Often times I've seen role playing game groups that have 1 or 2 military-obsessed players. A couple of times I've had the misfortune to have one of these guys in a session or two that I ran.
These are the gamers or players that seem to be over-in-love with military equipment, gear and jargon. The characters they make always reflect that bent. They also tend to have a problem switching fro m 'war gaming' mode to RPG mode when in a roleplaying game situation.
Oh, and I'm NOT referring to players who have actually been in the military. Two of my better/best players from the past six years have been in the military - and this kind of concern or problem never happened with them when they game.
The obnoxious sorts I referred to in the first paragraph sometimes also have a gearhead bent to their play style.
What kind of experiences have you guys had with those kinds of military-obsessed players?
- Ed C.
Like most problem players I refuse to be bothered by their idiosyncrasies and handle it by immersing them in to the campaign and forcing them to speak in first person as their character. Eventually this gets them to think as their character rather than their character as piece being moved on a board. I.e. they start roleplaying. Mostly a version of themselves but it still roleplaying.
Without going into a long detailed explanation what happen is a) they accept that they are part of the Majestic Wilderlands during the session and start acting naturally (whatever that happens to be). or b) they remain in gamists mode which invariable results in their character being killed due to the inhabitants of the Majestic Wilderlands (or Third Imperium) taking care of the problem they are causing.
Being a long time wargamer myself it pretty hard to "out geek" me on the technical side of things.
One of the guys in my group is obsessed with guns. He's the guy who always points out the inaccuracies in movies or shows with guns in them. Now he really knows his stuff - he's an amateur gunsmith - but it is SUCH a beating in games when he goes into excessive detail about what type of firearms his character will be carrying. Not that he over-arms, but you can't just have a 9mm pistol with this guy.
There are times when I play in a sci-fi campaign I have to suppress my impulse to correct the referee on orbital mechanics. You see I created a switch accurate version of the Mercury and Gemini Capsule for a space simulator.
http://www.ibiblio.org/mscorbit
Sorry, but I actually think that games like BattleTech and Traveller were actually designed to cater to engineering geeks in the military. You know, guys obsessed with vehicles and weapons from a numbers point of view (among others).
I've got no problem with these guys. Well, actually I do - when I'd GM for such guys, they'd laugh at my amateur attempts to describe such stuff with any pretense of scientific and military knowledge. (Yeah, because even describing the technical behaviour of pseudo-scientific stuff requires a good amount of extrapolating stuff from technical stuff you do know in the real world.)
I'm serious. I think such guys enrich games with their knowledge. As long as it's not about showing off who knows more about military and stuff.
There is a difference between the kind of player you describe than what Koltar is describing. Basically they don't have any real knowledge of the subject other than what the game stats tell them and they are very very good at knowing the rules, stats, and how to exploit them. So while Traveller style construction rules appeal to both, one is fun to have in the game, the other is a pain.
Ah, memories...
As a Marine Brat, I remember the first Robotech game I played that was filled with non-military personnel: the slap-happy salutes, talking back to a superior officer during the briefing, conduct unbecoming, etc...
I nearly lost it a dozen times, before realizing I just needed to relax and enjoy the game.
And I've never been a gun freak; combat is abstract inherently in most games, so the fact weapons are an abstract has never bothered me (though there is a realistic difference between a service 9mm pistol, and a .44 Magnum).
Quote from: estar;397580There is a difference between the kind of player you describe than what Koltar is describing. Basically they don't have any real knowledge of the subject other than what the game stats tell them and they are very very good at knowing the rules, stats, and how to exploit them. So while Traveller style construction rules appeal to both, one is fun to have in the game, the other is a pain.
...and once again, Estar gets exactly mostly what I meant in my post.
This also goes to the idea that I've noticed a difference in play style between players that have been in a real military and players that are 'military wannabees' for the most part.
- Ed C.
The only military-obsessed guy I ever played with was years ago -- a guy who claimed to have been in the Marines but looked like Buddy Holly, and seemed so unstable I really have my doubts.
