Posts made by Arkandel

Out of this thread's overall context, but if anyone wants to reach me outside of MSB - Arkandel#5389 .

SPOILER FREE review of Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness.

This was very much a Sam Raimi movie. The effects were spectacular (I think the best visuals than any Marvel movie) but many scenes were so clearly all him. His fingerprints were all over this. It was as distinctly his film as Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok.

I quite enjoyed it. So many references. Probably the most meta movie. It gave nerds so much to talk about.

Have fun, folks!

@icanbeyourmuse The main upside of a place like MSB is that it's accepted all comers; it's been a neutral ground. Posters sometimes barely tolerated each other - but they did tolerate each other. Different cliques sometimes clashed but ultimately persevered.

In my opinion we should not be splintering off. If we do then it beats the point. If there are multiple places to post then there's no central hub for everyone to come 'home' to once they are done playing a specific game. If you need to be friends or be liked by whoever is in charge then there goes free speech. And the sense of history and community is based on a central identity across all games; I might play different characters on different games and be known by different names, but they go away when I stop. @arkandel on MSB is one person - one identity - with a history that goes back months or even years.

I hope y'all weather this. But if not, that'd make me sad - but it's okay, too.

I hear y'all are slut shaming. This is the only acceptable way to slut-shame.

Also even that is wrong. That poor Roomba is doing good work. Shame on you.

@runescryer So far I've watched Moon Knight and it was okay, but it hasn't grabbed me. But I'm one (two, now) episodes behind.

I hope this does the trick.

@buttercup said in The hog pit thread titled Admin Derp:

Their board? Their rules? Isn't that what is preached on Arx deeming content? Is skirting around a locked thread to complain ban worthy?

The list of things one can get banned from MSB for is pretty short. They are all like "don't be a complete creep", and have nothing to do with bypassing locked threads.

@pyrephox And, just like in sci-fi, discussing tribalism in a completely different context can be interesting (at least in my opinion) not to reflect existing real world issues but to examine them from a different point of view.

For instance portraying a patronizing long-lived race whose numbers are dwindling down can lead to some genuinely intriguing encounters. Do they value their life more than a human's since it's so much more of a rare commodity?

Or examining what it means to transition from one group to another - something we cannot do in the real world. You become a vampire and your existence spans into centuries rather than decades; how long before you start counting yourself a member of another group? How does it affect your thinking? Is the human mind even able to stretch without going insane, can our memories last that long?

I think it's when players play these completely different races exactly the way they'd do a human, except they have long ears or whatever, that this breaks down.

@misadventure said in Races in fantasy settings:

I have been told that at one time (at least European) people identified more by Religion and culture than physical traits.

At one time ?

I assure you, having grown up in the Balkans, that's exactly how it is today and has been for... a long time. Physically there are nearly no difference between my countrymen and most of the neighboring countries (which, given the volatility in where borders were drawn over the last few millennia is probably to be expected). Hell, many of our religions are basically the same with just cosmetic differences (language, etc).

There is a lot of racism goin' on. So much racism.

Please note this thread was created in the 'Mildly Constructive' section. If it goes off the rails I'll ask admins to lock it. I hope it doesn't!

So I laughed earlier at this LotR meme on my FB feed - something about an Elf shaking a Dwarf's hand in superiority to humans but then needing to wash his hands.

How do you feel about racism in fantasy gaming? For example D&D is moving away from racial modifiers. Do you think such efforts have an effect and if so, is it a positive one?

Does this sort of thing matter to you?

@zombiegenesis Goddamit, you lie.

@coin It will. In the past there was just very little choice. You either had cable (for example) or you had whatever your antenna could deliver... or no TV at all.

These days either someone needs to figure out some kind of bundled service for all of these completely different streaming companies (Netflix, Prime, HBO+, Disney, etc) which from what I see is fucking unlikely to happen or whoever has a bit of know-how will just pirate the crap out of content.

With Netflix, at least for many people - myself included - it was just... the convenience. It was easier to pay $13/month or whatever to have a lot of crap at my disposal. Some of it (other streamers taking back the rights to stream shows and TVs for themselves) isn't really Netflix's fault... but a lot of it, such as canceling good shows definitely is.

Not quite "TV" per se, but...

... Netflix sure seems to be going down fast. Many people are hoisting their colors and sailing the high seas in response to the streaming services fragmenting so much that subscribers are asked to join several of them to keep up.

What's your take on it?

@coin said in Is Min/Max a bad thing?:

Did I do it wrong.

Without reading the rest of the post, almost certainly!

@jennkryst said in Is Min/Max a bad thing?:

This is just the social combat argument again, bushi/shugenja faking they have good social stats and only spending XP on combat... and I wasn't the one to bring it up!

I want to object to this very specific point.

