thread: 2009-12-08 : Your 3 Insights
On 2009-12-08, Jesse Burneko wrote:
Funny. The only game I can confidently answer all three questions for is my most recent attempt: Thornes.
1) On Genre: Thornes combines Swashbuckling and Noir. I think that people fundamentally overlook the romantic aspects of noir. As the game says, it's about sex and violence dressed up in lace and steel. Dwight from Sin City is just D'Artagnan with more attitude.
2) On Role-Playing: Thornes is built discourage long-term "story building". I think many gamers have been trained to skulk around in the fiction, hide their agendas and then spring the "big reveal." In Thornes everything is Now or Never. Whatever advantage you gain from scene A needs to used in scene B or it's gone.
3) On Real Life: I think we often lie to ourselves about what "conflict" really means. A conflict is an attempt to undermine another individual's actions through an act of force. A romantic date is not a seduction. A romantic date is not a conflict while a seduction is. Like it or not a Seduction is an act of force and like all acts of force runs the risk of injury for everyone involved. In Thornes there are no conflicts that don't lead to injury.
Interestingly enough, Thornes is the only game I've designed that I can confidently answer all three questions for. Is that a sign of something?
Jesse
