Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;961974Don't care for his GUMSHOE politics.

What are his GUMSHOE politics? All I know about his politics is that he is a Ted Cruz fan, which isn't something that endears anyone to me, but it isn't something I care about when I buy a game.

Quote from: Baulderstone;961978What are his GUMSHOE politics? All I know about his politics is that he is a Ted Cruz fan, which isn't something that endears anyone to me, but it isn't something I care about when I buy a game.

He used the female pronoun when writing gum shoe! He mist be stopped.

Ken Hite is amazing. His work with GURPS is my favorite

Quote from: Baulderstone;961978What are his GUMSHOE politics? All I know about his politics is that he is a Ted Cruz fan, which isn't something that endears anyone to me, but it isn't something I care about when I buy a game.

His writing isn't particularly politicised as such, but one of his games made reference to 'Bush's War', which somebody on the right objected to somewhere in a review or some such. The publisher then responded that Hite was a 'staunch Republican' IIRC, and I think the label stuck with some on the left. Probably not the best idea to make personal politics public, I guess.

With regards to his writing of Vampire, it's a curious choice as I'm sure he has been a critic of the game in the past. His writing style is energetic, but I hope he doesn't take heed of people who sometimes characterise him as a 'zany writer'. He's not really, and he's usually at his best when he keeps things straight and informative. He can also be a bit flighty - presenting ideas at a rate of knots without fully fleshing them out. Then again, he is an authoritative voice in horror rpgs, so if he piques an interest in gamers then it is a good thing.

It does "pique" my interest. But I will have to see what comes of it. It does raise my interest from 0, to a 5 though. (assuming 1-10 scale)

Quote from: TrippyHippy;962009His writing isn't particularly politicised as such, but one of his games made reference to 'Bush's War', which somebody on the right objected to somewhere in a review or some such. The publisher then responded that Hite was a 'staunch Republican' IIRC, and I think the label stuck with some on the left. Probably not the best idea to make personal politics public, I guess.

With regards to his writing of Vampire, it's a curious choice as I'm sure he has been a critic of the game in the past. His writing style is energetic, but I hope he doesn't take heed of people who sometimes characterise him as a 'zany writer'. He's not really, and he's usually at his best when he keeps things straight and informative. He can also be a bit flighty - presenting ideas at a rate of knots without fully fleshing them out. Then again, he is an authoritative voice in horror rpgs, so if he piques an interest in gamers then it is a good thing.

He hasn't made much of a secret of his politics on the podcast he does with Robin Laws, and they've talked about it in the context of American politics a bunch.  Even if I had a problem with them - which I don't - like you said, he's an authoritative voice in horror in the hobby.  Everybody who hasn't should dig up a copy of Nightmares of Mine by ICE back in the day.

Quote from: Ronin;962018It does "pique" my interest. But I will have to see what comes of it. It does raise my interest from 0, to a 5 though. (assuming 1-10 scale)

That's the curious thing though isn't it? It's an announcement that generally attracts people who generally don't like Vampire. It'll be interesting to see how it pans out.

Quote from: Future Villain Band;962021He hasn't made much of a secret of his politics on the podcast he does with Robin Laws, and they've talked about it in the context of American politics a bunch.  Even if I had a problem with them - which I don't - like you said, he's an authoritative voice in horror in the hobby.  Everybody who hasn't should dig up a copy of Nightmares of Mine by ICE back in the day.

  I think most of that stuff got reprinted in GURPS Horror 3E and 4E, which is good, because the original Nightmares of Mine is hard to find nowadays. (I found a copy at Half Price Books in May 2000. Got it signed by Hite in November 2007. No, you can't have it. )

Quote from: TrippyHippy;962022That's the curious thing though isn't it? It's an announcement that generally attracts people who generally don't like Vampire. It'll be interesting to see how it pans out.

What do they hope to accomplish with another edition? If they make any changes they will alienate the existing fan base. I seem to recall everyone complaining about the post-apocalypse one world of darkness retool when it was announced. The iphone apps were not impressive.

