MUs That We Would Love To Make (But Won't)
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@de-villefort said in MUs That We Would Love To Make (But Won't):
@lotherio Sounds fun to me. The problem with places like that though is that if you set games in modern times, with modern tech and modern social standards it just turns out boring.
The world is too safe today.
That's why star wars always had their characters rocketing off to some dirt planet like Tatooine, a frozen planet or a planet already controlled by enemy droids.Technologically advanced societies always end up being boring and crime free.
Look at Star Trek. They spent hours every week reliving Shakespeare plays, old books and visiting beaches in a holodeck. The only place anything actually interesting happened was deep space far away from the federation....
I mean, not to be contrary, but what?
If modern technology is barring you from making a game feel/be dangerous, the problem isn't the setting, it's the storyteller(s).
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Been think about games I'd love to make but never will a lot lately and know what one is really high on that list? An Amalgam game. Not one based on the actual Amalgam comics but a DC/Marvel game where players take a character from each universe and smash them together. I mean, someone could be Dark Claw, sure but they wouldn't have to be.
My biggest fear is the game just becoming a glorious mess.
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@coin
It's more modern society+modern technology. Modern values are all about protecting life. In a good game you can't have those values.Imagine any RPG where the characters weren't allowed to kill monsters or other people because the cops would investigate, track them down and throw them in prison. It would suck.
For a game to be fun, you can have either modern technology or modern morals, but not both.
People cared about human life when Jack the Ripper was killing but they didn't have the tech to catch him.
In Blade Runner and Cyberpunk type settings they have far more advanced technology but the value of life is low so they only investigate the crimes that victimize the "important" people.
You can have the power to stop evil or the will to stop evil, but if your game has both in it, it's going to become boring fast.
I think this is the reason most World Of Darkness and Super-hero games die a slow death.
The older and/or more powerful characters can stop the less powerful ones from doing anything that can cause dramatic tension or kill/capture them the moment they do so there is never any real danger to anyone. -
@de-villefort There's like thirty years of successful MUs and storytelling that say otherwise. Maybe if you want to play perfectly normal people in a perfectly un-fantastical/un-fictionalized world, you'd have those problems, but... it's really never been an issue.
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@squirreltalk
It's always an issue on any game with any kind of combat system. You always end up with people so powerful they can singlehandedly stop any plot they want ICly so people just don't try things because they know it will get them killed.That's the reason the bad guys are always stronger, more prepared, or more well organized than the good guys in the movies. When the good guys always win people just settle for boring.
Why do you think people hate Superman but like Batman?
Superman makes everything boring. -
@de-villefort Loads of people love Superman. I know there'd be people who agree with you, but I think you're projecting a little bit.
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@de-villefort said in MUs That We Would Love To Make (But Won't):
@coin
It's more modern society+modern technology. Modern values are all about protecting life. In a good game you can't have those values.Imagine any RPG where the characters weren't allowed to kill monsters or other people because the cops would investigate, track them down and throw them in prison. It would suck.
For a game to be fun, you can have either modern technology or modern morals, but not both.
People cared about human life when Jack the Ripper was killing but they didn't have the tech to catch him.
In Blade Runner and Cyberpunk type settings they have far more advanced technology but the value of life is low so they only investigate the crimes that victimize the "important" people.
You can have the power to stop evil or the will to stop evil, but if your game has both in it, it's going to become boring fast.
I think this is the reason most World Of Darkness and Super-hero games die a slow death.
The older and/or more powerful characters can stop the less powerful ones from doing anything that can cause dramatic tension or kill/capture them the moment they do so there is never any real danger to anyone.Lol, what?
Again I say: if you can't find a way to tell that sort of story because of modern technology or modern morals? The storyteller is the problem. Not the setting.
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@de-villefort said in MUs That We Would Love To Make (But Won't):
Why do you think people hate Superman but like Batman?
Superman makes everything boring.If you say so. I feel like Batman is much more boring because if Superman is consistently portrayed as being able to beat any problem, how much more boring is the """regular""" human who can consistently beat Superman?
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@horrorhound I've pondered other CP Red or Infinity the RPG.
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I grew up believing that high-technology leads to feudalism, planetary destruction, and massive family battles fought by mercenaries.
But I grew up playing fucking Battletech.
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@ominous traveller is the shit. Life path system is the shit.
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@ominous said in MUs That We Would Love To Make (But Won't):
leads to feudalism, planetary destruction, and massive family battles fought by mercenaries.
Or Traveller.
Or something with the Dune IP.
Or 12th to 15th Century northern Italy.
Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to ...
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I don't recall much planetary destruction in 12th and 15th century Northern Italy, but I must say that your version of historical events is probably way more metal.
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@ominous said in MUs That We Would Love To Make (But Won't):
I don't recall much planetary destruction in 12th and 15th century Northern Italy, but I must say that your version of historical events is probably way more metal
It may not have been direct planetary destruction on a massive scale, but look at all the politics and conflict Italians had their hands in at the time as comparable to planetary destruction. From helping launch crusades with their fleets to families helping the Ottoman Empire or affecting the geopolitical landscape around the Black Sea and beyond.
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@de-villefort said in MUs That We Would Love To Make (But Won't):
@squirreltalk
It's always an issue on any game with any kind of combat system. You always end up with people so powerful they can singlehandedly stop any plot they want ICly so people just don't try things because they know it will get them killed.That's the reason the bad guys are always stronger, more prepared, or more well organized than the good guys in the movies. When the good guys always win people just settle for boring.
Why do you think people hate Superman but like Batman?
Superman makes everything boring.having played many, many Kryptonians in my MU career, I can say this is more of Player Problem than a Character problem. Overpowered character can and do work in a supers game. The key is to not just hand them out in a 'first come, first serve' manner. You need the right kind of player that knows when to hold back and give the other players the spotlight. Someone who is happy to deal with a 'distraction' while letting the other players/characters shine from time to time. Just because you ar the most powerful character doesn't mean you have to be the star of the scene every time.
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@runescryer Disclaimer: I haven't played on a comic book MUSH for long, so this is all conjecture.
But the issue is that in the comics the plot takes care of the power discrepancy. It's how you can get Thor and Hawkeye on the same adventure and still give them opportunities to shine.
On a game all that goes out the window unless players are very considerate of each other. Thor's player will optimize the use of his myriad powers because fuck Hawkeye.
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@De-Villefort said in MUs That We Would Love To Make (But Won't):
Look at Star Trek. They spent hours every week reliving Shakespeare plays, old books and visiting beaches in a holodeck. The only place anything actually interesting happened was deep space far away from the federation.
TBF both Picard and Discovery show that's far from the case. Lots of black market and criminal activity with general civil unrest. It's a refreshing change of pace.
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@arkandel
I think that's when Hawkeye stops playing with Thor. And probably the next person/hero, and the next and the next. And then nobody wants to run a scene for just Thor, so..... -
And this makes Thor fat and sad.