He kept trying to use other player characters as meat shields because they were "useless," and his go-to action to try to get information from people in the game was to "start skinning them alive." And he was obsessed with military tactics and all his specialized gear, which was completely twinkish and over-the-top.
The game didn't last long, thankfully.
Be clear with the players about the level of technical or historical or cultural "reality" in the game.
When I run L5R, I'm happy to say "You see Last Samurai? Yeah, L5R makes even less sense."
Its no wonder fantasy is the most popular RPG genre. "It's Magic!" is so much easier than dealing with wankers.
Quote from: Insufficient Metal;397615The only military-obsessed guy I ever played with was years ago -- a guy who claimed to have been in the Marines but looked like Buddy Holly, and seemed so unstable I really have my doubts.
He kept trying to use other player characters as meat shields because they were "useless," and his go-to action to try to get information from people in the game was to "start skinning them alive." And he was obsessed with military tactics and all his specialized gear, which was completely twinkish and over-the-top.
The game didn't last long, thankfully.
You have my sympathies, IM. I gamed with an asshsole once who was obsessed with power and making the whole game his personal power trip. He routinely forced other players to get his personal permission before doing anything, frequently threatened to kill other player characters unless they obeyed his character because he was the (self appointed) commanding officer.
I finally refused to obey him and he used his control to ruin the game for me. My so called friends kissed his ass and went along with him because he'd basically conditioned them, by the time I got into the game, to just obey him.
I ended up quitting the game after the dozenth or so time the GM fucked me over for his pet player's amusement. To this day I hate the other people in that game.
Most of my games these days its not a concern. Years ago I was a player in groups that had one or two of these types of players. Or I'd get one of these types interested in joining my group.
One accidental side-benefit of working at a game store is I see groups playing RPGs during some of my shifts and I hear local gossip about various people play. As a result I get a nice screening effect going on without having to converse with some of the really obnoxious ones.
- Ed C.
I have no problem with a real gun enthusiast pointing out details the rules left out, like here's an example from "Ice station zebra":
David Jones: Where were you stationed, Captain, before you were picked up in transit?
Capt. Leslie Anders: Asia
David Jones: Ah, then you haven't been on the ice before either.
Capt. Leslie Anders: No, Sir. A bullet goes just as fast up here as it does down there.
David Jones: Not quite. An insignificant difference, perhaps, but I think you'll find the operational characteristics of the M-16 indicate that a bullet will decelerate as much as 40 feet per second per second faster in these climate conditions. It's denser air, you know.
Now I've had situations like this where a hardcore gearhead/bunbunny pointed out things like that and sometimes even altered damage or chance to hit slightly to make it more believable. I respect players who point out stuff like this even when it hurts their characters in some ways and am less tolerant towards players who only bring up mr. minutia when he helps them.
BTW, I know for a fact that this sort of thing is indeed real, as I heard about the world's longest sniper kill and it happened in a mountainous region of Afghanistan and a canadian sniper made the world record sniper kill due to the fact the air density was notably lower at the altitude. It was very tough to replicate the shot at near sea level.
As to players insisting they can order the rest of the group around, NOT ON MY WATCH! I was in a demo game at a convention and was given the commanding officer. We were debating our course of action when the GM told me I could just order the party to do what I decided, I politely said I don't do that. We had a player discussion which was assumed to occur simultaneously in character and then decided collectively what to do.
As a former liberal gun-grabber who grew up to be a lover and owner of fine firearms, I do find myself deeply irritated when it's clear a game hasn't made the slightest effort towards doing their homework when real guns are involved. These days, the most detailed information you can imagine is a wiki search away, so getting basic things like caliber and capacity and such wrong annoys me.
It also annoys me when a game clearly hasn't considered actual tactics at all, and just made shit up, when it comes to the rules. Shit like the 5-round burst in D20 Modern, for instance.
