Best posts made by Arkandel

@faraday said in World of Darkness -- Alternative Settings:

So I think we're generally in agreement that players need stuff to do or else you lose momentum. Just the execution is different.

Yes, so long as there is an execution. It takes active maintenance to create this momentum.

So for example a nWoD mortal only game could be a blast if metaplot is thrown to spark and maintain interest, maybe with some different factions of characters some trying to redeem the monsters ("she's still my wife!"), and others trying to kill'em all, or dissect them, or whatever the hell.

Simply putting all this stuff on a wiki pages simply doesn't do the trick. I kinda wish it did since it'd lower the bar for new game runners a lot, but historically it doesn't. Games need constant curating, and especially the newer ones; in fact the first month after they open is critical.

A mortal-only game where you're an X-Files or Fringe type of group could work, for instance. One where you've got a motley crew like my MDM game? Notsomuch.

All of these could work if they get players interested in the first place. It's a lot more niche though to ask players to roll on a setting they aren't familiar with and utilize concepts they've no existing samples to figure out the chemistry or subtle, slice-of-life interactions between them and something set in a world either very much like our own other than the supernatural elements added on top or based on well known works such as TV series, books, etc.

So, aside from our customary back-and-forths, a couple of questions for @tragedyjones :

1. What are you thinking to do different this time than your last project(s)? That is, what's cool about this project?

2. Is this going to be a sandbox environment or are you thinking to focus on narrating a longer arc (or arcs) of metaplot?

http://comicbook.com/tv-shows/2018/01/24/supernatural-scooby-doo-crossover-tease/

I love PrPs. I love to run them, I greatly appreciate others running them for me... but it's not hogging that's the issue - from my perspective - but the sheer time requirement as more folks are added.

I don't want to whine how about I don't have as much time as I used to because it's not true, but I don't have as much any more in one block, and I need to be away from my computer by 11PM to get ready for bed. Therefore it's frustrating for me if an +event is set to start at say, 8PM (a common time for EST) and then by 10PM we've collectively only managed 2-3 poses because we're waiting on people to get through their turns. I also don't want to say that was a waste of my evening but... well, that sure doesn't make me feel I seized the day either.

However that... only seems to occur on nWoD games. I don't know why, or if it's anecdotal or... what. I ran a bunch of Arx scenes a while ago, some with 10+ people in them, and things flowed. I ran stuff on a comic MUSH I played briefly and they felt fine. A Star Wars plot with @Ganymede, @Maira and @Autumn? Same thing, progress was made and I never stared at the screen wondering what I'm doing with my life.

So... I don't know if this is relevant to this thread, but it's what I have.

@tragedyjones said in Sin City Chronicles:

-Territory and Domain will be tied in to our SMART system

What's the SMART system? Did I miss something again?

@mietze said in Sin City Chronicles:

A side thought. Why the fuck do some people demand that game makers must create/build/eternally run things in order to not be "a flake". While you do have some extremely very few people who are truly capable of doing all three well (newsflash: most people who think they do don't), most games would be better served by allowing different people to have their strengths instead of demanding everything from the person "in charge."

I think the way we (in general) create games falls into certain categories; some game-makers have ideas gestating in them until they feel they'll burst if they don't put them out there in a game, and others just want to run a game, pay $15/month for hosting, grab the latest tarball of the code and go to town.

Either way it's impossible to make a game that scratches all itches, improbably to find an equally good supporting cast to make you realize the game you want to run (you may find a coder but not have enough STs, or the job monkey who also handles your sphere isn't great at dealing with stress or people, etc) and of course the reality of the situation - after it launches a MU* entails more about maintenance work than creativity - means most creative people lose interest after a few weeks of running the game.

But more than anything we judge things based on our criteria, not the games' runners, which is fundamentally unfair. If you want to run a tiny niche game and I want a five-sphere behemoth that gets all the players, it's not right to declare it a failure because it didn't fit my goals when it achieved yours.

@lisse24 If that's what you want to take from that, sure. But I look at it like this - people appreciate quality stuff but they consume fun stuff.

We keep complaining about how Hollywood keeps making the latter but from a producer's point of view there is simply no choice to be made; the upside of making content people appreciate but don't watch is very minimal. Like any investment they need to appeal to what the market wants.

What's even more interesting in this case is that this is Netflix we're talking about. There's no price differential here - both critically acclaimed and guilty-pleasure stuff are a click away, already paid for... yet people still chose the latter.

The only type of Storytelling you don't want is the fake one. The non-plot things ("pizza party at my place!11!") made pretty much to squeeze XP out of the system.

Anything else - stuff ran for friends, for coteries, for whatever - still scales better than anything else. There is nothing you want less for your game than players sitting bored.

If you don't like the idea of handing out XP for balance purposes fine - come up with something else, such as social recognition or whatever else.

