Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on July 11, 2024, 08:34:57 AMI watched Record of Lodoss War. It's an adaptation of the showrunner's D&D campaign.

Lodoss War has an interesting history in that it was a serialized replay (episodic magazine content in the form of a script.)  It was a tutorial/template for a lot of campaigns in Japan at the time.

That style has inspired my current Fabula Ultima campaign which is in replay format.

I have dabbled with anime/manga gaming, but could never find a group that could focus on a common theme.  Fortunately, solo role playing proved to be a creative outlet for my desires.  The closest I got with a group was a D-list supers game after Mystery Men was a thing.  That was fun FAE hack. 

I might return to dark fantasy RPGs at some point, I have three or four games in that genre waiting in the wings. 

The early Manga stuff was gnarly and really dark (Wicked City, et.).
But WTF happened?? Now it's all cuddly and fuzzy.

Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on July 11, 2024, 01:37:16 PMThe early Manga stuff was gnarly and really dark (Wicked City, et.).
But WTF happened?? Now it's all cuddly and fuzzy.

Greetings!

Rob! *Laughing* "Now it's all cuddly and fuzzy!"

Women love the "Cuddly and Fuzzy" stuff!

Here in the States, we have *adult women* going to the grocery store, the market, wearing pajamas, and furry animal slippers, and carrying furry, stuffed animals under their arms. Jaw-dropping, mind-boggling--but true.

I suspect that there is a substantial adult market for everything and anything that is overtly feminized, cuddly, cute, super-sugar happy, and colourfully adolescent.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on July 11, 2024, 01:37:16 PMThe early Manga stuff was gnarly and really dark (Wicked City, et.).
But WTF happened?? Now it's all cuddly and fuzzy.

The majority, yes. Go check out Goblin Slayer and Knights of Sidonia, pretty grim main story in each.

I also extremely dislike anime and the long term consequence on western taste and perception it has caused.

I'm also convinced Japanese as a language should have ever left that little island given it can't be translated without sounding super cringe or awkward, hence all dialogue or subs in any anime ever is stilted, awkward and downright alien.

Quote from: Dropbear on July 11, 2024, 10:48:33 AMI can agree with Trond here. What I tried to run in a fantasy campaign was more Conan the Barbarian via Howard. What I got was anime furries galore. This was with a Primeval Thule 5E game.

Switched to Savage Worlds Adventure Edition. They were okay with the rules change (SWADE seems easier to grok than 5E for new players). Still furries, though.

So back to Shadowrun. They like the world lore but are confused with the rules. That's okay so am I half the time with Sixth World.

An old player rejoined the group. He started with SR3 and is trying to convince the group to play a game of that. Lol.

But at least no furries...

If you don't mention Changelings, anyway!

I'm morbidly curious; how did they pitch their furry ideas? Was it a milquetoast "I always liked classic Disney" thing, or more.....hard core?

Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on July 11, 2024, 01:37:16 PMThe early Manga stuff was gnarly and really dark (Wicked City, et.).
But WTF happened?? Now it's all cuddly and fuzzy.

Depends on what Manga/Anime you're reading/watching.

Quote from: SHARK on July 11, 2024, 01:47:19 PM

Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on July 11, 2024, 01:37:16 PMThe early Manga stuff was gnarly and really dark (Wicked City, et.).
But WTF happened?? Now it's all cuddly and fuzzy.

Greetings!

Rob! *Laughing* "Now it's all cuddly and fuzzy!"

Women love the "Cuddly and Fuzzy" stuff!

Here in the States, we have *adult women* going to the grocery store, the market, wearing pajamas, and furry animal slippers, and carrying furry, stuffed animals under their arms. Jaw-dropping, mind-boggling--but true.

I suspect that there is a substantial adult market for everything and anything that is overtly feminized, cuddly, cute, super-sugar happy, and colourfully adolescent.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Hah! Indeed, man. There is a whole modern cohort that seems to just be walking billboards for all that happy candy ass anime dross. LOL

Quote from: jeff37923 on July 11, 2024, 03:32:41 PM

Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on July 11, 2024, 01:37:16 PMThe early Manga stuff was gnarly and really dark (Wicked City, et.).
But WTF happened?? Now it's all cuddly and fuzzy.

The majority, yes. Go check out Goblin Slayer and Knights of Sidonia, pretty grim main story in each.

Ta' for the recommendations. I've heard good things about Goblin Slayer (the concept sounds cool). I'll have a gander for Knights of Sidonia.