I also think most games, in their effort to give gamers something to powergame about, rather overstate the differences in caliber and damage. This is a subject that will of course generate significant debate among gun people, but I'm not talking .45 vs. 9mm or the 5.56 debates here. But most of that is so much angels on pins, and it isn't the mistakes games make most of the time anyway. Instead you get stupid shit like how pistols are always weak sauce compared to a long arm, and the bigger number in caliber is always better regardless of any other considerations, when the reality is, pretty much any bullet in the right place will put a man down, and the real differences between fire arms have more to do with practical and tactical considerations than bullshit myths like "stopping power" and "damage".
Now, if a game is abstracting things enough, I probably won't notice, or care, but when it comes to modern stuff, the standard approach of shoddy research and escalating weapons damage honestly just seems more wrong to me the more I learn about guns. And it seems like if I can learn this shit, it shouldn't be too much work for someone whose being paid for it to figure out.
I'm not a military obsessed player, though I am fascinated by many things military. I'm a weapons geek. A big weapons geek. I sketch weapons as a hobby. I've done a YouTube video about he spiked chain because I hate it so much. BIG weapons geek. But I always try and keep in mind that I am alone in this interest. And my fellow players are probably not interested in hearing my opinions on the topic. But I do share my sketches freely and volunteer to sketch PC weapons. :)
I've met fantasy gamers who are just as obsessive and nitpicky about medieval weaponry.
These are the same cats who think that they can take on a room full of gunmen with a glaive or cut a tank in half with a katana.
Ugh.
Quote from: Shazbot79;397680I've met fantasy gamers who are just as obsessive and nitpicky about medieval weaponry.
These are the same cats who think that they can take on a room full of gunmen with a glaive or cut a tank in half with a katana.
Ugh.
Than I 'recommend' the game Fantasy Imperium. It a 'realistic' fantasy RPG that has an equipment section that has six pages on helmets. SIX PAGES ON HELMETS.
See my review here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRUwugEmo7M
It was written by the sort of players you mention.
Where I grew up in Suffolk England there were quite a few gun clubs wherein anyone could join and learn to fire all manner of gas-propelled projectiles. We had the fortunate/unfortunate luck to have one in our group. He had the unerring ability to be able name numerous weapons and relate their calibre of bullet, fire-rates, and accurately recreate their unique staccato burst fire. The moment I think I became aware of guns in an RPG was when this player ran (albeit excellently) The Price of Freedom game. A gun is a gun to most ordinary people (well British people anyhow), and we certainly did not have any experience of automatic weapons.
We had a situation in the aforementioned POF rpg, where we ran out of bullets whilst holding a bunch of Russians hostage in a guard house situated on a bridge into Idaho. We were down to automatic pistols, which we eventually ran out of bullets. Well that's okay, we cab pretend its loaded. Big mistake, automatic pistols when they are out of bullets have a reload mechanism which projects out of the back of the gun (you can see here my technical gun prowess still is shit). The rest of the evening degenerated from reasoned argument from the players to the Gun GM, to outright verbal sparring. I think we never played that game again, (a) because we'd lost the will (shame) and (b) WEG no longer supported the game.
I once had a player who tried to bring his experiences from the army into the game. Not just about guns, he also covered things like marching, leadership etc.
He was not cool about it, but rather obnoxious and he always thought he was the only one with that specific knowledge, which is rather funny considering here in germany everyone has to serve in one way or another so people around the table had been exposed to the military or similar organizations, too.
Suffice it to say, I kicked him out after he ignored my warning to knock it off.
I think a corollary of that is playing modern Scifi games with people who are computer geeks... and want to argue about all the in-game tech... how the 'hacking rules are ridiculous and unrealistic'... always pointing to how their PC should be much more 'capable' than the rules are allowing him to be.
Well, when you have games like Shadowrun and CP2020 that were written in the 80s and weren't even that accurate then, some of their computer tech starts looking more than a bit anachronistic. We're talking about games still operating on Apple II levels of technology despite being in "the future", and that starts looking a little silly.
Yet one of the first things shadowrun players complain about in the new edition is that "they made it all wireless, it sucks".
Quote from: Saphim;397786Yet one of the first things shadowrun players complain about in the new edition is that "they made it all wireless, it sucks".
Those people are stupid, frankly. I never understood that complaint. when it came out I remember all the complaints on RPGnet about how "unrealistic" that was.
