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[HardestadtTheEvenYounger]

The people writing Apocalyptic Records aren't the same writing W5?
How does that work?...

[HardestadtTheEvenYounger]

That's fair. Personally, I'm not fond of it and see it as evidence of a general sanitization of the setting.

Couldn't we just have Anarch Werewolves who have forsaken the Litany instead of rewriting Garou biology which seems to be what's implied by the absence of both Metis and the removal of the "Garou shall not mate with Garou" tenet from the Litany?...

[HardestadtTheEvenYounger]

A player's comfort should always take priority within the context of that group. But Werewolf: The Apocalypse is not meant for just one group. How much darknes are we willing to remove from the "World of Darkness" before all we are left with are surface elements? Any children's cartoon can tell us how pollution is bad.

And it's not just about cohesion but quality. Judging by this particular interview, a great number of the core concept and themes of Werewolf are being axed including, but not limited to, the relationship between Tribe, Garou, Ancestors and the Spirit World...

[HardestadtTheEvenYounger]

Very, very well said, Asmodai. I think you hit the nail right on the head.

[HardestadtTheEvenYounger]

Naturallt, we can all agree that discrimination against the disabled is absolutely unnaceptable but at the same time we should acknowledge that the Garou Nation is not a particularly pleasant society to be born to. They are an hidebound people with archaic notions about things humans take for granted like sexual freedom. Even the most privileged members of this society are likely to end their days with a fomori's claws in their guts.

We shouldn't glorify the Garou Nation but if we remove everything that can be unconfortable about it, we are gutting a good portion of the setting and...

[HardestadtTheEvenYounger]

My experience with playing and hosting Werewolf is that the players who made Metis characters were the same people who created a Thin Blood when playing Vampire.

They wanted to experience that social rejection to then rise above it and prove the naysayers wrong But now they don't even want players to think about how the circunstances of their birth might affect their station making the Garou Nation a social utopia that has never existed among humanity.
This is just babyproofing Werewolf...

[HardestadtTheEvenYounger]

Furthermore, I would add that part of the fun of Werewolf: The Apocalypse is the fact that the Garou adhere to an entirely different set of values from modern humanity. This cultural identity is what makes them more than just people who can turn into animals.
And W5 seems intent on stripping all of this from the Garou.

[HardestadtTheEvenYounger]

Half the setting, a third of the Breeds, and at least some portions of the Litany.

They really took a chainsaw to the setting....

[HardestadtTheEvenYounger]

I can't speak for Heavy Arms but everything I'm hearing about it points towards a declawing and infantilization of the Garou.
They seem to be trying to remove everything "problematic" about the setting like the Metis or the treatment of Kinfolk and all that will lead to is a less multifaceted universe....