If I can't get into a character I am excited for I probably won't be on the game much.
What usually motivates me is the company though more than either my PC or the game is the group of players I'm associating with. If I feel disconnected I drift away.
@Coin I read about that this morning. I dunno - it will come down to how much money they're willing to spend, I think. The Wheel of Time saga would require a hell of a lot of special effects to be pulled off, plus different sets (there are many locales, different civilizations, cultures etc) would make the production costs skyrocket.
If it's a cheap knockoff of Game of Thrones I'll be a sad panda. On the other hand the series is finished, Robert Jordan is long dead and they can simply have Sanderson write some of their scripts - it's not like he's not a robot who can match any deadline they can possibly set.
@ThatOneDude , @ThatGuyThere , your usernames are giving me a headache.
@ThatGuyThere said in PVP games/elements?:
Now I would not play on a game were I distrusted staff, but my default setting for staff or any other person is pretty much wary observation when it some to trust.
It still doesn't make sense to me, because most of the reasons I'd have to mistrust staff for would involve things that are impossible to observe. Are they looking at +jobs they shouldn't be? Giving their alts more XP than the rest of us?
Those are not actions which can be monitored by players, and issues like favoritism are extremely difficult to judge objectively even if you're watching very closely since you can't know what's going on in their head; did Bob become Primogen because they thought he was the best candidate or because of some ties to a staff alt?
I mean it still depends on the definition of 'trust'.
@ThatGuyThere said in PVP games/elements?:
The trick to pulling it off would be maintaining faith in staff impartiality.
I don't know how anyone can play on a game whose staff they don't feel they can trust. I mean, aside from PrPs.
@Arkandel you have to remember we are dealing with trolls with such capacious brainboxes that they could poke both eyes out by falling on a pin. Don't try to ascribe any sense or reason to their actions.
Trolls are fine with me. All I ask is that the noise to signal ratio is acceptable, and if it is being downvoted (other than the occasional head-scratcher) is a very low price to pay.
I really, honestly don't care either way about upvotes or downvotes.
I am however curious about it now because when I get upvoted it comes up on the notification icon, and when I clicked through it was for a joke post I made about that old D&D Tom Hanks movie which came up for several upvotes... it's at 0 karma.
... Why is someone downvoting that? It makes no sense. The whole post was just a URL to a movie!
You know, in Ohio, people operate motorcycles with no helmets. Some even motor along I-75 in shorts and a tank top. Unsurprisingly, lots of motorcycle deaths around here.
My favorite reasoning: "Most of the time if I have an accident the helmet won't save my life anyway".
... I can't even.
@somasatori 'Gloria Vendetta'? 'Tucker Smash'?
This has the makings of a masterpiece.
@The_Supremes said in Finding roleplay:
@Arkandel I include those in New Puppy Syndrome. I probably could've been clearer on that, but that post was getting wall-o-texty as it was.
Oh, I didn't word my objection well though. What I meant to say is... how do you deal with this? Because it doesn't get fixed no matter what hooks and guards are in place - that staff approves of a plot doesn't mean it won't get orphaned at some point. Things happen, people vanish, burn out, can't coordinate or just play something else so the arc first grows stagnant then moot.
If it's ambitious enough I'd argue it's very difficult to find a foster ST willing to bring things to a conclusion (it's hard enough to find STs, period, let alone for someone else's story). So you'll probably want to gracefully (?) abort it, which based on the plot's nature might not be effortless. If your original concern is to ensure staff don't end up burdened by such work, what's your take on it?
The usual solution, of course, is to ignore and shove everything under the carpet. What happened in the end? Nothing happened! <handwave>
Why, then, do I have to contend with motorcycles coming at me?
I've had more electric bikes block the way on the bike lane than anything. Rollerblade skaters. Regular skaters. Joggers. A lady pushing her TWIN STROLLERS.
But yeah, the electric bike thing is what gets me. Dude, come on. Come on. Some even honk when they are crossing like they achieved something by passing a freakin' bicycle on their vehicle.
@Coin said in Finding roleplay:
Not to mention that, in my opinion, any storyteller worth their salt isn't going to run an epic, game-breaking plot in a single night--so anyone wanting to do a one-off fun outing for a night will more than likely be able to easily use whatever is freely available without requiring staff consultation. If they can't, chances are they're not very dedicated storytellers and will flake anyway.
I was fine within the system Eldritch used so no issues here.
I'm also quite fond of systems which don't front-load the checks - look at the logs after the fact and decide, was this thematic? Is this okay? If not (and most will be just fine) then run adjustments as needed, even if it means some retcons. Any reasonable ST won't mind too much (the cultists only seemed to summon a tentacled demonic abomination, in truth it was a mutated sea-creature due to those chemical waste spills) and you can probably have the cake and eat it.
If I had to have actually raise a complaint though? It'd be because of players like, well, me. I've started multi-part plots in the past which for one reason or the other didn't go anywhere and that fact - not the story itself - created logical inconsistencies.
For instance on Eldritch (since we were kinda talking about it) I had a big thing discussed and approved by Eerie, but near the end of its first chapter many of its participants went inactive; that killed my enthusiasm so I let the whole thing die down. However that creates all sorts of continuity problems, wasn't the head villain's plan going to result in Very Bad Things unless the PCs stopped him? What happened to that, huh? Huh?
In other words if I disagree somewhere with @The_Supremes it's that unresolved plots are the ones which arguably create the biggest problems as opposed to finished and almost-but-not-quite wrapped up ones. More multi-part PrPs fail than are completed.
@The_Supremes said in Finding roleplay:
How you frame a policy is at least as important as how you execute the policy, though. And any policy at all is going to offer some kind of resistance, you're right.
