Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?

[Lotherio]

@krmbm said in Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?:

Does it have gremlins and pixies and unicorns?
If so, then I apologize for not setting my game there.

I think its a fine place to set it and make a bigger city than is normally there.

Anyone is welcome to do that with Nebraska, where I live. I'd love to see what folks interpret Nebraska as versus the reality. Could do a spinoff of The Stand where they stay longer and build up a city before going off to fight the final battle in Denver.

Aside, the teen supers game we did was in NH right on the coast and we made providence a bigger city that took over the bay and became as large as NYC or LA. I'm fine with alternative ideas for locations/areas.

Opposite to why so many MUs in Maine - why not more fantasy modern settings in real locations but as viewed through the eyes of non-locals (the idealized version)?

[Aria]

@rucket said in Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?:

@aria said in Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?:

....Unless you're going to set a game in Philadelphia. Because then I expect you to do my city proud and set the Four Seasons next to a crematorium and a dildo store as Ben Franklin intended.

Plus plenty of opportunities for interesting NPCs for Philly MUSH: https://nypost.com/2018/02/05/eagles-fan-thinks-eating-horse-poop-is-cool/

Believe me, there is nothing horrible you can say about Philadelphia that Philadelphians haven't already said themselves.

[Rucket]

@aria said in Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?:

@rucket said in Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?:

@aria said in Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?:

....Unless you're going to set a game in Philadelphia. Because then I expect you to do my city proud and set the Four Seasons next to a crematorium and a dildo store as Ben Franklin intended.

Plus plenty of opportunities for interesting NPCs for Philly MUSH: https://nypost.com/2018/02/05/eagles-fan-thinks-eating-horse-poop-is-cool/

Believe me, there is nothing horrible you can say about Philadelphia that Philadelphians haven't already said themselves.

I wasn't actually trying to say something horrible! Philly sports fans are so f'n crazy you can literally make some wild and crazy NPCs for any sort of modern day MUSH.

[Aria]

@rucket said in Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?:

@aria said in Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?:

@rucket said in Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?:

@aria said in Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?:

....Unless you're going to set a game in Philadelphia. Because then I expect you to do my city proud and set the Four Seasons next to a crematorium and a dildo store as Ben Franklin intended.

Plus plenty of opportunities for interesting NPCs for Philly MUSH: https://nypost.com/2018/02/05/eagles-fan-thinks-eating-horse-poop-is-cool/

Believe me, there is nothing horrible you can say about Philadelphia that Philadelphians haven't already said themselves.

I wasn't actually trying to say something horrible! Philly sports fans are so f'n crazy you can literally make some wild and crazy NPCs for any sort of modern day MUSH.

Oh! Well, yes. That is very true.

Meet the perfect example of the standard Philly attitude above. Being sandwiched between New York and DC, we definitely have a chip on our shoulder about being forgotten and overlooked despite having plenty of good things. The assumption is that if outsiders are talking about us, they're talking shit (in this case literally) and only we're allowed to do that about our hometown.

Also, everyone and everything is just a little bit extra here. Love it or hate it, we're going to let you know. The city is pretty much permanently set on "These speakers go up to 11", whether we're celebrating or rioting. They tend to look very similar.

[Rucket]

@aria Yeah that's fair enough. But having spent a goodly bit of time on the eastern coast, you just hear a LOT of stories about Philly Sportsball fan (from throwing batteries to booing Santa to braining a dude with a bottle of vodka while he was climbing a street light to dropping F bombs on local media because they're super hyped). There's not really anywhere else in America with that type of fan. Frankly, I find a lot of the antics utterly hilarious.

[Ganymede]

@aria said in Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?:

I had two PCs on the Reach and I put some solid thought into "Why would these concepts I want to play live in this little town?" and would strip out or add things to their background as needed.

Clarice was a Lost Mouse looking for a place to hide.

Ripley was ... well, she fits right into a King novel, that's for sure.

