DocMan Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER I've been told by a number of people that I run a very good horror RPG scenario' date=' though. (I occassionally do those by request...since they're not something I care for, I don't start/write them on my own. If I [i']do[/i] decide to do one on request, though, you can bet your bottom dollar I'm going to try my darndest to deliver what the person wants. Evidently I have. ) I can see more of a point in "game of personal horror" RPG's. It's like telling stories by the campfire. You tell a story to see if you can freak someone else out, and then they get a turn to see if they can top you. Horror games are like that. You RP to see if you can manage to give the players (or the GM) the creeps. And they're doing the same thing. The fun part is the creative ways you find to get under each other's skins. With a horror movie, the director has already had his fun. It's no fun for me to go see it just to validate his storytelling ability. Maybe if he paid me to see it... Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klytus Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER Horror has never really been my cup of tea, either. Some of it actively repulses me (the "buckets o' blood and gore" approach) but most of it just leaves me uninterested. I've been told by a number of people that I run a very good horror RPG scenario, though. (I occassionally do those by request...since they're not something I care for, I don't start/write them on my own. If I do decide to do one on request, though, you can bet your bottom dollar I'm going to try my darndest to deliver what the person wants. Evidently I have. ) In all my years of running Vampire, there was only one time I truly manged to scare all of my players. Bonnie Fair Bear. It was a fine moment for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Seeman Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER That's very interesting. I've always regarded it as essential for a horror writer to establish reality before shattering it. Is it that concept you dislike, or just the amount of time it takes for King to do it? -AA That's one of the reasons that I loved King for quite some time; he would create these characters and scenarios where everything is fine and dandy and then utterly destroy them. To me, it creates horror on a much more intimate level. King is, however, long-winded from time to time. It was like that, as was The Stand. When he is more to the point I enjoy reading him a lot more. That's why I love his short story and novella collections; he can't go off for too long about things that don't really matter. He also seems to have a problem ending a book. It's not that he doesn't have a great climax and that he doesn't tie up loose ends... it's just that more often that not it feels clumsy, awkward or rushed. The last book of his that I read was Insomnia and I liked it so much that I stopped reading for fear of finding a stinker. I also highly recommened The Regulators and Desperation. One was written as Bachman and the other as King and they are somewhat related (moreso than most of his books). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austenandrews Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER I've been told by a number of people that I run a very good horror RPG scenario' date=' though. (I occassionally do those by request...since they're not something I care for, I don't start/write them on my own. If I [i']do[/i] decide to do one on request, though, you can bet your bottom dollar I'm going to try my darndest to deliver what the person wants. Evidently I have. ) *heh* I had the same experience with a romance game. I ran it for longer than I thought I would and my players never stopped wanting more, and oftener. But you couldn't make me read a romance novel for all the gold in Donald Trump's bathroom. -AA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocMan Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER In all my years of running Vampire, there was only one time I truly manged to scare all of my players. Bonnie Fair Bear. It was a fine moment for me I LIKED Bonnie Fair Bear! She was great to introduce to people. Especially dim people who were full of their own superiority. Such an excellent niece. Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austenandrews Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER I never got the point of horror. I'm supposed to scare myself as a form of entertainment? Sure! I love it when the movie is over and I'm looking around dark corners without realizing it. I doubt there's a way to convey the feeling, though, if you don't already experience it. Ultimately different people react to fear in different ways. Some folks put up barriers and do things like scoff or laugh or rationalize. Others, like me, revel in the base instincts that a good fright can stir up in their body. All a matter of taste (or lack thereof ). Although I must admit, if I ever need a good laugh, I just watch a horror movie. Some "horror" is really just gory comedy. I get a kick out of much of that, too. -AA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austenandrews Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER I was more poking a bit of fun than making a serious attempt to get you to change your descriptor. That's okay. I was more asking to extend the reply count on the thread. I think I'll leave it as it is and see who else notices. -AA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Anomaly Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER *heh* I had the same experience with a romance game. I ran it for longer than I thought I would and my players never stopped wanting more, and oftener. But you couldn't make me read a romance novel for all the gold in Donald Trump's bathroom. -AA Sometimes things backfire on you. About 11 years ago, I was gaming with a group that played regularly on Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoon/evenings. A number of us GM'd, and it was often a toss-up as to who was going to run what system/scenario/campaign on any given game day. Sometimes we'd have something that someone wanted to run that took about two weeks (4 sessions, including 2 of the much longer Saturday sessions) and sometimes it was a series of one-shots. It depended on individual schedules, moods, etc. As it happens, when this particular bit takes place, we'd finished up a long d6 Star Wars scenario on Saturday, but hadn't yet decided what we were going to do on Wednesday. One of the players was also co-owner of the local game store, and I stopped in there most days over lunch to chit-chat, and often times after work. This particular Wednesday had been a real b*tch at work, and not only had I not been able to get away over lunch to stop by the game store, but was in a generally crabby mood...I was really looking forward to some gaming to unwind. When