No one says combat characters need to fake having good social skills. They can certainly mix it up, play to their weaknesses, commit the occasional blunder or put their foot in their mouth and it can be fun for everyone involved. After all it's fairly rare for someone to catastrophically damage their character's prospects simply by not being good at the talkytalk stuff. Sure, you can come off as an idiot or the Duchess might facepalm but even that can be an opportunity to create more RP down the line.

I'd assert it's in combat where this problem is, not the social arena. It's fights which, very damn often on MU*, are fought to the death - and you can lose your character to some thug in an alley if you aren't careful. In nWoD for example once there are enough dice out there a less capable character can get one-shot quite easily; all it takes is for the ST to tailor the encounter for your Brujah friend but make one of those monsters target your PC before it's lights out.

In other words a min/maxed warrior type can get very decent mileage out of social situations even if they play their low stats very appropriately - no faking involved. A min/maxed scholar can get their ass handed to them in very short order.

@tinuviel said in Is Min/Max a bad thing?:

@insomniac7809 Even worse is when you make that erudite natural philosopher that's so-so at the blade, and it turns out every "investigation" or "diplomatic" scene winds up with combat because the ST doesn't know how to do anything other than say roll initiative.

That's the thing about MU*, too. Making combat-oriented character pays off.

It's simple logistics. Creating a plot about fighting evil orcs is easy, and it's hard to disappoint your audience.

On the other hand creating a plot based on politics is hard since the GM needs to know the setting well, and possibly coordinate with factions and/or staff. Creating a plot tailored to specific characters requires talking to them first, becoming familiar with their backgrounds. Etc.

Ergo, most plots will have the party fighting Orcs of some sort. So if you create a character able to do so well, you'll fit in and be useful in most of those plots.

Extra points on MU* - your fighty character with low social/mental stats can be charming anyway. It's not even cheating (well, not necessarily). A great RPer can make playing with their well-meaning dimwit a blast, whereas an iffy one's suave noble can come across as dull through their actual poses. So you might not even be giving anything up to play that master of the blade.

@pyrephox said in Is Min/Max a bad thing?:

And in MU*s, I notice this is promoted by people who ask for/demand a certain skill level before even letting you into a plot or giving you RP. Hell, even on ARES, with F3S - which is NOT a particularly 'high threshold' system - I've had to shut someone down because they wanted to find the mechanically "best" person to take on a plot scene, rather than base it on RP factors.

I think this sounds like the 'arms race' phenomenon I had seen before in nWoD MU*.

Aside from the other, social factors, it can be devastating to the entire game if left unchecked. If Big Puncher (or Rich Noble, Vampire Hypnotist, etc) get significantly more RP simply for having those stats, but playing a chef just... doesn't, then you aren't going to see chefs getting rolled. You won't see much of anything rolled other than the specific archetypes the game - quite possibly inadvertently - promotes.

And that can and does affect the overall theme.

@greenflashlight That's definitely something I've seen too. In my case it wasn't done intentionally, the GM had fucked up and given a character who could punch really well some enchanted punching gloves... and he started just blasting.

One of the issues I've seen in MU* is when min/maxing has a cascading arms-race effect. Meaning that a couple of players make very effective combat characters and then STs have a choice; either they balance their encounters based on those, which means the bad guys can pretty much one-shot 'regular' characters, or they don't and those few outliers go through fights like they're the Hulk fighting bank robbers. It tends to force other other players to make a choice - either keep up, or... don't.

Hey,

I was reading this thread on Reddit : https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/u9r9xa/heres_some_of_the_reasons_why_i_prefer_dming_for/

How do you feel about min/maxing in either table top or MU*? What are the upsides or downsides that form your opinion on the matter?

@silverfox said in Good TV:

The emotions went from, "Fuck off, I'm insulted," to "That was amazing and I need more right now."
...
So yeah, I recommend it. But totally okay if it's a 'yeah no' for people too.

I've a question! With a built-in preemptive apology if I misread your post.

Do folks mind it so much if their profession is not represented accurately or even respectfully in TV or movies? Because I've heard similar comments to people close to me about, for example, the animal services field, medical professionals in general, etc.

The reason I ask is that I'm in IT. And a whole lot of my field is either portrayed in a hilariously incorrect way (hacking, development, the time it takes to do stuff, even the scope of what computer professionals do since apparently we're also experts in not just every aspect of our own field but everything from DNA evidence to nuclear physics), or is openly mocking us for being introverts, basically on the spectrum as a whole, etc. I figure lawyers are on the same boat or a very similar-looking vessel.

Anyway, my point here is these things doesn't bug me, it's just... kinda funny to see the tropes play out the way they do. I guess I'm also pretty used to it by now since that's been the portrayal in media since the 80s.

Do y'all mind much if your profession is butchered a fair bit in its fictional portrayal, either for comedy material but even in more serious material?