thread: 2006-01-24 : Still More Character Ownership
On 2006-01-25, Vaxalon wrote:
I don't think anyone is arguing against the idea that there are people out there, probably lots of them, who would love to play supporting characters exclusively, with no other input to the game.
Perhaps what we are talking about is dis-engaging the means of making meaningful contribution from the notion of having a single given character.
No, that's not what Vincent is saying.
Let the events of the game's fiction choose whether your character is a protagonist or a supporting character.
As I see it, Vincent is very much talking about "role monogamy". He's saying that we should let the story unfold, and if the story demands it, cede dominance to one or two players for the duration of the story.
I think I may have come across the achilles heel of this idea. The story does not unfold all by itself; the players who are being asked to cede this dominance are among those who are shaping the story. So a player who doesn't want to cede that dominance can try to steer the story in his character's direction. He doesn't "let" the story decide, he tries to make it decide... and in fact, how can he NOT do? After all, he's at least in part responsible for the story.
This makes MSW go "Characters, not players."
Players aren't asked to cede dominance, dude. You're conflating player and character.