And now just a couple of years later I have a device that fits in my pocket with Linux and the fullness of the Internet at my finger tips. I'd have to root it if I wanted to do any hacking but that's not hard.
Quote from: J Arcane;397784Well, when you have games like Shadowrun and CP2020 that were written in the 80s and weren't even that accurate then, some of their computer tech starts looking more than a bit anachronistic.
Well, I've seen it all along... from Traveller on up to Eclipse Phase. As a relative neophyte to issues of programming/hacking/whatnot I'd just as soon they all shut up about it and play.
Same thing for the gun nuts and military wannabes.
I like nerding out on history. I have extremely limited patience for discussing the relative merits of katanas.
-Frank
Quote from: Lawbag;397683Where I grew up in Suffolk England there were quite a few gun clubs wherein anyone could join and learn to fire all manner of gas-propelled projectiles. We had the fortunate/unfortunate luck to have one in our group. He had the unerring ability to be able name numerous weapons and relate their calibre of bullet, fire-rates, and accurately recreate their unique staccato burst fire. The moment I think I became aware of guns in an RPG was when this player ran (albeit excellently) The Price of Freedom game. A gun is a gun to most ordinary people (well British people anyhow), and we certainly did not have any experience of automatic weapons.
We had a situation in the aforementioned POF rpg, where we ran out of bullets whilst holding a bunch of Russians hostage in a guard house situated on a bridge into Idaho. We were down to automatic pistols, which we eventually ran out of bullets. Well that's okay, we cab pretend its loaded. Big mistake, automatic pistols when they are out of bullets have a reload mechanism which projects out of the back of the gun (you can see here my technical gun prowess still is shit). The rest of the evening degenerated from reasoned argument from the players to the Gun GM, to outright verbal sparring. I think we never played that game again, (a) because we'd lost the will (shame) and (b) WEG no longer supported the game.
Well, in all fairness to your local gut nut, I've seen plenty of movies and TV shows where an empty automatic rack itself all the way back to be reloaded, so it didn't take a gun nut to know that.
I am one of those types of people but if it doesn't fit the genre being played I don't go in to it.
(I don't rail on how an M4A1 firing FMJ at 200 feet could just punch right through +5 plate mail if we're playing AD&D, I don't ask how many rounds per clip the SWAT guys' MP5s have when our team of superheros sweeps in when we're playing Champions, etc. etc.)
If we fire up Twilight:2000, though? Yeah, step the fuck back, I'm about to have a nerdsplosion.
Quote from: thedungeondelver;397838I am one of those types of people but if it doesn't fit the genre being played I don't go in to it.
(I don't rail on how an M4A1 firing FMJ at 200 feet could just punch right through +5 plate mail if we're playing AD&D, I don't ask how many rounds per clip the SWAT guys' MP5s have when our team of superheros sweeps in when we're playing Champions, etc. etc.)
If we fire up Twilight:2000, though? Yeah, step the fuck back, I'm about to have a nerdsplosion.
I find your attitude commendable.
I mean, don't go into a game of champions with a "that wouldn't really work." attitude, but if it's a hardcore gritty game like millennium's end of aftermath, bring it on.
Quote from: Saphim;397786Yet one of the first things shadowrun players complain about in the new edition is that "they made it all wireless, it sucks".
Yeah, that's a weird gripe. I mean, Shadowrun sucks all by itself regardless of what you do with the tech.
Huh.
There is a planetary scientist who wanders in and out of Traveller and other gaming forums who is more than happy to tell you everything that is wrong with your world design and world creation rules. He is very well educated on the subject and I would agree with him if the subject matter was a college level dissertation on exoplanets, as far as a science fiction role-playing game goes he is way the Hell off-base. You have to balance the science with the fiction so that the Players can suspend disbelief enough to enjoy the game because the goal is to have fun.
I've never had military obsessives be a problem because the ones I've encountered may have memorized all sorts of facts on the military, they do not neccessarily know how to apply those facts to a in-game environment. So far, the ones who were annoying always got pasted in simple combats where the bad guys used small unit tactics.
