Posts made by Arkandel

@Ghost said in The 100: The Mush:

Nice people or not, though, what repeatedly happens with these two is that they center all plot thru their PCs, focus the game on their characters, push against other players trying to create plot elements that don't match their design, and then close the game when it doesn't pan out their way.

Not only is that quite true, it's also baffling; for a new game where players haven't had the chance yet to invest in their characters (and thus have a high chance of sticking around) you'd think staff would want them to do so. That is, I'd expect especially early stages of MU* to be quite generous as to how much PCs get to be in the spotlight and/or get to do cool things, get involved in plot - which showcases why your MU* is so cool - and generally create positive word of mouth.

The reality is different. But... I guess that's a good thing in a way, if these annoying tendencies show early on - less time wasted for everyone involved than if you had to play half a year first before badness happened.

@Auspice Sometimes this is a major lose/lose no matter what you do. Which is a shame but it's how it is.

Years ago I was a player on this MUD and ended up with a pretty powerful character which took almost almost two years to do. The game needed coders and I was young and stupid enough (sorry Theno) to sign up for it... so in a few months I was one of the three game runners. But I also had an important character, and some people complained about it - which I could see even then was an issue, but I didn't want to give him up either. I had invested so long developing him, and playing was the reason I was there in the first place... so was it better if I stopped coding instead?

Choices, choices. Most of them bad.

As someone who's considering a career move in the near future, these two articles are excellent:

http://haseebq.com/how-not-to-bomb-your-offer-negotiation/
http://haseebq.com/my-ten-rules-for-negotiating-a-job-offer/

@Three-Eyed-Crow Aside from the systemic benefits I just think we should have the (very minimal) courage of our own convictions. If I vote something you say down I should do it openly so that you at least have the option to go 'hey dude, which part of don't kick puppies did you disagree with?'.

@Three-Eyed-Crow I think downvotes would have worked better if their source was visible.

As it was it turned into passive-aggressive snarking for some users, anonymously expressing their discontent over someone else' continued existence.

Izzy doesn't like strangers which is weird since I found her when she bolted out in front of me in a random street as a kitten and started making...noises in my direction. She's not super-afraid but she doesn't trust new people, and she will bolt for the basement or disappear into the aether if she encounters people she doesn't know.

However once she gets to know someone (about 12-16 hours seems to be the threshold after which she'll decide she might as well venture out and take a chance on them) she remembers them. She had met my father in law years ago overseas for a couple of weeks, then once we moved over she immediately knew him and was fine with him petting her.

What she despises is other animals. When she met my oldest dog they got along fine (but they were both quite young at the time), then when we brought in a second dog Izzy barely tolerated her for ages; she'd run across the house whenever she was pissed off at one of us, find Ruby sleeping on a bed or something and smack her in the face to vent her frustration (cats are such assholes), but when we had a guest older and very sweet tomcat for a few days over she hated him. She'd wait behind the bedroom door where he was holed up just to try and sneak in and be mean to him for no reason.

@Admiral said in The 100: The Mush:

@Kestrel Nope, but I know people who played there who stuck it out 'for the RP with their friends' who would complain to me constantly about the nonsense going on there.

I don't know anything about this specific game but I've seen that situation happen so many times over the years. People sticking around in MU* others detested, 'sticking it out with friends' in a more or less entrenched sandbox while trying to ignore the levels of toxicity around them.

Fun times, fun times.

An interview with Allan Moore.

@Ganymede said in The Cat Thread:

(3) doesn't need a fucking sitter every time my partner and I go out because OMFG WHAT IF HE WAKES UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT?!?!?!?.

<squints>

What kinda super-cat do you have that doesn't wake up at 4 am, find that the food dish is only 1/3rd full then starts wailing like the world is on fire?

@Misadventure I've said this before but it really is something I associate with Mage. Something about their mechanics makes people throw dice where poses should be, which I haven't seen nearly to that extent in other spheres possibly because their skillset is less flexible.

Also, learn to love the tzatziki, n00b.

Legion, the new X-Men spinoff TV show's first teasers are out.

@Misadventure said in Plotted versus plotless scenes:

So which is it young feller, is it something you can't fix, or something you can work on?

Both. You can't fix the player if they just have a different style of playing and prefer showcasing their stats instead of portraying a character. You can fix other issues with PrPs if the player is just not getting into the story (but want to) through the usual magic of talking to and collaborating with them.

Cuzzing you see, iffin I work on it, I aim ta fix it, and if I can't fix it, I ain gonna work on it.

A brain aneurysm, I see how it is.

@Darinelle I love them in Legion so far. 5-mans boss fights are often in some pretty tight quarters with a lot of stuff to avoid on the ground, so being able to heal on the movie is invaluable. Paladins and Monks (to a smaller degree) may be having a harder time at it for mythics.

@Misadventure But that's not something you can fix any more than you can address bad roleplaying in general (in whatever fashion we define 'bad' that is); it's just certain players' style to care about stats and attributes more than character or story. While it's not my preference and in fact I've grumbled about it in these forums, all we can really do is not play/run PrPs for people we don't enjoy playing with.

Otherwise yes, player and character involvement make a plot work. As a ST I need to see both else I lose interest. While some issues can definitely be worked on ("hey, are you okay with this? Do you have any questions about the direction so far? Are you lost as to what to do next?", etc) if the player just isn't getting into it the way I would like it's best to pull the curtains.

The awesome thing about cats (other than the fact they are so independent, unless they are not, which is just another contradiction to add onto that long list of them) is they are so goddamn graceful 95% of the time. There is something very dignified about the way they move and behave.

And then the other 5% of the time they can be such morons. I believe there's a large degree of self-awareness involved, too, because after they are seen fucking up they're ... self-conscious about it, either by immediately firing off dignity on all cylinders or just going away to hide until observers forget it ever happened.

@Misadventure said in Plotted versus plotless scenes:

Also what I mean is they aren't prepared to engage that content with their character. They are prepared to engage it with their +stats, and their typical reactions. They are not looking for evolution or revolution. I will say that some are consciously looking to display their character and abilities, which when done right is a good thing in my mind.

Sometimes in fact that's the only reasonable time they can display their abilities or actual character. After all not all concepts are born equal; a socialite gets to do their thing in nearly every scene, and we all know combat scenes are pretty common, but how often do professional burglars get their chance to highlight their stuff?

@Apos I have - some people don't want the focus to be on themselves. To be fair I was surprised as well when I was told so, but it's an actual thing.

It's just a random group but it made me feel good.

@Ganymede Sure, if it works for you that's great - I just never had that happen, so I assumed it doesn't. Assumption dispelled, and that's already a win for this thread!

@FiranMEH said in Plotted versus plotless scenes:

@surreality Arkandel was generally complaining that shit on games is moving towards plotless and wanting to know why, so I gave a handful of general reasons why you'd be seeing that. If you want specifics, then give specifics and I'll do my best to respond.

Not to be pedantic here but my main reason for posting was first to make sure I wasn't simply perceiving it from where I stood. Just because I am not getting into plotted multipart stories it doesn't necessarily mean there are none.