As to the SHARD RPG being "furry" or not…

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    • As to the SHARD RPG being "furry" or not…

      Many people have asked me this question… Well,..since I have not found an acceptable definition for what that really means (even people undyingly proud to proclaim their "furriness" openly fail to agree on what the definition is, and will even argue with one another as to whether one feels the other is furry or not! Ridiculous...), I simply choose to ignore that topic as being meaningless to my intentions for the product. Am I a “furry”? If every person who asked me that question were to give me their own opinion about the definition of what being a “furry” means in order to help me answer it, then I would be spending the rest of my life merely attempting to respond to each of them with a simple “yes” or a “no”, either of which would be correct depending on their individual definition. What a ludicrous waste of time that would be. What is my definition of “furry”? I have none. I find labels like that tiresome. I have no banner to fly, because banners like that can be used as powerfully for bigotry as they can for solidarity. I prefer people to enjoy my company because of ‘who’ I am, not ‘what’ I am labeled as.

      The product's goal is to present a world that others can enjoy, whether they happen to define themselves as "furry" or not... Anthropomorphic animals happen to be something I enjoy for many reasons (the cultural references, the cool traits, the artistically sensual aspects, the very ancient emotional ties to our own attempts to understand the human nature, etc.). I love the way they make me feel. They are evocative on many levels. Because I find them to be so,..I desire to share my vision of them in the product.

      But that's not the only thing I enjoy and want to share.

      I love the culture of ancient India, Persia, and most of the Far East. It is a shame to see that some of the most beautiful traits of those cultures have been lost or forgotten in this modern age, or have suffered the torturous warpings of "popularity". I may have taken many liberties with them, and have changed some aspects to allow them to blend together in some cases, or to promote the idea that this is an alien world. But because I enjoy these things I wish to incorporate them in the product, and share my envisioned mélange of them to others through Shard's unique setting.

      I love the idea of a true role-playing experience, replete with harrowing emotional content, heartless court intrigue, glorious victories, and bitter defeats. So few games that call themselves "role-playing" games actually place an emphasis on each player really getting into playing their character as a role. I LOVE the idea of empowering players with an understanding of how fun such "improvisational theater with rules and dice" can be. And to help this along, I have labored over rich fiction and cinematic content, with as many examples as I can stand to write.

      In reality,..Aaron using animal people as the heart of the world's initial ideas struck a cord with me because they are something almost anyone can easily relate to,...and because they are different. Different from almost everything else most fantasy RPGs have to offer... I'm tired of elves and dwarves and orcs... I'm tired of humans...

      · I'm a human every day... I want something truly different for my rare moments of escapism.

      · I live in the USA. I want to go somewhere different and alien for my precious play-time.

      · I have to act like "me" 24-7 almost every day of the week! So when I want to enjoy an RPG, there better be the opportunity for some real role-playing,...otherwise it's not worth my time...

      THESE are my intentions for Shard...and the product’s goals… And I believe I share these goals with its co-creator Aaron de Orive.

      Scottie ^^
    • RE: As to the Shard RPG being "furry" or not...

      Why, THANK you, my friend!

      It's such an important answer to consider for what would seem like a simple question, but nothing is really simple when one is dealing with a question that, at its heart, can be laced with such potentially emotional concerns and issues. Many people feel very strongly about the very nature of this question, one way or the other, and in the end, I don't choose to take a stand on either "side".

      To me it's important that people should feel free to seek their bliss in their own unique ways, with all due respect for others, and without concerning themselves with how others choose to go about doing the same thing.

      Scottie ^^
    • Some people have serious issues about the use of anthropomorphic animals in any media, quick to decry them as being "furry." Some people need to get a grip (or a lobotomy if there's no hope for them).

      What they conveniently overlook in their knee-jerk reaction and haste is the simple fact that intelligent animals, including anthropomorphic ones, have been used as elements of mythology, folklore, and general storytelling, for many centuries. Far, far longer than furry fandom has existed.

      Besides, anthro animals can be cool and fun. I mean, I enjoyed Disney's Robin Hood, Looney Tunes, TMNT, and the Secret of Nimh as a young'un, to name but a few. I enjoy the MouseGuard comic these days. If that makes me a despicable in the eyes of a kneejerk reactionary, said reactionary isn't worth my time or effort anyway.

      cheers!
      Colin
      RPG Freelancer: All Flesh Must Be Eaten, A|State, Atlantis: The Second Age, Castles & Crusades, Godlike, Hellas, Hollow Earth Expedition, Iron Kingdoms d20, Omni System, Talislanta, Waste World, Wild Talents, etc.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Colin Chapman ().

