The controversy over Goth in gaming
Several people had responded to my V:tM LARP costuming query on alt.games.whitewolf, and their responses showed that, of those who dress up for live-action Vampire gaming, many tend to dress in traditionally Gothic fashions. Responders listed lots of black-colored clothing (particularly lace, leather, and velvet) as well as long capes, fancy canes, white make-up, black nail polish, eyeliner, blood red lipstick, etc., etc.
Now, after reading these responses on the newsgroup, two people decided to take offense to the "gothic" tendencies of many LARP outfits.
Unfortunately, this is but one example of an argument that seems to crop up on the gaming newsgroups fairly often. I have yet to figure out why, but apparently there is a vocal group within the "traditional" gaming crowd who resents the so-called intrusion of those from the Gothic subculture into role-playing games. Sometimes this prejudice is exhibited by fantasy gamers against Vampire: the Masquerade gamers specifically, but it truly saddens me to see this prejudice spring up within Vampire gamers. Come on, guys, White Wolf explicitly made this a Gothic-Punk game! Hell, the whole bleedin' World of Darkness is supposed to be Gothic-Punk, and White Wolf has even trademarked the term, so I could get sued for using it so many times without bothering to look up the ascii code for that little TM symbol! But I digress...
Anyway, here's the objections (spelling and grammar not corrected) that were posted to the V:tM LARP costuming thread, followed by my typically lengthy response.
BTW, neither of these anti-goth gamers ever responded to my rebuttal, even though I e-mailed it to them as well as posting it. Perhaps they'll see it on the web some day...
First, Jerrod wrote:
As for the Masquerade, remember, White Wolf explicitly sets this up as a Gothic-Punk world (and most of the games I've played in are set in this world -- if yours isn't, then presumably you can tell your players what clothing would or would not be appropriate). Not everyone has to dress Gothic and/or Punk, but the world *is* darker, more gritty, rather corrupt, very twisted, awfully decadent, with deeper shadows, more mystery, and more violence and crime. So it seems a natural addition that people -- vampires, mortals, etc. -- may have more Gothic and/or Punk influences in their clothing. In this setting, Gothic-Punk styles would blend in with the prevalent chaos and horror of the World of Darkness. When you remember where you are, you'll realize that the Masquerade is not threatened by style that may not be "normal" in the Real World.
And even in the so-called Real World, if you go to certain areas of certain cities, you will see a large number of the people dressed in a Gothic-Punk style and it seems to fit in quite well. Haight St. in San Francisco, Melrose Ave. in LA, Greenwich Village in NY, parts of London, UK, all have reputations of being centers of alternative lifestyles, and if you go there, it is obvious that many of the residents, workers, and visitors don't dress in accordance with mainstream fashion, and only a few tourists blink an eye. Again, it all depends upon where you are.
As for canes and capes, sure, they're not something you see everyday. Then again, this is a *different world* we play in when we play V:tM. In the LARPs I've played, the storytellers make a point of telling and showing us how brutal and weird a world we are living in -- gang violence is an every night occurrence, buildings are burnt to the ground, the city council is thoroughly corrupt and has committed murder, used drugs, and frequented hookers, etc., etc. A couple of guys wearing capes and carrying canes don't raise an eyebrow in comparison. If anything, a hideous and unmasked Nosferatu or a Gangrel with claws unleashed would attract more attention than a Tremere with a cane. Those are the things we need to be careful about!
The one thing I agree with is that you should dress as your character would dress. I know the LARPs I've been in are pretty good at this, probably because the players are a fairly diverse lot. Out of game, we are goths, punks, rockers, deadheads, preppy gaming geeks, trendy high school kids, casual college kids, yuppie 20-somethings, etc. Likewise, our characters range from slutty Toreador to hippie Gangrel to old-fashioned Tremere to trendy Malkavian, yada yada yada. The Gothic-Punk overtones are strong, but there is a lot of individuality too. This is not hard for players to do, and it should be a natural extension of character creation.
-- By Trystan L. Bass
I never could understand why a LARP was an excuse for everyone to drag out those dusty fishnetts and lotts o' black eyeliner. Perchance every vampire, including the Prince just happens to be a "goth"? Please people, the Masqerade is there for a reason. Dress as your chareter would dress, if your four-hundred old brujah is wearing black eyeliner, you have a problem.
Then Paul F. Glenn wrote:
I agree. And it also appears that every Tremere uses a cane, and most wear capes. I guess it's all just in fun, but it is a bit weird--and you are right that the Masquearde would come tumbling down pretty quickly if the styles of dress described were true.
To which I responded:
I completely disagree. First, why wouldn't a 400 year old Brujah wear black eyeliner? Are all vampires supposed to be trapped in the time they were embraced? If so, *that* would make the Masquerade much more suspect than lots of people dressing goth!
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