So I've been thinking a bit about the indie gaming scene recently. As I read through Burning Empires in preparation of starting a game, I have been looking into some of the more experimental products out there and comparing them with my current experiences with Exalted.
In the process of doing all this, I cam across yet another "WUSHU is the only RPG I need..." diatribe on RPGnet. See, there is this little indie game that is relatively cheap - in fact one version of it is even free - that is making the rounds on RPGnet and it gets a lot of fanfare and discussion about how it has changed the way people roleplay and how incredible and concept it is.
This is Wushu.
Essentially "designed" to be a rules-light action heavy descriptive narrative game - it gets a lot of positive press.
Well I've followed Wushu for several years since the very first inception of the game. It has left me with the opinion that it is a classic case of Emperor's New Clothes. See, everyone is busy talking it up and getting all excited that it has kind of slipped people's notice that ... well... it doesn't really exist in the form that people refer to it.
Yes, there is a lot of material about playing the game, and a lot of people are playing it. But it isn't new. Nor is it revolutionary. Heck, it barely scrapes in as a game at all.
See, Wushu is basically an idea of a game that has been prevented from growing any further.
The idea is that the more you describe something in the game, the better the benefit. In Wushu this is measured by gaining more dice by doing more things or adding extra elements.
That's it. That's the revolution of the game. Despite the fact that Feng Shui did it almost ten years previously. Exalted does it. The New World of Darkness does it. Weapons of the Gods does it. So why is it different?
Well you get more mechanical benefit (apparently) by doing more in combat and it makes you think about fights in a more descriptive and detailed manner.
Like Burning Wheel. Or Fireborn. Or Inquisitor. Or...
I guess my big beef is that Wushu isn't much of anything that is talked up to be this amazing experience of a game.
So why all the hype? Why are so many people unwilling to admit that it isn't the game that is so amazing?
Because what Wushu does is challenge the way some players think. Some players are still very traditional in their gaming habits. They don't think about their game in cinematic or narrative terms, they don't break the rules, they don't provide soundtracks to their games - they don't really change their viewpoint unless someone suggests something new.
Ironically, I find it is this kind of gamer who becomes particularly evangelical about games like Wushu once it changes the way they think.
I know I sound jaded here, but I read Wushu and thought... eh. I want more guts thank you.
To me there is a time and place for light rules - action heavy gaming needs streamlined rules, but it also needs detail and guidance. It needs fabric and guts. Not just the idea of a combat or action scene, but an actual framework that really expresses the range of ideas.
I want to be able to look at the system and suddenly think "WOW! I could do this!"
I want a game that inspires more from my players - because a lot of roleplayers are not writers or artists, they are creative but may not have seen as much or normally think in such a manner.
Games like WUSHU don't guide or inspire these kinds of people, they leave such players high and dry - often asking "where is the game?"
Oddly enough games like Burning Empires go the other way - putting far too much framework in there and weighing down the game. (Although I have to admit, there is plenty there to inspire, and I'm loving the idea of running this game even more now.)
Naturally I'm predisposed to a more middle-of-the-road level of design in a game. But I love light systems when they are appropriate - Over the Edge immediately comes to mind. It's even simpler than WUSHU, in many respects.
I guess my love for Fireborn's mechanics really has convinced me that games like WUSHU are full of promises that I don't feel they deliver.
As I explore further into the Indie realm of RPGS I find that most games are weak when it comes to handling things like frameworks - that in the eagerness to give "power to the players" they often cop out and just don't provide anything other than loose mechanics and rely on the players to be creative enough to fill in the gaps.
But that is a rant for another time. :)
Love and Huggles
Conan
Currently Reading: Burning Empires
Currently Playing: Exalted: Nexus of the Sun
Mood: Feeling pretty good despite what it may seem. :)
In the process of doing all this, I cam across yet another "WUSHU is the only RPG I need..." diatribe on RPGnet. See, there is this little indie game that is relatively cheap - in fact one version of it is even free - that is making the rounds on RPGnet and it gets a lot of fanfare and discussion about how it has changed the way people roleplay and how incredible and concept it is.
This is Wushu.
Essentially "designed" to be a rules-light action heavy descriptive narrative game - it gets a lot of positive press.
Well I've followed Wushu for several years since the very first inception of the game. It has left me with the opinion that it is a classic case of Emperor's New Clothes. See, everyone is busy talking it up and getting all excited that it has kind of slipped people's notice that ... well... it doesn't really exist in the form that people refer to it.
Yes, there is a lot of material about playing the game, and a lot of people are playing it. But it isn't new. Nor is it revolutionary. Heck, it barely scrapes in as a game at all.
See, Wushu is basically an idea of a game that has been prevented from growing any further.
The idea is that the more you describe something in the game, the better the benefit. In Wushu this is measured by gaining more dice by doing more things or adding extra elements.
That's it. That's the revolution of the game. Despite the fact that Feng Shui did it almost ten years previously. Exalted does it. The New World of Darkness does it. Weapons of the Gods does it. So why is it different?
Well you get more mechanical benefit (apparently) by doing more in combat and it makes you think about fights in a more descriptive and detailed manner.
Like Burning Wheel. Or Fireborn. Or Inquisitor. Or...
I guess my big beef is that Wushu isn't much of anything that is talked up to be this amazing experience of a game.
So why all the hype? Why are so many people unwilling to admit that it isn't the game that is so amazing?
Because what Wushu does is challenge the way some players think. Some players are still very traditional in their gaming habits. They don't think about their game in cinematic or narrative terms, they don't break the rules, they don't provide soundtracks to their games - they don't really change their viewpoint unless someone suggests something new.
Ironically, I find it is this kind of gamer who becomes particularly evangelical about games like Wushu once it changes the way they think.
I know I sound jaded here, but I read Wushu and thought... eh. I want more guts thank you.
To me there is a time and place for light rules - action heavy gaming needs streamlined rules, but it also needs detail and guidance. It needs fabric and guts. Not just the idea of a combat or action scene, but an actual framework that really expresses the range of ideas.
I want to be able to look at the system and suddenly think "WOW! I could do this!"
I want a game that inspires more from my players - because a lot of roleplayers are not writers or artists, they are creative but may not have seen as much or normally think in such a manner.
Games like WUSHU don't guide or inspire these kinds of people, they leave such players high and dry - often asking "where is the game?"
Oddly enough games like Burning Empires go the other way - putting far too much framework in there and weighing down the game. (Although I have to admit, there is plenty there to inspire, and I'm loving the idea of running this game even more now.)
Naturally I'm predisposed to a more middle-of-the-road level of design in a game. But I love light systems when they are appropriate - Over the Edge immediately comes to mind. It's even simpler than WUSHU, in many respects.
I guess my love for Fireborn's mechanics really has convinced me that games like WUSHU are full of promises that I don't feel they deliver.
As I explore further into the Indie realm of RPGS I find that most games are weak when it comes to handling things like frameworks - that in the eagerness to give "power to the players" they often cop out and just don't provide anything other than loose mechanics and rely on the players to be creative enough to fill in the gaps.
But that is a rant for another time. :)
Love and Huggles
Conan
Currently Reading: Burning Empires
Currently Playing: Exalted: Nexus of the Sun
Mood: Feeling pretty good despite what it may seem. :)