Any activity can have the fun sucked right out of it by obsessives. Be they military enthusiasts or rabid Trekkies. You just have to know when to say, "Lighten up, Francis" or follow Rule 0.
The club I go to is mostly a wargaming club, with a few roleplaying groups tacked on. Most of the people involved in the roleplaying side of things are thus also wargamers. This means that, for example, in a Gumshoe horror game we were playing yesterday, three people at the table were able to instantly inform the GM that a T-55 we had discovered has a 12.7mm rotating commander's machine gun in the turret plus a 7.62mm co-axial. We were then able to use these weapons to kick serious ass. Having wargamer nerds in a group can be really helpful.
Quote from: jeff37923;397941There is a planetary scientist who wanders in and out of Traveller and other gaming forums who is more than happy to tell you everything that is wrong with your world design and world creation rules.
Does this guy even play Traveller? Or does he just like to pop in around forums and postulate his planetologist grandeur?
If this "scientist" came up with a new and improved d6-based planet generation system for Traveller, based on current planetology theories, then I might respect his opinions. One should put his money where one's mouth is. Don't like something? Is it broken? Then provide a suitable alternative, otherwise sit down and be silent.
The douchebaggy attitude of pointing out that Traveller system generation rules are not perfectly scientific, but failing to come up with a solution for such an horrid breach of scientific gospel, relegates him to the "annoying & patronizing ivory tower intellectual" category.
Ivory tower intellectuals are not someone I tolerate in real life, let alone around my virtual Traveller gaming table.
Quote from: Vargr;397968Does this guy even play Traveller? Or does he just like to pop in around forums and postulate his planetologist grandeur?
If this "scientist" came up with a new and improved d6-based planet generation system for Traveller, based on current planetology theories, then I might respect his opinions. One should put his money where one's mouth is. Don't like something? Is it broken? Then provide a suitable alternative, otherwise sit down and be silent.
The douchebaggy attitude of pointing out that Traveller system generation rules are not perfectly scientific, but failing to come up with a solution for such an horrid breach of scientific gospel, relegates him to the "annoying & patronizing ivory tower intellectual" category.
Ivory tower intellectuals are not someone I tolerate in real life, let alone around my virtual Traveller gaming table.
Chill, guy. You want to deflate a jerk like this? Just remind him that until space telescopes discovered jovian planets orbiting very close to their stars it was assumed it was impossible to have a jovian type world in the inner section of a solar system, I.E. the "biosphere" region.
Now we're flinging multiple "hot jovians", one of which is larger than jupiter and orbits closer than mercury.
So remind him that steller theory is subject to revision.
Quote from: thedungeondelver;397838If we fire up Twilight:2000, though? Yeah, step the fuck back, I'm about to have a nerdsplosion.
This is the one game where I (briefly) played with an Army National Guard military-nerd GM. The guy had no time for characterisation, and ran the game essentially as a tactical sim. Frankly, I think he would have been better served by running
Squad Leader against the
T2K backdrop. Really, though, the worst thing about him was the jeering tone with which he'd point out our every tactical mistake, followed by a lecture on the proper hour of the early morning at which to assault an armed emplacement, or the relatively low stopping power of a shotgun firing a slug load against a target with a kevlar lined flak jacket.
The one thing I will say in his favor -- he described the setting well. No real roleplaying beyond tactical or strategic movement, but you had a feel for where you were. I wasn't kidding about him being better off running a game of
Squad Leader.
!i!
Quote from: Novastar;397598As a Marine Brat, I remember the first Robotech game I played that was filled with non-military personnel: the slap-happy salutes, talking back to a superior officer during the briefing, conduct unbecoming, etc...
And totally in character for
Robotech, when you think about it.
QuoteI nearly lost it a dozen times, before realizing I just needed to relax and enjoy the game.
And also in character for
Robotech. Yours would be the uptight flyboy who has to eventually learn to let go before he truly earns his wings.
Good heavens, I love
Robotech /
Macross.
!i!
Quote from: Cylonophile;397972So remind him that steller theory is subject to revision.
