Should that be allowed?

[Nikodemus]

Yeah....Sure....
What would my char say...
Vampires? whats that? (gains description) oh well, i suppose they were hiding well for the few hundreds of years then, but how could deny if the exist.
Or
Dragons? For the Gods! where did these creatures hid, that they remained unspotted for so long??
Guns? Amaizing! I want one and wonder how they work.
Lightsabres? I can't wait the day harnquist starts to mass producing and selling them .

er, yea, everythink may be explained ICly, we jast state it happened and nothing else matters.
Setting lands in trash, logic goes to hell and we let our contaminated with ripped off ideas imagination flow without any limits.

But what would my char really do?
damn nothing. Next time I will hear somebody saying vampire, I will oocly start explaining to pain that no matter how well they set backgrond for their vampire thing, it will never fit the setting.

Damn, people if you really want to use your imagination, come up with somethink what will consists of all you like in vampires, yet will be far different.

[Datruth]

I'd say wait for a GM or a dev to give the official say on whether it's okay or not.

I'm sure they will allow vampire RP.

[zhai]

If you're worried about how this idea fits in the settings, I'm sure the people behind it would be open to hearing what you think their flaws are. In their guild post they appear very open to suggestions, even to those that came with a torch. Maybe the idea of not calling them "vampires" but something else could hep a bit. I can see how the concept of vampires in Yliakum lands somewhere in a grey zone, but if there was absolut conflict with settings, I think either mods or GMs would have posted so in their guild thread. Besides, it seems like they have been working hard to make it believable. Maybe the problem is that when we hear "Vampire" we think "Oh, not again! That's been done before... and better". Well, we don't watch movies in PS so every plot, no matter how used, will have a different outcome.

Which gives me an idea...

[Ralas]

I am so torn on this issue that it's painful.  Personally, I really like vampires--It doesn't matter how horribly cliche they are, I just like them.  They're neat.  But I still can't help but think that they really don't belong in PlaneShift, along with dragons and any other creature not specifically written into the settngs.

On the other hand, the story written on the subject does a very good job of explaining their existence, and does not, AFAICS, violate the settings.  I guess the only legitimate issue is that they used the word 'vampre'.  This should not be allowed for the same reason as the name "Harry Potter" is not allowed--It immediately makes one think of things outside of PS (such as Buffy or Dracula), thus negatively effecting the immersion.

Those RP'ing vamps are doing a good job.  My normal course of action for a subject on which i'm so painfully divided would just be to ignore it.  This, however, is not possible as many of my normal RP friends are accepting the whole thing.  I am left with one option.  Ralas believes that those claming to be "vampires" are simply members of some cult.  Perhaps drugs are involved, he's not sure.  That way I can react to it in a manner which is justified given my take on the settings, without at the same time offending those Role Playing vampires.  For I mean no dispresect, and as I've said, for the subject matter they have chosen, they are doing a good job of RP'ing it.  I do not wish to insult them in any way.  I just wish to not participate to the fullest extent possible.

[EDIT after reading Zhai's post:] I know it probably sounds stupid, but IMO simply not calling them vampires would help quite a bit.

[Siteri Kidachi]

 I guess the only legitimate issue is that they used the word 'vampre'.  This should not be allowed for the same reason as the name "Harry Potter" is not allowed--It immediately makes one think of things outside of PS (such as Buffy or Dracula), thus negatively effecting the immersion.

Not me. I mean, there's so much vampire-related stuff out there that I just think of the generic concept of a vampire ("Oh, they suck blood.") rather than any specific one. Although I'm not a fan of either Buffy or Dracula, so that might just be me.

[zanzibar]

Listen, this is just a bunch of people who wanted to do a "RP plot" that involved vampires.  It's that simple.  They ignored the settings and went off and did their own thing to have some fun.  Does it kill the game for others?  No.  The community can't participate in such an RP - and if it did, it would be really messy - but it doesn't hurt anyone in a way besides that.  The thing is, community involvement in RP is a good thing.  The point of Planeshift is that you're interacting with other people.  So personally, if you aren't interacting with others because you've writen your own settings which contrast greatly with the real ones, then I think you've created a problem for yourself.

I guess others feel differently though.

[RayvenD]

zanzibar i agreed with you until i found out about the vampire hunters guild, it seems this is an attempt to turn PS into a surrogate buffy game or something.

[Thyme]

Just a note on the concept of vampirism, I looked it up on wikipedia, and it's historically been used in a huge variety of ways and usually refers to beings that are reanimated corpses, and/or who drink blood of other living beings.  They are mythic, in the same way, as say, a dwarven or elven race is mythic... however vampirism isn't a race or species.

