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Well, that was interesting.
Sorry to be all geeky over the Dungeons and Dragons thing, but last game's events were pretty intense and there's ill will already spreading throughout LJ land over this. And it really shouldn't be.
In a nutshell, the toboggan ride the player characters were on finally hit the stump they were aiming for and things...ended badly. The group took on a threat that was outside their experience; what was impressive is that they eventually came out on top, but only with heavy, heavy losses. Odis' elven mage and Virginia's half-even smith/ranger ended up dying, Chaser's character took a rather severe hit in alignment (in stabbing the Sherriff and seriously considering leaving Daro's character down the hole; he eventually didn't, but took the alignment hit because what stopped him wasn't a moral conclusion he had come to, but essentially fear he would get caught), and Daro's character was...er, rather disfigured.
The game ended with a miraculous resurrection, and the possibility that Virginia's character could at least be reincarnated. Everyone was still ran ragged, though, and needed to think about whether or not they believed the game should continue. Then there came...The Aftergame Discussion(tm).
This really should have happened at IHOP, Denny's, or another 24 hour restaurant that serves coffee and pie. It was as good a place as any to air out long-standing grievances with the way the game was run, and the way characters (and sometimes players) were butting heads. For the most part, while it was heated, it was really fun. The only time I remember getting really upset was when Chaser accused me of doing things that make no sense (a very sore spot with me) and assumed that I was intending to show Odis favoritism for XP (another sore spot; Odis has earned the XP he's gotten through overcoming challenges and figuring out big chunks of story...though, admittedly, he's gotten some extra-game time to put pieces together).
Anyway, it got *very* heated, and now some people are nursing ill feelings and/or *still* pointing fingers about actions or issues that could have been handled better.
Number one: IT'S A GAME. While it's definitely all right to be passionate about it and absorbed into what's happening, its influence should probably end around the time you're starting to base friendships around how people handle their characters. I understand where all the current bad juju comes from, and I hope that can be disseminated over time.
Number two: STOP POINTING FINGERS. Everyone, including me, had something to do with the eventual implosion of the game. :) Instead of positioning ourselves to be blameless by calling attention to the faults and mistakes of other people, I would recommend that we take a step back and think about what *we* did to contribute to the game's eventual outcome. You'd better believe I've taken the criticism I've received last night to heart; this was a huge learning experience on what to do and what not to do in an RPG.
Number three: STOP. BREATHE. LISTEN. Larry King, as big a mook as he tends to be, was really onto something when he said "I've never learned anything by talking." Instead of using someone else's part of the conversation as a chance to think about what you want to say or the best way to refute someone's argument, actually stop to listen to what they have to say and try to understand it. A lot of the problem with the debate last night (and the game in general) is that you guys aren't trying to listen and empathize with each other, or even come to some kind of common understanding. It's our own immobility on several issues that is causing the problem, and if everyone would just stop focusing on everyone *else's* problems and start focusing on ways that our own could be solved, then party cohesion would surely (if slowly) follow.
Finally, the Tao Te Ching shouldn't be used as a weapon to argue with. The Tao Te Ching *should* be used as a guide for how to live one's life, and as a reference (even a loose one, I'd say) for personal growth and development. But the minute we start quoting passages from the Tao to call attention to someone's shortcomings, we're really no better than an evangelical thumping his Bible to tell people how wrong they are. I understand the intentions, but that's a bad trap to fall into.
I get this feeling I'm going to be doing damage control for a little while.
Sorry to be all geeky over the Dungeons and Dragons thing, but last game's events were pretty intense and there's ill will already spreading throughout LJ land over this. And it really shouldn't be.
In a nutshell, the toboggan ride the player characters were on finally hit the stump they were aiming for and things...ended badly. The group took on a threat that was outside their experience; what was impressive is that they eventually came out on top, but only with heavy, heavy losses. Odis' elven mage and Virginia's half-even smith/ranger ended up dying, Chaser's character took a rather severe hit in alignment (in stabbing the Sherriff and seriously considering leaving Daro's character down the hole; he eventually didn't, but took the alignment hit because what stopped him wasn't a moral conclusion he had come to, but essentially fear he would get caught), and Daro's character was...er, rather disfigured.
The game ended with a miraculous resurrection, and the possibility that Virginia's character could at least be reincarnated. Everyone was still ran ragged, though, and needed to think about whether or not they believed the game should continue. Then there came...The Aftergame Discussion(tm).
This really should have happened at IHOP, Denny's, or another 24 hour restaurant that serves coffee and pie. It was as good a place as any to air out long-standing grievances with the way the game was run, and the way characters (and sometimes players) were butting heads. For the most part, while it was heated, it was really fun. The only time I remember getting really upset was when Chaser accused me of doing things that make no sense (a very sore spot with me) and assumed that I was intending to show Odis favoritism for XP (another sore spot; Odis has earned the XP he's gotten through overcoming challenges and figuring out big chunks of story...though, admittedly, he's gotten some extra-game time to put pieces together).
Anyway, it got *very* heated, and now some people are nursing ill feelings and/or *still* pointing fingers about actions or issues that could have been handled better.
Number one: IT'S A GAME. While it's definitely all right to be passionate about it and absorbed into what's happening, its influence should probably end around the time you're starting to base friendships around how people handle their characters. I understand where all the current bad juju comes from, and I hope that can be disseminated over time.
Number two: STOP POINTING FINGERS. Everyone, including me, had something to do with the eventual implosion of the game. :) Instead of positioning ourselves to be blameless by calling attention to the faults and mistakes of other people, I would recommend that we take a step back and think about what *we* did to contribute to the game's eventual outcome. You'd better believe I've taken the criticism I've received last night to heart; this was a huge learning experience on what to do and what not to do in an RPG.
Number three: STOP. BREATHE. LISTEN. Larry King, as big a mook as he tends to be, was really onto something when he said "I've never learned anything by talking." Instead of using someone else's part of the conversation as a chance to think about what you want to say or the best way to refute someone's argument, actually stop to listen to what they have to say and try to understand it. A lot of the problem with the debate last night (and the game in general) is that you guys aren't trying to listen and empathize with each other, or even come to some kind of common understanding. It's our own immobility on several issues that is causing the problem, and if everyone would just stop focusing on everyone *else's* problems and start focusing on ways that our own could be solved, then party cohesion would surely (if slowly) follow.
Finally, the Tao Te Ching shouldn't be used as a weapon to argue with. The Tao Te Ching *should* be used as a guide for how to live one's life, and as a reference (even a loose one, I'd say) for personal growth and development. But the minute we start quoting passages from the Tao to call attention to someone's shortcomings, we're really no better than an evangelical thumping his Bible to tell people how wrong they are. I understand the intentions, but that's a bad trap to fall into.
I get this feeling I'm going to be doing damage control for a little while.
