In general, choices, to the extent they are there, should be more "fill in the blanks" than "take the story in a wildly different direction".
That was a HUGE part of the problem with later L5R (and in my opinion the blame for that is squarely on AEG/Brand, not on the story team) - a constant drive to put more and more power into player hands, because they were too busy with story = marketing to realize story was the heart of the brand.
April 19 Announcement: Storyline and Art
- Kakita Onimaru
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Re: April 19 Announcement: Storyline and Art
I've criticized AEG before being a "bad GM". In an RPG, the GM should be able to take the players input and produce great story beats out of them. AEG would just get confused and write themselves into corners.
Just about everytime they made a post saying "we can't do that, it doesn't make sense" I could think of a dozen ways they could have handled it while keeping the spirit of the players choice intact AND keep the narrative flowing.
My biggest gripe was them saying that Noritoshi and Jimen couldn't be in a story together during the destroyer wars weekly fictions
Just about everytime they made a post saying "we can't do that, it doesn't make sense" I could think of a dozen ways they could have handled it while keeping the spirit of the players choice intact AND keep the narrative flowing.
My biggest gripe was them saying that Noritoshi and Jimen couldn't be in a story together during the destroyer wars weekly fictions
If you're having Crane problems I feel bad for you son,
I've got 99 problems but a duel ain't one!
I've got 99 problems but a duel ain't one!
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Re: April 19 Announcement: Storyline and Art
The problem wasn't that they were bad gamemasters ; the problem is that they tried to be gamemasters at all. You need exceptional roleplayers to weave a RP campaign into a story worth telling (as opposed to a story that provides an entertaining background for your RP crew to have fun), and the vast majority of L5R players aren't that.
L5R should always have been approached as a novel with some blanks left to fill on particular plot points (eg: the Clan War through roughly Gold approach). Not as a RPG with gamemasters scrambling to bend over backward to the player's whims.
Attempts to turn it into the later, combined with the ever-increasing snarl of plot threads that could never keep up with all the new ideas being thrown around, is what eventually crippled the story.
L5R should always have been approached as a novel with some blanks left to fill on particular plot points (eg: the Clan War through roughly Gold approach). Not as a RPG with gamemasters scrambling to bend over backward to the player's whims.
Attempts to turn it into the later, combined with the ever-increasing snarl of plot threads that could never keep up with all the new ideas being thrown around, is what eventually crippled the story.
- Doji Satevis
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- Tetsuro
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Re: April 19 Announcement: Storyline and Art
There is definitely some resistance to Girltori. I for one welcome our new waifu overlord.
Jeremy Sumerlin
L5R CCG Design Team, 2012-2015
L5R CCG Design Team, 2012-2015
- KakitaKaori
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Re: April 19 Announcement: Storyline and Art
Little reality check: If it was male Hoturi, they'd have all of the creaking ancient 'gay' jokes anyway. With Hotaru, yes, they have them from the ignorant of the players who remember Hoturi, and some pushback from others on it not being exactly the same.
However, we gain in the long run. The years of constant jokes because Hoturi conformed to a more Asian rather than western ideal of male beauty won't make a bit of sense to the new generations coming in who don't care about 'Hoturi' at all, but are getting interested in learning about this character Hotaru. Gay jokes don't stick to female characters. So we don't have to listen to a new generation 'discover' those jokes for the first time. They'll make them anyway about the Crane in general....they always do. But looking at the card art, they're reallly going to play up the female characters in the clan to start off with and it will make the male characters more masculine in contrast.
With that and a really harsh starting position, maybe it won't be so bad this time around.
However, we gain in the long run. The years of constant jokes because Hoturi conformed to a more Asian rather than western ideal of male beauty won't make a bit of sense to the new generations coming in who don't care about 'Hoturi' at all, but are getting interested in learning about this character Hotaru. Gay jokes don't stick to female characters. So we don't have to listen to a new generation 'discover' those jokes for the first time. They'll make them anyway about the Crane in general....they always do. But looking at the card art, they're reallly going to play up the female characters in the clan to start off with and it will make the male characters more masculine in contrast.
With that and a really harsh starting position, maybe it won't be so bad this time around.
Kakita Kaori
Kenshinzen of Golden Petal Village and overly prolific fiction writer
http://craneclan.weebly.com/
[Kakita Kyoumi/WC5]
Kenshinzen of Golden Petal Village and overly prolific fiction writer
http://craneclan.weebly.com/
[Kakita Kyoumi/WC5]
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Re: April 19 Announcement: Storyline and Art
I am really looking forward to see how she fares in The story.
Hoturi was a legend. Let him stay that way - The perfect Crane with beautifully tragic story. I am glad we won't be touching it.
Hoturi was a legend. Let him stay that way - The perfect Crane with beautifully tragic story. I am glad we won't be touching it.
"I am sure this will be a most interesting year."
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Re: April 19 Announcement: Storyline and Art
Kakita Kaori
Kenshinzen of Golden Petal Village and overly prolific fiction writer
http://craneclan.weebly.com/
[Kakita Kyoumi/WC5]
Kenshinzen of Golden Petal Village and overly prolific fiction writer
http://craneclan.weebly.com/
[Kakita Kyoumi/WC5]
- Kakita Shiro
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Re: April 19 Announcement: Storyline and Art
Bushi. Artisan. Duelist. Magistrate. Hatamoto.