Quote from: GeekyBugle on July 11, 2024, 06:35:58 PM

Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on July 11, 2024, 01:37:16 PMThe early Manga stuff was gnarly and really dark (Wicked City, et.).
But WTF happened?? Now it's all cuddly and fuzzy.

Depends on what Manga/Anime you're reading/watching.

Hey mate,
I'm a bit out of the loop to be fair. Open to any good recs!

Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on July 11, 2024, 06:46:43 PM

Quote from: GeekyBugle on July 11, 2024, 06:35:58 PM

Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on July 11, 2024, 01:37:16 PMThe early Manga stuff was gnarly and really dark (Wicked City, et.).
But WTF happened?? Now it's all cuddly and fuzzy.

Depends on what Manga/Anime you're reading/watching.

Hey mate,
I'm a bit out of the loop to be fair. Open to any good recs!

Let me check, what's good, what genre you like?

Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on July 11, 2024, 01:37:16 PMThe early Manga stuff was gnarly and really dark (Wicked City, et.).
But WTF happened?? Now it's all cuddly and fuzzy.

I think this is just selection bias around what Americans are seeing. There's still plenty of grimdark seinen manga floating around. I'd say that even what little shonen stuff I read is still gorier than the American equivalent. Meanwhile there's been saccharine magical girl crap coming out since at least the 80s. I think that with the anime boom in the last decade, the kiddie stuff gets pushed to the front because it sells merch. Whereas back when anime was a cult/underground thing in the US, the target market was weirdo teenagers and college kids who wanted the R-rated ultraviolent stuff.

Quote from: jeff37923 on July 11, 2024, 03:32:41 PMThe majority, yes. Go check out Goblin Slayer and Knights of Sidonia, pretty grim main story in each.

Or Wolfsmund. I'm a card-carrying Berserk enthusiast and even I found that story to too fucking grim.

Quote from: Socratic-DM on July 11, 2024, 04:05:55 PMI also extremely dislike anime and the long term consequence on western taste and perception it has caused.

That's the free market I'm afraid. There never would have been an anime boom without the videogame crash in the 80s, and the creative slump Anglophone genre fiction went into sometime in the 90s that it still hasn't recovered from. America fucked up and Japan capitalized.  I hear about good stuff coming out of continental Europe, but very little of it makes its way stateside.

Quote from: Darrin Kelley on July 11, 2024, 10:16:32 AMThe campaigns I prefer are humanocentric. But I am old school. I started with BECMI and AD&D 1st edition. So the crazy amount of races are completely jarring to me

Didn't BECMI eventually wind up with dozens of playable races, including cat, dog, turtle, raccoon and lizard people?

Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on July 11, 2024, 06:46:43 PM

Quote from: GeekyBugle on July 11, 2024, 06:35:58 PM

Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on July 11, 2024, 01:37:16 PMThe early Manga stuff was gnarly and really dark (Wicked City, et.).
But WTF happened?? Now it's all cuddly and fuzzy.

Depends on what Manga/Anime you're reading/watching.

Hey mate,
I'm a bit out of the loop to be fair. Open to any good recs!

I'm pretty out of it too. Outside of the stuff already mentioned, most of my anime and manga knowledge is old stuff you probably already know: Vampire Hunter D, Akira, Black Lagoon, Lone Wolf and Cub, etc.

Vagabond and Vinland Saga both had a lot of buzz about them, though I've read neither. I started Vinland Saga and bounced off of it, but I wouldn't say it's in any way bad.

I read a lot of manga in a very disposable way, usually on my phone when I'm stuck somewhere, so it doesn't stick in my mind. Let's see... I just started The Heroic Legend of Arslan, and it looks promising. Desert Punk was good if you're in the mood for something gritty but also lighthearted. Gou Tanabe did manga adaptations of several HP Lovecraft stories. He stays really faithful to the original plots, so no story surprises, but the illustration is gorgeous.

EDIT: Oh yeah, a friend of mine is constantly recommending Legend of the Galactic Heroes. From what he's told me, it's WWI in space.

I have been an avid fan of manga and anime since the 70s.  The medium is all over the map as far as quality, target audience, and tone. Here's a few of my recommendations:

Slane (manga)
Rebuild World (manga)
Desert Punk (manga)
Erased (anime)
Goblin Slayer (anime/manga)
One Punch Man (manga/anime)
3D Kanojo (anime/manga)
Psychopass (anime)
Saturn Apartments (manga)
A Silent Voice (anime movie)
The Ancient Magus Bride (manga/anime)
Tsugumomo (anime/manga)
Yajin Tensei: Karate Survivor In Another World (manga)
Miyabichi No Onmyouji (manga)
Tongari Booshi No Atori (Manga)

You can share these with your players and be able to get on the same page tone wise as well.