Aren't all the older Vampire/whatever: the what fans now mostly buying Onyx Path stuff? This seems like a way to get their own audience for their stuff as opposed to cannablizing Onyx Path's sales (which I guess are licensed)

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;962026What do they hope to accomplish with another edition? If they make any changes they will alienate the existing fan base. I seem to recall everyone complaining about the post-apocalypse one world of darkness retool when it was announced. The iphone apps were not impressive.

Well, that's something for the marketing gurus at White Wolf to work out of course, and I am not privy to their discussions!

There is however, a general feedback that the various 20th Anniversary editions (which are pretty much the de facto 4th editions of each respective game, regardless of what the blurb says) is that the books are alienating to new audiences simply because the books are too big. Any attempt to make more accessible core books is not a bad thing in my view. White Wolf also cited the tagline "One World of Darkness' as a line goal - which implies making the game more international in scope whilst also removing the confusion of the Old/New WoD lines (which they have already done by way of having 'New World of Darkness' become 'Chronicles of Darkness' instead). The main money spinner of the IP is deemed to lie in online gaming and things like TV and movies, so there would be a drive towards integrating these things with a new edition of the game too.

The bottom line, however, is that all these lines need to get renewed periodically to generate more revenue for the company. The same is true of the 2nd Edition, the Revised Edition (really the 3rd edition), the New World of Darkness line, and the 20th Anniversary lines. They each arrive about every 6 years or so to simply reboot the income of the company - and Vampire: The Masquerade is still their biggest IP and revenue source.

From my own perspective, I would like to see more stripped down core rule books again anyway. I'm a bit of a closet Old School Gamer, but my favourite editions of Vampire are still the earlier ones. The reason is nuanced: the original seven Clans actually reflected real world society - Brujah were left wing socialists and anarchists, Venture were right wing conservatives and the other Clans were all recognisable stereotypes of social strata that we see in real world politics. Because of this there was a degree of satirical content in the game ('You are the monsters!' - presenting how we look at different stratifications of society in a stereotyped and fearful way) that ascended a little above mere genre simulation. Recent editions added more Clans, which were poorly judged in some cases, and the game's more thoughtful aspects became more diluted into being a more generic game about playing vampires, with a heavy backstory and metaphor, than an observation on our own culture.  

Maybe that's just me though. The game mechanics got more crunchy too, as the game wore on, and I miss some of the early art's tone and the iconic rose on green marble.

I'll probably buy the new game, like the sucker I am.

Nothing says #Angst like a flowchart.

Quote from: Future Villain Band;962021He hasn't made much of a secret of his politics on the podcast he does with Robin Laws, and they've talked about it in the context of American politics a bunch.

Funny you mention this, because it was in one of those podcasts where he definitively stated that #Vampires are rapists, which means by his own admission he's working on a game where you play supernatural rapists!

Really curious how he's going to square that away.

Quote from: Future Villain Band;962021Everybody who hasn't should dig up a copy of Nightmares of Mine by ICE back in the day.

Did so, wasn't impressed.

What did you find impressive about it?

Hite is a very talented game designer and writer of a conservative political bent, not that that is apparent in his games. He's done some excellent work in Night's Black Agents and his book for LofFP is terrific.

Quote from: Anon Adderlan;962048

Nothing says #Angst like a flowchart.

Oh look, mechanized roleplaying, where the designers force a playstyle, rather than let it flow (or not) naturally.  Like the Humanity track worked SO WELL!  

Quote from: Anon Adderlan;962048Funny you mention this, because it was in one of those podcasts where he definitively stated that #Vampires are rapists, which means by his own admission he's working on a game where you play supernatural rapists!

Really curious how he's going to square that away.

The Vampire is the sexual predator, the abuser, the stalker, the rapist.  That's what they've always been the analog or metaphor for.

Quote from: Anon Adderlan;962048Did so, wasn't impressed.

What did you find impressive about it?

I am also curious about that.

Quote from: Ulairi;961924Bruce Baugh is throwing a hissy fit over it. I'm going to buy the game just because of that.

why is Bruce upset? does HE want to be developer?

Crazy chicks from the '90s got older. And are still crazy.