That is true, although I'd say it's more important how you interpret and implement policies on a day-to-day basis than how it's worded on a news file or wiki. People respond to what staff does, not (just) what they write.
It might be also important to offer leeway to both staff and your players. For example as I become familiar with staff I talk to them more, bounce off ideas and pitches with them not because I have to but because I want their input; likewise when I lead spheres in the past there were people I knew well enough to realize I just need to support them and get out of their way. Why get mess with something that already works?
So very, very true. Also, staff can be reaching out to their players. With only three staff, we have a number of players who are on during times that staff aren't on-hand. I've had a couple of players comment on this and let drop a story idea or two without even realizing it. Those are opportunities to suggest to the player that they step up and PrP ST. The usual concerns of "what if I do it wrong, etc." come up, but that's an opportunity to coach a new ST, share a few tricks, and help someone get over those first-timer cold feet. Most people who do it enjoy it, even if they never do it again. Some folks catch the bug.
@Bennie just said something that's very true - a lot of plots aren't planned in advance. In fact I'd say there might actually be more of those impromptu ones than well thought out multi-part storylines - basically you have 3-4 people sitting around on their thumbs and one of them gets the urge to 'run something'. It might be something they were inspired to do from a TV show they watched or book they just finished or just a flash of inspiration. If this is to happen it will be right there on the spot, once the moment is gone... it's gone.
When that happens you never, ever want this potential Storyteller-making opportunity to go to waste. Let people do it! Encourage them, tug on their sleeves if you have to. The person who's never ran anything who finally takes the plunge with a couple of buddies who have a blast can easily become your newest asset. This stuff should be boosted any way possible - because if on that critical moment they even think 'well, man, I need to run this by the sphere people first, should I make a +job?' it might never happen, and that's a damn shame.
@Arkandel Speaking to strangers on public transport?! I hope you gave a stern look!
I wanted that seat!
@The_Supremes said in Finding roleplay:
New Puppy Syndrome, however, is a big drain on staff time and resources. An ST may have a finite interest in their own PrP. They want to run the scenes, they want the things to happen, and then they're done. But their players, and folks who hear about these events second and third hand may want to poke at these goings-on or the aftermaths. The PrP ST, however, is done with it and no longer has interest. This is fine, but that means the aftermath RP (usually investigation type stuff) lands in staff's laps. I need to keep tabs on what PrPs are running, have been run, etc, so that when I get weird +requests from players that make absolutely no sense to me otherwise, I know who's new puppy this is that they got bored with and sent back to the shelter. Unlike with the real puppy, there's no ethical failing here, but taking a first look at a PrP before it goes live lets me be ready for the secondary and tertiary effects it might have.
For starters it's your game, so please treat the following as an counter-argument rather than criticism. If what you're doing works for you and your players that's great, keep it up.
... But it seems like a counter intuitive way to look at PrPs. Look at how I read it: "Storytellers might run things to their conclusion so that several players involved enjoy the story but others who come too late to join the fun will ask staff to keep it going after some fashion. I'd rather make it harder for the first part to happen than have to deal with the second one."
When good plots are ran everyone wins. Dealing with the aftermath of plots is indeed a hassle but not having them in the first place is orders of magnitude worse. It'd be easier - for example - to ask STs if they don't mind answering a few late threads about their stories even if only to inform people any further trail has gone too cold (the mysterious muggers have gone to ground, the orcs have retreated to their mountain lairs, the cultists appear to all be dead) than to pre-empty the fun with red tapes and hoop jumping.
What I've found is that many people who want to run plot but don't are discouraged before they start. For the most part that's just jitters ("do I know the mechanics enough? What if someone uses powers/mechanics I'm not familiar with? Is my story fun enough?") which may or not be something others can help with - confidence is gained through practice - but anything added to the heap just makes it even more likely.
See, what you view as perfectly reasonable and benevolent approval process ("just talk to me, we'll figure it out") is very often seen as an obstacle, a reason for staff to look down at a creative task that's often fuzzy in the early stages. Having someone trying to poke holes into a plot before it even gets off the ground isn't fun, after all, and few people can take rejection or even constructive criticism well.
In my experience it's always better to go back and fix things that don't work than to not have things which do never get off the ground in the first place. I'll never get tired of saying this: Storytellers and coders are by far your scarcest resource as a game-runner, so the more staff can do to stay out of their way until something goes wrong or if they ask for help - as opposed to putting obstacles up - the better it is.
But as in all things your mileage may vary.
Commute etiquette violators irk me. The protocol for seating on peak hours is fairly simple; if a seat becomes available and you're the closest to it you look around - if there are elderly, disabled or pregnant people they get first dibs, else it's yours. If you're at an equal distance to the seat negotiate real quick (if the other person wants it it's theirs, whatever).
I was standing next to this lady today who, when she was about to stand, specifically called out to this other woman 3-4 meters away asking if she wanted to sit. They didn't even know each other! The second lady was carrying a cup of coffee but that's on her, dammit, and you don't get to pick who gets your seat. Dammit.
This violates all semblance of social order and urges a descent into anarchy and chaos.
<fistshake>
@Cupcake It seems to be a very odd series to be in if you're anything-phobic. There are several characters with different sexual orientations in it.
@Coin said in Finding roleplay:
@Arkandel said in Finding roleplay:
@Coin said in Finding roleplay:
monstruous
Hah-hah, you made a typo.
It's just an archaic spelling of monstrous. I didn't typo, I added the u deliberately, because I'm better than you.
Allow me to put the 'u' in 'fuck you' then. 