Negativity around val’Sungha and other issues

Personally I have no real problem with saying you are a val’Sungha. I have MORE of an issue if you are using an existing Val family (with powers) AND if you are using a Kio Sword or something that is otherwise restricted, at least at Con Play, but I’m not really broken up about it especially if the Campaign Staff knows about it. The crux comes from the fact that PLAYERS don’t know, and if you break the Campaign Rules it makes it LOOK like you are either breaking the rules or getting special treatment. Living Campaigns are founded on everyone playing with the same toys in the sandbox, so when someone doesn’t hackles go up. I personally say fun is more important than rules, but ultimately the Rules are there for a reason.

My general suggestion would play a Kio (using the Sungha last name suggesting a non-Val child of a val’Sungha) until the rules come out rather than a Val, especially if you are not particularly using the Bloodline powers. Maybe leave “Blank” talents to represent the Bloodline Talents, but saying you’re a Kio will probably raise fewer hackles than saying you are a val’Sungha right now.

Hey Cody,

Yeah, I get your point and agree with it. That was why I Heirloomed my Kio sword to start, did not take Psionics, and have held off on taking a path till the Kio book comes out.

My point here is that this is just an example of why this campaign is dying. Even with the successful Kickstarter, attendance at Origins was down. Mary and I were both shocked at how few people were at Origins in any capacity this year, and Arcanis in particular. Is it all because this forum is a caustic environment? Probably not, but it certainly is not helping. I know I lost a newly formed group in part over it, and I know my shelf space at my store when it opens is not going to have many copies of PCI products because it just does not make business sense.

I think Arcanis is a great campaign world and the PCI folks really do put a lot of passion into their product. However, lack of editing and these forums being filled with entitled negative people really hurts the post sale customer support aspects. I will probably just settle for displaying my personal copies of Arcanis behind the counter, and order a pair of Rotted Capes and Witch Hunter core rule books. If they sell within 3 months I will reorder on a 1 for 1 basis. If they sell quickly I may re-evaluate. But honestly I don’t think PCI products will ever do well in Dallas because Pathfinder is so popular, and this shared world campaign has too many caustic personalities with Harvester titles. I specifically did not go after a Harvester title because I am too much like the bad apples myself. I have a lot of respect for a couple of them, and I really think the campaign directors do a great job, but really a couple of them should just step down if they can’t keep a civil tone to their posts.

Personally I have no real problem with saying you are a val’Sungha. I have MORE of an issue if you are using an existing Val family (with powers) AND if you are using a Kio Sword or something that is otherwise restricted, at least at Con Play, but I’m not really broken up about it especially if the Campaign Staff knows about it. The crux comes from the fact that PLAYERS don’t know, and if you break the Campaign Rules it makes it LOOK like you are either breaking the rules or getting special treatment. Living Campaigns are founded on everyone playing with the same toys in the sandbox, so when someone doesn’t hackles go up. I personally say fun is more important than rules, but ultimately the Rules are there for a reason.

My general suggestion would play a Kio (using the Sungha last name suggesting a non-Val child of a val’Sungha) until the rules come out rather than a Val, especially if you are not particularly using the Bloodline powers. Maybe leave “Blank” talents to represent the Bloodline Talents, but saying you’re a Kio will probably raise fewer hackles than saying you are a val’Sungha right now.

for the record we sat 10 tables of 6 at the BI with 2 additional players (or 2 tables of 7 and 8 of 6) all in all with judges there were 72 people at the BI.

I think thats about the same number as last year, but I’m not an expert. maybe it was the spread out due to no LARP that would have put an extra table per slot.

uhh writing out rules, I have no idea what your talking about here, all of the encounteres were balanced with minions/non minions and a scattering of encounters with environmental effects, not to throw shade on anyone, but are you sure that these things are happening because they are in the mod or because of some other reason?

First, our play was not “about half” we just didn’t have a LARP and we pulled players from 2 of the more visible slots for exclusive play events from the Kickstarter.

Second, if you are not breaking or making rules – then the PCI staff is completely OK with you calling yourself a val’Sungha. Being down a Bloodline Talent only limits you, and should have zero impact on anyone else’s fun.

To break off from another topic that has nothing to do with this here is my justification for playing a val’Sungha since I have been question about this many times. Sometimes pretty rudely.

…snip…

Frankly, I let this kind of harassment go on till the point that I have stopped posting here for almost a year, because of the negativity of the “in crowd”. I recruited several players in Dallas last year and that same “in crowd” drove them away when they tried to get questions answered here. I wish you negative naysayers would stop and think about how people are perceiving your comments.

