What Do You Love About WoD?

[Roz]

So. I've been playing MU*s for almost two decades now, and staffing on various games for many years. Right now I help run a Transformers game and a Mass Effect game, the latter of which is currently wrapping up, with plans for a new, unrelated game. A lot of my staffing has been on limited consent game without stats, apart from a stint on the old Game of Thrones game Steel & Stone, which used Faraday.

Here's the thing: in all those years, I've never wound up on a WoD game. Nothing against them, I've just always ended up on games with themes based on things I'm already interested in (comic books, specific other books or movies, etc.). So I've totally missed out on what's now (was it always?) the most popular MUSH/MUX genre.

So here's my question: what do people love about WoD? What aspects of the system? Could be really broad strokes thoughts, but I'm just really curious. We're planning on using Faraday for our new game, and the Transformers game will be using Firan's combat system, but I'm curious to know what broad or specific items people really enjoy about WoD, because I'd love to just have a broader knowledge about what players out there are enjoying.

Anyone interested in rambling?

[Arkandel]

I only love one thing: I can find (relatively) enough players so I can play long-termly if I want to.

I like investing in a game, and it's hard to do that on home-grown or not as well known systems that'll invariably end up having a very small number of players. Roleplay tends to be incestuous and limited in these cases and momentum is very difficult to build.

Furthermore I like knowing who's running games, and such oversight is only possibly if I have 'sources' to consult. Outside of the WoD community I know few (trustworthy) people who can tip me off in advance that the owners are craycray or good people; all I could do is search the forums here in case anyone's played there and hope for the best. The other alternative is being there for weeks until I can find out for myself, and that's way less appealing.

If I found a large, well-ran non-WoD MU* I'd happily consider it, but alas.

[Roz]

Thanks for the response! It has definitely seemed like WoD's commonality is a big part of its draw, and how familiar so many players are with the system.

@Arkandel said:

I like investing in a game, and it's hard to do that on home-grown or not as well known systems that'll invariably end up having a very small number of players. Roleplay tends to be incestuous and limited in these cases and momentum is very difficult to build.

What would you actually constitute as a large enough game?

[TNP]

I love urban fantasy. For the most part, WoD is it except for the rare times when some other game system/setting comes along. And even when they do, they then have to actually take off.

[Arkandel]

@Roz said:

What would you actually constitute as a large enough game?

It's not an exact science. Consistently more than 20-25 unique, active players in the evenings, at the very least. Just enough that things keep happening outside of your immediate circle of friends and there are faces around to meet you never have before.

[Tempest]

@TNP said:

I love urban fantasy. For the most part, WoD is it except for the rare times when some other game system/setting comes along. And even when they do, they then have to actually take off.

Pretty much this. Closest thing to a universe akin to Kim Harrison's books or Laurell K.'s (early) books.

The fact that it's one of the only steadily popular MU theme's with more than 1-2 games helps, too.

[Saulot]

I love that you actually play the monsters, and it was designed that way from the onset. That was the selling point for me about 14 years ago for oWoD.

[Misadventure]

I like that it's not just about supernaturals, which gives you something exotic to think and play about, but that it is about their society.

[SG]

@Misadventure said:

I like that it's not just about supernaturals, which gives you something exotic to think and play about, but that it is about their society.

That's always been the barrier for me to get into WoD, I seldom like the background societies they have set up in the books. Unless games usually just use them as shopping lists for powers, which I think I could get behind. Playing monsters does sound like fun, though.

[Cobalt]

Modern day, usually plenty of people, and wide variety of concept types.

[thebird]

When looking for places to play, I always had a really hard time getting behind places based on movies, tv shows, or major book series like Lord of the Rings, because they never felt as open ended to me. I feel like the major stories there have already been told and exhausted (generally speaking), so I'm less inclined to even consider those options. *
As a result, I was dragged to an oWoD MUD (that really only did rp and ignored the MUD aspects after a while. It was silly) by a good friend from where I'd been wading through RP in Yahoo! chatrooms and IRC stuff. Never thought I'd stick around, but the appeal of creating an entirely unique character, in a setting that is open ended enough that you feel like you /can/ do anything if you wanted to, got me hooked on WoD. I'm also a sucker for urban fantasy (and post apocalypse, but that's slightly less related), so that really helps. Playing the monster is a big draw for me, too. I don't tend to read too in depth the stories provided in the books, because of what I mentioned earlier with the stories already being told. Other than maybe a quick skin for theme/feel, but really I rely on wikis from the actual game for most of that.
A big factor for me, too, is that my circle of friends (albeit very small these days), play WoD, so I've kind of kept to the genre because of that. The option of splats to play, often on the same game, is a big draw for me as well. Always did like the cross-sphere rp.
I guess the TL:DR version of that ramble would be: **I feel like I can be more creative with my characters in a WoD setting. **

*With the exception of one Star Wars game from a while back - Star Wars: Age of Strife

/rambling

[Monogram]

I wish I could get interested in WoD, but I can't. I don't know what it is, maybe it's the fact that it's modern day, and that tends to hold next to zero interest for me(because I live in modern day and I can just go outside if I wanted that), or perhaps that I just never had an interest in conflict or struggle of WoD-related supernaturals.

