Question: If one of your plans for the future is an Atua supplement, have you taken a look at the existing one that some fans already made? Maybe you could get together with the writer and make a new and improved version together.
I assume you're talking about the Atua supplement written by Scion forumites Pashupatastra and Coachman, which was a big fan-supported project on the forums a while ago, released in PDF form and has even recently gotten an update in the form of a new alternative PSP. We're aware of it and really enjoyed watching the community pull together to do some cooperative suggesting, proofreading and enjoying during the time that it was being put together!
It's actually not the only fan Atua out there, though, which shouldn't be a surprise since the Atua are awesome and everyone should love them. The Scion forums feature another version of the Atua, and hunting through websites for various chronicles will get you a slew of other little house versions of the pantheon, invented for individual games to allow players more room to choose new divine patrons. Polynesia's one of the areas that Scion ignored almost totally but that a lot of players obviously really wanted to get involved in, and that translates naturally to a ton of fan-produced material to make up the difference.
Now, I'm going to level with you, question-asker: we're probably not going to go out and look up any of these previous fan writers to ask for input. That's not because we hate them or anything or think they're bad; on the contrary, they put a lot of work in and have a product they should be proud of. But there are several fundamental things about it that we strongly disagree with (the entire Titanrealm opposing the Atua, for starters), and more importantly we have a well-oiled and smoothly-running work plan that we're by now practiced pros at, and bringing more people into that would seriously slow the machine down. While we love to get as many expert opinions as possible while we're working, we don't know any of these other writers and have no idea if they have credentials we'd like to explore or are just enthusiastic fans like us, and if it's the latter, there may not be much they can offer us.
Also, and this is probably the strongest reason, I am super touchy about working with other people. I promise it's not you, other people; it is totally me. I love to hear input from others and I love to share information, but the second there's a real opinion clash and someone wants me to change/add/include/rework something that I think is already awesome/bad/horrible/sublime, I usually throw them out a window. It's a temperamental writer thing and I'm not entirely proud of it, but me saying, "Hey, you want to come work on this creative project with me?" to another writer is pretty similar to me saying, "Hey, you want to come let me plunder you for useful information and suggestions, listen to me ignore any ideas of yours I don't like and deal with me getting pissed off if you want to change something I do like?" Nobody wants to sign up for that. I sure wouldn't, if I were them.
Or, to put it in a much more polite way that doesn't make me sound quite as much like a cannibalistic ogre woman, I take great pride in my writing, am independent and intuitively-minded, and am very invested in creative control. I put up with John, but that's only because I'm married to him and he knows more about game balance than I do.
So... yes, basically I am a terrible person to work with, so currently we're not planning on subjecting any of the previous Polynesian fan-writers to the meat-grinding gauntlet that is my cooperative process. If they're out there reading this and wanted to talk shop, trade sources or discuss what they think worked and didn't in their version, however, we would totally love that! We are all about some fun and friendly talk about a subject we love, and suggestions and sources are always awesome bonuses.
And Polynesia will have its windswept, glittering oceanside day in the sun. Some folks will like our version, some will like the forum version, some may like both or neither or their own homebrew, and all of that is totally fine with us!
Being one of two frequent commenters here who's actually had the privilege of working with Anne on a pantheon project, as far as I know (terriblyuncreative is the other, by the by), I thought I'd add my two cents on the experience.
ReplyDeleteI want to start by saying that, from my personal point of view, Anne is being way too hard on herself. The emails exchanged were very polite and cordial. Anne took a fair number of my suggestions (eg, Giving Tohil Guardian) and provided some good solid debate on others (eg, My initial suggestion for their name was “K’ul Ahau”). Each suggestion I gave that was shot down was given an (often hefty) explanation as to why she made that decision. And while I wouldn’t have written it exactly the way she did (eg, If I ever ran a game at some time later, the K’uh would feature prominently, but I would overhaul the PSP like whoa), her ideas still kicked ass, took names, and were appropriate for the Pantheon and resonated with the mythology.
However, all of the above requires some context that shows that my experience would NOT be the same as the questioner posits. For one, Anne came to me because I’m getting a Master’s in archaeology with a focus on Mesoamerica in general and the Maya in particular, so the main points I was called in to discuss were the gods and concepts and symbols themselves rather than anything Scion related (not that I ignored or was ignored on those aspects).
And furthermore, this wasn’t a scenario where she was dicing up my baby. I had thoughts on the Maya Gods and who was where and who should get what, but I hadn’t made a writeup on them prior to this. Therefore, I wasn’t as heavily invested in my ideas for the K’uh as the other writers no doubt would be for the Atua.
If I _had_ written a version of the Maya Gods, I doubt I would have been called in, and it would have been wise, because my thoughts of “Tohil isn’t Legend 12 and Awilix is a separate goddess from Ix Chel? Huh, not the way I’d have done it, but I can see it” may have descended into shouting matches and possibly come to blows if we were collaborating IRL (though from my end, it’d look more like a sissy-slap-fight)
So to summarize, Anne isn’t the terrible collaborator she thinks she is, but keeping her separate from the previous Atua authors is indeed in everyone’s best interest.
Oh, man, I didn't mean to make it sound like I didn't like working with you. Foot back in mouth again. You were awesome and I loved our conversations, despite not agreeing all the time!
DeleteOh no! I wasn't trying to imply that you disliked the collaboration! I was just trying to clarify, and say that you're too hard on yourself.
DeleteYay for misunderstanding tennis
You mentioned not agreeing with the Atua Titan. It always did feel a bit underwhelming, in my opinion. Any spoilers as to what we are getting instead? *hopeful*
ReplyDeleteNot entirely sure yet. There are a couple of possibilities, but the fact that we're trying to maintain compatibility with the original Scion line hamstrings us a bit. We're on it, though!
Delete