Oh yeah; that too. :)
One of the best sessions I've ever played, was GURPS: SWAT with a room full of guys who were clearly massive police procedure nerds. One of the players was the author, who looked like Mike Rowe, in a PD ball-cap, the GM looked like a million future police recruits I've met, hell the only one who looked out of place was one guy who looked a bit more typically fatbeard, more of a government file clerk in a social work office than a cop.
The sense of immersion you get from sitting down at a table with a bunch of guys who clearly know their stuff inside and out is unbeatable. I walked in late, and was actually kind of nervous, because I honestly thought all these guys were real cops or something.
Awesome.
They don't bother me, no. I was in the military, so those who really do know their stuff do extremely well in my games with sensible tactics and so on, and those who are just bullshitting are basically shamed into silence, and we can happily go on unrealistically. Either works well.
Quote from: Vargr;397968Does this guy even play Traveller? Or does he just like to pop in around forums and postulate his planetologist grandeur?
I get the feeling that he has just read the rules only and is using this to demonstrate that he has an adequite nerd penis. There are some game rule bits that he completely misses when he goes on a tirade.
Quote from: Vargr;397968If this "scientist" came up with a new and improved d6-based planet generation system for Traveller, based on current planetology theories, then I might respect his opinions. One should put his money where one's mouth is. Don't like something? Is it broken? Then provide a suitable alternative, otherwise sit down and be silent.
The douchebaggy attitude of pointing out that Traveller system generation rules are not perfectly scientific, but failing to come up with a solution for such an horrid breach of scientific gospel, relegates him to the "annoying & patronizing ivory tower intellectual" category.
When told to put up or shut up, his past response has been, "I don't want to show my work because someone will steal it and take the credit."
Pretty damn convenient excuse...
Quote from: Vargr;397968Ivory tower intellectuals are not someone I tolerate in real life, let alone around my virtual Traveller gaming table.
Oh, he's been banned from just about every forum that gamers frequent. Didn't stop him, he just created his own forum.
Quote from: Ian Absentia;397977This is the one game where I (briefly) played with an Army National Guard military-nerd GM. The guy had no time for characterisation, and ran the game essentially as a tactical sim. Frankly, I think he would have been better served by running Squad Leader against the T2K backdrop. Really, though, the worst thing about him was the jeering tone with which he'd point out our every tactical mistake, followed by a lecture on the proper hour of the early morning at which to assault an armed emplacement, or the relatively low stopping power of a shotgun firing a slug load against a target with a kevlar lined flak jacket.
The one thing I will say in his favor -- he described the setting well. No real roleplaying beyond tactical or strategic movement, but you had a feel for where you were. I wasn't kidding about him being better off running a game of Squad Leader.
!i!
I'd have told this guy that we're attacking WHEN WE DAMN WELL FEEL LIKE IT and if the guys at the base are supposedly military pros they'd know the best hour for an attack and be expecting it, so we'd catch them by surprise by not attacking at the "doctrinally correct" hour, so there.
Also, I;d have began talking to him in the exact tone he talked to me in.
Quote from: Kyle Aaron;397993They don't bother me, no. I was in the military, so those who really do know their stuff do extremely well in my games with sensible tactics and so on, and those who are just bullshitting are basically shamed into silence, and we can happily go on unrealistically. Either works well.
I can understand letting a vet have some leeway in things.
But I don't care if he was a vet or not, if he started dictating to the other players I'd stop him if I had to introduce him to a different kind of military tradition: fragging.
Quote from: jeff37923;398011I get the feeling that he has just read the rules only and is using this to demonstrate that he has an adequite nerd penis. There are some game rule bits that he completely misses when he goes on a tirade.
When told to put up or shut up, his past response has been, "I don't want to show my work because someone will steal it and take the credit."
Pretty damn convenient excuse...
Oh, he's been banned from just about every forum that gamers frequent. Didn't stop him, he just created his own forum.
JOOC, who are you talking about? PM me if you don't want to mention a name publicly. WOuld his initials be EDG?
