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RPGsite Darlings?

Started by RPGPundit, January 12, 2011, 12:41:38 AM

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RPGPundit

January 12, 2011, 12:41:38 AM
Do we have them? And if so, what do you think they are?

RPGPundit
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Benoist

#1
January 12, 2011, 12:45:25 AM
Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

To me, it sounds kinda bad, like you're just excusing the game for its failings "because well, the site likes it, you know? So of course everything MUST be cool about it, right?"

Is that what "Darling" means?

Hairfoot

#2
January 12, 2011, 12:50:14 AM
Aren't they a type of metal fastener?  Or maybe a kind of sparrow.

Peregrin

#3
January 12, 2011, 12:54:12 AM
While I may not like every game that others here like, I don't find many people here to cling to the "high concept, poor execution" games that tend to become RPGnet darlings.
"In a way, the Lands of Dream are far more brutal than the worlds of most mainstream games. All of the games set there have a bittersweetness that I find much harder to take than the ridiculous adolescent posturing of so-called \'grittily realistic\' games. So maybe one reason I like them as a setting is because they are far more like the real world: colourful, crazy, full of strange creatures and people, eternal and yet changing, deeply beautiful and sometimes profoundly bitter."

Benoist

#4
January 12, 2011, 12:55:01 AM
The first obvious contender would be Amber, but it's dead as soon as the name's mentioned, because I know for sure a number of RPG Site users don't connect with it that much, like myself, or OHT if I'm not mistaken. So no, not Amber.

Pendragon seems to be well liked around here.

Likewise, I was surprised to see quite a few widely different users like the latest Gamma World. That's intriguing, and points towards the success of the game to bridge some fundamental differences between playstyles, maybe.

There's no way you can have any sort of consensus on the RPG Site about D&D editions. So none of them.

Mongoose RuneQuest? Randall didn't seem to like the results, there are probably others.

Stars Without Number has the potential to be a consensus on the RPG Site. Who knows, maybe it'll be it?

Call of Cthulhu?

Peregrin

#5
January 12, 2011, 12:58:53 AM
Thinking about it, we do have quite a few anti-darlings, though.
"In a way, the Lands of Dream are far more brutal than the worlds of most mainstream games. All of the games set there have a bittersweetness that I find much harder to take than the ridiculous adolescent posturing of so-called \'grittily realistic\' games. So maybe one reason I like them as a setting is because they are far more like the real world: colourful, crazy, full of strange creatures and people, eternal and yet changing, deeply beautiful and sometimes profoundly bitter."

Benoist

#6
January 12, 2011, 01:00:13 AM
Quote from: Peregrin;432107Thinking about it, we do have quite a few anti-darlings, though.
Like really hated games you mean? Maid FTW. Or is it FTL?

Peregrin

#7
January 12, 2011, 01:07:07 AM
Quote from: Benoist;432109Like really hated games you mean? Maid FTW. Or is it FTL?

Yeah.  Sorta.  The ones that draw (almost) universal ire.

Maid (which, as someone who's "into" anime/manga, deserves far more scrutiny than most regulars on RPGnet give it).  4e was on/off for a while it seems (though I showed up way after the initial response), but has calmed down a lot.  Poison'd.  Others I'm probably missing.

That's not to say some of those games don't deserve a healthy dose of "What the hell is this shit?", but for some reason particularly around here the mention of those names set some people off immediately, like Ed with Dogs.
"In a way, the Lands of Dream are far more brutal than the worlds of most mainstream games. All of the games set there have a bittersweetness that I find much harder to take than the ridiculous adolescent posturing of so-called \'grittily realistic\' games. So maybe one reason I like them as a setting is because they are far more like the real world: colourful, crazy, full of strange creatures and people, eternal and yet changing, deeply beautiful and sometimes profoundly bitter."

Pseudoephedrine

#8
January 12, 2011, 01:12:37 AM
IMHO, a true "darling" in the RPG.net mold is a fad.

Type 1 Darlings: Rogue Trader, Exalted, Savage Worlds, maybe Dresden Files

Type 2: Eoris, Icons, Mongoose Runequest II, Cthulhutech, Wushu, Scion, Cortex/Leverage, Legends of Anglerre

There are two kinds of darlings, IMHO. The above lists are by no means exhaustive.

Type 1 are perennial favourites that people consistently bring up in discussions of their favourite game. These tend to crop up in "What system should I..?" type threads, without regard to their appropriateness to the OP's conditions. They all contain lots of setting information to discuss if one doesn't actually play them, and they are amenable to formulating high-concept games that will never actually be run.

Type 2 are games that are the source of a lot of discussion immediately following their release, then gradually fall off the radar. People discuss them a lot, propose running games with them that they never do, and maybe you see a few PbPs in the appropriate forum. In due time, they are forgotten and no longer discussed.

Personally, I don't consider a game's status as a darling to be particularly indicative of its quality either for good or ill. MRQII is one of my favourite games, and I'm growing more interested in FATE 3.0.

In theRPGsite's case, we don't really have darlings in the same way. Most of the games we talk about and get excited about are perennials. While you occasionally see a game like Stars Without Numbers or Swords and Wizardry come in to extremely positive response overall, we don't tend to get hysterical about them and they usually are very good quality games (as both the above are).
Running
The Pernicious Light, or The Wreckers of Sword Island;
A Goblin\'s Progress, or Of Cannons and Canons;
An Oration on the Dignity of Tash, or On the Elves and Their Lies
All for S&W Complete
Playing: Dark Heresy, WFRP 2e

"Elves don\'t want you cutting down trees but they sell wood items, they don\'t care about the forests, they\'\'re the fuckin\' wood mafia." -Anonymous

Pseudoephedrine

#9
January 12, 2011, 01:15:46 AM
Quote from: Peregrin;432107Thinking about it, we do have quite a few anti-darlings, though.

