I've been reading the new Mage rulebook. While I haven't gotten through the full rules on using magic, so far I am unimpressed with the settign information.
Putting aside, for the moment that by the rules one can come up with severe mental illness for pocketing a Chapstik without paying for it...
The WoD 2.0 core book, and the Werewolf book both do a good job of telling the story of the history of the WoD. The elements are put forth in a way that tends to hold and intrigue the reader. The world picture they paint is at least interesting to read. In the Mage book, it comes across as a dry recital of historical facts - and never mind that we are told that even the Mages don't know it's true. In writing this book, they scraped down what could have been a colorful myth down into a poorly conducted history lesson.
My next big gripe is how horribly inconsistent the book is on what Mage society is supposed to be. For example:
Pg 14 of Mage: The Awakening said:
Mages travel from their sanctums only when necessary, to seek magical power or new mysteries, or to forge the occasional (often temporary) alliance with another mage who has something they need. The entirely of teh spiritual realm may be open for their exploration, but mages usually see little of our world byond their own chosen ground
Compare this to later on the very same page:
Pg 14 of Mage: The Awakening said:
While a rare few mages might spend their days contemplating their navels and the awesome secrets of the universe, most mages are in teh thick of things, always at ground zero for the next, great momentous event
Hm. Those who are staying at home are still always at ground zero. Right. I dont' mind a little logical hole here and there, but inconsistency regarding the groundwork of scoiety is something else entirely.
Inconsistencies like this show up throughout the setting matieral. Furthermore, Mage society is asserted to have any number of qualities that make little or no sense. F'rex: we are told that, for some reason, Mages are obsessed with keeping secrets of power for themselves - but so far as I've seen, the rules don't seem to support the idea that knowledge, per se, is particularly valuable. Power is driven by XP expenditure, not knowledge that is easily passed from one to another.
Characters are expected to join one of five Orders. While not strictly necessary, a mage who doesn't join loses benefits, with no corresponding gain elsewhere. Which is okay, except that the Orders are thoroughly unoriginal and uninspiring.
I suppose all that can be overcome with a decent GM and players, but it is still a let-down.