Post by Bertie on Jan 2, 2014 19:38:08 GMT -8
A series of recent posts have said that too much special stuff has happened in Seattle, and that Seattle is at best a frontier town of the Camarilla. Furthermore the continued focus of giant plots on Seattle itself stretches believability and makes it harder to accept the game.
Instead of replying to each of those posts in their own threads and potentially derailing other arguments I thought I would make a new post to discuss this here. I think Seattle is awesome, and there are all kinds of reasons for plots to be focused on it.
On the mortal end, Seattle is a great city for vampires, there is a high number of waking hours in the winter, and a higher number of Eccentric areas than most US cities. There is a large concentration of computer, technology and aerospace companies, for those kindred with an interest in either controlling those areas of industry or recruiting or even embracing from their numbers. There is a major university as well as a large number of hacker spaces in the region. For the more covert minded, the city is near a large number of trans-pacific cables. Seattle is on major land, sea and air routes, and is a gateway to not only Canada and Alaska, but also a major transporation hub between the United States and many Asian countries.
Now from what I've read, Seattle isn't really mentioned much in the World of Darkness Canon or Metaplot. This doesn't mean that the greater story of the world of darkness has no effect on Seattle. There is a significant amount written about the Anarch Free-State in California and its struggles against the Camarilla, the Sabbat, and the New Promise Mandaranate. At the very least Seattle is a relatively close Camarilla stronghold to a very contested territory. I wouldn't argue with people saying that Seattle is a frontier town of the Camarilla. I would argue instead that this only adds to its importance. Many of the most interesting, and civilization shaping events happen on the frontier, whether that's the colonization of the Americas, the various Gold rushes, or Bleeding Kansas.
Also we shouldn't have to stick entirely to established meta-plot, especially when it is otherwise silent on what occurs in Seattle. For one thing, the metaplot is often dumb (Kinfolk, Ghoul, Skinchangers with True Magic?). But that aside, we aren't restricted by pre-established canon, however we can take inspiration from what has happened in other canon locations. While there isn't any proof of pre-Columbian trans-Pacific contact as far north as Seattle the World of Darkness has seldom let archaeological evidence stand in the way of a good story. Evidence of any such expeditions, and any supernatural flavors to them are ripe areas to be exploited by plot. Additionally the Seattle area has a vibrant, and often incredibly bloody history before and during European colonization.
While I'm not about to propose entire new bloodlines right before an election, there already is precedent for vampires in the Americas before European contact. The main two groups being the Tlacique (thought to be a Setite bloodline) and a few notable Central American Baali. If the Baali and the Setites can make it over to the Americas before Columbus, there is no reason other clans and bloodlines (or Cathayans) couldn't. Or even that there might be more Setite and Baali variations throughout the Americas. I'd personally love to see some sort of Anda or Mariner historical presence. From what I remember of my more limited exposure to Werewolf, much of the werewolf Americas plotline was centered on the East Coast and the Mid-West, but that doesn't mean that similar setting shaking events couldn't have also happened on the west coast.
Now on top of mundane mortal reasons and existing meta-plot reasons for Seattle to be important, we also have player actions which have helped turn the attention of the world to Seattle. Durante attacking the Shadowlands to destroy an Earthbound demon was pretty notable, but his actions haven't been the only recent earth shaking ones. Sean's staff had the player actions that lead to and resolved the hunter plotline. I've really been enjoying all the plots involved with rebuilding Seattle, and all the intrigue that has gone along with it. Also it is important to note that there are player actions which have had grand effects, but the details of them, and the actors responsible have not yet been discovered.
To conclude, Seattle is a great city for vampires. Seattle is relatively close to established conflict areas. While Seattle isn't explicitly involved in the meta-plot, it doesn't take much extrapolation to see how the meta-plot would apply. Seattle has a great history ripe for plot-mining. Frontier towns are often focal points for plots. Even if Seattle wasn't important at the start of the larp, it has become important now. Also, I don't understand the desire to play in a setting that you decide to be unimportant. There is no reason for Seattle to be dull, and to instead have Venice, Rome, and Mexico City be vibrant and intriguing.
