On Groups, Loyalties, and VDS

Pardon me if I take a strangled route to make my point here... or if I end up without having made much of a point at all...

Part I.

Something many people find, even lament, when they've really gotten involved in VDS, is that there seem to many factions that have developed, and that these factions don't always get along....  It can be perplexing to step into a game and start to realize that people have a past, that there can be complex social webs to navigate as you become more involved in the community.  Better-structured groups, such as families, may develop "enemies," and some people prickle at the thought of being asked to understand and respect that there is a past, usually a conflict, that simply came before your time (more on this later).  It can be even more perplexing to feel yourself a target, to be attacked repeatedly, unrelentingly, from all fronts it might seem sometimes, because of who your allies are, because of who your family is, because of who your sire is.  As a Northman, I've been sat on by vamps tiers above me for days, given "special attention" when I appear on the fight list, and seen a lot of vitriol directed at me and mine.

Here's the thing I try to remember, though, when someone suddenly feels themselves to be a target of these faction-based dynamics, losing friends, losing clan, being attacked, what-have-you.  First, it will pass.  Second, when it all comes down to it, I think we all (I speak here to those of us who've been around long enough, or gotten involved deeply enough with a group) have simply taken our licks - fair or not - for who we're allied with.  But, as much as possible, I try to take it in stride.  I try to maintain my loyalties, to earn and maintain my confidences, and seek to build, not destroy, my relationships.  And here is why.

The development of sometimes-opposing clans/families/groups (or simply those groups who develop a relationship, or history, or who don't see eye-to-eye) seems a natural development in a fight-based game.  From a social perspective, this isn't really a loner's game - it encourages you to form alliances (501 clan!), and this leads rather naturally again to the development of loyalties.  I believe in loyalty, and in working to strengthen, rather than weaken, these bonds.  Given the social structure ("siring" and whatnot) of VDS, in some respects it's also natural for the groups that develop to be, to varying degrees, essentially hierarchical.  Regardless of whether or not that's how you think "real life" works - or whether you'd want it to! - it's nevertheless part of the fun of the mythos, the fantasy, and the structure of our beloved VDS, stemming entirely predictably from, and faithfully to, most larger vampire mythos out there in the world.  You start small, you are taken under someone' wings, you grow, learn, and rise, and maybe, one day, you become a mentor yourself.

Following this vein of thought, I can tell you that I believe in loyalty to the regents who've mentored me with patience and affection.  It takes a lot of work and time to mentor a baby vamp (let alone over 500 of us...) in VDS.  I may not know the details about every past fight my regents have had with everyone who's decided they "hate Northmans," but I don't really care to know the details.  In part, it's because it's none of my business, and it would be naive to think I can somehow referee or judge it after-the-fact.  In part, it's because I don't need my family to justify themselves to me, and because I don't expect them to be perfect or have unblemished pasts.  I also won't try to justify anyone's particular past acts to an enemy who thinks they can confront me with some scandalous knowledge about my regents - firstly, it's not my place to attempt to fight their battles, or to somehow try to apologize or account for their actions, and it would be pretty presumptuous and disrespectful to try; secondly, it's simply beside the point.  I will tell you that they've always shown me kindness and compassion, that they've worked hard to help me, and that I'm proud to be their childe.