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Gamer Question
People who like L5R: Why?
Why do you like a top-heavy, orientalist, highly westernized fantasy of Japan that is simultaneously less gameable and less interesting than the "real thing" (either a historical period or something based on Japanese myth.) Real Samurai had complicated lives of politics, betrayal, war, and power. Y'know, human issues. L5R Samurai seem to worry mostly about "taint" and "honor" and kill themselves all the damned time.
Not to mention that China and Korea are reduced to "the shadowlands" that are EVIL and full of "taint."
And please don't say it is the system. 'cause that is a whole nother rant.
(Clarification: I have no trouble believing that a lot of people like L5R. Just that twice today I have seen folks who I think of as rational, sane people, very hip to racial, cultural, and historical issues, praise the game. I'm really curious -- why? Am I missing something?)
Why do you like a top-heavy, orientalist, highly westernized fantasy of Japan that is simultaneously less gameable and less interesting than the "real thing" (either a historical period or something based on Japanese myth.) Real Samurai had complicated lives of politics, betrayal, war, and power. Y'know, human issues. L5R Samurai seem to worry mostly about "taint" and "honor" and kill themselves all the damned time.
Not to mention that China and Korea are reduced to "the shadowlands" that are EVIL and full of "taint."
And please don't say it is the system. 'cause that is a whole nother rant.
(Clarification: I have no trouble believing that a lot of people like L5R. Just that twice today I have seen folks who I think of as rational, sane people, very hip to racial, cultural, and historical issues, praise the game. I'm really curious -- why? Am I missing something?)
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2: You do have to keep the audience in mind. One of my favorite games is Unknown Armies, but it fails somewhat in this department. Its a wonderful game - if you're a veteran gamer with a good education and a healthy dose of cynicism. If you're not, you're likely to miss a lot of the irony and think the whole thing is just kind of dumb.
BTW, a while back you asked me why I disliked Indie games. Sorry about not getting back to you sooner. I don't like to talk about it, because A) I think the concept of indie games is cool and want to be supportive and B)Its a little hard to know why I don't usually like 'em. I just see the final product, not the process at work.
One problem is that they tend to be very short. $20 for 100 A5 pages is a tough sell. Often the ideas as well as the text is underdevoloped. Where are the character hooks, the plot ideas, the setting?
Indie games rarely support the style of play I perfer. I like more crunch. Not D&D level crunch but more than Kill Puppies.
Finally, the intended PCs and intended story have to be engaging. I don't but Starwars games because I don't like Starwars. I'm not going to play Cat cuz it just doesn't seem cool to me. I know plenty of people who would love Cat, but hey, its just nor for me.
So, yeah, those are my thoughts, take 'em for what their worth.
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(Note: By "amateur" I don't mean "makes no money," I just mean "primarily done for one's own amusement, rather than as a profession.")
As to your complaints about indie games: Well, there they are. The last two seem like perfectly okay things to base your buying decisions off of.
I am a little sad that they are not useful to me as a marketer, but that's my own account.
yrs--
--Ben
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You wrote: "Where are the character hooks, the plot ideas, the setting?"
The best settings are the ones I make with my players. Plot ideas and hooks, these are things I've never had trouble with coming up with on my own. I don't want to pay for 'em.
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