Quote from: Lynn;736753Okay, I looked. I saw some implied sex and boobs of anime type characters. Some of the 2nd Edition stuff was really quite good, but it just looks like fantasy anime / manga to me with a little bit of mythology pixie dust on it.

That's really about the extent of it. None of the art in Exalted is what I would call explicit. There's a pretty rare bare breast or backside from time to time along with some revealing clothing but other rpgs have had similar. There were 1st actually had a little more "suggestive" material, IMO. The fan art, otoh, produced allot of straight up porn.

Sort of sad if that's all there is to it. I didn't look much at 2nd edition, but always thought it would be neat to have a game more like Jack Kirby's New Gods and thought this might fit the bill.

If Exalted characters are at peace with their naked bodies and their sexuality, how come they make all the effort to shave their armpits, legs and other regions?

Quote from: Lynn;736818Sort of sad if that's all there is to it. I didn't look much at 2nd edition, but always thought it would be neat to have a game more like Jack Kirby's New Gods and thought this might fit the bill.

If Exalted characters are at peace with their naked bodies and their sexuality, how come they make all the effort to shave their armpits, legs and other regions?

You have the question wrong - they are at peace because they shaved their armpits, legs, and other regions .

Quote from: Snowman0147;736756That is exalted in a nut shell.  It is suppose to be fantasy anime/manga mythology.

Its fun to watch them try to downplay that these days. Not sure if it because anime isn't the  new hotness right now or they want their game to seem more "sophisticated".

Quote from: Lynn;736818Sort of sad if that's all there is to it. I didn't look much at 2nd edition, but always thought it would be neat to have a game more like Jack Kirby's New Gods and thought this might fit the bill.

If Exalted characters are at peace with their naked bodies and their sexuality, how come they make all the effort to shave their armpits, legs and other regions?

Its no effort at all. Anime takes place in a universe with no body hair.

Quote from: Nexus;736884Its fun to watch them try to downplay that these days. Not sure if it because anime isn't the  new hotness right now or they want their game to seem more "sophisticated".

It shouldn't be down played at all if you ask me.  It should be openly embrace because most RPGs I had seen recently are either Tolken inspired stuff, urban fantasy, or brand new systems that try to do the same thing as DnD without being DnD.

Quote from: Snowman0147;736889It shouldn't be down played at all if you ask me.

The only reason I was ever tempted to play Exalted was because I kept seeing it compared to Final Fantasy and Ninja Scroll.
Has anime really lost it's shine?

Quote from: Nexus;736884Its fun to watch them try to downplay that these days. Not sure if it because anime isn't the  new hotness right now or they want their game to seem more "sophisticated".

When Exalted came out, "anime" was a rare inspiration for an RPG to draw upon. So, it was emphasised both in terms of the RPGers reactions to it and later as a selling point.

However, it was only one of four primary inspirations being Mythic Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Wuxia and Anime. The disproportionate use of Anime in the later Exalted material and its presentation, coincides with a drop in Exalted's popularity. Though this is primarily due to the drop in the quality of the mechanics, I think this inspiration shift is also partially responsible.

Though Anime is an important inspiration for Exalted, which it uses very well, it was never intended to be the primary inspiration. Anyone who calls Exalted "an Anime" RPG is IME either missing the point of Exalted or dislike Anime and wanting to justify their dislike of Exalted.

Quote from: Simlasa;736893The only reason I was ever tempted to play Exalted was because I kept seeing it compared to Final Fantasy and Ninja Scroll.
Has anime really lost it's shine?

Nope. Anime is still popular but it is no longer the distinctive selling point it once was, mostly thanks to Exalted success in using that as an inspiration. So, all of Exalted's inspirations are now being presented fairly.

FWIW there are RPGs better serving the pure "Anime RPG" market than Exalted these days IMO.

Quote from: Snowman0147;736889It shouldn't be down played at all if you ask me.  It should be openly embrace because most RPGs I had seen recently are either Tolken inspired stuff, urban fantasy, or brand new systems that try to do the same thing as DnD without being DnD.

But "non Tolkien inspired stuff" is not limited to Anime. As said, Exalted draws on a wide range of "non Tolkien inspired stuff" such as Mythic Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery and Wuxia. It was this combination that clearly distinguishes Exalted from most of it fantasy RPG competitors.

Quote from: Skywalker;736897Though Anime is an important inspiration for Exalted, which it uses very well, it was never intended to be the primary inspiration. Anyone who calls Exalted "an Anime" RPG is IME either missing the point of Exalted or dislike Anime and wanting to justify their dislike of Exalted.

White Wolf called it an anime fantasy game in their own ads until fairly recently. The whole "Oh its not THAT anime" thing came up when gamers started to question the game for having anime elements. Then the emphasis shifted "sword and sorcery" and "myth" and " any "Non Western"" Fantasy influence they could think of. It happened some previously, usually when someone that liked Exalted but disliked anime tried to justify liking it but lately its really come the official line and having seen how much the anime aspects were pimped when the game was release I find it funny watching them backpedal now (particularly claims that there is only a "little" anime fantasy influence in Exalted). It's more the same double talk I've come to expect from White Wolf and its spiritual heirs.

Quote from: Snowman0147;736889It shouldn't be down played at all if you ask me.  It should be openly embrace because most RPGs I had seen recently are either Tolken inspired stuff, urban fantasy, or brand new systems that try to do the same thing as DnD without being DnD.

Anime visual elements seem to be appearing outside of anime. There are bits of it in a lot of Pathfinder art with the spiked hair, giant sword guy, too cute characters, etc.

I like experimentation as well, but there's a strong association with anime style art with...anime (and manga - I guess I should be calling it manga art since its not animation).  And anime, at least the real anime from Japan, has its own tropes that I don't associate with D&D, Traveller, or other classic RPGs.

Quote from: Nexus;736906White Wolf called it an anime fantasy game in their own ads.

As said, it was a big selling point when Exalted first came out as it was not a common inspiration. The lead developer subsequently disclosed all four inspirations (which did include Anime) of Exalted, and these can be seen in the list of inspirations in the corebook as well as the material itself.

Quote from: Skywalker;736911As said, it was a big selling point when Exalted first came out as it was not a common inspiration.

The ads I'm referring to were used as recently as  a year ago, at most two. This isn't about when it first came out over a decade ago. They'll pimp Exalted as anything they think will sell. Which is fine as policy but don't act high and mighty about it.

Quote from: Nexus;736917The ads I'm referring to were used as recently as  a year ago, at most two. This isn't about when it first came out over a decade ago. They'll pimp Exalted as anything they think will sell. Which is fine as policy but don't act high and mighty about it.

I agree that WW will pimp Exalted as anything they think will sell and that they used anime as a selling point for the RPG. None of that contradicts the point I made :confused:

Quote from: Skywalker;736921I agree that WW will pimp Exalted as anything they think will sell and that they used anime as a selling point for the RPG. None of that contradicts the point I made :confused:

I'm not entirely sure what about you're trying to make. I'm talking about how they're trying to downplay the idea that its an anime game now when very recently they were pimping it as an anime game. You seem to be saying that this changed over the course of years. I saw it change over the course of weeks. Very recent ads were calling it "an anime fantasy game" so the denials come across as disingenuous to say the least. It rings very similar to how Aberrant supposedly wasn't a "superhero" game because superheroes were silly. It just had people with superpowers with code names and costumes (excuse me... "Signature Clothing") fighting various plots to take over the world and commit various crimes. Nothing like a superhero game.