, maybe you get greased at the door. Maybe you become Prince someday. The only 'wrong' thing is telling someone that they are not allowed to try, because you feel you know better.
This is why I couldn't stand Alan. Because he didn't just break THIS rule (and condecendingly so, with that whole 'it makes sense if you read the background' he repeated so often), he decided all of OWBN was 'doing it wrong'. Any previous precedent or genre was established that did not fit his world view was simply incorrect, and had to change. Any character that he felt shouldn't exist was being played 'wrong', or should simply just die. Roleplay, history, and precedent didn't matter. Essentialy, to Alan, the game *itself* didn't really matter at all, only the end result did.
His version of OWBN is not something I had any intrest playing in, because it would have taken all the creativity and fun out of it. Your charaters must fit into the following boxes. They must follow the following social rules -- roleplay need not apply. The end result of X conflict is Y response. It's one step away from having scripts.
Obviously, Alan and I built up a fair amount of personal animocity in our time. I think we both have good reasons, as neither of us has been particularly kind to each other or our perspectives.
The funny thing about Alan is that ... I really like roleplaying with him.
Jack is a cool character. He's an excellent Brujah concept, and watching him give a book of erotic poetry to Queen Anne on her embrace day party was fairly awesome. Jack is good mix of iconoclast and idealist concepts, and I think he adds a perspective in the clan that is really rather nice to have around. In a clan filled with powerful personalities, Jack certinly is one in his own way.
Alan as a Coord though? Not so much. I'm glad it's over, and anyone who enjoys OWBN for the reasons I do should be as well.