Posts made by Sovereign

@Thenomain

All people have influence on your play experience; this is kind of the point.

This is true in the sense a butterfly in Mexico has an influence on Minnesotan weather. You can always find some link, some association of vaguely related events, but for the most part it's not true. I have been at many games over the years where most of the players had no influence on my play experience because of different spheres, different play times, or simply incompatible personalities that led to non-antagonistic but distant relationships.

That is why I specificed "... enough to be a detriment". There's a level of influence that matters and a level that does not.

As for becoming the problem, I don't think cliques are a problem. They're desirable. It's a game, it's my free time.. why wouldn't I want it spent on people I know are quality? I have no problems playing with the same people often, so long as I get along with them. The problem is when cliques take to social combat to diminish your experience.

@Thenomain

Sure. You can play around cliques. No one has ever said otherwise. The problem comes when the clique is influential enough to be a detriment to your play experience. If they're spreading rumors or setting an example by avoiding you, that easily leads to feelings of exclusion.

The best counter, I've always found, is creating your own clique.

I don't agree my answer is overly-simplistic. It's exactly as simplistic as it needs to be. People are social creatures, and social exclusion is a common weapon. Especially in hobbies entirely dependent on interacting with others.

@surreality

That's all very thoughtful. But I don't think it's right in the majority of cases. These are games where you pretend to be an elf or a vampire or in spaaaace, they're really not complicated in terms of what's being offered. I'm going to blame people, here, not expectations- if you feel unwelcome, it's because you are unwelcome, usually due to the chilling effect of offending one clique or another.

I like primal games. Ones set before man tamed the world. I enjoy games where the primary conflicts are nature, disease, and disaster. And monsters or serpent-men with dark magics. Bronze Age or Stone Age preferred.

Something like Conan meets Far Cry: Primal. With an RP focus.

I'm still not used to PBs. I find them odd and would rather not use them ever or see other people use them.

@Miss-Demeanor

You really have to be on board with staff in these things. You can't police people, only staff can. So if you don't share their vision.. gonna have a bad time.

@Cirno

I somehow don't think either of those situations are going to come up within my life.

@Ghost

I have enough first and second hand accounts of stories like this that I no longer believe any horror stories anyone tells me about anyone. Oh, I will politely pretend to believe you, and sympathize, but in my heart of hearts I'm wondering what your damage is. So if anyone ever tells me about how shitty EvilBobOne is, I will nod, smile, and think "crazy alert, crazy alert, wee-ooo-wee-ooo"

EDIT: And yes, after currentGirl and anonymousGirl vetted that I wasn't lying about not being EvilBobRPer, they both paged me in unison to apologize for the deception, but that everything was great now and they really liked me!

This is the point where you smile, thank them, and then make every effort to never engage with the two psycho ladies again in any capacity.

@Apos

You probably see it more in WoD games because WoD players are the worst.

To answer the thread question: as hard as possible. A strong a d clear vision does wonders for a game, and if you want something more casual and open, you can run with a casual, open theme.