@Packrat said in Fifth Kingdom:

I have to admit that my first thought after looking through the website was along the lines of:

'Ohh god, not vaguely medieval Irish, this is going to be insufferable'. It is going to attract the worst typed accents, weird hagiographic interpretations of inherent Irishness, etc.

It's unfair though to judge a game by the potential behavior of players it doesn't even have yet based on a stereotype, especially as they're specifically not adhering to historic settings.

We've all seen horrors with the nWoD (or even oWoD). Let's see how the game itself goes, since issues like these are cultural, and culture is largely depended on what staff promotes, tolerates or frowns upon especially shaped in the MU*'s early days.

I've been reading up on D&D 5E as part of running a new campaign in RL... and it's so much fun. It's a well written system in general - every class looks cool, full of stuff I'd love to play with and work towards.

Dammit, I wish there was a good 5E MUSH around, or running an online campaign wasn't a pain in the ass due to schedules. It's easier to arrange it iRL since junk food makes for a powerful motivator to get together.

@Autumn What keeps you from having the Princes as NPCs only, to be used for events and special things like that which move the plot forward?

@Collective said in Savior of the Universe: Flash AhhhhAAA!:

Second, I'd suggest saying that Flash bought it. He took a ray gun blast or just went missing and other heroes from both worlds have stepped up to fight Ming and his forces. That lets the PCs be heroes, without the players knowing, from the start, that their stories are less important than the official one.

Yeah, this, absolutely. I played on a setting derived from novels and it was frustrating since everything - from prophecies to power levels to politics - was completely dominated by book characters. Keep them in the background as much as possible - perhaps turn them into objectives, milestones or even antagonists for the stories you tell, but don't shackle your PCs.

... And for all that is holy, don't turn Flash himself into a playable character and hand him to a friend. Don't do that.

@wildbaboons I admit I've have a major against professional movie critics for years. My peeve was born all the way back when The Fellowship Of The Ring was first coming out and, wouldn't you know it, fantasy movies back then were just usually horrible so it was typical to disrespect them.

I was reading a newspaper (yes, this was a long time ago, we've been over this) and the reviewer gave it something like 1.5 stars out of five... fine. I kept reading to see why, and when I did I quickly realized he hadn't actually watched the movie - he only saw like, a few scenes here and there. He was talking about 'hobgoblins' and 'dwarves made to be turned into toy figures', but he had enormous misconceptions about the plot ("they went on a quest to find some magical rings" - uh, what?).

And this was a well respected critic. He loved obscure European films, that guy did.

That guy can fuck off, and so can the rest of his ilk. I'll watch things I enjoy watching. </angerManagement>

@surreality If we're talking Shang then this thread will get taken over.

For example I remember being in a room with three different versions of Hermione Granger. All of them roleplaying like it's totally normal.

@Paris Then where's my Geist?!

Adamson's BBQ... the best goddamn barbecue in Toronto, and the stomping grounds of my team at work as of an hour ago.

I can't move. Plz send help.

I suppose I don't understand the reasoning. Someone who is more able to get into interesting scenes (due to OOC connections, being a good roleplayer, having a great reputation) will also probably get more beats than someone who doesn't possess those qualities. Is that unfair?

As for running 4 PrPs in a day, unless they're gaming the system for XP by running faux-plots, I don't see how that's sustainable. Citation needed for even empirical evidence, please.

I realized a few weeks ago I have no idea which projects some of my all-time favorite comic book writers are doing any more. Mark Weid, sure, but also Kurt Busiek? Garth Ennis? At least Mark Millar is doing all the things.

Although unfortunately Jeph Loeb is also involved in everything, and I hate that guy's writing with a mild passion. What he did in Ultimates 3 was unforgivable.

Let the hype begin! The Star Wars: Solo teaser trailer is out..

@Derp I don't see it like that. Most Storytellers would run plot when they get the itch for it no matter what.

The difference is in encouraging plot to happen. It's more than worth making an effort to tempt someone who's otherwise able but unwilling to do it, but who sees that next big spend sitting a few weeks ahead and going 'hey, I could run 3-4 PrPs to shorten that by a few days'.

Those 3-4 PrPs, if they involve 3-4 players each? That's a ton of RP generated out of that one decision.

But otherwise Storytelling is just one source of XP. If you're playing 2.0 the primary means is through Beats by a large margin. Should we penalize active players for having the audacity to go out and do things? They're getting ahead!

Bans in general are impossible to guarantee. All you can do is either expand your blacklist enough that innocent bystanders are caught by the regexp or pin-point it so much that it makes it easier for a determined uninvited guest to keep coming to your parties, but you really can't keep anyone out of a public game for long.

You can however make life pretty unpleasant for everyone else trying to do so.