At this year’s Dragon*Con, White Wolf met apart from their merger partner, CCP, to discuss the new updates and improvements to their roster of pen-and-paper offerings, and to share some (very limited) information on the World of Darkness MMORPG.
The first topic was Werewolf. Bill Bridges, writer for White Wolf, said of the game that it was intended to draw in the more traditional audience that Vampire never could, and in turn, keep the interest of Vampire fans as well. The new system of rules, dubbed the New World of Darkness, uses a more modern system, and incorporates more balance within the rules than the previous system did. The panel discussed this, and ultimately, as a story-driven game, it really depends on the players’ comfort level when dictating which system they prefer, and both versions will continue in print.
Next on the docket was Exalted, and it was obvious it was created for a different purpose, intended to be “death-dealing” and “apocalyptic”, says writer Michael Goodwin, and that the creators asked themselves, “What can we do that’s going to shake people and shock people?” This setting focuses on becoming something greater, being awesome, and still facing adversity, rather than the lesser standing of characters when characters are first created, akin in Exalted to creating a demigod.
The reboot of the series came about due to, on both sides, audience and developers alike, to find something new and to expand. There was a “marble wall” says Bill Bridges, that had to be overcome to continue moving upward and forward. They felt it was time to revise, and time to bring about the apocalypse, Gehenna, what have you, that the older versions referred to but rarely reached.
As far as the World of Darkness MMORPG, little was said, in an effort to keep up the Masquerade that was such a prominent story point in Vampire: The Masquerade. Bill Bridges did say of the game, though, “It is happening,” and that it would indeed take place in the Vampire universe. Other than this, as of right now, the game is tightly under wraps.