Instead of replying to each of those posts in their own threads and potentially derailing other arguments I thought I would make a new post to discuss this here. I think Seattle is awesome, and there are all kinds of reasons for plots to be focused on it.
On the mortal end, Seattle is a great city for vampires, there is a high number of waking hours in the winter, and a higher number of Eccentric areas than most US cities. There is a large concentration of computer, technology and aerospace companies, for those kindred with an interest in either controlling those areas of industry or recruiting or even embracing from their numbers. There is a major university as well as a large number of hacker spaces in the region. For the more covert minded, the city is near a large number of trans-pacific cables. Seattle is on major land, sea and air routes, and is a gateway to not only Canada and Alaska, but also a major transporation hub between the United States and many Asian countries.
Now from what I've read, Seattle isn't really mentioned much in the World of Darkness Canon or Metaplot. This doesn't mean that the greater story of the world of darkness has no effect on Seattle. There is a significant amount written about the Anarch Free-State in California and its struggles against the Camarilla, the Sabbat, and the New Promise Mandaranate. At the very least Seattle is a relatively close Camarilla stronghold to a very contested territory. I wouldn't argue with people saying that Seattle is a frontier town of the Camarilla. I would argue instead that this only adds to its importance. Many of the most interesting, and civilization shaping events happen on the frontier, whether that's the colonization of the Americas, the various Gold rushes, or Bleeding Kansas.
Also we shouldn't have to stick entirely to established meta-plot, especially when it is otherwise silent on what occurs in Seattle. For one thing, the metaplot is often dumb (Kinfolk, Ghoul, Skinchangers with True Magic?). But that aside, we aren't restricted by pre-established canon, however we can take inspiration from what has happened in other canon locations. While there isn't any proof of pre-Columbian trans-Pacific contact as far north as Seattle the World of Darkness has seldom let archaeological evidence stand in the way of a good story. Evidence of any such expeditions, and any supernatural flavors to them are ripe areas to be exploited by plot. Additionally the Seattle area has a vibrant, and often incredibly bloody history before and during European colonization.
While I'm not about to propose entire new bloodlines right before an election, there already is precedent for vampires in the Americas before European contact. The main two groups being the Tlacique (thought to be a Setite bloodline) and a few notable Central American Baali. If the Baali and the Setites can make it over to the Americas before Columbus, there is no reason other clans and bloodlines (or Cathayans) couldn't. Or even that there might be more Setite and Baali variations throughout the Americas. I'd personally love to see some sort of Anda or Mariner historical presence. From what I remember of my more limited exposure to Werewolf, much of the werewolf Americas plotline was centered on the East Coast and the Mid-West, but that doesn't mean that similar setting shaking events couldn't have also happened on the west coast.
Now on top of mundane mortal reasons and existing meta-plot reasons for Seattle to be important, we also have player actions which have helped turn the attention of the world to Seattle. Durante attacking the Shadowlands to destroy an Earthbound demon was pretty notable, but his actions haven't been the only recent earth shaking ones. Sean's staff had the player actions that lead to and resolved the hunter plotline. I've really been enjoying all the plots involved with rebuilding Seattle, and all the intrigue that has gone along with it. Also it is important to note that there are player actions which have had grand effects, but the details of them, and the actors responsible have not yet been discovered.
To conclude, Seattle is a great city for vampires. Seattle is relatively close to established conflict areas. While Seattle isn't explicitly involved in the meta-plot, it doesn't take much extrapolation to see how the meta-plot would apply. Seattle has a great history ripe for plot-mining. Frontier towns are often focal points for plots. Even if Seattle wasn't important at the start of the larp, it has become important now. Also, I don't understand the desire to play in a setting that you decide to be unimportant. There is no reason for Seattle to be dull, and to instead have Venice, Rome, and Mexico City be vibrant and intriguing.
