Is metaplot for wargames & RPGs inherently a terrible idea or can it be done well?IMHO it basically goes right the first 5 - 10 years before it starts to break the product and pisses everyone off.
>>98762665It's inherently bad
>>98762665If you don't have metaplot you don't have a setting or an RPG worth playing or investing hundreds of bucks buying their books. You just have a shitty barebones system with bloat like Pathfinder selling you dozen of prestige classes and useless feats.The secret to good metaplot is that you need good writers. Guys like Ed Greenwood or the original WW writers. But corporations are allergic to good writing because they hate art.
>>98764147>corporations are allergic to good writing because they hate art.nah, rather allergic to pay well for good art
>>98762665meta plot is shit, its only relevant when a game has multiple timelines.It pretty much ruined World of Darkness. The got to into specifics and details and trying to make everything make sense and conform to the rules. It just became a meta grind with a system that wasn't really designed for it, WoD wasn't heavy on crunch and was really easy to break.
>>98762665I seriously fucking hate the metaplot sometimes. I remember writing a supplement to pitch to Catalyst for Shadowrun, until half way through I found out / remembered Chigago already had a supplement for their ridiculous bug shaman toxic spirit BS.Shadowrun pisses me off cause It killed the two major cities I wanted to make my campaign about, they sunk LA and dropped a tactical nuke on chicago. The meta plot is fun when its dead on, like the 'euro' wars. (who could have predicted there would be a war in eastern europe? Thanks Nostradumbass) Or when its fun or interesting, like NAN, but some shit is just so fucking over the top, like the Japanese Imperial Shogunate taking control of Japan and invading California. Its like, come guys, take your job a little more seriously.
>>98764654I guess thats kinna rich coming from someone whos favorite corp is aztechnology. but whatever, the whole setting is ridiculous, trying to keep the game grounded sometimes feels like a chore.
>>98764147(this is false - Ed.)
>>98762665Its probably always bad but I will forgive all metaplot if the 3rd and final part of Fading Suns War In The Heavens ever gets leaked.
>>98762665I think that the customer base for both rpgs and wargames is split at least 3 ways that probably roughly form a spectrum from "it was perfect the moment it got my attention change nothing" to the people who were buying WoD books every month just to follow the setting. I don't think there's a perfect solution since businesses have to make money.Personally I would prefer wargame companies to not discontinue my armies. Fuck's sake Corvus Belli. But also they have employees to pay. I wish they'd trust that I'd stay invested and buy new armies even instead of fucking with the one I have to sell me new shit.
>>98764654>>98764662My man, you're supposed to lean into the ridiculousness. Even if you're running a serious game you should lean into the ridiculousness, it's practically the only thing keeping Shadowrun alive. The fact that you could be running a heist seriously in-game while your players are laughing at the ridiculousness of it all in real life.
>>98762665It dependsâ„¢I know for certain that exclusively letting clan fanboys dictate the battletech metaplot for the past decade has been a huge misstep
