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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hong" data-source="post: 2023955" data-attributes="member: 537">Just found something from a year ago, while clearing out Agent's Outbox. I thought I'd repost it. It's still quite accurate, although lately I've been getting more into the pseudo-philosophical waffle and maybe the complex characterisation (if forced to choose, I'll still take larger-than-life over subtle-but-complex). It must be the beer.========Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dndSubject: Re: Anti-Semitism in D&DFrom: Hong Ooi <hong@zipworld.com.au>Date: Sat, 07 Feb 2004 01:57:59 +1100--------On Fri, 6 Feb 2004 00:32:21 +0100, Jasin Zujovic <jzujovic@inet.hr> wrote:>Hong Ooi wrote:>> Aha! Zagreb being of course, the capital of HUNGARY, as shown by the ".hr">> in your domain name.>>Stop trolling. You know as well as I do that .hr stands for Hyrkania, the >proud homeland of the people who enslaved Robert A. Heinlein's Conan, and >I have a post to prove it:>><a href="http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=o374ju4i42hi967459ihmj2t45nr8teaat%4" target="_blank">http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=o374ju4i42hi967459ihmj2t45nr8teaat%4</a>>04ax.comAw, crap. I KNEW I should have put X-No-Archive in my sig.>>> And I have now seen Hungary TWICE, in that estimable>> movie "Underworld". It's very pretty.>> >> Cor, talk about monochromatic, though. Is it something about ex-iron>> curtain countries that they're so poor they can't afford all three primary>> colours or something? Plus I've never seen so much rain in so short a time>> since Bladerunner.>> >> What a damn kickass movie, though. No character development and a plot with>> holes big enough to drive a Maserati through, but I just have a fatal>> weakness for brooding vampire babes in black vinyl wielding automatic>> pistols John Woo-style.>> >> Plus wire-fu. Gotta love wire-fu. According to Underworld, vampires are>> apparently 21st century ninjas, which encapsulates perfectly the attraction>> to me of the genre.>> >> This movie is the best advertising White Wolf could have had, as they start>> gearing up for the World of Darkness 2.0.>>SUBSCIRBE, me too, what you said, and all that stuff.>>That film R4WKED.I feel a strange compulsion to lecture about Underworld to a captiveaudience, and you'll do. (Well, actually, I also posted this on agww andother places, but you'll still do.)So anyway, I saw the movie for the second time last night, and this timethe flaws that various people pointed out are more noticeable. The plot isfull of holes, some big enough to drive Kate Beckinsale's Maserati through.The scenes in the mansion are just so much window dressing. The ammunitionexpenditure verges on the ludicrous. Speedman's Michael basically spendsthe whole movie as a hapless bystander; even in his climactic fight withViktor, he doesn't exactly shine. The use of a sword in the final fightscene is incongruous, given the emphasis on gunfights in the rest of themovie, and KB looks like she doesn't have a clue which is the sharp end.None of the characters are particularly deep, and some are woefullyunderused (eg whatsername the blonde, Kraven's wannabe mistress).And yet I still thought the movie rocked on toast. I've been thinking aboutjust why this is. Long ramble follows.I think it's because Underworld feels, to me, a LOT like an idealised RPGsession put on film. Its priorities are very similar to what my prioritiesare, as a DM/GM. I don't put great emphasis on storyline; as long as eventscan be arranged into a semi-coherent sequence, that's good enough for me.Ditto for Underworld: there's nothing in here that hasn't been seen N timesalready, but since the same can be said for most of my adventures, I'mhappy to let it slide.I also don't put great emphasis on complex characterisation. All I want isbroad-brush stuff: Joe is the brooding loner, Bob is the stout fighter,Mary is the idealistic crusader, etc. Character development -- is thatstuff like when you go from 3rd to 4th level? And again, Underworld is abit like this. The characters aren't _completely_ vacuous, but we're nottalking James Joyce here.What I DO want in a game is action in spades, featuring characters whoseexploits are larger than life. I don't just mean tactical wargaming, withmaps and minis etc (although I'll use them). I mean fast, furious action,where the stunts, atmosphere and adrenalin are sufficient to make peopleforget about the shortcomings mentioned above. And on this count,Underworld delivers. The action sequences are some of the best I've seenfor a while, and if I could capture that feel in a game, I'd beable to diehappy. The cinematography and soundtrack all contribute to that vibe;whatever vampires may be, you know that they're more than just human.And of course, there's Kate. Personally, in my games I prefer characterswho kick butt and take names, but are more than just psychotic killers. Aviolent character who exists only to be violent is just a munchkin, as faras I'm concerned. Selene may be a killer, but KB does a good enough job ofconvincing me that the character still has a soul (metaphorically speaking,at least). The fact that she's a knockout in black vinyl also doesn't hurt,but isn't a requirement of PCs IMC. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />Now let's see what I definitely DON'T want in a game. I DON'T want lots ofNPCs mouthing platitudes or getting deep into pseudo-philosophical waffle.The Matrix had action in spades, but it kept getting its head stuck up itsfundament on this count. While Underworld takes itself seriously, it alsodoesn't take things so seriously that it gets bogged down.I DON'T want NPCs overshadowing the PCs. The main characters should be moreinteresting than the supporting cast, and so it is with Underworld. Selenebasically carries the movie, and that's what I want to see. Michael is abit of a loser, but that's what happens when you're a Real Roleplayerthrust into a Real Man's game (cf Real Men, Real Roleplayers, Loonies andMunchkins). He does well enough in the scenes where it matters, as doesLucien.I DON'T want a game that's self-consciously a parody. I don't have aproblem with funny stuff in a game, and I'm quite capable of making up myown humour on the spot. For that, though, I need source material that playsthings straight; I'll probably never play something like Hackmaster orToon, for instance. Again, this is basically what Underworld is like. Theblack-trenchcoat look is something that would be very easy to lampoon, butto its credit, it doesn't do that. No, it lets me do it myself, which isvery gracious indeed. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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