Give Me A History Lesson: Exalted and RPG.Net

thedungeondelver · December 28, 2012, 03:49:04 PM

Quote from: One Horse Town;612416It's what i like to call 'smoke & mirrors' writing. Labyrinthine, arcane, gibberish, but with just enough knowing pretension to it to make some stupid people think it's meaningful.

It's like a photo-negative of Gary Gygax's writing style; Gary colored his writing with baroque words and phrases. That's all Borgstrom's work is. Imagine ordering a peppersteak and getting a heaping bowl of black peppercorns with a little blob of meat somewhere inside.

Kaz · December 28, 2012, 04:00:30 PM

Quote from: One Horse Town;612416with just enough knowing pretension to it to make some stupid people think it's meaningful.

This is exactly what I've always thought of movies like American Beauty and Donnie Darko.

The illusion of meaning is not meaning!

MrMephistopheles · December 28, 2012, 04:30:50 PM

I ended up bowing out of in depth discussion of Exalted on rpg.net save for some peripheral commentary due in on small part that if I wanted mechanical and setting discussion I have the White Wolf forums, with far far less assholes involved compared to rpg.net. Particularly due to a lack of "Yes I'm threadcrapping Exalted threads and will outright say I am." on the White Wolf forums. Also it helps they banned Jon Chung so that's a plus.

thedungeondelver · December 28, 2012, 04:34:41 PM

As an aside, there's a new gamer in my group who loves AD&D but must never, ever discover Exalted. If she does, we're doomed.

Benoist · December 28, 2012, 04:45:23 PM

Borgstrom wrote Nobilis, right?

Nexus · December 28, 2012, 04:56:04 PM

Quote from: Benoist;612434Borgstrom wrote Nobilis, right?

Yes, she did

Daddy Warpig · December 28, 2012, 05:18:09 PM

Quote from: One Horse Town;612416It's what i like to call 'smoke & mirrors' writing. Labyrinthine, arcane, gibberish, but with just enough knowing pretension to it to make some stupid people think it's meaningful.

That's the GNS to a "T". "Smoke & Mirrors" pisses me off whenever I read it. I'm even more pissed off when people insist that obscurity = wisdom or insight. Here's the rule:

Just because it's hard to understand, doesn't mean it's insightful.

Applies to movies, music, and all other forms of communication. "Smoke & Mirrors" can be found everywhere.

The Traveller · December 28, 2012, 05:50:17 PM

Quote from: Daddy Warpig;612454That's the GNS to a "T". "Smoke & Mirrors" pisses me off whenever I read it. I'm even more pissed off when people insist that obscurity = wisdom or insight. Here's the rule:

Just because it's hard to understand, doesn't mean it's insightful.

Applies to movies, music, and all other forms of communication. "Smoke & Mirrors" can be found everywhere.

Or to put it another way, if you can't blind them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.

soviet · December 28, 2012, 05:53:59 PM

Quote from: The Traveller;612459if you can't blind them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.

Based on your posts, this should be your sig.

(un)reason · December 28, 2012, 05:55:46 PM

Dog Quixote · December 28, 2012, 05:58:07 PM

Quote from: Kaz;612422This is exactly what I've always thought of movies like American Beauty and Donnie Darko.

The illusion of meaning is not meaning!

Donnie Darko is a great movie precisely because it's incomprehensible mystery captures perfectly the feeling of portentiousness that is such a part of adolescence. See also Brick in which the high school characters talk like characters in a noir film. It's a world way from American Beauty which is just pretentious.

(You actually can get the full explanation for what is going on in Donnie Darko - it all makes sense but adds nothing whatsover to the experience of watching the film.)

MrMephistopheles · December 28, 2012, 06:19:34 PM

Never minded Moran much when it came to Exalted. I've not read her other rpg material and most of her Exalted contributions were never terribly esoteric. The 1e Sidereal base Charmset was marked as a highpoint in the line and areas of issue were for the most part, a result of the core system being poor.

GameDaddy · December 28, 2012, 07:07:13 PM

Quote from: Kaz;612422This is exactly what I've always thought of movies like American Beauty and Donnie Darko.

The illusion of meaning is not meaning!

I never did Grok Donny Darko, or understand why it was popular. American Beauty however, is a masterpiece of satire and irony that clearly demonstrates the uniquely American obsession of creating trivial drama in order to enhance an otherwise meaningless existence.

Kaz · December 28, 2012, 07:17:21 PM

Quote from: GameDaddy;612485American Beauty however, is a masterpiece of satire and irony that clearly demonstrates the uniquely American obsession of creating trivial drama in order to enhance an otherwise meaningless existence.

Quote from: Dog Quixote;612463Donnie Darko is a great movie precisely because it's incomprehensible mystery captures perfectly the feeling of portentiousness that is such a part of adolescence.

You guys are KILLING me.

Meanwhile, I'll be over here with my Jim Jarmusch films.

crkrueger · December 28, 2012, 07:37:04 PM

Quote from: Kaz;612422This is exactly what I've always thought of movies like American Beauty and Donnie Darko.

The illusion of meaning is not meaning!

I found great meaning in Mena Suvari's breasts.