[bear_necessities]

@thesuntsar want to go to the movies

[Aria]

@rucket said in Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?:

@aria Yeah that's fair enough. But having spent a goodly bit of time on the eastern coast, you just hear a LOT of stories about Philly Sportsball fan (from throwing batteries to booing Santa to braining a dude with a bottle of vodka while he was climbing a street light to dropping F bombs on local media because they're super hyped). There's not really anywhere else in America with that type of fan. Frankly, I find a lot of the antics utterly hilarious.

Ask me about my "Megadeth Security" shirt some time. It's actually a Flyers shirt. >.>

[krmbm]

@lotherio said in Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?:

why not more fantasy modern settings in real locations but as viewed through the eyes of non-locals (the idealized version)?

This thread doesn't answer that? Do you really want to hear from everyone who wants to tell you how they were born and raised in ANYWHEREINTHEWORLDEVENFAKEPLACES, and it's not at all like you're describing it!

[Testament]

@aria said in Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?:

@warma-sheen said in Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?:

I've never understood why people are willing to blindly accept all kinds of supernatural ridiculousity in a setting, but then something like its setting is just untenable. A million people? In one city in Maine!? That's ridiculous!!!

But... it makes sense that supernatural monsters/creatures have been around since forever and only a teeny tiny sub-percentage of the population has ever been aware of them because the one thing people do really well consistently throughout the history of human existence is keep secrets well.. That part makes sense. Why would anyone question that.

I honestly don't care. It's not a matter of "Wahhhh! This isn't believable." At least not for me. It's a matter of "What game am I supposed to be playing so I make sure my character fits?"

....Unless you're going to set a game in Philadelphia. Because then I expect you to do my city proud and set the Four Seasons next to a crematorium and a dildo store as Ben Franklin intended.

[Ganymede]

@testament

When you say "Bad Things," do you mean the complete collapse of the Eagles franchise, the historically-inconsistent play of the Flyers, the constant disappointment of the 76ers, or the karmic abyss of the Phillies?

Like, help me out here.

[Sunny]

I mean, when inventing a fictional city, it's perfectly reasonable to also invent a reason why there is a million extra people in the state where one did not exist before. Perhaps they have fancy beehives, and the economic chain from those beehives supported -- and continues to support -- a million people. Those beehives don't exist IRL, so the economic chain doesn't exist, either, and so of course the city isn't there.

Presuming that somebody wouldn't invent a reason for the city to be in the first place alongside the invention of the city is...really weird logic.

ETA: Bay City, of Ashes, put a protected natural harbor in place of a not so great for commerce IRL bay. The landscape feature in the position where it was added a really solid, secure west coast port -- something which IRL is pretty lacking in the area. Which would absolutely, 100% lead to a population boom in an area where atm there's a couple of thousand people. This is part of making up a fictional city: why is it there? So 'there's no big cities there currently' is logically irrelevant. Obviously. It's made up for this.

[GreenFlashlight]

@wildbaboons said in Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?:

Are people aiming for the old colonial time history with spooky, desolate woods to go with it?

I think history is a big part of it. As countries go, America doesn't have much sense of history to it. New England is old enough and respectful enough of its heritage that it can feel very different from the rest of the nation. Maine is also coastal, so you can allow concepts that involve the ocean and have lots of PB albums full of bikini shots for the wiki; and the large, fictional city allows you to assert that anything you want to exist in the setting, does.

[Jennkryst]

@sunny said in Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?:

I mean, when inventing a fictional city, it's perfectly reasonable to also invent a reason why there is a million extra people in the state where one did not exist before.

This is the problem. LAZY WORLD BUILDING (okay not really LAZY, but also not taking into account all of the things). Because even when you account for why that happened, you've still overlooking the rest of the world.

And since I'm the only one who actually wants an (abriged) history of settings so there's continuity, it'll never get solved. Because it's too much work, and needs to get updated with every damn character that's created, unless they do a group app or are open to re-writes based on staff suggestion. I've personally only seen it done once, and that's because L5R is... well. L5R.

