Are there any active sci-fi MU*s these days?
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He/Him
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@Tinuviel
I upvote because this board does not have a 'crying on the inside' indicator. -
@Three-Eyed-Crow I think posting here is enough indication of that.
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So, a few corrections/clarifications.
- Vaapad was, in fact, insane. I would mush with Zero before I'd mush with V, and I would not mush with Zero.
- Ataru worked really hard under increasingly difficult conditions.
- The current staffers consistently run plots (or did when I left the game, at least), and were responsive to inquiries. They work very hard, and while not everyone liked them, I got along with them, and I am not aware of having seen them cheat. They were usually very fair even to people they disliked, which I cannot honestly always say of myself. So, you know, average staff. Same as anywhere else.
Its a game I can recommend, even if I don't play there. The bigger problems are that its an aging game (which almost all mu* have to deal with these days), that they have trouble maintaining a leadership structure (which are not the current staffers fault, though as a former leader there I can probably take at least some credit), and that mu* players in general are very, very, VERY obsessive-compulsive, stressed-out, and busy, which can sometimes result in challenges. I can however, suggest anyone interested to 'give it a shot' - you probably won't be dissapointed. I am a neutral source, have not been staff, and do not currently play there, so I think my endorsement can mean something. I am not suggesting it is for everyone, but you can get the 'space opera feel' which you won't anywhere else. To be frank, its the only space opera mush I know of, aside from 'Age of Alliances' (also star wars, but I have not played there).
But thats the problem. For some reason, space opera as a genre is almost dead, aside from Star Wars. Original Sci-Fi mu* have not been a thing in over a decade. Original themed mush have been having problems getting people for ~15 years now. Unless your game is a WOD game, a Low-Magic L&L Game, a comic game, or a SW game, you will probably not get players. Which is a huge pity. But mu*ers seem to be creatures of habbit moreso then anything else.
Personally, I'd love to see some fresh storytelling. I've seen staffers try - but they always give up. The mu* I find interesting these days typically don't get more then 1-2 players plus the headwiz, and then never even really open. And the above themes...have been done to death. I cannot honestly think of a story in the above genres that at this point would feel anything other then tired and re-hashed. But people don't play mu* for the great storytelling anymore, or the feel of getting into the mind of another character and perspective different from your own. They just want to be the hero of a movie. Which is fine, but...when you don't have the rest of it, that slowly becomes impossible.
Anyways, yes. If your looking for Space Opera, I can recommend DoD. I won't say it isn't aging, or that it doesn't have issues - but to be frank, if you want a group of people without issues, you won't find them. You'll have to be a hermit.
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At a friend's roleplaying game, who was doing a fresh take on the Megaman genre, she noticed a phenomenon where 'Tumblrettes', as she called them, rushed the game, started up activity, then migrated away en masse when the plot started to pick up. I don't think it's an deliberate conspiracy, but it's the fad mentality that takes down a lot of games. The thing you have to do is be careful where you advertise. I, for example, don't want to advertise on a game with a lot of anime fans, because my style clashes with anime, my inspiration is drawn from a lot of American science fiction literature with completely contradictory ideas about warfare, the government, theology, etc. I draw from Herbert, Clarke, or Heinlein, that's a different playset than, say, someone that wants a utopian soap opera.
