Re: [BNW] Meta-Plot vs Static world

[Kirk Monsen <munchwolf@yahoo.com>]

--- Caias Brian Ward <talespinner@mindspring.com>
wrote:
> You can cover the 'basic premise' of the world
> easily:
> 
> BNW: low-powered supers in a Fascist America.
> 
> There you go.
> 
> The rest, you can ignore.  I know I do.  You can't
> say Metaplot is bad.

No one is saying Metaplot is bad.  I have no clue
where you get this interpretation.

> Metaplot works well, as long as you cover the bases.

And there's the key, the bases have not been covered. 
Crucial information about the nature of the world has
been left out.  This leaves glaring holes that a ref
cannot answer by himself, nor can he get an answer
unless he emails Matt directly.  A good example just
came up on the Deadlands list serve.  A curious
Marshal asked if Soul Blast affects dynamite.  Several
other Marshal's were able to respond with the SAME
answer and were supported by PEG staff.  It was clear
cut.  The universe works this way, ergo the same
conclusion could be met.  If a question arose during a
BNW game that a Guide could not answer, the game would
have to be put on hold until Matt could answer.  

> That seems to be a different issue than calling it
> all a 'marketing ploy'.
> 

But it is a 'marketing ploy'.  Whether the information
is released tomorrow or a year from now should not
matter to Matt or anyone working on the BNW staff.  It
does matter to people playing now.

Now to rant a bit, this is all a moot point.  People
who feel no more information than presently exists
will not change their minds, nor will people who feel
that something is lacking.  For those who feel the
system is fine as is, I feel they are being overly
optimistic comparing BNW's approach to other metaplot
games that were successful.  In my opinion BNW does
not resemble their approach as they gave enough
information to play the basic game as is.  What BNW is
doing more accurately resembles what other systems,
like Sandman, tried to do.  What, you don't remember
Sandman?  It had a great metaplot in which the players
all had amnesia and awoke on an alien world.  What was
going on was to be reveiled later.  Sadly I don't
think the game lasted that long, nor really garnished
the interest they hoped to develop, and faded into
dust.

I really hope this isn't BNW's fate, but it needs to
develop a following so that it can continue supplying
us with information.  If Guides don't feel there is
enough information to play, they're not going to play.
 I know I have no interest in starting a campaign or
buying more books until this crucial aspect is
revealed.  Unfortunately if people don't play or buy
books, then BNW might not even live long enough to
reveil this secret.  

The people who don't need to know the origins of Delta
powers are already happy, and there might be enough of
you to keep the game going.  I really hope so.  For
me, I'll just wait, and someday when this missing
information is released I might run it.

-Munch Wolf


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