Cam ups, Cam downs, and sundry
Jul. 3rd, 2002 09:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
davywavySometimes it astonishes/disappoints me the amount of petulance and spite that the Cam generates, given that it is just a hobby.
We'll start todays observations with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
andydavies and grimjim 's little tirades about Andy Richardson, the departing ANST. Where did that little bit of public spite come from?
Sadly, I don't really think I can criticise either of them for it - Andy has a fairly unbroken run of being a good bloke and on the nail, and one lapse isn't enough to really castigate him over, so I just look askance and move on. And as for Grim, he doesn't have sentient awareness or free will in the way you or I would understand it. He's more of a bile-producing automaton (a bit like a spiteful Gort the Robot), and so he just produces such nonsense without consciousness. Criticising him for being spiteful is like criticising a badly made clock for showing the wrong time; it's not something you can do anything about, the clock isn't even aware that it is doing it, and overall you're best off ignoring it and looking elsewhere to find out what time it is.
On other matters, I found out yesterday the actual details of why my old mate Sean Prather isn't a Cammie any more, and I was left open-mouthed with shock at the circumstances. I've not been given permission to pass on the details by him, but suffice to say that I thank God the checks & balances I put into out constitution will hopefully prevent crap like this happeneing in the Cam UK.
On a plus note, I refer you to here:
http://www.cam-anarch.org/main.php?page=law&doc=primertwo
Possibly the best bit of a rules supplement I've read since the first edition of GUT landed on my desk back in '98. A Cam roleplaying supplement that actually encourages people to roleplay? Whatever next?!
If anyone knows the person who wrote this, please pass on my congratulations - it's without a doubt the best thing to have come out to the rules groups in a month of Sundays.
Elsewhere, I was off to the gym last night and found I still haven't recovered from the physical exertion of the weekend. A decade ago I could run a mile in under 5 minutes - last night, I couldn't run a mile at all. Weights weren't much better, and all in all, I felt a soft girly weed and gave up in exhaustion after a while. Returning to the changing room, my male pride in tatters, I wasn't helped by the first thing I saw as I walked in being a superbly muscled bloke with a cock that wouldn't have looked out of place in a John Holmes movie walking out of the showers. I withered up inside, and went home feeling completely crap, all masculine bravado gone...
We'll start todays observations with
andydavies and grimjim 's little tirades about Andy Richardson, the departing ANST. Where did that little bit of public spite come from?Sadly, I don't really think I can criticise either of them for it - Andy has a fairly unbroken run of being a good bloke and on the nail, and one lapse isn't enough to really castigate him over, so I just look askance and move on. And as for Grim, he doesn't have sentient awareness or free will in the way you or I would understand it. He's more of a bile-producing automaton (a bit like a spiteful Gort the Robot), and so he just produces such nonsense without consciousness. Criticising him for being spiteful is like criticising a badly made clock for showing the wrong time; it's not something you can do anything about, the clock isn't even aware that it is doing it, and overall you're best off ignoring it and looking elsewhere to find out what time it is.
On other matters, I found out yesterday the actual details of why my old mate Sean Prather isn't a Cammie any more, and I was left open-mouthed with shock at the circumstances. I've not been given permission to pass on the details by him, but suffice to say that I thank God the checks & balances I put into out constitution will hopefully prevent crap like this happeneing in the Cam UK.
On a plus note, I refer you to here:
http://www.cam-anarch.org/main.php?page=law&doc=primertwo
Possibly the best bit of a rules supplement I've read since the first edition of GUT landed on my desk back in '98. A Cam roleplaying supplement that actually encourages people to roleplay? Whatever next?!
If anyone knows the person who wrote this, please pass on my congratulations - it's without a doubt the best thing to have come out to the rules groups in a month of Sundays.
Elsewhere, I was off to the gym last night and found I still haven't recovered from the physical exertion of the weekend. A decade ago I could run a mile in under 5 minutes - last night, I couldn't run a mile at all. Weights weren't much better, and all in all, I felt a soft girly weed and gave up in exhaustion after a while. Returning to the changing room, my male pride in tatters, I wasn't helped by the first thing I saw as I walked in being a superbly muscled bloke with a cock that wouldn't have looked out of place in a John Holmes movie walking out of the showers. I withered up inside, and went home feeling completely crap, all masculine bravado gone...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
!
