There's a flipside to all this, and it's that ironically hatred is also an expression of love.
When Chronicles of Shannara was shit - which was very often indeed - there were no legions of fans expressing their outrage on the internet because... there were no legions of fans. No one cared enough to hate it.
@tmr I feel like that's not (entirely) on staff.
What is the expectation here? You can offer someone a role for their character and provide them with some hooks into that role.
Being a shopkeeper is one additional reason for other PCs to interact with theirs that someone coming in 'blind' wouldn't otherwise get. If they rolled a dancer, for example, the onus would be on them to find a club or studio looking to hire - it's a proactive search. But as a business owner others have a reason to go to them.
Is that reason compelling enough? Powerful enough? I'd argue it shouldn't be. But it's something.
Ultimately finding scenes and establishing oneself requires some degree of effort. To put it a bit differently, I've seen creative people before (who I didn't know before then) join a game where they know no one, assume a role without any hooks at all, and before long they are movers and shakers.
@Too-Old-For-This That's great because... there's no freakin' way to say no or opt out of it. Slow Armstrong is coming to your front door whether you like it or not!
@faraday said in The Desired Experience:
It's also a matter of perspective. There have certainly been people complaining about not being able to be a "mover and shaker" in various games.
Thanks for reminding me.
There is definitely an expectation, whether voiced or implied, from players who want to play 'movers and shakers'.
The issue here is, not everyone should and not everyone can be that. Especially in smaller games.
@Shebakoby said:
I had a relative that smoked like a chimney. He died at age 38 (heart attack). I had another relative that smoked like a chimney. Died at age 65 (cause unknown, thought to be stroke.). Then there's other smokers that live to nearly 100. It's no guarantee one way or the other.
What other people said. Also, go ask the majority of those 70 year olds if they don't mind dying years a few years earlier because "it's their tail years", see how eager they are to croak.
Contrary to (younger!) people's belief, folks don't get eager to die just because they're retired. They're not counting the days and they can enjoy life quite a bit, thankyouverymuch.
@tinuviel said in The Desired Experience:
Then don't play with them. "Be inclusive" doesn't mean "play with everyone no matter what."
It can, though. I'm not arguing that it should, but to some that's exactly what it means.
I was pretty shocked back on HM when I realized @EmmahSue basically took all RP at face value. She'd literally join any available scenes and stayed in it until she legitimately needed to leave OOC or there was a solid IC reason to do so. For a faction head and popular character that was rather unconventional.
Other players can't or simply won't do that. They cherry-pick more, especially in terms of fit ('should my nobleman get in a scene with this sailor'), so they can achieve IC goals ('if I play with everyone who wants an audience with the Prince I'll never do stuff I need to get done') or simply for their own sanity ('sigh, another sucky random scene').
I'd like to say I'm more like the former but I'm definitely not.
@HelloRaptor said:
Since he was using a comedian as a reference, @Arkandel, I don't think that part was meant to be taken seriously. Hopefully. Even Denis Leary doesn't think that's true.
I thought we were allowed to take humorous comments seriously and bash them this week.
You can't change the rules on me like that.
That's a good idea. It could even potentially be improved by using @Sunny's XP system - i.e. where each source can amount for 30%, but you can only spend 100% (i.e. the cap is on spending, not earning).
Then you can have excess XP if they exist be spendable on non-attribute things, cosmetic stuff (a Bugatti, a glowing enchantment over your weapon, etc). This way hitting the cap isn't wasted for super-active people, they can still benefit in ways that don't have mechanical effects.
There's no real room for analysis. Both teams missed open shots (the Raptors more than the Warriors) but basically in the Finals you can't let the other team go 18-0 on you and expect to win.
Toronto lost the game in those 4-5 minutes of the 3rd quarter.
Generally speaking (as it goes well beyond the scope of XP), overtuning systems to prevent abuse so that the majority is burdened with enforcement meant to prevent abuse by a much smaller minority is a poor choice; it both inconveniences everyone and doesn't stop what it was meant to.
Such things are nearly always lose/lose propositions.
