The Eighth Sea - Here There Be Monsters

ixokai · Nov 13, 2017, 4:31 PM

@collective said in The Eighth Sea - Here There Be Monsters:

Something I came across when preparing a On Stranger Tides based home campaign a few years back:

https://sexselvesandsociety.wordpress.com/2014/03/24/all-about-the-booty-sodomy-in-the-golden-age-of-piracy-1718-1723/

I'm thinking queer pirates would fit right in, with the proviso that some people (mostly Calvinists) have a stick up their butt over it. And with a player understanding that 'gay' is a 20th century social construct and nobody would identify that way, verbally.

Oh, I have no issue bending to the theme where it needs to bend: 'Gay' as a worldview is I recognize, a modern convention. The flag, Pride, all kinds of things that is 'gay', and including the word, aren't things I'd expect to bring up in a historical pirate drama.

That said, yeah, I'm gay. I play characters like me. Thus the question. ... which was answered, thanks, @Auspice.

RnMissionRun · Nov 13, 2017, 4:58 PM

@faraday said in The Eighth Sea - Here There Be Monsters:

@bored said in The Eighth Sea - Here There Be Monsters:

Glad to see another Ares game!

Full disclosure: Ares is still under development and has not yet been released. It's pretty stable - BSGU has been running without major issues for a long time -
but it's still a work in progress. Kraken and the 8th Sea staff have been working with me on sort of a "private beta" basis to help shake out configuration/customization and admin issues. (I'm not directly involved in the game though.)

If I had known that you were open to people running "private beta" games with AriesMUSH, I would have hit you up ages ago!

faraday · Nov 13, 2017, 5:03 PM

@rnmissionrun said in The Eighth Sea - Here There Be Monsters:

If I had known that you were open to people running "private beta" games with AriesMUSH, I would have hit you up ages ago!

Not games plural - there's just one. And if you had to hear about all the times Kraken had to deal with horrible merge conflicts or redo his code based on me changing things, you might feel otherwise Anyway, he and @Seraphim73 have provided a lot of good feedback.

RnMissionRun · Nov 13, 2017, 5:09 PM

@faraday Hehe. Seems to be coming along nicely and I am definitely looking forward to playing with it once it has been released!

TNP · Nov 13, 2017, 5:12 PM

@ixokai said in The Eighth Sea - Here There Be Monsters:

What of we gays?

What else?

Auspice · Nov 13, 2017, 5:15 PM

@rnmissionrun said in The Eighth Sea - Here There Be Monsters:

@faraday said in The Eighth Sea - Here There Be Monsters:

@bored said in The Eighth Sea - Here There Be Monsters:

Glad to see another Ares game!

Full disclosure: Ares is still under development and has not yet been released. It's pretty stable - BSGU has been running without major issues for a long time -
but it's still a work in progress. Kraken and the 8th Sea staff have been working with me on sort of a "private beta" basis to help shake out configuration/customization and admin issues. (I'm not directly involved in the game though.)

If I had known that you were open to people running "private beta" games with AriesMUSH, I would have hit you up ages ago!

I've been waiting for her to release it to me for a while. If you knew all the times I'd nudged @faraday if she was ready for me to play with Ares...

Avarice · Nov 13, 2017, 10:41 PM

@faraday I think I've finally managed to figure out my upgrade process well enough to not completely destroy the game with each new release. That said, we were down for a few hours from a patching issue a month or so ago...

Seraphim73 · Nov 14, 2017, 6:03 PM

Sorry, been without power all morning, although it looks like @Auspice has covered most everything -- just figured I'd toss my two reale in.

Homosexual characters are absolutely okay. Like women on ships, they may be looked at sideways by some people -- PC and NPC, but if they do their job well, most people won't have a problem with it (just like if the character was anything else... do your job, no problems).

@GirlCalledBlu and I recognize that we tend to get excited on games and try to forge ahead faster than we should. We've got @Avarice and @Auspice watching for any such tendencies, and we're watching ourselves as well. Having other folks on Staff should also help us with burnout.

I don't think Ares is perfect for pirates -- too much melee, and Ares is really based on ranged combat -- but I think that Ares is pretty awesome in general, and so are pirates, so....

@TheOnceler Because we're playing Hollywood versions of the various faiths, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity share the same Faith mechanics (gaining Blessings and getting Guidance), but obviously different flavor. We're not at all opposed to having a few Jewish characters and even a Rabbi wandering the grid -- although a whole crew is probably a bit much for the setting.

