@enoch said in Mutant Genesis (X-Men):
What say you, people? It sounds strange to me, but I have warmed up about it. Need opinions!
Cheers for being open to feedback. FWIW, maintaining the IC continuity of relationships during a player transition has been the norm on every game I've ever played. Sure, there can be issues, but that's true of anything. It works pretty well for the most part.
As for taking the RP in a different direction (breakup, falling out, whatever)... that can happen even with an existing player. I don't think anyone should ever be forced to RP their character in a specific way or be shackled into an IC relationship.
That said, apping Cyclops when you know full well that he's ICly married to Jean and then on day 1 saying: "I want a divorce" just to go hook up with Rogue... that seems like a pretty craptastic thing to do. The kind of thing that can screw up other characters pretty badly.
The new player knew what they were getting into when they apped the character. If they didn't want to be married, there are other characters they could have taken. Encouraging new players to take a wrecking ball to existing relationships on a whim just seems... kinda cheesy to me. But it's not the red flag that retcon was, for sure.
@ganymede All aboard, the more the merrier!
I've been getting lots of PMs from people, and so far we've had people express interest in the following characters, and I felt comfortable enough to let them lay claim:
X-Men: Bishop, Emma, Gambit, Iceman, Magik and Phoenix
Brotherhood: Domino, Exodus, Marvel Girl, Psylocke, Rogue, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver
Undefined so far: X-23, lots of people, all OCs.
Maybe allow anyone intrinsically tied to a FC the chance to have an OOC chat with people applying for them?
It's not necessary but probably reasonable to give Jean's player the chance to at least know someone's applying for Scott, and be able to give some input on the player, even if you don't want to actually give them veto powers or anything like that.
@faraday said in Mutant Genesis (X-Men):
The new player knew what they were getting into when they apped the character. If they didn't want to be married, there are other characters they could have taken. Encouraging new players to take a wrecking ball to existing relationships on a whim just seems... kinda cheesy to me. But it's not the red flag that retcon was, for sure.
Do you play a lot of superhero games? Because the continuity builds up fast and thick. Saying that a new player 'knew what they were getting into' isn't really fair or accurate in a lot of cases. First, the 'canon' relationships are iffy and more often than not, the last player went another way with the character. Sometimes a radically different way.
I've apped on games where the first thing I get when somebody sees the name in the who list is a page like: 'Hey, characters X and Y were in a poly relationship with the guy you're applying for, how do you want to handle that'? And I stay away from the serious TS magnet characters, like the Teen Titans.
Sometimes you don't want to deal with somebody else's past fuckbuddies. You just want to play Spider-Man.
@collective That good ol' Parker luck!
@collective said in Mutant Genesis (X-Men):
Do you play a lot of superhero games? Because the continuity builds up fast and thick.
No I've never played one, in fact, but I fail to see how it's any different from B5 or Firan or Aether or Star Wars or BSGU or a dozen other roster/FC games that suffer from the same basic problem. Taking over a character that's been played by someone else for months or years comes with baggage, no question.
ETA: To clarify, I'm referring specifically to in-game events and relationships, not pre-conceived notions from this or that version of a comic.
Sometimes you don't want to deal with somebody else's past fuckbuddies. You just want to play Spider-Man.
And if that's a given game's policy, that's their business (which is what I said to @Enoch's original policy). But if you want your game's RP to have lingering/persistent meaning, then you can't just ignore it whenever a player feels like it.
@faraday said in Mutant Genesis (X-Men):
And if that's a given game's policy, that's their business (which is what I said to @Enoch's original policy). But if you want your game's RP to have meaning, then you can't just ignore it whenever a player feels like it.
With respect, that's kind of a feature of a comic book game, rather than a bug. Comics characters have the reset button hit on their relationships all the time. Usually without a great deal of fanfare. A new writer comes in and things change, sometimes between issues.
That sort of flexibility is very convenient for the players. Also, nobody is suggesting that all the RP done with that character is wiped. Just that the relationship drama parts be stopped unless the new player wants to opt into that.
I know that if my first days on a game were expected to be in scenes where some random stranger wants to RP what a bastard my character is for breaking up with their character, I'd nod politely, pretend I had to run an errand, log out and never, ever come back.
Ever.
@collective said in Mutant Genesis (X-Men):
With respect, that's kind of a feature of a comic book game, rather than a bug. ... I know that if my first days on a game were expected to be in scenes where some random stranger wants to RP what a bastard my character is for breaking up with their character, I'd nod politely, pretend I had to run an errand, log out and never, ever come back.
