This will be touchy to most. If it offends you, get over yourself.
I noticed something about the state of gaming in general that is quite disturbing. And amazingly enough, this time, it is the newbie’s fault. Not completely though.
First, some background: after my first 24/7 IRC game, I decided to avoid them, as running and playing in them were difficult, when you had to rely on people to show up, and they you. And everyone knows that trying to do this online, encompassing many time zones is asking for trouble.
Well, I accidentally got sucked into another one, assured that this would be completely different. There were several GMs and a multitude of players to interact with, many of them on for long periods of time. Nice, no?
Here’s the kicker: The majority of the players were completely ignorant of the setting, many others completely inept anyway. The GMs who seemed to know the most were hardly ever around, leaving behind GMs who were new to the settings themselves.
Storylines were deplorable, and often times didn’t involve a lot of players. Seemingly, there was only one storyline run at a time. There would be players sitting idle because there was nothing they could do. There were also deplorable storylines that were sprung on seemingly favored characters, many of them deplorable from the view of a veteran to the setting. Often times, they levied important setting roles onto newbie players to try and keep them to play.
It’s difficult going into specifics, as many require some knowledge of the setting.
Now that I got that off of my chest, here comes the introspection. I, myself, am one of the rare GMs. I am also a very avid player and runner of this setting. Which is probably why I have so much of a problem with it.
However, going back to the subject of this little article, how many newbie’s out there have actually taken the time to read anything beyond the character creation rules? *Sigh* Ok, now how to move on to my next thought….
The sacred, golden rule among gamers is “Just have fun” and is sometimes supplemented with “It’s just a game”
There are many saying “What the hell is your problem? It’s just a game.” Yes, it’s just a game. But like many games, there are rules. If you don’t follow the rules of the game, what fun is it to play? ? How about a hockey game without ice skates? You could do it, but you wouldn’t have much fun and no doubt people having to rely on you won’t think it so great either.
There are a great many intricacies in a game, some minor quirks that make the game interesting for those who bother to read it. In Legend of the Five Rings, there is the political and cultural mores. In Werewolf, it’s the spiritual side of the changing breed and trying to prevent your race from dying, and stave off the destruction of the world by a near unstoppable force. In Vampire the Masquerade, it’s dealing with the alien beast that you’ve become. With the Sabbat, it’s dealing with the knowledge that your creators are seeking to destroy you and having to contend with the ignorant masses. The list goes on.
What happens when you remove these little lynch pins of the game? It goes from telling a story and enjoying the company of your friends in an interesting environment to a bunch of people with nothing better to do huddling around a table rolling dice and saying “I attack such and such….” roll a die “…and kill it”
The character creation is just the tip of the ice burg and a nice jumping spot, but the other hundred pages are not just filler. People worked hard to create this world (which is for a different article). The least you could do is read it. Especially if you spent 20+ dollars for it, unless you were one of those schmoes who were just told how to make the character and go from there. Those of you who have, I pity you. You are missing out.
If you can’t afford, borrow it. If you can’t borrow it, read it at the local store. If they don’t have it, what the hell are you doing playing?
For you computer players, you have it a little bit easier, so the focus now goes from the newbie’s, to the veterans and the cheaters. Why do you pick on people knowing full well they need a break to get a chance to get a grasp of the game? How many newbies have you chased away from a good gaming experience because you needed to fulfill your mediocre ego in attacking some one who doesn’t know better? You bitch and moan because you don’t have any decent competition. That’s probably because you’ve chased away the potential adversaries so you can claim to be “l33t” by default.
Cheating. This is everyone’s favorite subject. Why get a game, if you’re just going to cheat?
Why do I ask all these rhetorical questions? Because the answers don’t have to be said, because everyone already knows it, but maybe you just need some one to ask.
Next installment, retarded GMs and how they came to be.
--Wyrm