Skype gaming and stuff

[lowbrowgames]

Things played since last time:
Tsoy with local skype group
Polaris - JC, Joey and Filip. Never thought Polaris has that much rules and things to learn. It took about two hours to grok them and only JC played it before and had a book. The rest was a bit o Polish humor and a game. We skipped a few details because of fast forward mode(not enough time to really get into every scene) but still there was some emotional impact.

Other:
Made pierogi(taste great!) and change the video in Punk-as-fuck-games. This time it's Sakevi/Gism.

[hoog]

oh, yeah, past tense...

man I hate that

I mean, it's cool when I listen to other people using it in scenes I'm not involved in

Joey had a good point about it making the game sound like ancient history (in the good sense)

but as soon as I'm in the scene, past tense just breaks the immersion for me

anybody else get that?

[Filip]

We've been forgetting about the past tense, skipping some Key Phrases occasionally and stuff. Or, sometimes ritual stuff was diluted by additional explanations. Based on what I saw, I'd expect the game to have a much stronger rhythm if those were used more consistently. Though obviously, it couldn't have been helped, given that for most of us it was the very first go.

[hoog]

yo Filip, how do you mean we failed to use the ritual aspect of the game?

I thought we used it just fine :)

[Filip]

Well, the explanations ate much more time than I expected they would. The game itself was definitely way too rushed, due to its one-shot nature - but I can imagine how Polaris could work in a prolonged campaign, with more time to build the emotional context and spread spotlight time more evenly. Basically, I switched into GM-ing mode after my first scene, so when my character briefly appeared later it was rather obvious his fate was no longer relevant ;)

At least, the session gave me an opportunity to try it out, and I don't expect to have another chance very soon. The game has its strong points, mainly the negotiation process and the ritual (which we apparently failed to use properly, unfortunately). Fuzzy lines of control are not so great, though, and I'm somewhat ambivalent about the setting, overall.

So, I think I see the Thursday's game more as a learning experience than normal session.

[hoog]

yeah guys that Polaris session was pretty cool :)

but clearly my explaining the game over Skype is not the same as reading the book