Dec 24, 2018, 8:40 AM
@sunny same 
MU Things I Love
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@sunny same
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@Sunny Living the dream.
It's Christmas and I'm feeling the warm and fuzzies so...
I've been RPing since about 2005-07 and MUing since about 2010. Today, I finally feel like I have found a community. I play on a few games and I feel like I have made friends on those games. Friendships and RP partners that stretch to other games. It's a good feeling to end what was personally an awful, awful year on a positive note.
Even though I am feeling the crispy edges of burnout and my creativity is on the downswing, I keep coming back because of the people.
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On Arx, I spent 5 months OOCly doing research and writing songs, involving people in the investigations, RPing with them about what they already knew, and practicing my lyrics on willing victims. I talked with people about what I was doing, got them excited about things, made social connections between other characters, and even got a little NPC action in. I made a lot of friends ICly and introduced them to other friends. Much RP was had.
Then, in November and December, I spent six weeks doing 5 concerts, one a week with a break for Thanksgiving, to present my songs and to answer the general public's questions about them. I highlighted people in my Q/A sessions who might have a better perspective than me, and in general, I spread a lot of "secret" knowledge out into the playerbase. This led to people approaching me afterwards to ask questions about what I'd said so that they could gain "evidence" in the form of @clues. Everyone who attended got a copy of the song for reference, and most of the songs were chock full of useful information. I made a lot of connections and gave people a lot of fodder for subsequent RP scenes.
I recommended people get in touch with the Bards and the Scholars, and I included both the Bards and the Scholars in my formal @action to staff to essentially sum up what I'd done to get the songs out into the world. For some people, this was their first @action, and they were giddy about helping, and I got to walk them through how to do an @action assist. Socialites jumped on it as a way to use their social clout for Team Good. It was a purely social @action, and I had four pages of helpers because people loved the idea so much.
Turns out, staff loved the idea, too. They gave me a new title, and there were some interesting effects of the @action, including the refurbishment of the Hall of Heroes, a new statue for Sorrel's hero Copper (who died between her concert and the final concert), and the fact that the songs actually are spreading across Arvum. Staff was thrilled that a social-only action touched so many people and garnered so much RP and was an entirely player generated piece of work.
It feels good to be appreciated!
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Today, I received the following in the mail:
- A Christmas card from the head of my House on Arx
- A box of homemade cookies from a friend I played mage with back in 2004
The MU community is full of kind and generous people and I am full of happy feels. Fuck the cynical haters.
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When someone just goes ALL FUCKING OUT on a particular course of action, and it results in a beautiful thing that happens, deep and rich and meaningful - and then you wake up in the morning inspired to write a bunch of lore and things because of it, and something awesome comes into being RIGHT THERE because someone was awesome and cool and brilliant.
Goddamn.
I'd tag him but as god is my witness, I thought turkeys could... no wait... as god is my witness I cannot remember like 90% of the names-to-characters here. W/e.
He knows what he did.
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I've had several really nice scenes this week. From sad to funny, everyone has been great. A nice kick off to the new year.
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One of the things that continues to remind me why I love this hobby tends to happen when I don't expect it. The people I stumble across who really, genuinely make their characters feel like real people completely blow me away, and I'm honestly not sure if there's any other medium that can do it as successfully. When characters don't always try to win, don't always make the best possible decision, and otherwise react in ways that make me reflexively tie them to people I know in real life, I always end up stopping to appreciate it. It's chefs kiss.
Coming from a portion of the hobby that highly rewards competitive players, it's always amazing to run into players who will let me lose gracefully. I love playing bad guys, I love losing, I love facilitating stories that let characters feel like they're playing out a win. But sometimes, if we don't click or there's no communication, playing that out can be less than fun. I love players who keep it collaborative, even when they're super hype for kicking an annoying guy's ass, or realizing the villain they're trying to be.
I also deeply appreciate the players who laugh at my stupid fucking jokes. You know who you are.
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When you log in to an old MU to scavenge a character desc and find that the character's desc is from a Halloween party with them dressed as Super Grover
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I do this thing, whenever I schedule something I am obligated to run for people. I fret, I worry, I think it won't be fun for them, or for me, and I generally dread it right up until it is almost over.
But sometimes, you manage to make the mechanics work out, and they aren't so much that they are stressful, and players seem to be in to your emits and how you set the scene, and they are buying in, and striving, and being POIGNANT and HILARIOUS and AMAZING and you realize you are having a blast. GMing a large combat scene.
That never happens to me! But it did tonight and it was great.
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Planning out an event, organizing stuff, making fun spreadsheet formulas to help track the competition, and then having it go off really smoothly.
Just really great and satisfying. And noticing the things that I can do differently for next time! -
@roz oooh I was gonna upvote but spreadsheets? YOU DO YOU and GRATS I GUESS
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@kanye-qwest i made FORMULAS and it AUTOMATICALLY MARKED WHO WAS IN FIRST AND LAST PLACE and i just had to iNPUT ROLLS and it was GREAT
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Come to the code side. Yessssssss.
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I get frustrated with my fellow players often. It's easy to fixate on the irritants because they tend to be very loud in the signal-to-noise sense and drown out the more moderate average.
Sometimes players are great, though. Sometimes someone you've never dealt with before and have no OOC sense of takes feedback with a SHOCKING amount of grace and coolness and refines a character into something you're really excited about. Sometimes people suggest random connections that I'd never have thought of but that make my IC world feel fuller and me more excited to play. Sometimes you stare at channel chatter that shows an interest in theme and positive ooc community, or you get a simple private 'Thank you' and it's amazing.
Sometimes players are great, is the jist, and it's nice to focus on that amid the other things.
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@three-eyed-crow said in MU Things I Love:
I get frustrated with my fellow players often. It's easy to fixate on the irritants because they tend to be very loud in the signal-to-noise sense and drown out the more moderate average.
Sometimes players are great, though. Sometimes someone you've never dealt with before and have no OOC sense of takes feedback with a SHOCKING amount of grace and coolness and refines a character into something you're really excited about. Sometimes people suggest random connections that I'd never have thought of but that make my IC world feel fuller and me more excited to play. Sometimes you stare at channel chatter that shows an interest in theme and positive ooc community, or you get a simple private 'Thank you' and it's amazing.
Sometimes players are great, is the jist, and it's nice to focus on that amid the other things.
I just want to second this a lot.
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He/Him
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@tinuviel
Eh you're all right, too. And you use Tywin Lannister's face for a PB. Props. -
@three-eyed-crow Don't ruin my carefully curated public image.
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I recently came across a quote from a very popular movie that shook me hard and reminded me very much of one of my current characters. Finding it delighted me so much that it gave my drive to play even more of an extra kick:
As your leader, I encourage you from time to time, and always in a respectful manner, to question my logic. If you're unconvinced that a particular plan of action I've decided is the wisest, tell me so, but allow me to convince you and I promise you right here and now, no subject will ever be taboo. Except, of course, the subject that was just under discussion. The price you pay for bringing up either my Chinese or American heritage as a negative is... I collect your fucking head. Just like this fucker here. Now, if any of you sons of bitches got anything else to say, now's the fucking time!
The character is neither Chinese nor American, but she has appropriate alternative status to make the quote work.