Quote from: JasperAK on July 11, 2024, 10:43:32 AMAnd that has been a problem with me ever since the silver age of D&D. Our trick as DMs is to find spots so that everyone can shine during a session, whether it's players who want to role-play or the players who love the tactical planning and wargame aspects. As an adult, I've been in groups that have successfully balanced both, because for the most part we were mature enough to let everyone have a chance to shine. If it wasn't our character's time, then that was when we get a drink or snack, take a potty break, take a smoke break, or otherwise converse without distracting the rest of the group.

I'd have to say though that I've experienced a few special little snowflakes that had to hog the spotlight or use the game as testing ground for their deviant behaviors that they would otherwise not have been brave enough to explore in the real world. My true pet peeve were those immature twats that couldn't let others have the spotlight for just a bit. Those are a cancer that needs to excised from every gaming group. I wish they should just create their own special support group for narcissistic, emo, socially retarded cunts instead of infecting the hobby. I'm not playing so, 'you can find yourself.' This is supposed to be a game, not fucking role-play therapy. It was not the settings or background that caused the most conflict, it was the players who were in the game for entirely incompatible reasons.

I can deal with people from a different generation. I've built a mini D&D campaign that included Yu-Gi-Oh and Naruto tropes to placate the players, even though I had no idea what those were. I had to study to make sure I got the feel right. But that was me being flexible.

Luckily over the years, the real adults I've had the privilege to game with--you know, the ones who can function outside of the land of make believe--have been able to purge and expel these social retards for the toxins and poisons they are. If only I'd had this wisdom during my adolescence, our games would have been much more enjoyable. Maybe I would have pushed them more towards Vampire instead of trying to keep these dysfunctional groups together.

I have had a similar issue but sadly not tied to age/generation

I had someone in my group that was older than me (and I started gaming with 1e) and they were the worst spotlight hog ever. I saw them, when the group was split up doing 2 or 3 different things - yes I support split the part at times as applicable and have an unwritten rule that I will not screw the party unless they do something stupid and or ignore my warning signs that things might actually be getting dangerous or as part of the plot - and they would say they were with group 1 and doing x, when I would switch to group 2 or 3 doing other things, they would jump in and start saying what they were doing with which ever group I was covering. When I would point out they weren't there they would answer "Yeah but I finished what I was doing and went and found this group so I'm there now" .... I even had them in combat say they were staying in one spot to guard the door so nothing stuck up on them - good smart tactical choice - but then when the rest of the group was fighting 2 or 3 rooms away (and not even in a critical life or death fight) they would say they wanted their turn in initiative and wanted to use x ability or cast y spell. I would point out they weren't there and not in the fight, so they would make an excuse that they could see or hear the combat from where they were so .... It drove me crazy.

Quote from: SHARK on July 11, 2024, 01:47:19 PM

Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on July 11, 2024, 01:37:16 PMThe early Manga stuff was gnarly and really dark (Wicked City, et.).
But WTF happened?? Now it's all cuddly and fuzzy.

Greetings!

Rob! *Laughing* "Now it's all cuddly and fuzzy!"

Women love the "Cuddly and Fuzzy" stuff!

Here in the States, we have *adult women* going to the grocery store, the market, wearing pajamas, and furry animal slippers, and carrying furry, stuffed animals under their arms. Jaw-dropping, mind-boggling--but true.

I suspect that there is a substantial adult market for everything and anything that is overtly feminized, cuddly, cute, super-sugar happy, and colourfully adolescent.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Rgr that. Saw a purrfect (yes pun intended) example today.

I had to stop in Walmart after work and ran into my mom. While we were talking this lady came walking by. She was wearing a hello kitty onesie/pjs and furry slippers (in NE OK July heat, who in their right mind in the heat here would wear long PJs and those slippers) with a leopard print purse and cat eyes shades. She was only missing cat ears and a tail. Oh yeah, she looked to be in her midish to late 30s, and did not have a body that you wanted to see in anything that might be used to sleep in !

The look on my mom's face when she noticed her was priceless !

However, it is a telling note on our society, and yes that is who is out spending money and being marketed too.