the Duke of York had 10,000 men
Feb. 26th, 2020 02:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kindkitSome Rusty Quill Gaming thoughts, mostly about Bertie. I've listened through episode 86, so there are some major spoilers through that and also some spoilers for later based on episode descriptions.
I had been loosely intending to make a post complaining about Bertie, and then he went and died. I knew he would be leaving at some point because he's not among the current characters, but I wasn't expecting it quite so soon. I can't exactly feel sorry about it, although I do wish he could just be dead instead of trapped for eternity in the flaming poo dimension.
Apparently James got the memo about how everybody actually liked Bertie, and decided to make him awful in non-funny ways. What started out as pomposity and comically exaggerated disdain for poor people turned into monstrous selfishness (e.g. the way he treated Brutor) and outright racism that mapped, not at all hilariously, onto real-world anti-semitism. Bertie got stupider, too, to the point where his bad decisions endangered the other characters. He even started wanting to torture people, in part because he would enjoy it.
He stopped being fun, and I think it actually became a problem for the story and the game. I know basically nothing about RPGing besides what I've learned from listening to Rusty Quill Gaming, but to me, Bertie comes across as textbook What Not To Do When Creating a Character. Do not create a character you fundamentally dislike, as James fundamentally disliked Bertie. Do not create a character with no nuance who is unable to grow or change; James kept describing Bertie as a "sociopath" and a "monster," and when opportunities for change happened, James made sure Bertie didn't take them. Bertie might have learned from hurting Brutor that other creatures aren't just tools or extensions of himself, but he didn't. He might have felt some regret over asking Mr. Ceiling to mind-control Brutor into loving him again, but there's no indication he did. He might have learned from Edward's warning, or his confrontations with Zolf, but . . . you get the picture. And so Bertie became enormously frustrating as a character.
Admittedly there are people like Bertie in the real world--all too many of them--but that doesn't make him an appealing protagonist, or even an entertaining anti-hero.
I often got the feeling that James was refusing to make Bertie a coherent character, refusing to give him nuance, refusing as already mentioned to let him change. Even Bertie's death felt, to me, like James not wanting to understand Bertie; in having Bertie agree to let Kafka torture Hamid's sister, he made the choice that was most horrifying to us, the audience. But I don't think it was the choice Bertie really would've made, even if only out of self-interest. James even had Bertie consider the fact that a heroic death is (under the terms of Bertie's contract) just death, but an unheroic betrayal would mean a third strike which would mean eternity in the poo dimension. And then he had Bertie choose betrayal anyway. It doesn't make sense.
Early on (possibly in the very first Metacast, episode 0?) Alex says something to the effect that part of GM-ing is knowing when one player is ruining the game for everyone else. And I kind of think James was doing that. Not only did he make Bertie unnecessarily, frustratingly awful, but James played like an attention hog. He was funny, a lot of the time, but he also did his best to break the story and he sometimes ruined other players' big moments. (I really really really did not like him capping Hamid's heart-breaking reaction to learning of his sister's death with a joke.) And sometimes, especially towards the end, he was just tedious. It seemed increasingly clear that he didn't really want to be there.
I'm glad James apparently comes back as an occasional guest in specials, because he's fun in small doses, when he's having fun. But it's just as well that he retired to spend more time with his family.
Other thoughts: I am worried about Sasha, all the more so since I know she's not on the current team. I don't want her to die! I don't want her to become an undead monster! One or both of these seems likely to happen. (*background chorus of "but we respect his craft"*)
And Azu is awesome! Every team needs a 6'6" orc paladin of Aphrodite who only wants to be your new best friend. At least, this team does. There are now two (2) (!!!) people on the team who are capable of being kind to Hamid. (Grizzop brought Hamid genuine comfort in his bereavement despite being a bit irascible; Sasha tries to be kind to Hamid, but she's just not good at people.) Helen also seems awesome, interacting in fun ways with the other players. I'm liking the new party configuration, for however long it lasts.
