Posts made by Arkandel

@Griatch said in Necessary tools for running plots as a non-staff player?:

@Three-Eyed-Crow said in Necessary tools for running plots as a non-staff player?:

I find public +sheets insanely helpful. This isn't something all games do or that every genre considers workable, but when it's there I find it to be a wonderful tool.

Maybe players could voluntarily list some stuff they want STs to have access to on games where this is less common, idk.

I presume the idea being that since the character sheet is visible, the plot-runner can dig into e.g. the backstory or quirks of characters and use that as part of their plot ... how much leeway would a plot-runner have in that regard - or is taking the character in unexpected directions part of the charm?

I wouldn't want to introduce that element unless sheets are open game-wide anyway. If it is then that's great, but making it available only for STs opens a can of worms.

If people want to reveal details about their characters to the ST they always can, but it should be voluntary (something like +sheet/show <target>).

@Griatch Hm, good question. Let's see.

1. Tools to manage participants and juggle timezones are extremely handy. An event-based system where people sign up (and we can see the order they signed up in) where Storytellers can include some details about what they're about to run, what time etc is valuable. The order is important as typically there are more signups than there are slots, but some players might not show up, so you want to be able to run a fair first-come first-served queue.

2. A fully player-ran +job system is a must. Typically running plot isn't merely a matter of scenes but communicating past them; if we have to involve staff that increases administrative overhead and introduces delays. A common use for it is investigations - the characters survived the dungeon, now they want to see who's behind all this by asking their contacts, making rolls, etc... it's very handy to have all that in a single thread instead of having to shuffle through individual @mails.

3. Temporary rooms can be great. Sure, you can hijack a place on the grid but that can be problematic (say, you might want to 'freeze' the scene for just the characters in it) or there might not be something exactly as you like.

4. +Meetme. Traveling commands in general. Events take a long time and they're spammy affairs as it is without the Storyteller having to help players figure out how they're supposed to get there.

5. Combat-assisting aides can be invaluable. As a ST I use a text editor for table-top RPG systems but it can get pretty messy to communicate everything on demand- what's the initiative order again? How much damage has Orc #3 taken so far? And if there's a coded system (such as Arx's) then I'd need a way to spawn and control NPCs.

6. All sorts of rolling options. Show a roll to just one person, ask a person to roll for specific people, rolling into +jobs.

I think this about covers it, I can't think of anything else at the moment.

This post might become a rant but I hope it's a constructive one.

For starters as others have mentioned no one thing kills games. In my experience for the most part many are simply failures to launch; early code issues (especially stability or CGen related - if it's too frustrating to create characters players move on), or an unpopular niche theme (requiring people to be familiar with an obscure novel for example).

What I've noticed though, and it happens recurringly, is staff's inability to get their priorities straight.

As a quite real example I've played on MU* before where I was baffled at +jobs about PrP running being downright neglected, sitting there for a week unread or even afterwards staying unsupported, while they pour their resources into creating and maintaining stuff like approved equipment lists. No game has ever died because players sit there going "well if I can't have a Smith & Wesson Model 500 because only that Magnum Taurus Model 608 is available I guess I'll just have to find another place to play!".

Games have died because there's nothing happening and players shrug their shoulders and stop logging on there; they start off well (new, fresh MU* tend to get a lot of folks rolling there to test them out) but then they start leaking activity, and the fewer people remain the fewer opportunities exist for the remainder ones to find roleplay, so they taper off as well.

I don't get it. Plot translates directly to activity and keeping their players active should be a top concern yet MU* get it wrong, and it makes no sense; it's so obvious to see. PrPs scale up, one person can keep 4-5 others entertained and not just while they're running scenes but afterwards too, feeding them things to do, and not that many players run them, or at least stuff more involving than meet-and-greets.

TL;DR: If your players are bored they will leave. Games get visited by many players as they open but they won't stay unless you make sure they continue to have stuff to do.

@Glitch said in Coming Soon: Arx, After the Reckoning:

@Arkandel I'm a fan of +meetme, but I don't think you're right when you say there are better ways to encourage grid use. I couldn't give you directions anywhere on any game I've played that has +meetme code.

Well, sure, absolutely...but so what?

My political lordling, crude blood-sucking overlord or mad inventor's roleplay isn't facilitated by knowing the directions from Joe's Bar to the Mayor's Hall are east-north-north-west-up. It means very little at all to know how to get around, especially since that in no way means I'd be even reading the room descriptions as I wander about.

There's an argument to be made about making the world feel more alive and immersive and that is what I meant before when I mentioned better ways.

For instance let's say there's a murder mystery and your character is trying to figure out who did it. One way (in 99% of the cases if there's no actual scene done for it) is to fire off a +job, staff ask you to roll and eventually you get some hints or answers. What I was suggesting is that before that point staff could go and subtly alter the descriptions to offer some clues - a forced door (opening into a new room that wasn't there before the killer used to discard his bloody clothes), footprints (which seem strangely animal-like, leading into the woods), etc. So you could actually have your PC visit the scene of the crime at your discretion and do 'live' research.

I'm not advocating this is how it should be, mind you, just that it seems like a superior way to me to make the grid matter than to disable everyday commands that have been successfully helping roleplay along in every other game. Some artificial changes do help RP (I mentioned for example coded clothes, instead of just describing anything, would be such a thing as it gives craftsmen PCs a purpose) but in this case I think it's not the case.

