Ineffective Voulging
*eyeroll*
So, DP is the traveller, and the “broken” compass is everyone else telling them that their dictionarianist pedantry is not appropriate, and im the wise sage. Thanks.
The state of Post-OSR content
- Thread starter Yora
- Start date
DangerousPuhson
My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
Hear that "whooshing" sound? That's the point, soaring over your head. Once again.
Fix yourself.
The Heretic
Should be playing D&D instead
Lol. I feel called out. My 'didn't the earliest audiences faint?' comment was certainly anecdotal. I didn't around to responding to your reply (my WoW account(s) won't play themselves!), but I think you bring up good points. I never considered the fainting urban legend to be restricted by gender, but it probably was.
I was also going to say that this discussion lacks data. There must be a research paper somewhere that analyzed horror movies and the motivations to see them. Like everything else in the world, the reasons people watch horror movies is varied and it is good to not project your own feelings on the subject (ahem! that was my issue) on the populace at large.
As an aside, way back in the 80's in the Forum section of Dragon magazine some guy wrote a letter saying that we should up our game to be more descriptive with what we gave our players. He gave a paragraph long evocative description of a lair. I was besmitten by this idea and started to use it. I brought it up with a friend who was also a DM and he scoffed. "Psh, my players wouldn't have the patience to listen to me describe a room like that." I had to agree that he was right. The 'three sentence' rule was observed even back then.
I bring this up because the Ravenloft MC supplement tells you to do something like this in the introduction. Yeah, that's not going to work. Horror novels can work through their descriptions and their third person points of view. RPGs are not novels nor are they short stories. It just doesn't work.
Doh! My bad, I'll stop now. I found this to be an interesting, intellectual discussion. I believe my video game obsessions help me attain one of my principles. "If the conversation is turning into a flame war, ignore it and go somewhere else. Who has the time to argue with strangers on the internet about silly things. Your silence can say volumes."
The Heretic
Ineffective Voulging
*eyeroll*
Yes. I shouldn't mock. Sorry for your hurt.
Ineffective Voulging
*eyeroll*
I hope yous all are enjoying DP and I’s Performance Art portrayal of The State Of The OSR. I call it: “two bald cunts arguing over a comb”. Thank you and goodnight.
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Beoric
8, 8, I forget what is for
No, none of that was directed at you, I have yet to see you start WW3. Keep posting like you've been posting, post more if you like, you're one of the saner ones around here.
The Heretic
Should be playing D&D instead
Don't worry! I was commenting about that particular subject, not in general. My responses were filled with anecdote and projection too. Definitely not scientific.
I am curious about the reasons why you and your group watch and read the horror genre, so I wouldn't mind if that particular thread continued.
The Heretic
Beoric
8, 8, I forget what is for
I'm not generally interested in horror. I actually prefer deconstructions of horror, like Cabin in the Woods or Scream, more than horror movies themselves. I'm also more likely to like horror that is also something else, like Alien or The Thing or Buffy or Teen Wolf (the series).
Off topic, but one of the things I really liked about Teen Wolf is that once the kids figured out what was going on and that they were all involved, they almost always told each other what was going on, instead of relying on everyone keeping secrets to drive the plot. They could be isolated during an episode, but when they got together (on screen or between episodes), the filled each other in. Including the stuff that usually gets buried, it would be like, okay this weird thing is happening with me and I don't know if I can control it so y'all need to keep an eye on me and take precautions. So refreshing, and it required a whole different approach to writing.
Maybe the reason I'm not really interested in horror is that I spend the whole movie trying to figure out how I could win, or how someone with better resources could win. Like, Aliens is exactly the sort of movie I would have made, if I made movies, after watching Alien. I sort of turn them into action/adventure movies in my head.
The Heretic
Should be playing D&D instead
Aha! I think this explains the difference in our answers. You're thinking more about horror movies, I am thinking more about horror literature (err, short stories, really). We're looking from different perspectives. This also explains your comment about jump scares.
For me, reading a horror short story allows me to live vicariously through someone else, in situations I'd never want to encounter in real life. This influenced my answer on why people enjoy horror.
I think horror doesn't work in RPGs from both points of view. From my point of view, D&D is a game more than a 'story', therefore the elements that make horror work in literature don't get applied in RPGs, and if you do try to apply them you end up with a mess. On the opposite end of the scale we have your comment on the inability of doing jump scares, and by extension the various other tropes used in horror movies.
The Heretic