[SixRegrets]

@ganymede said in Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?:

@testament

When you say "Bad Things," do you mean the complete collapse of the Eagles franchise, the historically-inconsistent play of the Flyers, the constant disappointment of the 76ers, or the karmic abyss of the Phillies?

Like, help me out here.

go birds

[Ominous]

I am slowly reaching the conclusion that the town I now live in would be perfect for a MU* - Santa Barbara. Technically, I would use the whole County of Santa Barbara. The county has about 500,000 people in it with the Santa Barbara city area (Santa Barbara, Goleta, Montecito, unincorporated urban areas in and around them) being around 150,000, Santa Maria city area (Santa Maria, Orcutt, Guadalupe) being 130,000, Lompoc sits around 42,000 and you have a scattering other towns and cities (Ventucopa has a population of 90 in the middle of nowhere). However, there is quite a diverse mix.

Montecito has Oprah, Prince Harry and Duchess Megan, Steve Martin, and a bunch of other celebrities and other rich people living there. It's a bunch of gated estates and a couple of small-town feeling "villages" with boutique shops. Santa Barbara is your older, slightly snooty city with beaches and wealthy people with trendy shops and an actual downtown (the former Google CEO bought a mansion in the south of the city for $40 million). Goleta has more of a middle and working class vibe with some definite 80's influences to the architecture. Then you have Isla Vista which is basically a town that became all student housing next to the UC Santa Barbara, so it has the usual college town party scene. Santa Maria is your somewhat wealthier working class city. Lompoc is your not-so-wealthy working class city. Guadalupe is your Spanish speaking working class city. Summerland has the feel of a former resort town that is now filled with retirees (and Kevin Costner). Carpinteria feels like a city on the cusp of booming as cannabis and health care industries move in.

Then there's Vandenburg Air Force base for your military storylines and alien invasions. Solvang is a Danish town in the middle of California with its unique architecture and shops. Surrounding it are Buellton, Los Olivos, and Santa Ynez and the Santa Barbara wine country with vineyards and ranches. The Los Padres National Forest covers most of the mountains (which had snow this weekend causing Camino Cielo road to be closed for snow and ice, so you can still get your snowy weather stories). The Channel Islands are right off shore which are nature preserve, but you could pretend Catalina Island off of LA is also up here and have your island resort town too if you want it.

Honestly, there's a lot of variety in the county. Today for my job I went from a middle class-ish home in Summerland near the beach to a gated villa in Montecito to driving past snow-topped mountains to get to a home of a Trump supporter with an old 70s Mustang, who I am kind of surprised didn't pull a shotgun on me and tell me to get off his land with a thick Texas accent.

So if you wanted to tell a story about your character hob-nobbing with celebrities and tech millionaires in a vacation home or at the Ritz Carlton, while someone else is playing a vampire preying on partying college kids about 6 miles away, while someone else is playing a cartel member in a car chase with police 30 miles away, driving next to the most recent SpaceX launch from Vandenburg, while ALL of that is happening in an area that honestly feels like a bunch of small towns instead of New York, Chicago, or LA, that is entirely possible here.

There's even a strip club in Santa Barbara - a Spearmint Rhino - and a casino on the Chumash reservation in Santa Ynez, so you can find your vices too.

[bear_necessities]

@ominous build it! If you have a good story around the setting or at least things to do, people.will play.

[Ominous]

@bear_necessities

I'm not really a fan of "By Night" games. If I'm going to do urban fantasy, it's going to be some X-Files-esque global focus thing, instead of the comings and goings of people/vampires/mages/changelings/aliens in a specific locale. I just thought I would offer an alternative that I have not seen so far.

[sahin]

@thesuntsar said in Why are there so many MUs set in Maine?:

where my Long Island games at, where I can RP holding the door open for people at 7-11 and wondering when road construction is ever going to end on my commute to work

You made me homesick alla sudden.

[thesuntsar]

@badger Aw I'll hold a door open for you