Scarlet Empress Returns: Exalted's Death Knell?

RPGPundit · October 13, 2009, 09:55:26 AM

Quote from: Aporon;337433I'd love to take on this maddening assertion myself, but I've read too many rpg.net Exalted threads. When you've got fans telling other fans that their Abyssals campaign idea (which is fully supported by every damn book mentioning them) is "brining Exalted down to the level of D&D" (srsly wtf), it's obvious that this trend exists, even if it is a mostly online phenomenon.

Yes, and the "Exalted isn't a power game, its a game about dealing with the themes of having great power" quote is verbatim from RPG.net as well. There's a horde of evidence that there are in fact WW-Swine and that they do in fact have that attitude, at least in public.

But of course, this is all pointless because everyone knows this is true, and Maddman knows it as well as anyone. He's just trying to pretend not to in order to win an otherwise unwinnable argument.

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Maddman · October 13, 2009, 10:34:05 AM

I don't doubt someone said that, just that its a predominant view among Exalted players. I think Exalted is a game about the theme of having great power, but its also about power gaming. I say Exalted is partially about releasing your inner 14 year old and going on about how TOTALLY AWESOME you are.

Great fun.

Pseudoephedrine · October 13, 2009, 11:17:23 AM

Return of the Scarlet Empress / the Realm civil war book has been in the wings since 1e. Any Exalted fan who is surprised by its existence just hasn't been paying attention. I'm more surprised that it took them this long to get around to writing and publishing it.

I suspect it will be a de facto game-changer, even if WW claims that it doesn't change anything for sure, but that fans will react positively.

RPGPundit · October 14, 2009, 11:40:39 AM

Quote from: Pseudoephedrine;337727I suspect it will be a de facto game-changer, even if WW claims that it doesn't change anything for sure, but that fans will react positively.

Really? All feelings about Exalted aside, I would say that this sort of thing rarely goes well. The anticipation and the gamers' imaginations of what "could" happen will almost always end up being cooler than the actual "happening" itself.

I give you as exhibit A: The Clone Wars.

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Pseudoephedrine · October 15, 2009, 12:30:14 AM

Quote from: RPGPundit;338015Really? All feelings about Exalted aside, I would say that this sort of thing rarely goes well. The anticipation and the gamers' imaginations of what "could" happen will almost always end up being cooler than the actual "happening" itself.

I give you as exhibit A: The Clone Wars.

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I suspect the book will be designed as a collection of verbose "What if?" pieces in typical WW style-over-substance. Fans of WW have shown over the years thats what they want, though.

GeekEclectic · October 15, 2009, 04:43:07 AM

I've been thinking about it, and at this point introducing a full-blown metaplot is probably the only thing that would get me interested in Exalted again. This Scarlet Empress book is the first one I've actually wanted to get in a long time. The metaplot stuff is also the only reason I got many of the later oWoD books. I wasn't willing to play with the awful rule system, but I soaked up the latest story bits like a sponge and loved it. It's one reason(not the only reason, nor the biggest) that I find the core nWoD games to be duller than dirt. Changeling and Geist have improved on this somewhat, but it might just be too little too late.

Ghost Whistler · October 15, 2009, 05:36:08 AM

I'm still not getting why this means Exalted will die.

The game has already survived having the worst ruleset ever and a book based around confusing astrological bollocks. One book won't make a crap of difference.

RPGPundit · October 15, 2009, 12:53:50 PM

Quote from: GeekEclectic;338320I've been thinking about it, and at this point introducing a full-blown metaplot is probably the only thing that would get me interested in Exalted again. This Scarlet Empress book is the first one I've actually wanted to get in a long time. The metaplot stuff is also the only reason I got many of the later oWoD books. I wasn't willing to play with the awful rule system, but I soaked up the latest story bits like a sponge and loved it. It's one reason(not the only reason, nor the biggest) that I find the core nWoD games to be duller than dirt. Changeling and Geist have improved on this somewhat, but it might just be too little too late.

Ah, so YOU were the problem!

The disease is inside you!

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