RPGnet Columns
10-02-2004, 12:17 PM
Post originally by Blaque at 2004-10-02 11:17:08
Converted from Phorums BB System
Looking over this, i've noticed there seemst o be some selective editing and misinformaiton trying ot be put about in this article. While it is well voiced, it is still misinformed, and misuses terms which give a distorted view to a reader of what is really there. So here we go:
"The "five families", new hotness! The five families are coming to a fatsplat near you, and they are: Carthians, Circle of the Crone, Invictus, Lancea Sanctum, and the Ordo Dracul. Each has some unique flavor when compared to the Clans of the previous World of Darkness; yet just when you get familiar with the new order of things, the old orders start to creep back into the picture, Malkavians become Malkovians, in one of the more obvious instances. There is more good than bad, however."
This I think shows an example of not putting in enough informaiton to make things clear. The "five famlies" are not the same thing as the Clans. In fact, you basically seemed ot basically say the five Covenants (the philosophical organizations which replace sect) replace Clans entirely, while skipping over the existance of the five clans. The thing htey did here was make it so that Clan doesn't equal ideology anymore. Ideology is another thing entirely.
Also, you go off and mention Malkovians as if they were related to Covenants, but in reality, they are a bloodline of one of the five Clans. You also don't explain it is a bloodline either, just that its there and so hurts the game.
"With the "five families", you also get a variety of origins for vampires. The best part about this?"
I gotta ask, did you actually read the book, are are you simply paraphrasing things? Because your use of "five families" rather hten Covenant seems to hint to you no tknowing what it actually is you are talking about.
"With the "five families", you also get a variety of origins for vampires. The best part about this? None of them include Cain. I hated the Cain myth. I thought it was a complete cop-out, and was appalled at what it did to the game. Your opinion may differ, but I like the fact that he is out of the picture.
"For those of you new to the White Wolf publishing model there are generally two kinds of supplements. "Splats" which are topical supplements under 196 pages, and generally softcover, and "fatsplats" which are generally over 200 pages and hardcover."
Stephenls has a thread on this, but I wish to harp it a bit. "Splat" has always, and I say ALWAYS referred to books like the Clanbooks, and in the case of Exalted, the Caste and Aspect Books. Phatsplats are the hardcovers that cover A SPECIFIC TYPE OF BEING OR GROUP in these games. Guide to the Camarilla, Dark Ages: Mage, and Exalted: the Abyssals are fatsplats. Vampire Storyteller's Handobok, Ascension, and Exalted Player's Guide are not.
Simalerly with regular splats. With Exalted as an example, the Aspect and Caste books for Dragon-Blooded and Solars were splats. Savant & Sorcerer and Scavenger Sons, which didn't detail a specific type of being, are not splats, they are just sourcebooks.
"It seems that with the exception of a very few books Exalted is a hardback model. The new World of Darkness looks to be a pure hardback line."
Your first statement shows no research and is false. Exalted currently has 27 book releases. Of those, six are hardcover. This week, a new SOFTCOVER, NON-SPLAT book comes out. Your changing of terminology is meant to be misleading, or simply put, you don't know what the hell you are talking aobut.
"There are many different reviews out there for Vampire: The Requiem, and the World of Darkness, so does talking about it here really gain anything substantial? That is the question really, so I am going to try and put my own unique and irreverent spin on things. It may be useful to you, and it may not, but it shouldn't be boring or stale to either of us."
In all honesty, this seems like a review to me, and should be movied.
"However, since we do have five more 'fatsplats' to come, it may be too soon to judge this but all of the signs look good so far."
You seem to be misusing htis term again. Requiem itself is a phatsplat, as it is a sourcebook on a sort of character type. If you mean by the fact that we seem to be getting books on Covenants (or "five families" if you'd like), then yes, they will be phatsplats. But other then those, the only "phatsplat" sorta books down the line are the books ofr Werewolf and Mage, with nothing else really in the woodworks.