    • Aaron and I totally agree with you there, my friend.

      Like you, I enjoyed the TMNT rpg when I was a kid, and NEVER associated it with the furry fandom specifically (I actually wasn't even aware of it then). I mean,..what's NOT to love about the concept of a cool man-like animal with special powers?

      Animal spirits in human-like form are at the heart of many venerable and beautiful mythological traditions, and few things are as inspirational in my mind... What person out there doesn't have a favorite animal that they tend to associate themselves with?

      Scottie ^^
    • The first time I ever heard the term 'furry' was in relation to the party circuit. There is this strange group of people who would show up to parties dressed as teddy bears and such. Later, I found out that people like this also did unspeakable acts in said costumes as well. 8o

      The first time that I heard in connection with gaming was within the last decade, and in relation to the Albedo RPG. I started reading more about the 'furry' community when I picked up a copy of the World Tree RPG.

      However, as far back as I can remember I always had a deep love and interest with anthropomorphic animals. I encountered them in comic books, cartoons, mythology, and in science-fiction and fantasy art and literature way before I ever got in to RPGs. My first RPG was Gamma World, which had anthros. My second RPG was Star Frontiers, in which there were several antro races. I then moved onto 1st AD&D, which also has many anthro races.

      It seems to me that anothro races are staple of fantasy and science-fiction literature, art, and role-playing games, and have always been so long before the term 'furry,' or the furry community developed into such a large social network.

      I was absolutely entralled with the Justifiers RPG because of its hard science approach to anthros.

      I'm not entirely sure what the term furry means exactly, but if it means that you like anthros and straight animals in place of people, then I guess I am one. However, I'm probably just an affliate or something :D
      "The Dude abides."
    • Out of curiosity, why did the filter delete the "test" fragment of the word in my post above? I wasn't aware that de T E S T able was a bad word.

      Colin
      RPG Freelancer: All Flesh Must Be Eaten, A|State, Atlantis: The Second Age, Castles & Crusades, Godlike, Hellas, Hollow Earth Expedition, Iron Kingdoms d20, Omni System, Talislanta, Waste World, Wild Talents, etc.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Colin Chapman ().

    • Originally posted by Colin Chapman
      Out of curiosity, why did the filter delete the "test" fragment of the word in my post above? I wasn't aware that de T E S T able was a bad word.

      Colin


      Are you sure you originally wrote "detestable", and not "despicable", spelled "d e s p i c a b l e"?

      See how it filtered that part of the word? It's set to filter potentially offensive racial slurs, even if they are integrated as part of a larger word...

      Scottie ^^
    • Originally posted by Scott Jones
      Originally posted by Colin Chapman
      Out of curiosity, why did the filter delete the "test" fragment of the word in my post above? I wasn't aware that de T E S T able was a bad word.

      Colin


      Are you sure you originally wrote "detestable", and not "de****able", spelled "d e s p i c a b l e"?

      See how it filtered that part of the word? It's set to filter potentially offensive racial slurs, even if they are integrated as part of a larger word...

      Scottie ^^


      Aha! You must be right. I thought I'd written detestable, but yes, obviously it must've been d e s p i c a b l e. Oh, the joys of automated filters.

      Colin
      RPG Freelancer: All Flesh Must Be Eaten, A|State, Atlantis: The Second Age, Castles & Crusades, Godlike, Hellas, Hollow Earth Expedition, Iron Kingdoms d20, Omni System, Talislanta, Waste World, Wild Talents, etc.
    • RE: As to the SHARD RPG being "furry" or not…

      The furry fandom is interesting to look at from an anthropological perspective, but that's beside the point.

      The point is that like ANYTHING, you can only decide something for yourself. If you choose not to, why should that matter?

      Furry? Not Furry? Whatever. Shard RPG is Shard RPG. If a furry wants to pick it up and call it "a furry RPG", whatever. I'm going to play Shard because I enjoy it. That's all there is to it.

      The sensibility of your call on this topic is very pleasing. Listening to you guys talk about Dárdünah and watching the system in action, I can tell that this was a real work of love; not some gimmicky "No one's done this before!" game. It's only a coincidence that it's fresh.
      ~ This post brought to you by the Dvorak keyboard layout ~