#but also a lack of direction and self-awareness on what the storybeats are that u want to explore along the way

[fiovske]

i think tumblr swallowed my ask but i shared an unpopular opinion a while back saying that: i think mercer is a bad storyteller. as a dm he seems like the kind of person who focuses too much on details and loses sight of the big picture. and this isn't completely a bad thing; matt's tendency to be meticulous leads to a lot of relationship-building between characters (think small tender moments between BJ compared to the big yet empty declarations of BY) but it's what i think killed CR in the end

ah sorry it probably got eaten or smth or I'm often late to replying and I missed it that way sorry! but... yeah. like. i dont think he's necessarily a bad storyteller but. he tends to get lost in the smaller details of things therefore losing sight of the bigger picture. perhaps a part of this, I suppose can be attributed to, how he lacks flexibility and therefore insists in the scenario outcomes of some situations whereas also lacks rigidity as in he is unwilling to herd his players towards a possible arc or situation with much emphasis either. like idk I would say he lacks direction himself in what kind of narrative he wants to weave? I mean. I think dude would be better at writing one person narrative bc he is capable of creating a good character arc (like be did w ess*k. until the last ep of course lmao. spending forever in hiding is so wack bro.) he is a good dm when it comes to stereotypical worldbuilding but I think he and the cast reached their creative peaks w c1 and with the grey areas and topics c2 broached the cast, mercer included, did not have the guts to explore those to even a fraction of its potential. like. found family exists is a given in all stories dude that can't just be the main goal of ur message lmao. esp when they all break off in the end and go seperate ways gdjfkjgh

also I feel like. they jumped from one quest to another to another to another like they were on a time crunch which. really left them no time to explore or reflect on the their actions or the impact thereof or their own interpersonal relationships. and even if they did have downtime eps those weren't much fulfilling either bc the cast themselves don't remember shit abt their characters.

what did kill c2 in the end, I will say, was how little the cast cared abt their own characters and their own story so much so that they really just couldn't wait to get it over with. and in so, in the process they truly murdered literally every plot line or radical idea they had initially pretended they wanted to explore but then decided nah fuck this actually and wrapped it up in the most unsatisfactory white liberal way possible.

#cr neg #mercer neg #i do think this is my personal opinion i want to stress on that #but there is a certain inflexibility and rigidity to mm when it comes to the breadth and speed of his game #but also a lack of direction and self-awareness on what the storybeats are that u want to explore along the way #i feel like thats crucial to have in a storytelling game to KNOW what ur endgoal w the narrative will be. #bc then u can map a way to get there. dont come @ me w 'but its improv!!!!' bc its possible still. #maybe he'd be better writing a ya novel or smth. #since bro egtw.... that shit isnt half as progressive as everyone gives it credit for #its just as racist and pointlessly so. its not a beacon (haha) of progressiveness lmao. #the whole cast needs sensitivity training stat idk what to even say anymore lmao #mail tag