ISO: a comics/superheroes MU* (give me your recs)
-
@Ganymede I meant in general, it tends to be discouraged, or at least get mentioned in the same breath as 'don't be fucking weird to people OOC', but yeah, I wouldn't know in this case.
-
I would like the ESH folks to chime in and clarify their policy on emitting people close to a character, as I have heard direct mention of two situations that concern me - Peter Parker not being allowed to emit or reference Aunt May, someone who is unlikely to even be played, or Bruce Wayne not being allowed to refer to Alfred as anything other than 'The Butler.'
For many characters, minor supporting characters that are important to their stories are normally just fine to use for flavor here and there, within reason. Is it true that this is different on ESH? If so, why? If not, why were there apparently issues in the past with this?
If this sort of thing is heavily restricted, that is important to know.
-
@Wolfs It's simple really. Don't emit or mention by name anyone who could be apped. This is the same rule for apping a character. We don't want a player locking another player into a situation/course of action if they're apping the one mentioned.
We had someone app someone who had been repeatedly mentioned in scenes and ended up objecting to how he was portrayed. I've seen both Alfred and Aunt May apped more than once so it happens. It's just simpler and we don't want to deal with having to retcon things and/or play middleman in negotiations between two people to arrive at a happy middle ground.
So yes, instead of saying 'Aunt May' just say 'my aunt'. Instead of 'Alfred', say 'the butler'. That way if someone apps a hot, young Aunt May there's no possible conflict with the old, wrinkled aunt that's been emitted 20 times.
It's not going to change so if that's a deal breaker for someone, we're obviously not a good fit.
-
@TNP Well, I would say a "hot, young Aunt May" wouldn't really mesh with what people normally expect to see when they think of Peter's aunt, but that's something your app staff would have to make a call on if and when it came up.
You can say "the butler" or "my aunt" but people are going to know who you really mean if we're talking Bruce or Peter. It'd be like the TMNT not having Splinter cast, but everyone knows "our sensei" is the rat dude.
I think the difference here is people using someone like that as background flavor doing something they'd be expected to do ("butler stuff" or maybe baking a pie, overseeing training in the TMNT example) vs. having them do anything beyond that but as you said, it's your place and your rules, and it's up to others to determine if that's something they can accept or not.
Thank you, at least, for your explanation and reasoning behind it.
-
@Wolfs said in ISO: a comics/superheroes MU* (give me your recs):
@TNP Well, I would say a "hot, young Aunt May" wouldn't really mesh with what people normally expect to see when they think of Peter's aunt, but that's something your app staff would have to make a call on if and when it came up.
Did you not see Captain America: Civil War? There are people who only know that Aunt May. There are also different versions of Alfred.
-
@TNP said in ISO: a comics/superheroes MU* (give me your recs):
@Wolfs said in ISO: a comics/superheroes MU* (give me your recs):
@TNP Well, I would say a "hot, young Aunt May" wouldn't really mesh with what people normally expect to see when they think of Peter's aunt, but that's something your app staff would have to make a call on if and when it came up.
Did you not see Captain America: Civil War? There are people who only know that Aunt May. There are also different versions of Alfred.
Haven't seen it.
-
-
@TNP I kinda feel like it's super limiting to not be able to refer to or use any connections for anyone who might conceivably be apped. I don't really see the difference between that and saying, I dunno, Alfred's been apped now, all those past scenes were referring to a DIFFERENT Butler, or a DIFFERENT cat themed burglar like what tends to happen when a character gets dropped and then picked up by someone else.
-
If ESH’s policy on spoofing potential PCs is so problematic that one would rather continue playing on UH, then I am without words to advise you as to where to play.
That said, again: this thread is to recommend games, not critique them. This is the third time I have had to say this. I will not do so again.
-
@TNP I do understand your point. But this is limiting RP in it's own way. Yes, support characters like Alfred and Aunt May are apped by players on occasion. But not with regular basis or demand. Also, once a version of a character is apped, future players are pretty much locked into that version. In my opinion, it's the player of the primary character that should set the 'version' of their support characters (Superman for Lois & the Daily Planet Staff, Peter for Aunt May, Bruce for Alfred, etc.). There's been plenty of times that I've been interested in a character on a game, but the previous history of that character makes to proposition unattractive. Limiting the support characters in this way isn't the same as keeping options for characters that are regularly in demand open.
-
@SquirrelTalk We disagree that it's super limiting to avoid using someone's name. While retcons are a possibility when someone apps a character who was previously played, that's unavoidable since we're not going to ban every character that gets dropped. This? Is avoidable. And minor. People are free to disagree on whether it's minor or not.
@Runescryer No one is forced to keep a previously apped character's history or past scenes. They can start completely fresh, retconning everything if they wish. We'd prefer they try to keep as much as they're comfortable with and work things out with other players but it's their choice.
-
@TNP So, it's fine to go from a frail, elderly Aunt May to the next player going with mid-50's May? She gets de-aged and everything makes sense?
-
I have never played a superhero game but I think it'd be a real winner if all retcons in superhero games were handled by Mephisto ala Spider-man New Day.
-
@Runescryer That dichotomy is exactly what we're trying to prevent. If actual people app her differently, it will need to be worked out somehow. Mental gymnastics. The same applies if someone apps the TV version of Green Arrow or Black Canary after someone dropped (one of) the comic versions.
It's a headache we don't really want to deal with but if someone wants to actually /play/ that version, they're free to and if there are issues, we'll help. However, if it can be avoided by simply not mentioning someone by name in a scene, that's how we want it to be. It avoids potential headaches for us, for the apping player, and the player who was doing the mentioning.
ETA: I'd feel guilty about this taking over the thread but it is a question someone making a new game will need to consider.
-
Due to people being apparently unable to follow simple directions, this topic is being locked.