@Arkandel We're definitely playing with the line between science and superstition -- a lot of sailors in particular, as you've noted, should totally expect some of these strange things to be real (although perhaps not all). The more scientific are likely to think them utterly mind-blowing. It takes all kinds, and we want all kinds.

ThugHeaven · Nov 14, 2017, 1:27 AM

I’m.....interested in this.

WildBaboons · Nov 14, 2017, 3:44 PM

the TOS are very well done at least. Best i've seen.

Arkandel · Nov 14, 2017, 5:04 PM

I've got a character there but I have only had limited time to play (in general) due to the RL workload.

What I can say is that this is a game where they're paying attention to detail. My application was actually read, and staff pointed out areas that could be elaborated further, ways for the character to be better integrated with the theme, and make observations I found insightful.

Basically it all reminded me of @Apos' approach, which is a very good sign. Don't shovel applications through, don't block them for no reason, but instead work to add value to them.

This is great stuff so far.

TiredEwok · Nov 14, 2017, 5:26 PM

@arkandel

This was my experience as well. Staff asked me for a little more detail on my character's BG to explain why she feels a certain way about something and was done so in a way that also explained something about the theme and how people, as a whole, look upon that subject. Helped me get a little more into my character's psyche at the same time it provided staff with the information they wanted.

Collective · Nov 14, 2017, 6:03 PM

@TheOnceler Because we're playing Hollywood versions of the various faiths, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity share the same Faith mechanics (gaining Blessings and getting Guidance), but obviously different flavor. We're not at all opposed to having a few Jewish characters and even a Rabbi wandering the grid -- although a whole crew is probably a bit much for the setting.

Which is a shame, because Jewish freebooters are known for having pirate minyans.

(I'll show myself out.)

ixokai · Nov 23, 2017, 6:10 AM

First real event tonight (still ongoing, but I can see the writing on the wall); have done some other RPs.

First: @faraday -- maybe FS3 is meant for more high tech, but they adapted it good. I'm a voodoo priest. Its hella fun. Partially because they smartly know which knobs to twist, but mostly, because @faraday made the most fun combat code for mushes that has ever been.

Second: As always, @Seraphim73 and @GirlCalledBlu are great storytellers. They have interesting, good characters. And its nice to see they have help this time. They are open and engaging to work with.

Third: I was worried about 'three ships', but them all based out of Tortuga, I don't think it splits the RP so bad.

Arkandel · Nov 23, 2017, 2:10 PM

@ixokai I'm sorry I missed the event. Hopefully there'll be more.

Auspice · Nov 23, 2017, 3:20 PM

There will definitely be more events.

Once I get my brain wrapped around 'pirates' and not 'scifi' (I can come up with like, a dozen scifi plots and one-offs... pirates and magic in the 17th century? That's harder for me) and my RL finishes chilling the fuck out from Hell Month, I'll be running, too.

I also plan to run some long-term plots once I come up with them, with scenes to highlights points in the plots.

And as the bbposts on game say: if you wanna see something in particular, let me know! (Missed out on the chupacabra fight but really wanna fight one? Drop me a line on game and I'll see if we can work out scheduling one you can make it to. :))

I have a fairly flexible schedule, but if people don't speak up, I will be scheduling things when my lazy ass wants to do them. But I really do want to make people happy. You just have to speak up and let me know what you want to see.

scar · Nov 28, 2017, 6:07 PM

Heya! I’m hopping on here to give kudos for how immediately impressed I am with this game’s player management. Intervening with OOC problems can be draining and uncomfortable territory. I see plenty of game admin avoid it through largely non-interventionist strategies but ultimately, that’s how you set the tone for a healthy game and keep quality players around.

Auspice · Nov 28, 2017, 6:15 PM

@scar said in The Eighth Sea - Here There Be Monsters:

Heya! I’m hopping on here to give kudos for how immediately impressed I am with this game’s player management. Intervening with OOC problems can be draining and uncomfortable territory. I see plenty of game admin avoid it through largely non-interventionist strategies but ultimately, that’s how you set the tone for a healthy game and keep quality players around.

I will nip a dozen harassing players in the bud if it means healthy players can go out and play in the open comfortably.

I will do it gladly.

Seraphim73 · Nov 28, 2017, 7:53 PM

@auspice said in The Eighth Sea - Here There Be Monsters:

I will nip a dozen harassing players in the bud if it means healthy players can go out and play in the open comfortably.

I will do it gladly.

Yuuuup. Confirm, discuss, act, inform. Keep good players.

TNP · Nov 28, 2017, 10:42 PM

What's the story behind the ban? Inquiring minds wants to know. (Wasn't that name the same as on the BSG game where it got banned? No idea if the player was the same.)