Hi Mathew,

I see Henry has already chimed in, so I will mostly limit myself to an apology to any negative comments I may have contributed. I would love for the community on the board to grow and expand to include new voices. The majority of the posts on the forum come from about 20-25 people, which of course is a thin slice of the total Arcanis community. My advice is if a particular person seems especially abrasive that you just ignore their posts. I think you can effectively “unfriend” someone too under the User Control panel if you really don’t want to see what they write.

After reading this thread, I’ve got things I feel I need to say. I don’t where else to put them, so I’ll say it here instead of making a new thread.

I think I’m done with Arcanis. I just came back from a convention where a grand total of one person signed up for my games. At the same convention last year, I had signups and walk-ups and people interested in the system. None of them were interested this year.

Maybe Arcanis isn’t dying, but it’s practically dead here in South Carolina. I only know of a couple of players in North Carolina. I’ve spent the last few years trying to revive the setting here after the restart, and it’s been like walking through quicksand.

In short, I’ve had several people tell me that the environment on the forums is toxic. I’ve lost potential players who have already heard rumors about Arcanis, and had those rumors apparently confirmed by the posts here.

For me though, I’m tired of being ignored. I’ve sent multiple emails, posts, and PMs asking how to become a Harvester so I can work on rebuilding the local community. All ignored. I’ve had submissions go unanswered. Requests for help redownloading my books has still gone unanswered. Offers of help are repeatedly ignored. Hell, I’ve tried to submit a new adventure outline twice in the past week, and I can’t even get that answered.

I don’t expect instant answers of course. There’s not enough staff for that. But all I’ve done over the past few years is try to do my part to help out, and nearly everything I’ve tried to do is just whispering into the wind.

Maybe Arcanis isn’t dying, but I don’t see it growing either. It might just be me, I don’t know. I’m just tired of feeling unwanted, and that might be a little self-centered, but it’s got me at the end of my rope.

FGJustice,

You are not alone. I created this thread, and have talked to Matt Flinn on the phone about this. I would ask that you not give up just as I get the fight started in earnest. I am really trying to get this turned around, and your expression of support is helpful. Giving up is not helpful. Stay with me and fight, politely for more civility and professionalism on these forums. The actual PCI folks work hard on keeping this professional and personable. We just need to work on the rest of the vocal minority here.

Everyone else,

I am trying very hard here to impart an impetus towards bettering Arcanis and the online interactions on this forum in 3 ways doing my best to live up to the high standard, requesting that others do the same, and being vocal about what my specific problems are. I started changing myself with a smug line misquoted in a fantasy book, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”, but truthfully these two quotes embody it better:

“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not wait to see what others do.” Gandhi

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Thoreau

In plain modern English, “Do not settle for the way things have always been done. Hold yourself to a higher standard in both thought and action. Doing these two things improves the average of all human interaction just a bit and your own life greatly.” Matthew Jenkins

After reading this thread, I’ve got things I feel I need to say. I don’t where else to put them, so I’ll say it here instead of making a new thread.

I think I’m done with Arcanis. I just came back from a convention where a grand total of one person signed up for my games. At the same convention last year, I had signups and walk-ups and people interested in the system. None of them were interested this year.

Maybe Arcanis isn’t dying, but it’s practically dead here in South Carolina. I only know of a couple of players in North Carolina. I’ve spent the last few years trying to revive the setting here after the restart, and it’s been like walking through quicksand.

In short, I’ve had several people tell me that the environment on the forums is toxic. I’ve lost potential players who have already heard rumors about Arcanis, and had those rumors apparently confirmed by the posts here.

For me though, I’m tired of being ignored. I’ve sent multiple emails, posts, and PMs asking how to become a Harvester so I can work on rebuilding the local community. All ignored. I’ve had submissions go unanswered. Requests for help redownloading my books has still gone unanswered. Offers of help are repeatedly ignored. Hell, I’ve tried to submit a new adventure outline twice in the past week, and I can’t even get that answered.

I don’t expect instant answers of course. There’s not enough staff for that. But all I’ve done over the past few years is try to do my part to help out, and nearly everything I’ve tried to do is just whispering into the wind.

Maybe Arcanis isn’t dying, but I don’t see it growing either. It might just be me, I don’t know. I’m just tired of feeling unwanted, and that might be a little self-centered, but it’s got me at the end of my rope.