As I said in the earlier pages of the thread - I've never had a problem with actual vets in a game session. Its the military-obsessed or military-wannabees that are the problems usually.
Also, most of the folk that I've gamed with who have been in the military are not over-concerned with correcting me or others about terminology, jargon, and slang. Again, its usually the amateur military historians and armchair general types.
Heck, I had one gamer in my circle who would only ask about guns by saying "Well, is it a plinker or a hose?"
A hose meant a submachinegun or machinegun of some kind, a plinker was for picking things with careful aiming. Since I used to go to a shooting range when I was a kid I got the metaphor.
- Ed C.
Quote from: Cylonophile;398013I'd have told this guy that we're attacking WHEN WE DAMN WELL FEEL LIKE IT and if the guys at the base are supposedly military pros they'd know the best hour for an attack and be expecting it, so we'd catch them by surprise by not attacking at the "doctrinally correct" hour, so there.
Yeah, this story almost belongs in the thread about "What does a GM do when the players don't follow the logical course of action?" We had a plan that involved attacking in the dead of night, and he stopped the game to lecture us about how the best time is closer to 0300-0400 when sentries are at their most exhausted and lowest guard and blah-blah-blah. We changed our plans to attack between 0300 and 0400 Hrs. Is this railroading?
QuoteAlso, I;d have began talking to him in the exact tone he talked to me in.
Yeah, but that's just pissing in the pot. The result of his tone, overweening expertise, and non-character-based GM style was that I never came back to the game. I'm not sure if anyone else did, either.
!i!
Quote from: J Arcane;397663I also think most games, in their effort to give gamers something to powergame about, rather overstate the differences in caliber and damage.
This is my opinion, as well. The most important factor in a shot should be how good it was, regardless caliber and shit.
I get really annoyed when people that I play with try to make every armed force in the online sci-fi based games I play into the United States Army.
Quote from: p4nic;398161I get really annoyed when people that I play with try to make every armed force in the online sci-fi based games I play into the United States Army.
Expand and clarify. This statement intrigues me.
!i!
Quote from: Ian Absentia;398173Expand and clarify. This statement intrigues me.
!i!
I like to play on different star wars mushes, and I can't think of a single one that had staff actually try to go with the costuming or ranking that was in the movies for the different armies being played.
For instance, one rebel army had everyone in green fatigues with arm chevron insignia for NCOs and bars and such for the officers. I suppose it's a minor thing, but for me it turned into a peeve and eventually ruined my fun there because people were acting like they were in the army, rather than star wars heroes.
Others publish specific terms that they wish us to use that are ripped off of military slang glossaries found on the internet, and ignore star wars slang that's quite easy to find. It gets pretty lame and tiresome.
It also leaks into the their thinking about how to have fun, as well. Before you do anything, you have to go through a maze of bureaucracy meant to enhance the realism of your flying space commando experience.
And they wonder why people just hang out in the out of character areas to talk about the last movie they saw?
Frankly I have no issues with these style players. Although it has given rise to a new type of gamer around my table:
Magical Engineer Commandos
Yeah, I can't stand roleplaying with fucking "Armchair Commandos". Particularly the ones who act like they're all kick-ass and you just know they would crap themselves and cry like girls if they were ever in anything even resembling a real war.
RPGPundit
Yeah well, there are extremes in everything. Every player as a schtick though, or a bunch of schticks. When you know as a GM how to play them, you can get the fuckers engaged, and after, that's a cakewalk as far as the entertainment is concerned.
Arm-chair commandos are fun though, especialy if you learn to channel their efforts. Like I said, Magical Engineer Commandos. These players LOVE a in game challenge of logisitics like you wouldn't believe. Like a locked room mystery, I can find a fairly mechanicl crunch game, limit their resources and just sit back when I give them concrete challenges. They do all the work for me.
I just quietly not flaws in their logic and preset them as adendium challenges that show up in the middle of the mission. It's especially fun if you hear them bringing up "Oh but if X happens, we'll be in trouble" and then have X happen.
I love these guys. They make my job easier. I guess growing up in a town full of engineers and ex-military folks kinda changes you view of the matter.