TS - Danger zone

bored

You are both making similar points (cousins to the 'hey, we RP murder all the time, why is <insert sexual crime> a big deal?' question that gets asked occasionally), so I'll answer them together.

You're right. There are and will be many forms of bias and favoritism, and advantages that can be found by players by appealing to staffers (or other players in power, as may apply to PrP runners).

There's two things to say about this. One, as has come up in some of these prior arguments, sex is different. We know this, its just a fact of being human. We know it creates drama and crazy. Pretending equivalence is a bit head-in-sand.

Two, and more importantly: is a form of bias being blatantly obvious a reason to give it a pass? That seems ridiculously backwards. If we know that TS frequently results from or engenders bias, is it not a good policy to say that staff NPCs will not engage in it, and that romantic interactions (for instance) might be limited to Seduction mechanics? It wouldn't snuff out the favoritism if Player A and Staffer B are secret online SOs, but in a more average case, might it not give some players, especially those inherently uncomfortable with TS, the feeling that they might be safer in pursuing romance or sexual quid pro quo with an NPC without the expectation that they'll need to TS. Heck, it would even make social dice meaningful.

Pandora

Stop slut shaming STs guys. Free sex for everyone, remember.

Wretched

This conversation sounds familiar.

Are we once again pretending for this argument that humans don't get weird AF about sex? That there is no power balance difference between Staffers and Players? That there is no difference between an ftb that states that they bumped uglies and hours of sexually explicit posing?

Stop Using Staff NPC's to TS, it just opens up way too much potential buillshit.

Arkandel

@Wretched said in TS - Danger zone:

This conversation sounds familiar.

Are we once again pretending for this argument that humans don't get weird AF about sex? That there is no power balance difference between Staffers and Players? That there is no difference between an ftb that states that they bumped uglies and hours of sexually explicit posing?

Stop Using Staff NPC's to TS, it just opens up way too much potential buillshit.

Not that this should dictate the conversation (there can be multiple ones) but just to make it clear, my original prompt said nothing about staff NPCs or even staff. I asked about whether PrPs could be mixed with TS.

Wretched

@Arkandel mentions relevant details like a total jerkhole

Oh in that case, read the room, know your audience etc. I dont always ensorcel people, but when I do, there's bdsm and blood involved.

magee101

@Arkandel said in TS - Danger zone:

( @bored was kinda right when he said this feels like I'm running a survey here)

TS with NPCs or during PrPs. Where do you stand on this? What I'm thinking is PrPs involving one ST and one player but y'all might surprise me.

Admittedly only on Shangrila, but I've definitely ran gangbangs for 1-2 players.

Auspice

@magee101 said in TS - Danger zone:

@Arkandel said in TS - Danger zone:

( @bored was kinda right when he said this feels like I'm running a survey here)

TS with NPCs or during PrPs. Where do you stand on this? What I'm thinking is PrPs involving one ST and one player but y'all might surprise me.

Admittedly only on Shangrila, but I've definitely ran gangbangs for 1-2 players.

That's not a gangbang.

Pandora

@Auspice said in TS - Danger zone:

@magee101 said in TS - Danger zone:

@Arkandel said in TS - Danger zone:

( @bored was kinda right when he said this feels like I'm running a survey here)

TS with NPCs or during PrPs. Where do you stand on this? What I'm thinking is PrPs involving one ST and one player but y'all might surprise me.

Admittedly only on Shangrila, but I've definitely ran gangbangs for 1-2 players.

That's not a gangbang.

I assume if it's being run, that means there are NPCs + the 1-2 players, so it is a gangbang.

magee101

@Pandora said in TS - Danger zone:

@Auspice said in TS - Danger zone:

@magee101 said in TS - Danger zone:

@Arkandel said in TS - Danger zone:

( @bored was kinda right when he said this feels like I'm running a survey here)

TS with NPCs or during PrPs. Where do you stand on this? What I'm thinking is PrPs involving one ST and one player but y'all might surprise me.

Admittedly only on Shangrila, but I've definitely ran gangbangs for 1-2 players.

That's not a gangbang.

I assume if it's being run, that means there are NPCs + the 1-2 players, so it is a gangbang.

You are correct.

Dropbear

imagine if in the last 2 minutes a sports event the whole game is decided by who can get the refs off fastest

but only the refs favorites can compete

Arkandel

@Dropbear said in TS - Danger zone:

imagine if in the last 2 minutes a sports event the whole game is decided by who can get the refs off fastest

but only the refs favorites can compete

Is this a TS discussion or a TS pitch.

Auspice

@Arkandel said in TS - Danger zone:

@Dropbear said in TS - Danger zone:

imagine if in the last 2 minutes a sports event the whole game is decided by who can get the refs off fastest

but only the refs favorites can compete

Is this a TS discussion or a TS pitch.

Fast ball, slow ball,curve ball....

Wretched

@Auspice definitely a knuckle ball.

saosmash

@Wretched this is going to make the next time I play MLB The Show much sexier.

Ganymede

To no one’s surprise I presume, I concur with bored’s distinction.

NPCs are calculated to drive plot. If a staff member is languishing in 4 hour TS scenes with an NPC when that NPC could be driving a plot, that staff member is wasting time. That NPC could and should be used in a better manner, and for that I see a meaningful distinction.

Ghost

@WildBaboons said in TS - Danger zone:

But is TSing the prince more viable than FTB with the prince?

It is if the player of the Prince is looking for TS.

Wish/fantasy fulfillment is huge with some mushers and quid-pro-quo responses are common. You tend to get more back from people if you drill down into giving them what they want.

Wretched

@Ghost heh drill

satisfaction

Tinuviel

@Ghost said in TS - Danger zone:

It is if the player of the Prince is looking for TS.

That's a whole different kind of problem.

mietze

I think that feeds back into the issue of whether or not a player who isn't staff but has an IC leadership role must give up all personal RP or their fluff-n-nutter play in order to be plot/information dispenser (even if staff really doesn't give them a lot of plot to dispense and players being players, usually people don't share information with each other that much).

Pandora

@Ganymede said in TS - Danger zone:

To no one’s surprise I presume, I concur with bored’s distinction.

NPCs are calculated to drive plot. If a staff member is languishing in 4 hour TS scenes with an NPC when that NPC could be driving a plot, that staff member is wasting time. That NPC could and should be used in a better manner, and for that I see a meaningful distinction.

But what if their 4 hour scene of relaxing, no-stress TS with a player they enjoy writing with comes just after a fraught 4 hour scene of PCs shouting each other down while building complicated, far-fetched plans that try to account for every possible variable so they can't possibly lose, accusing the NPC of being too cryptic in borderline-OOC ways that amount to 'If I were in charge this would be going much more smoothly but I can't be bothered to run things I'm not the star of' and now finally they can just bump uglies with the chick that requested this plot in which she gives birth to a potential Chosen One?

As much as I ABSOLUTELY LOATHE when people are TSing to the detriment of the game/plot, I really don't think it's anyone's business who is TSing whom so long as the game/plot is being taken care of.