@Testament One thing I heard (but haven't verified) over the radio this morning was the Russians aren't pleased with how Chernobyl was made. The argument was "imagine if Russia had made a mini series about 9/11 and everyone in it had non-American accents".
Isn't this kind of a natural consequence of every Hollywood-produced movie, TV series, etc having exceptionally attractive and/or charismatic actors playing every role?
There's next to no one who is ever average.
So we're kind of playing along to that paradigm.
As for comic books how many heroes and heroines aren't drawn to be absolutely gorgeous? It's not like you'll read an X-Men issue featuring Rogue and then go play her as a rather normal looking girl.
@Warma-Sheen You know what got me? I was reading an interview by the Dark Phoenix producers where they were breaking down why they believe the movie didn't do well.
They mentioned a bunch of reasons; timing (Alita: Battle Angel stole its original release spot on the calendar), budget, lack of focus on what groups it focused on...
Man, these people have had their own heads up their asses even before Batman and Robin. The very idea that a film might not do well at the box office because it's not good doesn't seem to mean anything, so they try to barf jargon all over their own reasoning.
Like... that's the difference between Endgame which crushed it and Superman vs Batman which did not; same genre, similar budgets, buildup from earlier films, well known characters... but one was really good and the other was not.
Dark Phoenix is no Logan. It won't succeed no matter when you put its release on a calendar. If you want it to do better you should make a better movie out of it, you guys.
@l-b-heuschkel I don't think that's true. For example you can definitely find buff guys who aren't great looking online to use as models, rather than pick Chris Hemsworth for your warrior type of character.
There are lots of athletes (less well known ones, even), character actors with interesting features who don't look like supermodels, etc.
***=What bugs me is after***
Basically whatever magic the MCU performed that allowed them to have 10+ characters share the plot without most of them having no impact or agency other than simply firing off their powers in fight scenes was completely missing here. If I hadn't read the comics I wouldn't have given a shit about Cyclops and the rest of them because who are they? Why should I?
I thought Sophie Turner did a pretty good job though. The movie was crap but it wasn't on her.
@seraphim73 There are types of characters whose primary trait is, often times, used to hit others on the head with it.
So sometimes that trait is "I am fucking gorgeous!". But it has also often been "I am fucking deadly", "I am fucking mysterious", "I am fucking tall", or even in some cases "my player can use a thesaurus". 
@HelloRaptor said:
Sturm was everything wrong with Paladins in D&D for nearly his entire run, and Tanis just... agh. Yeah dude, your mom got raped by a bandit, your elf family treated you like shit, everybody are assholes. Wah wah wah.
On the contrary, Dragonlance might have created some tropes (or at least largely contributed in their creation) such as the frail wizards who grow up to be immensely powerful, but on the other hand they had such a variety of characters for the time they were written.
For every ultra-heroic death facing dragon-riders there was a quiet passing away from old age. Victory didn't shroud the winners in everlasting glory, they went right back to their old problems, having to earn a living and find their way from that. The big romances sometimes paid off, sometimes they didn't; Laurana and Tanis didn't end up being a power couple for the ages.
That stuff was fine. Not great, and if I had to read it again I'm sure it wouldn't hold up the same way it does in my memories, but it worked. The Cleric Quintet was pretty good too, and those Moonblade books had their moments. Nothing fantastic but decent reads.
Another point: Maybe I'm alone here but I find I can pick things up about theme much better from an average novel than a good gaming manual. At least it worked like that for Shadowrun and Vampire: the Masquerade.
See, one of my most sought-after systems (I had coded that on circlemUD back in the day) is to allow players to create a list of their personal hangouts. So if you do something like +hangout/add here it'll add wherever you are to that list, then any time you want to go back there you'd do +hangout/travel <#>.
That, as well as +meetme/+summon and temp rooms would be literally the only means of transportation I'd ever need.
I've played alts for years without going from A to B without +travel assuming I had a choice, so I was curious if I was being weird or if it's a common attitude.
I accidentally set her broom on fire.
I'm sorry, I know you had more important things to get off your chest but... I have questions.
@tiredewok Or, as some would call it, Mage: the Awakening.
