That roleplaying anecdote in full...
Jun. 2nd, 2011 08:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aumentouThere's this one anecdote I hear a lot. This one anecdote that really pisses me off. Here it is:
"Oh, well we were playing [game system] and I was playing a [min-maxed monstrosity]. So at one point, [interaction with event] happened, and because my character was [horribly overpowered compared with the statted challenge] it was [remarkably easy to succeed]."
Alternatively, especially from old WoD, though I suspect new WoD would give similar results (if mages were involved, anyway):
"Oh, well we were playing [game system] and we were playing [min-maxed monstrosities]. So at one point, [crossover event with a different game] happened, and because my character was [horribly overpowered compared with the other game], we [walked all over them and ruined their game]."
To which the question I want to ask, but never do* is: If you knew it was going to be overpowered, and you knew it was going to succeed, didn't that kind of ruin the game? And for the crossover: If you knew you were going to walk in and walk all over someone elses game, why did you do that? That's pretty similar to walking down a beach until you find someone smaller than you building a sandcastle and then kicking it over. Do you do that, too? If they put time and effort into characters and have an interesting plot that they're enjoying, your presence as unstoppable badasses fucks up the fun game they were having and turns their lovingly-crafted characters into expendable mooks for your game. You can do that without them, and thereby avoid ruining their fun.
*because it seems rude
I understand the desire to play the almighty badass who's invincible, but I also know that a) it's a pretty immature desire, and b) you can't do that all the time. The concept of "screen time" is actually important in games, and the idea that you get to be the hero(ine) so everyone else has to be a mook is fine, briefly. But then you have to get taken down, or ride off into the sunset, and somebody else gets to be the hero(ine) for a while.
Okay, rant over.
"Oh, well we were playing [game system] and I was playing a [min-maxed monstrosity]. So at one point, [interaction with event] happened, and because my character was [horribly overpowered compared with the statted challenge] it was [remarkably easy to succeed]."
Alternatively, especially from old WoD, though I suspect new WoD would give similar results (if mages were involved, anyway):
"Oh, well we were playing [game system] and we were playing [min-maxed monstrosities]. So at one point, [crossover event with a different game] happened, and because my character was [horribly overpowered compared with the other game], we [walked all over them and ruined their game]."
To which the question I want to ask, but never do* is: If you knew it was going to be overpowered, and you knew it was going to succeed, didn't that kind of ruin the game? And for the crossover: If you knew you were going to walk in and walk all over someone elses game, why did you do that? That's pretty similar to walking down a beach until you find someone smaller than you building a sandcastle and then kicking it over. Do you do that, too? If they put time and effort into characters and have an interesting plot that they're enjoying, your presence as unstoppable badasses fucks up the fun game they were having and turns their lovingly-crafted characters into expendable mooks for your game. You can do that without them, and thereby avoid ruining their fun.
*because it seems rude
I understand the desire to play the almighty badass who's invincible, but I also know that a) it's a pretty immature desire, and b) you can't do that all the time. The concept of "screen time" is actually important in games, and the idea that you get to be the hero(ine) so everyone else has to be a mook is fine, briefly. But then you have to get taken down, or ride off into the sunset, and somebody else gets to be the hero(ine) for a while.
Okay, rant over.