It's also possible that I simply don't have the desire to read a massive core book and/or supplements that I don't have. Which is odd because I remember back in the day when I played oWoD TT, I enjoyed it. I don't know what the disconnect is.

In any case, it's sad, and mildly frustrating. Because the majority of(active)MUs out there are WoD. I want to play it, just for something to do, but I just can't get excited for it.

[HelloRaptor]

@Monogram
I'm pretty much the opposite. I like WoD, but even a WoD game is going to get a pass if it's set in the past. I can handle alt-present, or possible future, but if you try to set a game much before the 90s I'm just eeeeeenh.

I also tend to feel the same way about playing plain mortals as you do about playing in the present. I'm already one of those, I'd rather play something with more to it.

[Ganymede]

@HelloRaptor said:

I'm pretty much the opposite. I like WoD, but even a WoD game is going to get a pass if it's set in the past. I can handle alt-present, or possible future, but if you try to set a game much before the 90s I'm just eeeeeenh.

How dare you disrespect New Wave Requiem.

[Three-Eyed Crow]

I've never been particularly interested in playing WoD either, but I'm certainly aware of its popularity in the MU* community (insofar as things in this hobby can be considered popular).

One thing I'm curious about is how widely available and established the code is to set up a WoD MUSH, versus hand-coding a workable Buffy game or Anita Blake game or Vampire Diaries game or... (and so on, through similar themes).

I'm sure the hardware (and the comfort level the players who've been doing it for decades develop with the system itself) isn't the only factor, but I wonder how much of one it is. I also have no idea how different the average WoD game is from the other average WoD game.

[Monogram]

@HelloRaptor Personally, I love futuristic settings, but I also not really a big fan of Star Trek or Star Wars, so I'm more or less hindering myself(which yeah, I know)in what to play. Was playing BSG Deimos, liked it, then it just up and fizzled out. Which was a shame.

I'd probably play Dark Age WoD, if only because I have fond memories of it from TT sessions.

In the end, it's odd. I like supernatural stuff, I think just the /way/ the theme is set up in WoD is a turn off. But, I'd be lying to myself if I'm not tempted to try anyways out of desperation.

[Coin]

@Three-Eyed-Crow said:

I've never been particularly interested in playing WoD either, but I'm certainly aware of its popularity in the MU* community (insofar as things in this hobby can be considered popular).

One thing I'm curious about is how widely available and established the code is to set up a WoD MUSH, versus hand-coding a workable Buffy game or Anita Blake game or Vampire Diaries game or... (and so on, through similar themes).

I'm sure the hardware (and the comfort level the players who've been doing it for decades develop with the system itself) isn't the only factor, but I wonder how much of one it is. I also have no idea how different the average WoD game is from the other average WoD game.

Buffy has its own system (cinematic unisystem) which would work well for Anita Blake, also, IMO. For Vampire Diaries, I would actually just use Monsterhearts. It's what it was made for, pretty much.

[ThatGuyThere]

Well there are three main reasons I like WoD. First I love Urban fantasy in general and well that is WoD setting though with a bit more darkness added.
Second it has a system that I can look at in total. I like randomness in my online storytelling, so for me having a system is a total plus. I have play on statless games as well but I prefer a system, and WoD is also published so I know how it works. I want to like Faraday but the combat being completely black box leaves me cold. I don't have anything against automated but at least let me know how the system works even if you have it do the work for me.
Third it is modern day. In general It is easier to slip into character especially if RL is being hectic. For non present day setting, which i do like as well, it takes time for me to get in the right mind set to play the character well. With modern world even for characters with lives completely different then mine I know who there President is, what is going on in the news. Hell if I want to have them having scene a movie recently, I can what is out and read a couple reviews quick and even if it is something I would never see I can fake them having seen it all with less effort then another setting.

[Thenomain]

Habit.

[Three-Eyed Crow]

@ThatGuyThere said:

I want to like Faraday but the combat being completely black box leaves me cold. I don't have anything against automated but at least let me know how the system works even if you have it do the work for me.

I'm not entirely sure what this means. The documentation is out there.

http://lynnfaraday.github.io/MUSH/fs3/mechanics.html

And an organizer can grab a complete log of every roll the system makes using +combat/log

I'm often annoyed with how little effort some game-runners put into explaining how it all works/clearly linking to this stuff, but that's another sort of issue.