That's fair. Like I said, I've never played comic games which I way I prefaced my initial question with "Maybe this is a standard thing on comic games..." What you just described (holding a char to RP based on their previous player) is the standard, accepted norm on games I've played.
I know that if my days on a game included walking into a scene with someone I'd spent months playing as a BFF and then being treated like a complete stranger? I'd never come back either. To each their own. As long as @Enoch's policy is clear one way or the other, folks know what they're getting into and decide if it's a game for them.
@collective said in Mutant Genesis (X-Men):
And if that's a given game's policy, that's their business (which is what I said to @Enoch's original policy). But if you want your game's RP to have meaning, then you can't just ignore it whenever a player feels like it.
You know what I dislike in the comics though that I'd also not like in a game? When this happens without getting addressed at all, even briefly, about very recent things.
So sure, it's fine if Spider-man dated Captain Marvel for two issues and then the writer changes so that whole thing is dropped. It's fiiine. No it's not, but I'll pretend it is since clearly I shipped them at the time.
But say something - it can be one panel of Peter thinking "shame that didn't work out but I'm a guy from Queens and she's a space cop". Done. Just don't make it vanish completely - and the same principle applies to a game if there's any kind of a retcon or reset. A quick wiki entry will suffice.
If it's an IC thing which can be addressed in RP not even that is needed. If Carol walks in a room IC and she doesn't even look at Spidey then I can go over and try to pry; no need for a notice of any sort in that case.
@Tempest I do, in fact, like Mimic (Exiles version only). And I've played him on one game years ago. I don't think that counts as being particularly obsessed with a character when I've never apped him on the game I staff at.
I'm definitely giving some thought to apping on this game and like to know what I'm getting into. If some of the most powerful characters on the game start off already taken before any players app, and there's no staff alt transparency, it gives me an idea of what to expect.
@faraday said in Mutant Genesis (X-Men):
That said, apping Cyclops when you know full well that he's ICly married to Jean and then on day 1 saying: "I want a divorce" just to go hook up with Rogue... that seems like a pretty craptastic thing to do. The kind of thing that can screw up other characters pretty badly.
I'm a bit out of the loop, but isn't that one of Cyclops' MOs?
@sg said in Mutant Genesis (X-Men):
I'm a bit out of the loop, but isn't that one of Cyclops' MOs?
That sounds way too straightforward and angst-free for Cyclops. Maybe throw in about 36 issues' worth of Hamlet-ing ("to Jean, or not to Jean") before he finally has the decision made for him by circumstances.
@autumn I knew there was a reason I skipped Cyclops panels when I was a kid.
@autumn said in Mutant Genesis (X-Men):
That sounds way too straightforward and angst-free for Cyclops. Maybe throw in about 36 issues' worth of Hamlet-ing ("to Jean, or not to Jean") before he finally has the decision made for him by circumstances.
I vastly prefer Singer's Cyclops, who gets disintegrated but, before then, is pretty damn consistent.
“It is better to live doing the things that you like. It is foolish to live within this dream of a world seeing unpleasantness and doing only things that you do not like.” -- Yamamoto Tsunetomo.
@ganymede said in Mutant Genesis (X-Men):
I vastly prefer Singer's Cyclops, who gets disintegrated but, before then, is pretty damn consistent.
Singer's Cyclops succeeded in making me think that, if I were Jean Grey and being around too many people with strong emotions made me uncomfortable, okay, sure, fine, this tall drink of bland could be exactly what I need to have in my life.
Whereas comic-book Cyclops' many and varied toxic stews of angst and guilt and anger at the world strike me as a thing I could not possibly get far away enough from even if I weren't a telepath.
I seriously did not intend to send the thread off on a tangent about Cyclops. I'm not a comics person - it's the only 'ship I could think of from the movies. 
I love Wolverine, but the Wolvie one is hilarious too.
Good ol' X-men. 
Let me know when this place opens, I'd be interested in perhaps creating an OC to join in on the fun.
Updates:
We should be opening next week, Monday or Tuesday. Our coder still needs to test a few things, the wiki needs some ironing out, but we are all excited about it!
We might share the address earlier so people can connect, talk with us and each other, plan ahead of time before you can actually send your applications. 
Responses and pitches have been amazing. Thanks everyone who sent one!
Would you consider auditions for multiple people who want the same character?
@autumn said in Mutant Genesis (X-Men):
That sounds way too straightforward and angst-free for Cyclops. Maybe throw in about 36 issues' worth of Hamlet-ing ("to Jean, or not to Jean") before he finally has the decision made for him by circumstances.
I vastly prefer Singer's Cyclops, who gets disintegrated but, before then, is pretty damn consistent.