All I had to say. And once again, why isn't this in the review section?
Stuff.
Converted from Phorums BB System
Looking over this, i've noticed there seemst o be some selective editing and misinformaiton trying ot be put about in this article. While it is well voiced, it is still misinformed, and misuses terms which give a distorted view to a reader of what is really there. So here we go:
"The "five families", new hotness! The five families are coming to a fatsplat near you, and they are: Carthians, Circle of the Crone, Invictus, Lancea Sanctum, and the Ordo Dracul. Each has some unique flavor when compared to the Clans of the previous World of Darkness; yet just when you get familiar with the new order of things, the old orders start to creep back into the picture, Malkavians become Malkovians, in one of the more obvious instances. There is more good than bad, however."
This I think shows an example of not putting in enough informaiton to make things clear. The "five famlies" are not the same thing as the Clans. In fact, you basically seemed ot basically say the five Covenants (the philosophical organizations which replace sect) replace Clans entirely, while skipping over the existance of the five clans. The thing htey did here was make it so that Clan doesn't equal ideology anymore. Ideology is another thing entirely.
Also, you go off and mention Malkovians as if they were related to Covenants, but in reality, they are a bloodline of one of the five Clans. You also don't explain it is a bloodline either, just that its there and so hurts the game.
"With the "five families", you also get a variety of origins for vampires. The best part about this?"
I gotta ask, did you actually read the book, are are you simply paraphrasing things? Because your use of "five families" rather hten Covenant seems to hint to you no tknowing what it actually is you are talking about.
"With the "five families", you also get a variety of origins for vampires. The best part about this? None of them include Cain. I hated the Cain myth. I thought it was a complete cop-out, and was appalled at what it did to the game. Your opinion may differ, but I like the fact that he is out of the picture.
"For those of you new to the White Wolf publishing model there are generally two kinds of supplements. "Splats" which are topical supplements under 196 pages, and generally softcover, and "fatsplats" which are generally over 200 pages and hardcover."
Stephenls has a thread on this, but I wish to harp it a bit. "Splat" has always, and I say ALWAYS referred to books like the Clanbooks, and in the case of Exalted, the Caste and Aspect Books. Phatsplats are the hardcovers that cover A SPECIFIC TYPE OF BEING OR GROUP in these games. Guide to the Camarilla, Dark Ages: Mage, and Exalted: the Abyssals are fatsplats. Vampire Storyteller's Handobok, Ascension, and Exalted Player's Guide are not.
Simalerly with regular splats. With Exalted as an example, the Aspect and Caste books for Dragon-Blooded and Solars were splats. Savant & Sorcerer and Scavenger Sons, which didn't detail a specific type of being, are not splats, they are just sourcebooks.
"It seems that with the exception of a very few books Exalted is a hardback model. The new World of Darkness looks to be a pure hardback line."
Your first statement shows no research and is false. Exalted currently has 27 book releases. Of those, six are hardcover. This week, a new SOFTCOVER, NON-SPLAT book comes out. Your changing of terminology is meant to be misleading, or simply put, you don't know what the hell you are talking aobut.
"There are many different reviews out there for Vampire: The Requiem, and the World of Darkness, so does talking about it here really gain anything substantial? That is the question really, so I am going to try and put my own unique and irreverent spin on things. It may be useful to you, and it may not, but it shouldn't be boring or stale to either of us."
In all honesty, this seems like a review to me, and should be movied.
"However, since we do have five more 'fatsplats' to come, it may be too soon to judge this but all of the signs look good so far."
You seem to be misusing htis term again. Requiem itself is a phatsplat, as it is a sourcebook on a sort of character type. If you mean by the fact that we seem to be getting books on Covenants (or "five families" if you'd like), then yes, they will be phatsplats. But other then those, the only "phatsplat" sorta books down the line are the books ofr Werewolf and Mage, with nothing else really in the woodworks.
All I had to say. And once again, why isn't this in the review section?
Stuff.