Gaming rant nobody cares about
Bill struck a bit of a nerve with me as the Hunter game was wrapping up last night. He was talking about my Adamantine Arrow supplement for Mage: the Awakening, saying that he really didn't like them much. I got a little irritated at that, thinking that he'd only flipped through several pages and reached a hasty conclusion, and he claimed that he had in fact read through more of the book than that. He went on to clarify that he doesn't like them because they're nothing like the Akashic Brotherhood from Ascension, and because the Arrows black-ball pacifists out of the Order or don't let them join in the first place.
This is what really kind of pissed me off. These are two different games, people. I am tired of everyone trying to compare nWoD stuff to oWoD stuff as if they expected any of it to be the same in the first place. The Adamantine Arrow are not the Akashic Brotherhood, and they were never trying to be. They are a different group of different mages from a different game in which magic works differently, living in a world in which the entire cosmology is also completely different. And you know what? That's okay. There is no gamer law handed down from on high that says you can't enjoy both Ascension and Awakening, or any other set of new and old WoD analogues for that matter.
I am tired of hearing people complaining about how the new games aren't like the old ones. That was the entire point, people. White Wolf made the decision to end its old line of games and replace it with something new, and just because something is different from what you're used to doesn't make it automatically bad. I know plenty of people on the WW forums who actually like the new stuff better because there's no giant metaplot to make your characters feel like little cogs in a machine, and no constant barrage of books updating said metaplot and invalidating everything that's happening in your games. One of the advantages of the nWoD is the toolbox approach to games - they provide a basic framework for the world and let the ST fill in the gaps, allowing the PCs to be the important movers and shakers instead of bit players in the Continuing Saga of Sam Haight. Not to mention the fact that the rules system is streamlined for faster play and easier crossover between different supernatural types.
But I digress. This post is not where I'm going to complain back the other way at people who like oWoD. Having played in a Technocracy game, I will readily admit that I had a really great time with it. I do not debate the richness of the setting, though I can say with all certainty that were the oWoD still running today I wouldn't come anywhere near it because of all the books I'd have to own just to figure out what the hell the plot is actually supposed to be. I am going to play in a game of Changeling: the Dreaming soon, and I expect to enjoy it as well. This does not preclude my enjoyment of Changeling: the Lost, which I think is an absolutely excellent game with an equally compelling premise.
White Wolf has been doing well with its new game lines, and I think this alone should stand as testament to the fact that they are indeed worth something all on their own. They are even forging new ground with games such as Promethean (which is new, regardless of how much people who haven't read the setting seem to want to compare it to certain oWoD lines and supplements) and Geist (an entirely new, non-Wraith, non-Orpheus game due out at the end of this summer). The company is growing and changing, and its products with it. Again, this is not necessarily automatically a bad thing, and is in fact par for the course for companies that want to survive changing markets and shifts in social consciousness as far as what's currently considered nerd/gamer chic.
This may sound hypocritical coming from me, but I don't understand why so many people seem to automatically decide to hate nWoD stuff just because it's different from what they're used to. I got my group to give Hunter: the Vigil a chance, and as far as I can tell everyone loves it. I see no reason this necessarily couldn't be the case for Vampire: the Requiem, Werewolf: the Forsaken, Mage: the Awakening, or Changeling: the Lost, but I'm not really interested in pushing the issue and causing fights. I can understand not wanting to play a game because you're not into its premise - I'm basically not interested in either incarnation of Werewolf, for example - but refusing to play just because it's not a different game you've already played before just strikes a sour note with me, especially when I've experienced said game personally and know it to be enjoyable.
Anyway, this basically all went around in circles and ended up nowhere, but I felt like I needed to get that off my chest.
This is what really kind of pissed me off. These are two different games, people. I am tired of everyone trying to compare nWoD stuff to oWoD stuff as if they expected any of it to be the same in the first place. The Adamantine Arrow are not the Akashic Brotherhood, and they were never trying to be. They are a different group of different mages from a different game in which magic works differently, living in a world in which the entire cosmology is also completely different. And you know what? That's okay. There is no gamer law handed down from on high that says you can't enjoy both Ascension and Awakening, or any other set of new and old WoD analogues for that matter.
I am tired of hearing people complaining about how the new games aren't like the old ones. That was the entire point, people. White Wolf made the decision to end its old line of games and replace it with something new, and just because something is different from what you're used to doesn't make it automatically bad. I know plenty of people on the WW forums who actually like the new stuff better because there's no giant metaplot to make your characters feel like little cogs in a machine, and no constant barrage of books updating said metaplot and invalidating everything that's happening in your games. One of the advantages of the nWoD is the toolbox approach to games - they provide a basic framework for the world and let the ST fill in the gaps, allowing the PCs to be the important movers and shakers instead of bit players in the Continuing Saga of Sam Haight. Not to mention the fact that the rules system is streamlined for faster play and easier crossover between different supernatural types.
But I digress. This post is not where I'm going to complain back the other way at people who like oWoD. Having played in a Technocracy game, I will readily admit that I had a really great time with it. I do not debate the richness of the setting, though I can say with all certainty that were the oWoD still running today I wouldn't come anywhere near it because of all the books I'd have to own just to figure out what the hell the plot is actually supposed to be. I am going to play in a game of Changeling: the Dreaming soon, and I expect to enjoy it as well. This does not preclude my enjoyment of Changeling: the Lost, which I think is an absolutely excellent game with an equally compelling premise.
White Wolf has been doing well with its new game lines, and I think this alone should stand as testament to the fact that they are indeed worth something all on their own. They are even forging new ground with games such as Promethean (which is new, regardless of how much people who haven't read the setting seem to want to compare it to certain oWoD lines and supplements) and Geist (an entirely new, non-Wraith, non-Orpheus game due out at the end of this summer). The company is growing and changing, and its products with it. Again, this is not necessarily automatically a bad thing, and is in fact par for the course for companies that want to survive changing markets and shifts in social consciousness as far as what's currently considered nerd/gamer chic.
This may sound hypocritical coming from me, but I don't understand why so many people seem to automatically decide to hate nWoD stuff just because it's different from what they're used to. I got my group to give Hunter: the Vigil a chance, and as far as I can tell everyone loves it. I see no reason this necessarily couldn't be the case for Vampire: the Requiem, Werewolf: the Forsaken, Mage: the Awakening, or Changeling: the Lost, but I'm not really interested in pushing the issue and causing fights. I can understand not wanting to play a game because you're not into its premise - I'm basically not interested in either incarnation of Werewolf, for example - but refusing to play just because it's not a different game you've already played before just strikes a sour note with me, especially when I've experienced said game personally and know it to be enjoyable.
Anyway, this basically all went around in circles and ended up nowhere, but I felt like I needed to get that off my chest.