Yes, definitely. Poison'd, Carcosa, really almost anything involving transgressive sexuality gets a very negative response here.
Running
The Pernicious Light, or The Wreckers of Sword Island;
A Goblin\'s Progress, or Of Cannons and Canons;
An Oration on the Dignity of Tash, or On the Elves and Their Lies
All for S&W Complete
Playing: Dark Heresy, WFRP 2e

"Elves don\'t want you cutting down trees but they sell wood items, they don\'t care about the forests, they\'\'re the fuckin\' wood mafia." -Anonymous

Benoist

#10
January 12, 2011, 01:28:35 AM
Yes, but there are people who like Carcosa here, for instance. Spinach Cat did the review and ran it, right? There's myself, and Aos too, for sure... Rob/estar doesn't hate it either. So the answer's not universally negative on the RPG Site. Same thing about 4e, where there are people like AM, Peregrin, Seanchai, etc who really liked the game from day 1. Hence the (mostly past) shitstorms.

Poison'd however... who is the last user to actually have defended Poison'd, besides the Forge-bots, I mean?

Peregrin

#11
January 12, 2011, 01:39:10 AM
Well, I liked it when I came here, anyway.  My first impressions were not favorable at launch, and my opinion of it has waned as the R&D team seems unable to make up its mind about what they want the game to be like.

Also, I want to love Gamma World like quite a few others here, but goofy post-apoc just ain't my thing.
"In a way, the Lands of Dream are far more brutal than the worlds of most mainstream games. All of the games set there have a bittersweetness that I find much harder to take than the ridiculous adolescent posturing of so-called \'grittily realistic\' games. So maybe one reason I like them as a setting is because they are far more like the real world: colourful, crazy, full of strange creatures and people, eternal and yet changing, deeply beautiful and sometimes profoundly bitter."

KrakaJak

#12
January 12, 2011, 02:08:08 AM
Quote from: RPGPundit;432097Do we have them? And if so, what do you think they are?

RPGPundit

My thoughts on Darlings for here?

Traveller
D&D 3.x
Savage Worlds
Gamma World (1e/2e)
Traditional Indie Games (Better Mousetrap, Precis Intermedia etc.)


This place also seems to favor the One True Way as following:

Sandbox

Non-Progressive - Maybe Traditional is a better word, but certain Traditional games are shunned for being 'out there''Swiney''Things Koltar Doesn't Understand' etc. ex. White-Wolf, D&D 4e, WHFRP 3e,

Non-Experimental - i.e. 'Art-games' 'Story-Games' ie.e the often pretentious, heavily themed, choice limited games are right out. The Mod/Owner doesn't even consider them worthy of discussion as RPG's

(As a board-politik side note, I don't think the experimental indie games are RPGs either, but worthy of discussion as such. The sites policy and the RPGPundit remind me of Humpty Dumpty in Alice in Wonderland...arg sidetracked!)

Originals - No clones allowed

Surreal/Absurd - I.E. Erol Otus, Gamma World, Palladium,


Yeah, those are the games I think of when I visit this place...
-Jak
 
 "Be the person you want to be, at the expense of everything."
Spreading Un-Common Sense since 1983

Pseudoephedrine

#13
January 12, 2011, 02:24:32 AM
I would say that this is one of the few discussion forums I've been to that doesn't subsume "gonzo" campaigns and settings under "high-concept" campaigns and settings.
Running
The Pernicious Light, or The Wreckers of Sword Island;
A Goblin\'s Progress, or Of Cannons and Canons;
An Oration on the Dignity of Tash, or On the Elves and Their Lies
All for S&W Complete
Playing: Dark Heresy, WFRP 2e

"Elves don\'t want you cutting down trees but they sell wood items, they don\'t care about the forests, they\'\'re the fuckin\' wood mafia." -Anonymous

skofflox

#14
January 12, 2011, 03:23:24 AM Last Edit: January 12, 2011, 05:06:45 AM by skofflox
Quote from: KrakaJak;432123*snip*
This place also seems to favor the One True Way as following:

Non-Progressive - Maybe Traditional is a better word, but certain Traditional games are shunned for being 'out there''Swiney''Things Koltar Doesn't Understand' etc. ex. White-Wolf, D&D 4e, WHFRP 3e,

*snip*

Surreal/Absurd - I.E. Erol Otus, Gamma World, Palladium,


Yeah, those are the games I think of when I visit this place...

:rotfl:

as for "darlings" (as I understand the trm) I nominate...
Traveller
Savage Worlds
Atomic Highway
Pendragon
CoC

though I rek'n there will be dissenters amongst the ranks.
:)

(what is Pundits definition of a "darling"?)
Form the group wisely, make sure you share goals and means.
Set norms of table etiquette early on.
Encourage attentive participation and speed of play so the game will stay vibrant!
Allow that the group, milieu and system will from an organic symbiosis.
Most importantly, have fun exploring the possibilities!

Running: AD&D 2nd. ed.
"And my orders from Gygax are to weed out all non-hackers who do not pack the gear to play in my beloved milieu."-Kyle Aaron
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