American RPGs

[DreadPirateMurphy]

Here's an interesting question: Does the Forgotten Realms espouse an American idea of celebrity? Some of the epic level DM PCs wandering around Faerun seem to act more like rock stars than heroes...

 

[Barastrondo]

Here's an interesting question: Does the Forgotten Realms espouse an American idea of celebrity? Some of the epic level DM PCs wandering around Faerun seem to act more like rock stars than heroes...

I would actually be interested in seeing how much of the Forgotten Realms is Canadian in sensibility, myself.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Here's an interesting question: Does the Forgotten Realms espouse an American idea of celebrity? Some of the epic level DM PCs wandering around Faerun seem to act more like rock stars than heroes...

I would actually be interested in seeing how much of the Forgotten Realms is Canadian in sensibility, myself.

I was going to say "but Ed Greenwood is Canadian!".

 

[Wik]

Did Wik just answer the same question twice?

Weird!

I wrote the first, realized my memory was wrong, did some fact-checking, and deleted what I wrote and rewrote it to be accurate.

I have no idea how the "original" posted.... cuz I hit no buttons.

 

[Wik]

I would actually be interested in seeing how much of the Forgotten Realms is Canadian in sensibility, myself.

Yeah, well. From personal experience, when Canadians reach a level of popularity even approaching that of a rock star, they tend to flub it up. I mean, look at Nickleback. Those guys think they're U2.

Hell, I once saw the frontman from Big Sugar (Gordie Johnson?) and he had the biggest ego I've ever seen... which is ironic, considering how even most Canadians have never heard of his band, let alone people outside of the country.

The point of it is, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that "canadian sensibilities" actually means "the second you think you can get away with it, you start showing off your suppressed Canadian ego". And Elminster took a cue from all that.

(But then, I'm from B.C., and we also talk about exactly what's in Elminster's pipe, so feel free to ignore me!)

 

[Morrus]

I've known folks from London say that Americans have asked them in what state (of the U.S.) England is.

I tell you no lie - during my first visit to the US I was asked if we had televisions yet in England.

 

[Wik]

Oh, god, tourist stories! I have so many, it's amazing. See, I live in a tourist city where roughly half of the visitors are from the states. LAw of averages says that most (not all) of the stupid questions will therefore come from a U.S. citizen.

Some of the funnier ones:

* "What's the name of that tree?" "Um, that's a douglas fir." "What's the name of that tree?" "Also a douglas fir." "What about that one?" "Uh, a Douglas Fir." "Oh. Is that one a Douglas Fir, too?" "No, that tree's name is Steve." "Really?" "No."

* At the airport once, in August, and watched a plane arrive from L.A. Watching the people getting off. And one younger woman, putting on a heavy winter jacket while getting off the plane. Before she even got inside the building, she realized she was incredibly hot, and took the jacket off. Upon coming in, I heard her telling her friend "It's a lot hotter in Canada than I thought it'd be. We should have brought our swimsuits." And then asking the desk if there were a place in "Canada" where she could buy a swimsuit... and, before getting an answer, explaining what a swimsuit was.

* My personal favourite, because it happens ALL THE TIME: Americans that believe Canadian money isn't real. And so throw it away. I've seen tourists spend an American twenty on a two dollar item, and get a bunch of toonies and loonies back. They'll keep the quarters, dimes, and pennies, but will literally give away the two-dollar and one-dollar coins, often as tips. MAny tourist shops realize this, and will only give you back two-dollar and one-dollar coins (they ain't stupid!).

That being said, there are plenty of stupid tourists from all over the world that visit my neck of the woods. From the asians who flew to Vancouver island because they wanted to go to Vancouver (look at a map before booking a flight, okay?), to the brits who decided to inform me (and they weren't even drunk!) that we were wrong to call the sport "Football". That "football" should not be called "Soccer". (and the funny thing was, I hadn't even been talking to them, I wasn't talking about Soccer, and there wasn't a soccer game on any nearby TV screen!).

 

[Morrus]

to the brits who decided to inform me (and they weren't even drunk!) that we were wrong to call the sport "Football". That "football" should not be called "Soccer". (and the funny thing was, I hadn't even been talking to them, I wasn't talking about Soccer, and there wasn't a soccer game on any nearby TV screen!).

That's hardly an error, though, is it? An uninvited and unpopular opinion isn't the same as ignorance. It's not a stupid thing to say, although maybe in that particular scenario it was a rude thing to say. A lot of British people do have an issue with the way the game is referred to in the US. I personally think there's not much point getting worked up over semantics used by a particular country, but I'm not everyone!

 

[Wik]

That's hardly an error, though, is it? An uninvited and unpopular opinion isn't the same as ignorance. It's not a stupid thing to say, although maybe in that particular scenario it was a rude thing to say. A lot of British people do have an issue with the way the game is referred to in the US. I personally think there's not much point getting worked up over semantics used by a particular country, but I'm not everyone!

Yeah, not an error. But it was the only example I could think of regarding a british person behaving in what I'd see as a stupid manner. Going up to some random person and chastising them for the word "soccer" (and, to be fair, I am not a football/soccer fan, at all... give me hockey, any day of the week) is kind of rude, juvenile, and silly.

Of course, there are generally fewer english tourists in Victoria (even though the prince is here as I speak) than Americans. Especially YOUNG english tourists. We get much more Australian tourists (and, for some reason, I've yet to encounter an aussie tourist that has said something "stupid tourist"-y. I've met stupid australians, mind you, but not in a stupid tourist sort of way.

***

If we wanted to take the subject on to "rude tourists", I have a million stories. Most of them just come from different customs. I remember being at a restaurant and watching a guy snap his fingers to get the waittress' attention. And she'd blatantly ignore him. He did this for about fifteen minutes, every time she walked by, and was getting pretty angry. My friends and I laughed, called him over, and explained to him that snapping your fingers at someone is the height of rude over here. He thanked us, apologized to the waittress, and all was good with the world.

He did give her all his toonies and loonies in change, though.

 

[Morrus]

. We get much more Australian tourists (and, for some reason, I've yet to encounter an aussie tourist that has said something "stupid tourist"-y. I've met stupid australians, mind you, but not in a stupid tourist sort of way.

Aussies tend to be much more well travelled than the rest of us.