My thought on “Ease of Fitting in” :
I think the limitation of WiP defines not only how PCs’ power is limited, but also shows how human the PCs are(Yeah. “Ease of Fitting in”). What does it mean to be “human”? In WiP, the more flaws PCs have, the more they look mundane and people accept them. But the closer they reach to perfection, the less they care about “unimportant” bonds of mundane world and try to do something more “transcendent” which people can’t understand. Dr. Manhattan is the prime example of “Perfect character.” and So are Yoda, hermit masters, and so on.
There is Chinese saying “水至淸則無魚” (Water that is too clear has few fish). It means “If you are too perfect, people are afraid of you”.
This is a cool way of looking at it that jives with the idea pretty well. It’s mostly the power stuff that made us want to balance that with human connection – Thor, the Hulk, Hyperion, even Superman, the Silver Surfer, etc. It’s usually because of their power that those kinds of characters have just a tenuous connection to humanity.
One of my favorite quotes is from the New Avengers book about Hyperion: “These creatures rely on the air, earth and the life around them – you have no such reliance. That is your gift. But if that is so, what role do you play in the system? What will be your purpose in walking alongside them? If a man needs nothing, does he dream of anything?”
Kyle Simons That quotes touches to the core of limitations 🙂
Great quotte