I've just spent the long weekend at Pheno along with my awesome team. It was a pretty good convention. There weren't any games that blew me away, and only one game I didn't enjoy
( Read more... )
This seems to make me something of a heretic, but I hate the jenga-based mechanic in Dread.
(1) it's a resolution system that is based on player skill, not character skill. (2) it smacks to me of being a cheap gimmick to try and build tension for reasons that have nothing to do with your actual adventure being any good (3) speaking of tension, for me it actually sucks all of the in-character tension away. I'm not worrying about the hideous danger that threatens my character in-game, I'm worrying about my real-life need to fiddle about with some stupid wooden blocks.
On a pragmatic level, I agree with your statments but in game I found it a quirky and interesting gimmick. Not sure how it would work a second time. Our tower never fell over, which was slightly disappointing!
Your opinions on this fit really well with how it played out in the game... and a further one was that it created a mentality where the GM needed to find a reason to pull... so an activity that would seem basic to the character suddenly needs a pull of the Jenga cube... and that is silly.
...I must ask Robbie where the actual broadcast idea went. I vaguely recall that was part of the initial pitch for "Don't Know Where..." - and it would have given your character more Plot.
OTOH, Robbie ran a radio play game some years ago, so he may have had good reasons for not doing it again. :)
...I actually noticed the lack of agency more strongly in "Floodland" than "Makundi". For me that one was more interactive fiction than roleplaying (but, you know, good interactive fiction).
We got really into Floodland and for me it was a strong, character-based drama with most of the issues arising from player conflicts. I could have done without the long-boxed text sequences though. The binary ending was a bit weak, but overall I found it far more interactive with the other players than the 'Cabinet' game. I liked how your original reading of your character was totally different from the others' perception of you, which created inter-PC reaction and conflict. And because the game was framed around an excavation, that set was less 'limited' because the characters actually had a reason to be there
( ... )
In our session we had the sense of being just barely in control of our crises, making pragmatic but morally questionable decisions to put off dealing with the real nasty stuff until after the UN delegation had gone. The Finance, Foreign and Security Ministers formed a sort of Axis of Pragmatism, trying to shield the others and Dr Makundi from the consequences of their decisions.
It was pretty clear to me in the set up what the ending was going to be, which can be annoying or it can be satisfying - I found it satisfying in this case.
I didn't play 'Choices' but I have heard the tales... I'd have to say Makundi beats 'Choices' only in that the GM was not actively annoying... The truth is that it was just plain boring because there was nothing binding the characters to talk and you quickly realise that preparing for the UN delegation is irrelevant to the game... and you have no defined resources... as the Finance Minister for example, you have no understanding of what money you have to spend... the Health Minister couldn't have told you how many Doctors they had... it was a world of suck. Which is sad as I think of Ryan's Big Brotheresque game set on an island, from a number of years back and it was just all round awesome. So he can write good games but this was not on the list.
It seems that Ryans game was the one that either worked or didn't for teams. I heard many people say that they really enjoyed it and others like yourselves saying it really was the low point for them. It was a bit like Miks game last year seemed to eliciate strong like/dislike emotions from players. I find it really interesting to see who has enjoyed what game and why.
Comments 16
(1) it's a resolution system that is based on player skill, not character skill.
(2) it smacks to me of being a cheap gimmick to try and build tension for reasons that have nothing to do with your actual adventure being any good
(3) speaking of tension, for me it actually sucks all of the in-character tension away. I'm not worrying about the hideous danger that threatens my character in-game, I'm worrying about my real-life need to fiddle about with some stupid wooden blocks.
So yeah, not a fan.
Reply
Reply
Our tower fell like three times - once with Robbie and me both diving for it. :)
Reply
Reply
OTOH, Robbie ran a radio play game some years ago, so he may have had good reasons for not doing it again. :)
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
It was pretty clear to me in the set up what the ending was going to be, which can be annoying or it can be satisfying - I found it satisfying in this case.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
The truth is that it was just plain boring because there was nothing binding the characters to talk and you quickly realise that preparing for the UN delegation is irrelevant to the game... and you have no defined resources... as the Finance Minister for example, you have no understanding of what money you have to spend... the Health Minister couldn't have told you how many Doctors they had... it was a world of suck. Which is sad as I think of Ryan's Big Brotheresque game set on an island, from a number of years back and it was just all round awesome. So he can write good games but this was not on the list.
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment