Potential Buffy Game
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@ganymede said in Potential Buffy Game:
and three hours from Cleveland, Ohio
Hey, site of one of the only other named canonical Hellmouth to boot!
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Right, right?
There’s advantages to picking an existing city. I could easily fill in parts of the city life that may be important, e.g. what are the local colleges? And I could get photos of places of interest pretty easily.
Just a thought. I think it would be a fun project for me. And maybe some of y’all might come visit the real deal!
“It is better to live doing the things that you like. It is foolish to live within this dream of a world seeing unpleasantness and doing only things that you do not like.” -- Yamamoto Tsunetomo.
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@ganymede I've definitely used real places that you can look stuff up about for grid-building supernatural or mutant games before and it adds SOMETHING.
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That would make me super happy, setting wise. Buffybuffybuffy omg. I have been trying to get @ixokai to do it for I don't know how many years.
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I just figure it is easier.
If you go fictional, you have to make up things for the smallest minutiae, e.g., what is the name of the local college’s sports team? You have to think of neighborhoods, and their character. And you have to come up with names and descriptions wholecloth.
Go with a real life location, and I think it’s so much easier. I could tell you about and describe five or six local colleges easily and immediately. I could tell you about all of the local “hot spots.” And the neighborhoods, their history, and their current state.
We all could, I think. And without much thought.
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What about going the other direction? Slayers are everywhere. Buffy activated them. Girls are murdering monsters left and right.
Players are the monsters, trying to survive against a regime of ultra-powered bubblegum popping teens bent on their destruction.
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@admiral
Because that's not Buffy. That's using the system and making a not-Buffy game with it. The topic on the table is a Buffy game.
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@sunny Right. A game set in the Buffy canon universe isn't a Buffy game. There's only one right way to play. You're just so negative.
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Likewise Evanston, Illinois. Home of Tinkertoys, prohibition, Northwestern. Has beaches, a single high school and some serious segregation in spite of pretending it's super integrated. Had a large Haitian and Jamaican influx and is relatively close to Great Lakes Naval Base. Lacks a Yellow Springs-ish hippie enclave. It also has commuter rail lines, a giant cemetery between it and Chicago, and is basically Sunnydale Midwest.
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Austin Texas would make for an awesome setting. UT is situated there, for your college wants, it's a Capitol city with lots of corrupt politicians lurking around (Some that brag about shooting coyotes while on a jog. Sigh.) It has South Congress Bridge which has all of the bats ever that swoop out at sunset for a spectacle. It hosts South by Southwest, the Rot Rally (Republic of Texas Biker Rally) Sixth street, which is one of the most awesome places for live music in the Southwest. Progressive politics (Within the city limits, creeping more and more conservative as you pass through the surrounding suburbs), some of the most gorgeous scenery you'll find in Texas (I know, a stretch, right?), it's super green, has amazing hills and valleys, several large lakes. There is a huge population of hippy folk in South Austin. I mean, the city motto is "Keep Austin Weird".
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As noted above "Right, because a universe set in Buffy isn't a Buffy game" - I guess you'll say Angel wasn't buffy because it involved adults and wasn't in a small town?
Pittsburgh, the City of Bridges as a "City of Bridges" (to other dimensions) is a wonderful idea. Its a city that mixes the ultra-modern high-tech with urban decay and absurdly old architecture. 400-year old coal mines underneath entire sections of the city, plenty of buildings (--plenty--) from the 18th century still very common - thats a decent idea.
But the thing that kills mushing is the extreme OCD; the 'I want to play the exact character with minor variations on every mush, in this ONE THEME, that I've done for XXX years and refuse to vary on'. Guess what? I'm sure Mexico has teens and young adults struggling with themselves, too! (And vampires!) Hell, I bet Dublin, Ireland, Johannesburgh, South Africa, and Paris... ....all have vampires! Its sad to watch the hobby decay from a writing pasttime into an OCD-outlet pasttime.
That being said, I think the Pittsburgh idea is a good one.
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@secretfire said in Potential Buffy Game:
Pittsburgh, the City of Bridges as a "City of Bridges" (to other dimensions) is a wonderful idea. Its a city that mixes the ultra-modern high-tech with urban decay and absurdly old architecture. 400-year old coal mines underneath entire sections of the city, plenty of buildings (--plenty--) from the 18th century still very common - thats a decent idea.
Yeah I looked long and hard in picking it, its a great city.
But the thing that kills mushing is the extreme OCD; the 'I want to play the exact character with minor variations on every mush, in this ONE THEME, that I've done for XXX years and refuse to vary on'. Guess what? I'm sure Mexico has teens and young adults struggling with themselves, too! (And vampires!) Hell, I bet Dublin, Ireland, Johannesburgh, South Africa, and Paris... ....all have vampires! Its sad to watch the hobby decay from a writing pasttime into an OCD-outlet pasttime.
I don't think this is at all the reason why you don't see games in settings like that. Its that most of us int his hobby are American and we suck at representing other cultures well at all. Every non-American based mush i've ever been on (and back in the day there weren't completely uncommon) basically sucked because everyone was American in it or did no effort in portraying themselves as anything non-American. They all sucked as a result.
That being said, I think the Pittsburgh idea is a good one.
I have a fully built (built! Not per se descd, though some is) and +map'd out Pittsburgh grid (note: rhost) I could donate if its liked.
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Toronto.
Because the world revolves around us, so it's only fitting that it also has a Hellsmouth.
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@secretfire There's nothing stopping you from building one set anywhere you like! I don't think setting it in a US city means that someone is OCD. I think it means that it there is something about that city that makes it viable. And as @Ganymede mentioned before, placing it somewhere real makes it a LOT easier than creating something out of nothing.
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@ixokai said in Potential Buffy Game:
Yeah I looked long and hard in picking it, its a great city.
Much as it would tickle me to see a Pittsburgh game, I'm not sure it has the same degree of built-in drama as some of the other places mentioned. You don't have the cultural diversity of Evanston (as @hedgehog mentioned), nor the political shenanigans of Austin (as @AeriaNyx mentioned), nor the breadth of plot hooks that Dayton offers (as @Ganymede mentioned). It's got bridges and a gaggle of universities and... not a lot else worth talking about.
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@secretfire said in Potential Buffy Game:
As noted above "Right, because a universe set in Buffy isn't a Buffy game" - I guess you'll say Angel wasn't buffy because it involved adults and wasn't in a small town?
I mean...it wasn't? Angel and Buffy were two very different shows with different thematic elements, moods, and storytelling methods. They had characters and lore in common, but that's not really what I think @sunny means by that.
Buffy is a big mood.
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I think that there’s a lot of diversity if you look hard enough.
I mean, in Dayton, there are substantial pockets of Turks, South Koreans, Vietnamese, and Ukrainians. There’s even a group of habesha Ethiopians, due to the influence of one fella who helped bring them here. Also, Indians and Afghans. It’s odd, but it’s true.
There are reasons. Dayton was once a thriving manufacturing center. It has history, like the Wright Brothers, the aforementioned Charles Kettering, and the Treaty of Dayton. If you dig deep enough, there’s a vast wealth of local history to make stories from.
But I think a lot of midwestern cities are like that, like Evanston.
Whatever’s decided I’m fine with. But if anyone wants someone to lovingly make the Gem City for them, lemme know.
“It is better to live doing the things that you like. It is foolish to live within this dream of a world seeing unpleasantness and doing only things that you do not like.” -- Yamamoto Tsunetomo.
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@faraday said in Potential Buffy Game:
Much as it would tickle me to see a Pittsburgh game, I'm not sure it has the same degree of built-in drama as some of the other places mentioned. You don't have the cultural diversity of Evanston (as @hedgehog mentioned), nor the political shenanigans of Austin (as @AeriaNyx mentioned), nor the breadth of plot hooks that Dayton offers (as @Ganymede mentioned). It's got bridges and a gaggle of universities and... not a lot else worth talking about.
See, that was a pro to me and is one thing I considered. It seemed like a grown up Sunnydale.
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@ganymede said in Potential Buffy Game:
@faraday
I think that there’s a lot of diversity if you look hard enough.
I mean, in Dayton, there are substantial pockets of Turks, South Koreans, Vietnamese, and Ukrainians. There’s even a group of habesha Ethiopians, due to the influence of one fella who helped bring them here. Also, Indians and Afghans. It’s odd, but it’s true.Yeah there really isn't any of that here. We've got "Polish Hill" and "Germantown" though
Not that this is necessarily a compelling reason to set - or not set - a game there. The other places just sounded more interesting, that's all. To each their own. -
My 'it's not Buffy' statement was related to the general premise of the game. I get that people want to see something unique/different/not done before, but I want to play a Buffy game. That means playing people (of whatever sort) that are fighting the good fight against the darkness in a relatively modern-day setting. There are LOTS of REALLY COOL and fun things that can be done with the Buffy system, and the setup, and all of that, there's no question. But what's being discussed here is an actual Buffy game. If you don't want to play Buffy, I do not understand why you need to hijack the Buffy game to try and make something else.
ETA: Also, this is the game development section, and I would appreciate it if the insults could be kept to a minimum, thanks.