@Caryatid Yes, but. BUT.

1. While I'm scrambling to get from A to B where there are, y'know, people waiting for me to be in a scene with them, I don't read the descriptions. I'm going somewhere to roleplay, so +meetme's absence does nothing at all. With @directions I'm just parsing the output to see which exit to take next.

2. There are better tools to encourage grid use than eliminating otherwise great commands like that; hidden rooms for instance with IC secrets in them, if someone codes it for Arx there can be resources or items spawning on the grid, plot tips for characters to investigate in real time instead of over +jobs, etc.

I'm reading Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence. It's the third novel in a second trilogy set in the same universe blending grimdark fantasy with sci-fi elements, and it happens to be amazing; the main characters in both the first and this series are innovative and very unique personalities, I really love the author's work.

Oh and while I remember... I was told the code is restrictive in allowing players different levels of access to the web site so we can't alter commonly used pages like "used PBs", so you may want to just create a parallel wiki for those sorts of things. If the same styles are applied the interface can look and feel identical to the rest of the site (menu uniformity could be an issue of course if you change the original layout), but it'd allow us to do things like that without staff intervention.

@Marshmallow I wasn't concerned about rewards, just the ability to run scenes or even about acquiring the permission to do so or what it entails.

Plot-running is the lifeblood of games guys. Don't let momentum stall unless you have a great reason to do so as once you lose a ST it can be a bitch to get more.

People who grade books they've not read because they aren't out yet on Goodreads. Sure, some of them may have preview copies but I doubt the 300 folks for Brent Week's Blood Mirror have all gotten them in advance... and it currently has the best rating in my entire to-read shelf.

Fanboys are destroying the rating system by making it untrustworthy.

Well, my impressions of Arx so far...

For starters I need to give Apostate, whoever he/she is, kudos; I came in knowing nothing about the theme and I was just Guest4, but they helped the hell out of me. Usually I barely get pointed to the correct help file by staff in most games let alone anything useful I can use to build a better character but they actually collaborated with me, took my ideas and added to them, made sure to offer options and alternatives to their suggestions, and... well, it was top-notch. That stuff makes for an excellent first impression.

The lack of meetme is a bitch but at least @directions works...it's a little tiresome after a while - I hate navigating in grids in general - but I could get to events every time so that's good, right? Speaking of, their +event system seems less feature-rich than in the nWoD MU* I've been playing, as unless I'm mistaken there's no way of telling who/how many people are currently going or become able to run a first-come first-served scene.

Speaking of such scenes... not sure if there's anything like temporary rooms either. I want to run PrPs (one of the great things about fantasy settings is the freedom you get) so I'm not sure what the procedure for running one is yet, but I guess I could always hijack a grid room for that - assuming of course that's permitted. Is it? I've no idea. If staff wants more things ran they need to make clear what the rules are though.

Finally the code seems intriguing, I like the idea of a coded combat system a lot. I don't even mind the fact equipment is coded so they're trying to shift what you're wearing from the @desc to the actual coded items, as that offers roleplaying opportunities for crafters and tailor/seamstress PCs. They do need a primer though for things like 'how do I get gear', 'how do I fight a guy' and of course 'I'm a Storyteller, how do I run NPCs?'.

@mietze You know what I don't understand? People who'd want to bring their potentially aggressive-to-kids dog into an area full of kids. Are they that stupid? It's a rhetorical question but basically to get their kicks for 15 minutes they're risking their dogs' life after it bites some little boy, that little boy's life, and quite possibly their own well-being after they get sued to oblivion.

Why? Just... why? That's not loving your pet, that's just plain being a moron.

Hell, in the process they even make it that much harder for all other pet owners to get away with anything ('sorry, you can't bring your well behaved dog into the library for 15 minutes, you know how that kid got bitten the other day at that place? It's our policy now').

@Misadventure If it lets me renew missions while I'm at work it's all good.

Hell, yesterday I was playing WoW and I used the app just so I wouldn't have to hearth over to the Class Hall then come back.

An oldbie but I ran into it again today and chuckled. Again.

@Auspice Foster a pet for a couple of weeks.

@Misadventure said in Vampire the Masquerade 5th Edition:

How about if we used Blood Potency without the need to LOSE it every now and then?

And the memories. And the incentive of others to diablerize you (but at a high risk since you're stronger than them) to steal your strength.

@Insomnia It could be that a billion nerds are using it at once atm.

@Insomnia Can't be that, my authenticator's on the same phone as I installed the app in, and it worked fine for me.

@Kanye-Qwest Hey, I didn't downvote you.

Anyway it's funny how some things we take for granted are missing because otherwise the codebase is pretty neat - I love how you can use a web form to fill out the IC journal for example without messing around with commands on the MU*. It'd be great if future versions included more integration like that, in fact.

The WoW Companion App is out for Android and iOS.

I used it just now to run my missions away from my computer, it's pretty neat.

@Coin Yeah, I meant V:tM.

But the setup I enjoy requires the whole nine yards of Generation as well as the rest of the toys Masquarade comes with; the eventual weakening of the Blood, the crime of diablerie as a shortcut to power and the metaplot that came along with Gehenna, ancient secrets and the paranoia induced by the concept there are these things more powerful than you can imagine who've been pulling the strings for so long you can't even tell if you're not still dancing to them.