Date: 2002-07-04 04:07 pm (UTC)I'll thank you to remember the spite comes from the actions and attitudes of the people it's directed at.
If you don't want unadulterated, 100% pure _opinion_ then don't read my LJ and ask me my opinion elsewhere in a different context.
My LJ is for me to blow off steam and rant safely, thats what it says in the very first entry.
Why did I not like Andy R? In a less ranty and more substantial way?
While A.N. Other was screwing over the UK Cam as a whole from above (IMO) Andy R was doing his own damage, specifically to the C/A venue though it spread a little into the adjoining venues as well.
My dislike of Andy R within the society context (And some of this applies to his brother as well) is based around the following...
1) - The best comparison I stumbled on accidently replying to comments on this in my LJ. He IS the Fast Show's 'Colin'. Lame humour that nobody wants coming in a constant tidal stream, interrupting and disrupting everyone.
2) - Combined with the above, what I consider to be an inability to roleplay or to see good RP situations, circumstances or characters in others. Many instances of crushing excellent plot and RP opportunities laid before him in favour of the strict status quo. He seems only able to play a single type of character, that being rather like some kind of slightly scary 'clown' who leaves you feeling your children wouldn't be safe with them. (That's CHARACTERS I'm not suggesting Andy R himself is a paedophile). His characters constantly project jokes and comments to a 'nonexistant' OOC peanut gallery, something I find very distracting and disruptive to RP. The same thing happened often while STing.
3) - The portrayal of the Justicars Office has been consistently biased and poorly portrayed. Acknowledged, the Justicar IS a Malkavian but the bias shown in favour of the Setites is deeply suspicious as are several peripheral plot items and the (presumably overseen) actions of the Justicar at the national and between games. Often the portrayal of powerful NPCs seems to be targetted to remove aspects of the game Andy and or his boss found personally disagreeable within the game.
4) - Irrational hostility to other venues. Purists are fine, they contribute a lot to their venue, but, like a new domain joining the Cam, they have to understand there are other games out there. Andy's isolationist stance came through in the way he directed the Justicars office (See above) and the way he handled various things, including the scene at the national, which was the most wasted opportunity for RP and great plot I have ever, ever seen, bar none.
On another note, do you have Sean's e-mail address anywhere or could you ask him to get in touch with me, I'd wondered where he'd gone. All I knew about was a suspension, not a ban, so I'd kinda like to talk to the bugger about it.
Oh, and you might be pleased to know it looks like the international Cam (under WW) are finally looking towards reforming the international structure, and I've got high hopes that they'll develop things along similar lines to what you accomplished.
(Which, incidentally is what I've been singing your praises about referenced earlier).
Now, we don't often agree, I didn't like your 'insider trading' style and I don't care much for your 'politics' or world outlook, but you still did good things, which I acknowledge, so be fair, eh?
But then it's your LJ, so bitch me out if you like.
::shrug::
I can take it without having hysterics.
Re: !
Date: 2002-07-05 01:35 am (UTC)Of course, if you don't think people should defend their friends when people slag them behind their backs, that's your business.
I assume "Colin" is a comedy character; I don't own a TV, and so I'm left behind on such things, but I asume the comparison isn't positive and wouldn't be appreciated.
I'm jolly glad you're being nice about me; as I said to Andy D, I've no problem with people presenting "I don't like and here is why" reasoned arguments. However, I dislike people slagging off my friends without apparent reason, and as such I consider it my moral responsibility to defend them when they are not there to defend themselves.
Re: !
Date: 2002-07-05 01:34 pm (UTC)For your education...
'Colin' is a stereotypical 'Office clown'. Coloured suits, bright cartoon ties, a comedy orange wig and a line in unfunny jokes. Never seems to do any work and spends all his time distracting and offputting other people.
Amiable, but eminently punchable.
Re: !
Date: 2002-07-08 02:48 am (UTC)Many players don't like that style, anbd I can see why. it's challenging, and PC on PC conflict is *much* more likely to result in PC death and PC on NPC conflict.
I'm not a character killer - I'm about to make my first ever serious attempt to kill a PC and that is just because they're wanting to kill me and I reckon they have a better than average chance of succeeding. However, I also realise that the game as is cannot really procede within it's background structure without that. That's why I like what he's done, even though I personally wouldn't do it the same way.