ayrwind
First Post
I do not mean this thread to be a flame or a rehash of a thread that was closed. I just wanted to show those who were involved in the discussions the entire quote from the World of Darkness book which someone misquoted and tried to troll for a flame war against White Wolf.
I do not want to restart the discussion again. I just got the new book and having read the entire passage, I realised that someone managed to splice some paragraphs together and made it seem as if White Wolf was making fun of players of other systems. Hence, I only wish to retype the few paragraphs from the WoD book and show the actual context of the book.
These paragraphs are taken from a more "DM" chapter which talks about what the storytelling system is, so as to guide potential Storytellers (GM/DM) to know the feel of the system.
Moderators, feel free to close this thread. Thanks.
From the WoD book:
And that brings us to Storytelling. Many roleplaying games are more concerned with rules and statistics than the drama created within the game. Some people call those roll-playing games, since they're more focused on dice rolling than role-playing. Storytelling certainly provides for a simple and consistent set of rules, but it seeks more than just dice rolls and character sheets. Storytelling is about drama, the wonder of a make-believe tale told by the players. Good storytelling is always surprising, taking unexpected twists and turns, and players often find their characters speaking and acting in ways that are strange and novel, taking on a life of their own.
Unlike child's play or corporate roleplaying, Storytelling can strive to be an art form. This might sound pretentious, but anybody who's played roleplaying games long enough has experienced more than one epiphany, a moment when the game seems to become a living entity, a Muse dictating strange and wonderful things to the players. These moments are worth striving for.
Throughout this chapter are tips and hints that will hopefully lead to these epiphianies. But it's not a recipe that, if followed exactly, will always produce the same result. It takes active work on everyone's part, and a desire to achieve more than the mundane.
Just dont get lost in the Ivory Tower. Don't deride those who see gaming as a fun hobby (which it is), or those whose roleplaying stories don't aim higher. Instead, encourage and persuade players to stretch their boundaries. Storytelling is about achieving something great through an interactive tale, but not at the expense of fun.
Here we go, the entire passage. Do remember this is meant as an introduction to be a gamemaster for the new WoD system. We need to be more careful of people who just cuts away paragraphs and make it seem some company is "proud" or "evil" or whatever, so as to have flames against something they hate.
The person who started the old thread against WW conveniently removed the paragraphs in between, and hence some people thought that the Ivory Tower was referring to people who play other roleplaying systems. Here, it is more obvious that the Ivory Tower refers to people who take the new World of Darkness too seriously, and hence becomes too gritty or worked up until the game is no longer fun.
For those puzzled by this, the original thread is found at:
http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=98597
I do not want to restart the discussion again. I just got the new book and having read the entire passage, I realised that someone managed to splice some paragraphs together and made it seem as if White Wolf was making fun of players of other systems. Hence, I only wish to retype the few paragraphs from the WoD book and show the actual context of the book.
These paragraphs are taken from a more "DM" chapter which talks about what the storytelling system is, so as to guide potential Storytellers (GM/DM) to know the feel of the system.
Moderators, feel free to close this thread. Thanks.
From the WoD book:
And that brings us to Storytelling. Many roleplaying games are more concerned with rules and statistics than the drama created within the game. Some people call those roll-playing games, since they're more focused on dice rolling than role-playing. Storytelling certainly provides for a simple and consistent set of rules, but it seeks more than just dice rolls and character sheets. Storytelling is about drama, the wonder of a make-believe tale told by the players. Good storytelling is always surprising, taking unexpected twists and turns, and players often find their characters speaking and acting in ways that are strange and novel, taking on a life of their own.
Unlike child's play or corporate roleplaying, Storytelling can strive to be an art form. This might sound pretentious, but anybody who's played roleplaying games long enough has experienced more than one epiphany, a moment when the game seems to become a living entity, a Muse dictating strange and wonderful things to the players. These moments are worth striving for.
Throughout this chapter are tips and hints that will hopefully lead to these epiphianies. But it's not a recipe that, if followed exactly, will always produce the same result. It takes active work on everyone's part, and a desire to achieve more than the mundane.
Just dont get lost in the Ivory Tower. Don't deride those who see gaming as a fun hobby (which it is), or those whose roleplaying stories don't aim higher. Instead, encourage and persuade players to stretch their boundaries. Storytelling is about achieving something great through an interactive tale, but not at the expense of fun.
Here we go, the entire passage. Do remember this is meant as an introduction to be a gamemaster for the new WoD system. We need to be more careful of people who just cuts away paragraphs and make it seem some company is "proud" or "evil" or whatever, so as to have flames against something they hate.
The person who started the old thread against WW conveniently removed the paragraphs in between, and hence some people thought that the Ivory Tower was referring to people who play other roleplaying systems. Here, it is more obvious that the Ivory Tower refers to people who take the new World of Darkness too seriously, and hence becomes too gritty or worked up until the game is no longer fun.
For those puzzled by this, the original thread is found at:
http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=98597
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