Genre Discussion

[EricJ]

So I was wondering why Malifaux keeps getting described as a weird-west genre, and the endless comparisons to Deadlands...so I though I'd go through our masters to see really if we were more western themed than anything else. I figure the 4 building blocks of our hybrid genre are:

Steampunk
Western
Victorian
Horror

Feel free to correct if I've assigned the wrong genre to a master

Lady Justice - Western
Sonnia - Western
Perdita - Western
Seamus - Horror, Victorian
Nicodem - Horror
McMourning - Horror
Ramos - Steampunk
Rasputina - ??
Marcus - ??
Lilith - Horror
Pandora - Horror
Zoraida - Horror
Leveticus - Steampunk, Horror
Viktoria - ??
Som'er Teeth - Horror?

This is just a quick look at it of course. But other than the guild, which is heavily influenced by western (for now), there isn't much of it really... Do you think the Guild get more attention and therefor define Malifaux a bit more heavily as western, than say Horror (which shows up far more)?

Just curious really. All through development I think we never really thought about focusing on horror any more than any other genre (and perhaps even less due to the comparisons). Thoughts? Perceptions?

[Timberhick]

I think the problem comes from the separation of Western and Victorian.

Most of us have seen numerous 'western movies' and the females usually are wearing Victorian styled clothing(especially the city folk and really especially the..um..bar gals..yeah:dance

Gremlins done in a hillbilly style. Most of the Outcasts done in a more Western Theme(black and white striped cloths, early forms of gun scopes, etc.)

Not much in steampunk has been showcased

Makes for reasonable Deadlands comparisons

Deadlands was very much a Western, Steampunk, Horror type game

[Cacuin]

I think western is kind of a strong pull in our culture right now. I mean most of us grew up watching one western or another. Then add in the amount of texas holden is in the eye of the public right now and you get even more edge leaning that way. The last major thing is look at one of the most cult tv shows in the last few years. Firefly.

So there is a strong tie in for western to most knee jerk. The horror aspect is kinda hard to feel right at the momment since it is not an overt splatter punk or torture porn that seems to make up most modern horror right now.

The steam punk aspect of this game is kinda hard to see since only one master seems to focus on it. The other one listed as it isn't really shown.

Thats just my two cents.

[blkdymnd]

I agree, Victorian and Western kind of go hand in hand. The rotten belles were completely western when I first saw them (to me) as they are the style of lady you would have seen in a saloon back then, and the gremlins have a western feel to them as well, hillbilly western but still a bit western. Also I do think Guild feel like the main focused faction in the fluff (as they are trying to keep the peace/control everything) and so their style kind of goes to the forefront.

All in all, I don't think it's a bad thing to be tagged as any of those and everyone will have a different feel depending on the faction they choose I think. I never knew anyone who played Deadlands, but I knew about it pretty much, and I don't think this game compares as much because you have so much more going on and the system is so solid.

I would like to hear from the international crowd and get their take on it. We all grew up on John Wayne movies and such, so get a western feel right off. I don't know how the international crowd perceives America's Old West era, so it would be cool to see what their first impression of the game was

[DangerousBeans]

To be honest, I never really connected the Western aspect to Malifaux save for the Guild. I've never really been into Westerns though (aside from Firefly, but that isn't exactly classic western). It was the horror aspect that drew me to the game and I still feel that were you to lump Malifaux into a genre it would be Horror. You've got your outright monsters in there, a classic witch, Gremlins (family friendly horror but still horror), creepy women, creepier kids, demons, frankenstein's monster inspired oddities and zombies. The Victorian/Gothic elements add to this as well. It's a pretty good mix though, the Guild and some of the arcanists help this game straddle genres as opposed to obviously fitting into one.

[Isoulle]

It's probably the guild. The Guild got most of their models earlier than everyone else and they are very western. And as others have mentioned the rotten belles can also be seen as western and they are a well known model.

Also the lack of fiction right now contributes to that. It's hard to get an overall feel with so little and I believe the first fiction has the Ortegas and gun fighting which is very western. Victorian stories are usually long wordy horror/drama/social commentary pieces and there hasn't been that yet in the fiction. We'll see as things develop.

I'm sure as people see more they'll think it's less western.

EDIT:

Also, theme wise.

Rasputina - Fantasy
Marcus - Fantasy
Viktoria - Steampunk/Fantasy (the one with a gun looks very steampunk, the other fantasy)
Som'er Teeth - Slaptick from the way he looks. Wait til I see fiction.

[TheLemondropDan]

Marcus always struck me as being a little native american-y. That sort of fits the western theme, too. I think in later expansions we might want to play up the steampunk and bacon themes.

[Angus Khan]

To me, Malifaux is very much a steampunk/Victorian game. (with fantasy/horror elements thrown in for good measure) I love steampunk, and that is what first drew me into Malifaux. (Well, that and the cool card mechanics)

The "weird west" portion I can understand, since Malifaux (the world, not the game) is a new frontier just as the American West was. Since Victorian and the American West can easily go hand in hand, it is believable for "weird west" to spring to people's minds when they hear about Malifaux.

Malifaux is a giant collage, however, and is in its own category all to itself:
Steamvictoriohorrorwestpunk! :D

[nilus]

I think part of the Deadlands comparisson also comes from the use of cards in the game. Which classic Deadlands did as well(although there were dice there too).

You also have to remember that although Deadlands was a Wierd Western game, it was also a horror game. It also had some Victorian steampunk aspects as well.

Once Malifaux becomes more mature and people really realize all the different models surronding it I think it will distance itself more from its Western label.

And at the end of the day, there are lot worse games you guys could be compared to, I love Deadlands

[nilus]

I think in later expansions we might want to play up the steampunk and bacon themes.

I think we figured it out, Malifaux is BaconPunk