Post by jason on Sept 12, 2007 14:20:20 GMT -5
Because of the title I am sure people are going to start looking at this the wrong way. So I'ld like to make a little disclaimer. I am not bashing any singular individuals; I do not even think I am talking down about the group. I am expressing a singular rant on a general whole of the Camarilla as I see it. If you take offense I apologies it did not mean to offend anyone here.
In October of 2005 I joined the Camarilla by playing my first mage game in Lincoln. I really enjoyed myself and I wanted to continue to play more. Unfortunately besides Chris and Ben I knew no one in that entire game and felt a bit shy. So I didn’t come back because I never knew when the games were.
In April of 2006 I met Tim. Tim seemed like a cool guy when I met him at the Game Shoppe and then I met him later at Chris’ Birthday party. As we were getting drunk he tells me what the cam really is. While I had reservations about the new system (I was a die hard Masquerade player), his stories and the enthusiasm he talked about the Cam made me even more interested. Besides he seemed like a really cool person and I really wanted to expand my circle of gaming friends. Thus I went to my first actual Vampire: the Requiem game. I had talked Tim into letting me play his childe deciding that it might make it a little easier to enter game that way.
Over the summer I slowly met more new people. Some were a lot more open to meet than others, (Right away people like Chelle, Jessye instantly came up and got me involved in both Mage and Requiem.) But after less than 3 months I opened up more and started talking to people like Scott, and LeAnne. Honestly that first summer despite all the problems I had as a character and a new player were some of my best times in the Cam.
After the featured game that summer and Aarons election as VST for awakening I learned why the Cam is popular, the global game and IRC. This was something that instantly hooked me, for better or worse. I had never had been in a game where if you wanted to talk to a contact in New York you really could actually talk to PC in New York City and they actually know about the plot that’s running because its running there too. Once again I met many new friends through the use of IRC some through a contact (such as Drew), some through Character ties using the amazing CDBIE (Tisha is a perfect example of that), and some that I just had the pleasure of meeting through fun RP (like Sara, Sarah, and Jesse).
Eventually though like everything that’s new and cool after a while people start noticing issues here and there. Even though we play characters sometimes the acting will seep through in our oog lives. This started showing up roughly at the beginning of the year for me personally when the new started wearing off and I started noticing issues with the Cam that I hadn’t noticed before. Social Cliques being the most predominating one, but there was more than that. I had seen rumors start to spread (some of them had been very ugly that I would never want spread about myself no matter how untrue it may be), people took elections too seriously, social cliquish-ness continued and if you weren’t in one you were left out. There also came with it a lot of OOC backstabbing and politics.
So what does this mean for the club then? Why do we play in a game where we just have more and more issues with the person that plays a covenant-mate when you can’t stand because the player annoys you? Is the club really only fun for about a year at which point you realize that the dark and dirty aspects are not only IG but also OOG? My Personal opinion (Which is just what this rant is kind of made for) is No. If I had not been in the Cam would I have really ever met people like Scott, Jessye, LeAnne, Chelle and the rest of you guys? No of course not I never saw you before and the way my gaming is going outside the cam I doubt I would have seen you if I never joined.
So what are we to do then? I really think it’s a human issue. First comes communication and the lack of it. People have the ability to talk that they don’t use. Wiether it’s a phone call an email or even driving to the person’s house to just say hi it’s not done. Other aspects come from the fact that not everyone gets along period. What do you do then? I know some people annoy me what do I do with them, some people are annoyed by me what should they do. Its at this point you really want to look at things have you ever enjoyed playing with this person before? If so why. Use that try to get past why they have been annoying you maybe it’s just a new thing or something that used to be insignificant that you didn’t care about previously. What if really that person has always grated on your nerves? Why what are the steps you can do to minimize that contact what are ways you can do (without getting preachy or controlling or acting like a jerk) to help that situation.