I got to Richard's house (where we met to game) everyone else was there first. I asked what we were going to be playing, and with a big, cheesey grin Richard said "Hey, you didn't show up over lunch, so those of us who did took a vote and decided you'd be running something tonight." Given the way I was feeling, I did not appreciate the joke. I could have said "No," and explained I'd had a bad day at the office. I could have blown my stack and let the frustration come boiling out. Instead what I did was turn around and walk out without a word, back to my car, and open the trunk. (At this point in my life, my trunk was crammed full of my gaming library, in secure, tough, sealed plastic file boxes with carrying handles. I kept it in the car because unlike everyone else, I lived a 30-minute drive out of town, and never knowing what we'd be playing, kept all my stuff with me.) I have a habit of buying games that I have no intention of playing, either becuase they're just "neat", or to use as source material for another game. (I've got a lot of Torg stuff for that reason.) I pulled a game book out of a box, closed the trunk, and went back inside. I held it up in plain view, and explained "Okay, since you did this to me, this is what we're going to be playing tonight!" It was a game I knew the rest of them did not want to play, would protest about, and would be upset to be forced to play. Well, I was feeling very annoyed and spiteful, so I stuck to my guns and made them play it. Teenagers From Outer Space. (sigh) I should have known karma would 'get' me for being spiteful. Despite the shock, horror, grumbling, and loud protests of the players, it proved (after we'd played that session) to be a huge hit. So big, in fact, that I ended up GMing it as a campaign for nearly 3 years on a weekly (sometimes twice weekly) basis! Yup...sometimes doing a really good job at GMing can seriously backfire... gewing 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Seeman Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER That's okay. I was more asking to extend the reply count on the thread. I think I'll leave it as it is and see who else notices. -AA Hey AA, when are you going to change your Title? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austenandrews Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER Oh I dunno, one of these days. -AA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Seeman Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER I see that! I must say, I like it. I like it a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Anomaly Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER Oh I dunno, one of these days. -AA Heh. Good one. It's sure better than Ben's own descriptor... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMcL63 Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER That's very interesting. I've always regarded it as essential for a horror writer to establish reality before shattering it. Is it that concept you dislike, or just the amount of time it takes for King to do it? -AA A bit of both really. I mean, if you're reading in the horror genre, you don't really need the sense of reality to be established, since you know it's all coming crumbling down anyway. After all, the original Dawn of the Dead movie didn't bother, did it? We were just dropped straight in to the action. So part of me feels that this technique is not absolutely necessary, and is indeed a little less than brilliant when everyone knows that genre conventions mean that this reality is going to be torn apart. It's a tired device therefore I'd suggest. And yes, I think that King takes too long at this, IIRC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rage Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER I was also never very impressed by King. The talisman or whatever the title was, imo stank. His Bachman books short stories were quite a bit better. The Bachman books are wonderful, Rage, THe Long Walk... man they were the tits! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeroTina Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER Is it the longest tread yet Papa Smurf? Not far now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocMan Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER Is it the longest tread yet Papa Smurf? Is it the longest thread containing smurfs? Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mightybec Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER Authors I can't read... A majority of Tom Clancy Harry Turtledove Clive Barker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archermoo Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER Is it the longest thread containing smurfs? Doc Ah, smurfs. The only blue food... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austenandrews Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER I see that! I must say' date=' I like it. I like it a lot! [/quote'] This could be the start of a beautiful friendship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Anomaly Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER This could be the start of a beautiful friendship. Or the start of a lot of sucking up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klytus Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER Ah' date=' smurfs. The only blue food...[/quote'] There's a reason I call blue Slurpies "Smurf Juice" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Squirrel Posted April 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER You know, AA. I bet if we could turn this into "Rachel or Kara gone wild", we could get those ratios going without the actual addition of pictures. But, this begs the questions: 1: What to we mean by gone wild? 2: How to we get them to go gone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archermoo Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER There's a reason I call blue Slurpies "Smurf Juice" Chuckle... One of these days I'm going to be able to give you more Rep... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austenandrews Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER You know, AA. I bet if we could turn this into "Rachel or Kara gone wild", we could get those ratios going without the actual addition of pictures. But, this begs the questions: 1: What to we mean by gone wild? And how would it be different from what Kara already is? 2: How to we get them to go gone? I dunno. Is that the past tense of "go-go?" -AA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Squirrel Posted April 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 Re: Longest Running Thread EVER And how would it be different from what Kara already is? In that case we need Kara gone wilder. I dunno. Is that the past tense of "go-go?" -AA No, that would be gone-gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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