It is an arguably dark time in BM History. A shrinking player base, realms full of stagnant characters, and unfortunate incidents between players all point to a general decline in atmosphere. Whether these be the latter days of a once-grand gaming experiment, or simply a natural recession in the larger scheme of things, remains to be seen.
My objective will be to cover the current issues in the form of a journalistic editorial. Though I have my own opinions, I will do my best to prevent my own bias from getting in the way of what is essentially an anthropological analysis.
I am not a certified expert in anything I am talking about. It is not my intention to blame any player, group of players, realm, organization, devs, magistrates, Tom, Dick, Harry, what have you. The purpose is illumination, not condemnation.
Article The First:
Power Games
First, let me start by addressing the stigma of the term 'power gamer'. This is commonly thrown around as an insult in Roleplaying communities, and it is basically used to describe a person who is seen as placing technical achievement above playing in character.
Psychologically speaking, games are most often used as an outlet for either one's frustrations, or their ambitions, or some combination of the two. To put it simply, games are usually a 'power fantasy'; they allow the player to imagine that they are greater, or at least more interesting, than they are in reality. It sound all very juvenile when put in those terms, but the reality is that those power fantasies actually serve a meaningful purpose in our society, both on a pragmatic and aesthetic level! Art imitates life, and for many, life means the acquisition and use of power.
This is especially true in a game like Battlemaster, which is more a game of politics and diplomacy than its name would suggest. Noble characters in BM are a reflection of how the player views the concept of power. I won't stray too far into Nietzche here, but my basic point is that, whether conscious of it or not, many players play the game of power. But when you're playing a Medieval Lord in a Dark-Age setting, that's essentially right in-character! The motivation of that character archetype is well-aligned with the motivation of the players themselves.
Now, I am not saying all players play for this reason. There are plenty of players who just want to write a good story, create an interesting character, and add their personal literature to the collective environment. So some play for power, and some play for literature. The Gamers and the Writers. I'm sure there are other, more specific motivations you can pull out of the collective player base, but for the purposes of dealing with the issues at hand, these are the two motivations that should be examined.
I am not here to make a value judgment on which motivation is better, both in terms of by-proxy morality or in terms of which is better for the game as a whole. What I am here to do is try to create an understanding that 1.) People play for different reasons, and 2.) In this case, no reason is more 'correct' than the other.
Most people would say that Gamers and Writers, as I have just described them, are diametrically opposed. But the truth is that they actually support each other in a symbiotic relationship. The game needs ambitious players whose goals are to run things right and grab everything with both hands (like the classic Noble). It also needs players who are willing to take the time to translate those technical achievements (or lack thereof) into setting and story.
If I were a betting man, I would bet that our current rash of problems is at least partially caused by an imbalance in these two motivations: one has begun to eclipse the other. If we are to view the recent changes to BM with any objectivity, it should be done with the perspective that the goal of those changes is (or at least should be) to correct an imbalance.
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So there you have it. Next week on The Bendix Perspective: Player Characters Divide and Conquer
Feel free to leave comments if you like, but I will not be personally answering any questions with regards to my articles. It is what it is, and I feel no obligation to defend or explain it further.
