Cam survival tips
Feb. 27th, 2003 12:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
davywavyDavids Cam survival guide.
So, so, many people seem to bitch about the Cam. It’s astonishing, really, that people should let a hobby get in the way of actually enjoying their spare time.
Happily, I seem to have found a system that lets me enjoy myself without letting it get to me (actually, they're applicable to most forms of gaming). This took a long time, and was largely achieved by the year the evil goblins stole from my life, but a few tips that I’ve picked up over the years are:
1) The presiding ref is always right. Don’t complain because you don’t like their calls; just don’t go to their games any more. Go elsewhere where you trust the ref instead. “But he made a dodgy call and my PC died!” is not a reason to go through the arbitration procedure, it’s a reason not to go back to their game.
2) If playing a character in a certain way is damaging your relationships with people in real life, try playing in a different way. Friendships are more important than in-game ‘success’. “It’s what my character would do” is a shit way to justify acting like a wanker to your mates, and they won’t thank you for it.
3) IRC is a shocking waste of good time that could be more constructively spent in the pub or indulging in auto-erotic behaviour.
4) Don’t bother learning the rules; it will take you a long time, and will not repay the investment. Spending several days learning rules that will affect 15 minutes of your life over the next year is not a healthy way to spend your time; in addition there will always be someone at any game who will know them far better than you ever can – and it will probably be Tim Edwards, who I’ve always found to be fairly impartial - so ask them if you aren’t sure of anything.
5) If you want something done and you can’t be bothered to do it yourself, don’t hold your breath waiting for it to happen.
6) If there’s people you don’t like, just don’t game with them. Avoid them where possible, and if that prove unachievable, politely explain that you don’t like them and you’d be grateful if they didn’t interact with you again. If they’re so much of a tit as to ignore this and pursue their IC intentions towards you, then consider yourself justified in your belief and chalk it up to experience.
7) Good jokes are more important than XP.
8) In fact, good jokes are more important than pretty much anything.
9) Most officers – in fact most of the society at large – will not be as intelligent as you, and their ideas of what makes for good rules and a good game will be patently wrong and contradictory to your own. If this gets intolerable, then leave. If it is not intolerable, then I advise you not to worry about it. (This rule applies to everyone from their own POV, and is not solely applicable to myself, just in case you were wondering.)
10) Any player who justifies their actions on the basis that their character is a psychopath, but who did not demonstrate any indications of mental disorder before they had a couple of topped out combat disciplines and max traits, is probably a player to avoid.
11) Nobody short of Chrisopher Lee is capable of realistically portraying an ancient being of phenomenal power, and anyone claiming otherwise (especially claiming that *they* can) is opening themself to mockery.
Anyone else got any tips they'd like to add?
So, so, many people seem to bitch about the Cam. It’s astonishing, really, that people should let a hobby get in the way of actually enjoying their spare time.
Happily, I seem to have found a system that lets me enjoy myself without letting it get to me (actually, they're applicable to most forms of gaming). This took a long time, and was largely achieved by the year the evil goblins stole from my life, but a few tips that I’ve picked up over the years are:
1) The presiding ref is always right. Don’t complain because you don’t like their calls; just don’t go to their games any more. Go elsewhere where you trust the ref instead. “But he made a dodgy call and my PC died!” is not a reason to go through the arbitration procedure, it’s a reason not to go back to their game.
2) If playing a character in a certain way is damaging your relationships with people in real life, try playing in a different way. Friendships are more important than in-game ‘success’. “It’s what my character would do” is a shit way to justify acting like a wanker to your mates, and they won’t thank you for it.
3) IRC is a shocking waste of good time that could be more constructively spent in the pub or indulging in auto-erotic behaviour.
4) Don’t bother learning the rules; it will take you a long time, and will not repay the investment. Spending several days learning rules that will affect 15 minutes of your life over the next year is not a healthy way to spend your time; in addition there will always be someone at any game who will know them far better than you ever can – and it will probably be Tim Edwards, who I’ve always found to be fairly impartial - so ask them if you aren’t sure of anything.
5) If you want something done and you can’t be bothered to do it yourself, don’t hold your breath waiting for it to happen.
6) If there’s people you don’t like, just don’t game with them. Avoid them where possible, and if that prove unachievable, politely explain that you don’t like them and you’d be grateful if they didn’t interact with you again. If they’re so much of a tit as to ignore this and pursue their IC intentions towards you, then consider yourself justified in your belief and chalk it up to experience.
7) Good jokes are more important than XP.
8) In fact, good jokes are more important than pretty much anything.
9) Most officers – in fact most of the society at large – will not be as intelligent as you, and their ideas of what makes for good rules and a good game will be patently wrong and contradictory to your own. If this gets intolerable, then leave. If it is not intolerable, then I advise you not to worry about it. (This rule applies to everyone from their own POV, and is not solely applicable to myself, just in case you were wondering.)
10) Any player who justifies their actions on the basis that their character is a psychopath, but who did not demonstrate any indications of mental disorder before they had a couple of topped out combat disciplines and max traits, is probably a player to avoid.
11) Nobody short of Chrisopher Lee is capable of realistically portraying an ancient being of phenomenal power, and anyone claiming otherwise (especially claiming that *they* can) is opening themself to mockery.
Anyone else got any tips they'd like to add?
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Not really...
Date: 2003-03-03 03:25 am (UTC)4) I can't help but completely disagree with this. If you are playing a game, then why don't you learn the rules? Rules are what seperate a game from five year olds playing cops and robbers. STs cannot be everywhere, nor can people you trust (as evidenced in the fact that several of your rules are predicated on the notion of avoidance, one can assume you end up in places where you do not trust the other gamers). If you followed your rule out to its logical conclusion, then no one would know the rules, and then the cheezy monkey types could do anything they wanted. Hell, by logical extention, you would end up with people who did not know their Tome, their constitution, or what recourses they had to work with should a bunch of wankers get in charge. Kinda like last time I was there... and that wasn't good for anybody. Furthermore, if you do not want to bother reading about the game you are supposed to enjoy playing, then why are you playing it?