ETA: Having complained at length about both Bertie and James, I should end by saying that "I heard he had ten thousand men" is still the best joke of the entire series so far.
I had been loosely intending to make a post complaining about Bertie, and then he went and died. I knew he would be leaving at some point because he's not among the current characters, but I wasn't expecting it quite so soon. I can't exactly feel sorry about it, although I do wish he could just be dead instead of trapped for eternity in the flaming poo dimension.
Apparently James got the memo about how everybody actually liked Bertie, and decided to make him awful in non-funny ways. What started out as pomposity and comically exaggerated disdain for poor people turned into monstrous selfishness (e.g. the way he treated Brutor) and outright racism that mapped, not at all hilariously, onto real-world anti-semitism. Bertie got stupider, too, to the point where his bad decisions endangered the other characters. He even started wanting to torture people, in part because he would enjoy it.
He stopped being fun, and I think it actually became a problem for the story and the game. I know basically nothing about RPGing besides what I've learned from listening to Rusty Quill Gaming, but to me, Bertie comes across as textbook What Not To Do When Creating a Character. Do not create a character you fundamentally dislike, as James fundamentally disliked Bertie. Do not create a character with no nuance who is unable to grow or change; James kept describing Bertie as a "sociopath" and a "monster," and when opportunities for change happened, James made sure Bertie didn't take them. Bertie might have learned from hurting Brutor that other creatures aren't just tools or extensions of himself, but he didn't. He might have felt some regret over asking Mr. Ceiling to mind-control Brutor into loving him again, but there's no indication he did. He might have learned from Edward's warning, or his confrontations with Zolf, but . . . you get the picture. And so Bertie became enormously frustrating as a character.
Admittedly there are people like Bertie in the real world--all too many of them--but that doesn't make him an appealing protagonist, or even an entertaining anti-hero.
I often got the feeling that James was refusing to make Bertie a coherent character, refusing to give him nuance, refusing as already mentioned to let him change. Even Bertie's death felt, to me, like James not wanting to understand Bertie; in having Bertie agree to let Kafka torture Hamid's sister, he made the choice that was most horrifying to us, the audience. But I don't think it was the choice Bertie really would've made, even if only out of self-interest. James even had Bertie consider the fact that a heroic death is (under the terms of Bertie's contract) just death, but an unheroic betrayal would mean a third strike which would mean eternity in the poo dimension. And then he had Bertie choose betrayal anyway. It doesn't make sense.
Early on (possibly in the very first Metacast, episode 0?) Alex says something to the effect that part of GM-ing is knowing when one player is ruining the game for everyone else. And I kind of think James was doing that. Not only did he make Bertie unnecessarily, frustratingly awful, but James played like an attention hog. He was funny, a lot of the time, but he also did his best to break the story and he sometimes ruined other players' big moments. (I really really really did not like him capping Hamid's heart-breaking reaction to learning of his sister's death with a joke.) And sometimes, especially towards the end, he was just tedious. It seemed increasingly clear that he didn't really want to be there.
I'm glad James apparently comes back as an occasional guest in specials, because he's fun in small doses, when he's having fun. But it's just as well that he retired to spend more time with his family.
Other thoughts: I am worried about Sasha, all the more so since I know she's not on the current team. I don't want her to die! I don't want her to become an undead monster! One or both of these seems likely to happen. (*background chorus of "but we respect his craft"*)
And Azu is awesome! Every team needs a 6'6" orc paladin of Aphrodite who only wants to be your new best friend. At least, this team does. There are now two (2) (!!!) people on the team who are capable of being kind to Hamid. (Grizzop brought Hamid genuine comfort in his bereavement despite being a bit irascible; Sasha tries to be kind to Hamid, but she's just not good at people.) Helen also seems awesome, interacting in fun ways with the other players. I'm liking the new party configuration, for however long it lasts.
ETA: Having complained at length about both Bertie and James, I should end by saying that "I heard he had ten thousand men" is still the best joke of the entire series so far.