Vampirism can be interpreted as a disease, hence it could easily fit into the PS context since as far as I know, players have free reign over developing RP diseases and illnesses.  Since we're using the english language in PS, then it would make sense that we would call characters who drink the blood of others, vampires, since the term appears to be used to refer to those exhibiting that behaviour.  The word vampire has no fixed definition, so there is room for interpretation in use.  If people prefer a more technical term, it seems vampirism could also be called hematophagy.  I really don't see a problem with using the term "vampire" since there are plenty of people in PS who use other historical cultural and/or mythic terms that originate and have meaning outside the PS world (such as elves and dwarves like I previously mentioned, though in my opinion, PS has done an excellent job at enriching these mythical terms to mean so much more and quite different from popular fictional notions of them)

I think the Monstrumis Bloodline has done a pretty effective job in ensuring that they are not just reproducing Dracula or Buffy, so I want to give Ellasandra and all the other vamps who worked on the background and story behind the vampire RP a huge thumbs up!  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire

[Thoughtcrime]

Yes, I speak the Yiddish. =P

Anyway, I do comment the Monstrumis for creating a believable, somewhat realistic description for a vampire and have fit it into the world: weak to Crystal Way, dwell in the sewers, etc.  I've researched vampires for years, read tons of novels on them, and have made out my own types of vampire myself...I suppose you could say I'm a conniseur of sorts. However, it's rare that I've seen vampires work in a medieval setting; when we think of them, we usually think very futuristic/cyberpunk, lots of leather and trenchcoats and automatic guns. I would like to see them work, because it's rare I see vampires in this sort of setting, and it's difficult oto try something different. I wrote a story about a woman who was turned while she was a Crusader in the 13th century, and even that was hard. I really do think it can work, and I would have loved to help out if I had been able to be involved.

As for these vampire hunters, no offense, but I think it's going to ruin it. If someone could clarify if it was set up in the plotline that the  guild would be made, that would be great, because if not, once again, oi vey. From what I gather, a lot of the Ylikilian vampires are not doing it out of being pure evil, but out of survival. Everyone needs a motive to do something evil, whether it's out of jealousy or greed or just insanity. No one is truly evil, it is impossible to play a character who is evil just because. I have a feeling this vampire hunter guild is just going to have the usual goal of "purging the evil vampires" or the like, and that's going to cause problems. There's going to be godmodding, lines overstepped, and tons of misunderstandings.

[RayvenD]

As i said, i agreed that the vampire thing may work until i saw the thread for the vampire hunters, it just doesnt feel right, but hey, time will tell i guess.

[zanzibar]

Vampires are not in the game.  Vampirism is not in the game.  Neither are in the settings.  This is just a bunch of people who wanted to have an "RP story" with vampires despite the Planeshift settings.

[Thyme]

Ok, I just checked out this Vampire Hunters Guild... and it seems to me that if they are actually serious (which I am leaning more towards the parody angle right now), they have created a new line of vampires that they have devoted themselves to slaying.  So in fact, their guild back story is unrelated to the Monstrumis Bloodline guild.

Also, just to point out, Karyuu did post on the Monstrumis Bloodline forum topic, and it appears that the guild is within its rights to exist in PS, and I will assume that it's ok until a GM or Dev tells me otherwise.  Which I hope won't happen, because really, this RP has been a blessing to help explain so much of Lexa's character and why she is the way she is, it's almost shocking to me how nicely it has fit into it.

Sorry to all those who are incredibly experienced role players and have a fixed idea about what kind of role play should happen in PS.  I totally agree to trying the best we can to follow the setting and context of the game, which I think most people in good faith try to do, however there are many, such as myself, who are less experienced role players.  For me, PS has been a really welcoming environment for me to learn about RP, so I feel a bit bad for everyone out there who has been role playing for years and finds the RPs that I'm interested boring or stupid... It's true that I do things that are not conventional, such as RP Thyme as a masseuse.  I would hope that these people would at the very worst look at me with mild disregard and let me have my fun, unless of course I am truly ruining the PS world.  There are plenty of RPs in PS that I have absolutely no interest in participating in, such as the dwarf haters, the various wars, etc...  I should hope that just because I choose not to engage or discuss these events that it does not mean I do not belong in PS.

[Thoughtcrime]

Vampires are not in the game.  Vampirism is not in the game.  Neither are in the settings.  This is just a bunch of people who wanted to have an "RP story" with vampires despite the Planeshift settings.

Agreed, but what exactly is in the game? They gave us the world, and it's up for us to shape it and create the stories. I like the fact that people can take something that isn't totally from the game and turn it into something that [somewhat] fits.

And as for the guild, I had a feeling it wasn't a confirmed piece of the story. Only problem is, we really CAN'T do anything about it. The only thing to make sure stuff like that never happens is to put in a rule, which would also sort of be taking the easy way out.

[Suno_Regin]

I don't even wanna play this game anymore...vampire's have completely taken over. 3 guilds about this same retarded thing, one of the guilds being led by a group of kids who are trying to be "the biggest and best guild in ps."

[zanzibar]

Ok, I just checked out this Vampire Hunters Guild... and it seems to me that if they are actually serious (which I am leaning more towards the parody angle right now), they have created a new line of vampires that they have devoted themselves to slaying.  So in fact, their guild back story is unrelated to the Monstrumis Bloodline guild.

Great.  Now that you are both playing in the same universe, there's no reason why the two groups can't interact.

Agreed, but what exactly is in the game? They gave us the world, and it's up for us to shape it and create the stories.

Create stories within the world given.  No lightsabers.

I don't even wanna play this game anymore.

This isn't the first time you've said that.