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It's 2023. Smartphones Exist. Horror Gaming Still Does, Too.
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<blockquote data-quote="overgeeked" data-source="post: 9229161" data-attributes="member: 86653"><p>As noted, it’s mostly about the list of narrative permissions the smart phone gives you and the ways those permissions lessen the tone of horror. And honestly, the fact that there's a list of ways that people have come up with to overcome the problem of smart phones shows how disruptive they are. You don't need to find solutions for things that aren't a problem.</p><p></p><p>Darkness, isolation, lack of information, and lack of evidence are great ways to ramp up horror that the smart phone can destroy or significantly reduce.</p><p></p><p>Yes, you can either target the phone or weaponize it as mentioned above but that comes across as really cheap really fast. Like any other tool, if the referee simply stops it from working because that tool would destroy the ref's plot, the players can smell it like a fart in a car.</p><p></p><p>Grounding smart phones and keeping them realistic rather than let them be treated as super-tools is a far, far better way to deal with them than simply denying that they're a problem or arbitrarily targeting them until they become useless. Again, if they weren't a problem, you wouldn't have to go out of your way to target them.</p><p></p><p><strong>Darkness.</strong> Smart phone flashlights aren’t that powerful. Their range is limited and the light isn’t that bright. My wife and I went to a cave once and she forgot the flashlight in the car. We tried using our phones as light sources but they were useless for anything more than a few feet away. They were great for lighting up the wall right next to you and the open air in front of you, but the light didn't reach the opposite cave wall nor did it reach the roof of the cave. And, as so often repeated around here, turning on a light is a great way to tell all the monsters around exactly where you are.</p><p></p><p><strong>Isolation.</strong> Smart phones let you reach out to people via phone calls, video chat, text message, and the internet. That's really an amazing feature when you think about it. But in most cases with horror, it's more a matter of physical safety than mental isolation that's the risk. There's also the oft-mentioned lack of signal outdoors and in-some-doors to deal with. People don't always pick up phone calls or video chats. People have lives and are out living them. Even with the phone in their pocket, they don't always pick up. The asynchronous nature of text and the internet also don't really help with isolation. If anything it can ramp up the feeling of isolation. And, as mentioned, having your phone light up and start making noises when you're trying to hide would be a nightmare. In any kind of captive scenario, the literal first thing someone would do is take the target's smart phone and power it down, smash it, or throw it away.</p><p></p><p><strong>Lack of information.</strong> “Google can bring you back 10,000 answers. A librarian can bring you the right one.” —Neil Gaiman. Smart phones would let you effectively have a library in your pocket either via wifi or cellular data. Blocking those is a simple, if brute force method to prevent this...but it also smells of obvious desperation to the players. Being able to reliably make "library use" or equivalent skill check at will is huge. As mentioned above, a simple internet search isn't usually enough to get you the answers you need. Especially if the information is esoteric in nature. Despite what some people think, not everything is on the internet. Separating the informational wheat from the chaff is also a skill unto itself. Need to know the exact coordinates of the capital of New Zealand, you can search for that. Need to know how to deal with a mi-go, you're out of luck. Not providing names to monsters is a great way to ramp up the horror generally, but it also prevents quick searches.</p><p></p><p><strong>Lack of evidence.</strong> Being able to provide photographic evidence of what happened after the fact is huge. But it's also been basically useless since the advent of special effects, photoshop, and "AI" art generators. There's no photo that can't be easily faked. If the make-up artist and photographer are even halfway decent at their jobs, there's no way to tell if what's in the photo is a real monster or a person in a rubber suit. Same with audio. And as mentioned, there's also the credulity of the people you're talking to. A skeptic will not believe you no matter what evidence you provide. A believer will believe you regardless of your lack of evidence. Smart phones don't change that.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="overgeeked, post: 9229161, member: 86653"] As noted, it’s mostly about the list of narrative permissions the smart phone gives you and the ways those permissions lessen the tone of horror. And honestly, the fact that there's a list of ways that people have come up with to overcome the problem of smart phones shows how disruptive they are. You don't need to find solutions for things that aren't a problem. Darkness, isolation, lack of information, and lack of evidence are great ways to ramp up horror that the smart phone can destroy or significantly reduce. Yes, you can either target the phone or weaponize it as mentioned above but that comes across as really cheap really fast. Like any other tool, if the referee simply stops it from working because that tool would destroy the ref's plot, the players can smell it like a fart in a car. Grounding smart phones and keeping them realistic rather than let them be treated as super-tools is a far, far better way to deal with them than simply denying that they're a problem or arbitrarily targeting them until they become useless. Again, if they weren't a problem, you wouldn't have to go out of your way to target them. [B]Darkness.[/B] Smart phone flashlights aren’t that powerful. Their range is limited and the light isn’t that bright. My wife and I went to a cave once and she forgot the flashlight in the car. We tried using our phones as light sources but they were useless for anything more than a few feet away. They were great for lighting up the wall right next to you and the open air in front of you, but the light didn't reach the opposite cave wall nor did it reach the roof of the cave. And, as so often repeated around here, turning on a light is a great way to tell all the monsters around exactly where you are. [B]Isolation.[/B] Smart phones let you reach out to people via phone calls, video chat, text message, and the internet. That's really an amazing feature when you think about it. But in most cases with horror, it's more a matter of physical safety than mental isolation that's the risk. There's also the oft-mentioned lack of signal outdoors and in-some-doors to deal with. People don't always pick up phone calls or video chats. People have lives and are out living them. Even with the phone in their pocket, they don't always pick up. The asynchronous nature of text and the internet also don't really help with isolation. If anything it can ramp up the feeling of isolation. And, as mentioned, having your phone light up and start making noises when you're trying to hide would be a nightmare. In any kind of captive scenario, the literal first thing someone would do is take the target's smart phone and power it down, smash it, or throw it away. [B]Lack of information.[/B] “Google can bring you back 10,000 answers. A librarian can bring you the right one.” —Neil Gaiman. Smart phones would let you effectively have a library in your pocket either via wifi or cellular data. Blocking those is a simple, if brute force method to prevent this...but it also smells of obvious desperation to the players. Being able to reliably make "library use" or equivalent skill check at will is huge. As mentioned above, a simple internet search isn't usually enough to get you the answers you need. Especially if the information is esoteric in nature. Despite what some people think, not everything is on the internet. Separating the informational wheat from the chaff is also a skill unto itself. Need to know the exact coordinates of the capital of New Zealand, you can search for that. Need to know how to deal with a mi-go, you're out of luck. Not providing names to monsters is a great way to ramp up the horror generally, but it also prevents quick searches. [B]Lack of evidence.[/B] Being able to provide photographic evidence of what happened after the fact is huge. But it's also been basically useless since the advent of special effects, photoshop, and "AI" art generators. There's no photo that can't be easily faked. If the make-up artist and photographer are even halfway decent at their jobs, there's no way to tell if what's in the photo is a real monster or a person in a rubber suit. Same with audio. And as mentioned, there's also the credulity of the people you're talking to. A skeptic will not believe you no matter what evidence you provide. A believer will believe you regardless of your lack of evidence. Smart phones don't change that. [/QUOTE]
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