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Friday, November 6, 2015

Ten Questions with Eric "Rosetta" Willisson

How long have you been playing?
8 years, this Black & White.


How has the game changed since you've been playing?
Bedlam is gone, after completely dominating the first six years I was here. Other than that, other plots have come and gone, though some quiet ones remain, and there have obviously been innumerable tweaks to the rules. Major new nations have appeared or cemented their positions, and some people who I saw as leaders have stepped back while others have taken their places. In general, it’s easy to say that little has changed, and it is the same game, but at the same time it has hugely changed, in the form of thousands of personal moments being created one after another.

Who have you learned the most from?
That’s really hard to say. I’ve learned a lot from Aaron/Rel, Janna/Iawen, Matt/Cecil, Rhiannon/Tria, Fuz/Atticus, Jeremy/Laurante, plus countless others. I probably learned the most from Aaron, if I have to choose.

What was your best moment IC?
Heh, define “best.” The biggest relief came at the end of All Good Things… when Ged opened Rosetta’s prison and the two were reunited as one being, at terrible cost.


The most intensely emotional moment was probably marching out of the tavern with the rest of the Fae Courts on their last exit, to Danann. It was strong enough to make me doubt my plans to come back. The ending was so powerful on that note.


And going way back, the proudest moment was, I think, founding Clan Rua Thar Cinn, alongside Rel and Janus.



What was your best moment as a NPC/EH/Player?
All of Beyond the Hag and Hungry Goblin. So many things came together so well for that event, and it really showed what the Book of Moons team would be able to do.

What would you like to see changed or developed more in game?
Those who know me well know that is a dangerous question to ask, because I tweak games by nature, and have innumerable changes and new developments I would like to see in the Realms. I’ll constraint myself to just two, which both boil down to helping PCs have more agency.


On the rules system side, I would like to see PCs be able to suggest which ways the story will go, through their in-game actions. This means skills for fighters (or better ways for EHs to incorporate existing fighters’ real life skills into quests), and more freeform magic for spellcasters who are willing to take on the risks that entails.


On the EHing side, I would like to see events that allow more choices from PCs. Fewer rails, but enough leads that the PCs don’t have to guess everything the EH was thinking when they wrote the event. I’m starting to see more of this from events, and I hope for that trend to continue.

What advice would you give new players?
Add your own flavor to the Realms, but observe the flavor that the Realms places before you. It is easy to come in as a completely blank slate, but then you are entirely reliant on the game to develop your character into someone interesting, which can take a while. But at the same time, it is easy to come in with a veritable novel of backstory, having invented multiple cultures and a complicated system of magic and religion simmering just beneath your character’s surface, probably with a large helping of angst to go with it. Resist that urge. Come in with enough to have something to roleplay with, but little enough that you can find out what the game is like and where you fit in. We have over 25 years of backstory now, and that’s not counting the in-game history stretching back thousands of years!


What do you love most about the game?
I love that it is a safe and fun place to try things out. With the backdrop of the events of questing in a fantasy world, you can overcome stage fright, learn to cook for one hundred people, and develop empathy. Right now, I think I would like to learn more about teaching, and just jumping into teaching in the real world would carry considerable costs of failure. But, educating a small crowd of students in the ways of Rosetta’s magic, and teaching a Squire once I have one, can all just be “part of the game” while helping both me and them learn new skills.

Who would you like to see the next interviews be with?
Jacob Bouvier

Anything else you'd like to take the opportunity to put into print?
This game is unique in its openness to anybody changing it, or a part of it. That is its greatest strength, but also its greatest weakness. “We should all be doing this to have fun,” and if you are not, look for what changes you can make. Don’t forget that often the only way to see something you want is to make it yourself.