Honestly when it comes down to it we are supposed to be people who just want to tell a great story play a game and relax and enjoy with friends. I see this club growing and hopefully moving in new directions that may or may not be a good thing. I would like to see us remain friends throughout this movement but that is all based on how people decide to act from now on.
With a hopeful heart
Jason
In October of 2005 I joined the Camarilla by playing my first mage game in Lincoln. I really enjoyed myself and I wanted to continue to play more. Unfortunately besides Chris and Ben I knew no one in that entire game and felt a bit shy. So I didn’t come back because I never knew when the games were.
In April of 2006 I met Tim. Tim seemed like a cool guy when I met him at the Game Shoppe and then I met him later at Chris’ Birthday party. As we were getting drunk he tells me what the cam really is. While I had reservations about the new system (I was a die hard Masquerade player), his stories and the enthusiasm he talked about the Cam made me even more interested. Besides he seemed like a really cool person and I really wanted to expand my circle of gaming friends. Thus I went to my first actual Vampire: the Requiem game. I had talked Tim into letting me play his childe deciding that it might make it a little easier to enter game that way.
Over the summer I slowly met more new people. Some were a lot more open to meet than others, (Right away people like Chelle, Jessye instantly came up and got me involved in both Mage and Requiem.) But after less than 3 months I opened up more and started talking to people like Scott, and LeAnne. Honestly that first summer despite all the problems I had as a character and a new player were some of my best times in the Cam.
After the featured game that summer and Aarons election as VST for awakening I learned why the Cam is popular, the global game and IRC. This was something that instantly hooked me, for better or worse. I had never had been in a game where if you wanted to talk to a contact in New York you really could actually talk to PC in New York City and they actually know about the plot that’s running because its running there too. Once again I met many new friends through the use of IRC some through a contact (such as Drew), some through Character ties using the amazing CDBIE (Tisha is a perfect example of that), and some that I just had the pleasure of meeting through fun RP (like Sara, Sarah, and Jesse).
Eventually though like everything that’s new and cool after a while people start noticing issues here and there. Even though we play characters sometimes the acting will seep through in our oog lives. This started showing up roughly at the beginning of the year for me personally when the new started wearing off and I started noticing issues with the Cam that I hadn’t noticed before. Social Cliques being the most predominating one, but there was more than that. I had seen rumors start to spread (some of them had been very ugly that I would never want spread about myself no matter how untrue it may be), people took elections too seriously, social cliquish-ness continued and if you weren’t in one you were left out. There also came with it a lot of OOC backstabbing and politics.
So what does this mean for the club then? Why do we play in a game where we just have more and more issues with the person that plays a covenant-mate when you can’t stand because the player annoys you? Is the club really only fun for about a year at which point you realize that the dark and dirty aspects are not only IG but also OOG? My Personal opinion (Which is just what this rant is kind of made for) is No. If I had not been in the Cam would I have really ever met people like Scott, Jessye, LeAnne, Chelle and the rest of you guys? No of course not I never saw you before and the way my gaming is going outside the cam I doubt I would have seen you if I never joined.
So what are we to do then? I really think it’s a human issue. First comes communication and the lack of it. People have the ability to talk that they don’t use. Wiether it’s a phone call an email or even driving to the person’s house to just say hi it’s not done. Other aspects come from the fact that not everyone gets along period. What do you do then? I know some people annoy me what do I do with them, some people are annoyed by me what should they do. Its at this point you really want to look at things have you ever enjoyed playing with this person before? If so why. Use that try to get past why they have been annoying you maybe it’s just a new thing or something that used to be insignificant that you didn’t care about previously. What if really that person has always grated on your nerves? Why what are the steps you can do to minimize that contact what are ways you can do (without getting preachy or controlling or acting like a jerk) to help that situation.
Honestly when it comes down to it we are supposed to be people who just want to tell a great story play a game and relax and enjoy with friends. I see this club growing and hopefully moving in new directions that may or may not be a good thing. I would like to see us remain friends throughout this movement but that is all based on how people decide to act from now on.
With a hopeful heart
Jason