These are the situations I tell people when they ask about writing professionally.
The 'could you do this and not hate everything?'
I can which is why I do write freelance (and am hunting for a prof. gig), but man it makes me wanna shake the person who allowed such copy like a polaroid.
@Ninjakitten said in If you work hard, son, maybe someday you'll RP:
...okay, so it only shows up for Open scenes, not private ones, even if it's your private scene, looks like? But on my tests it didn't show up anywhere I could find on the Active Scenes page regardless, which I'm almost positive more people use to look for one. I saw the post way too late to be able to check Auspice's.
It only works for open scenes, yes (and I messaged faraday to confirm this). I pulled that screenshot from my alt because I wanted to make sure it was visible from !your PC.
@too-old-for-this said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:
@aria Might I suggest 'splurging' on your own car code reader? It will let you scan the computer when the check engine light comes on so you can tell them exactly what's wrong. They aren't terribly expensive anymore and you can snag one off Amazon with good ratings.
The HouseHold Hacker guys reviewed one recently that they said was really good. If I can find the video, I'll link it! It was surprisingly affordable.
ETA: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FKDFYZ3/ $29
They were rather surprised by it. They checked it against a full read out of their vehicle and it matched, so they said it's worth the price to keep on hand.
@krmbm said in If you work hard, son, maybe someday you'll RP:
@faraday said in If you work hard, son, maybe someday you'll RP:
And you get to RP any NPC at any time as befits the game.
I suppose there are some staffers out there who get their jollies NPCing Princess Leia in a medal ceremony, but most of us find it to be a terrible chore.
I assume this is where the "NPCs are PCs, too!" argument came to life. I am not a fan of this argument.
Unfortunately there have been Staffers out there (Sylph of Ennersea is a very good example) who have taken their special plot NPCs and just eased into them being their own personal PCs until it became a sort of brand.
But this sort of dovetails into the post I just made in the peeves thread: we can't assume 'just because X person did it years ago' (or even a few people over the years have done it!) 'every single person I ever encounter will do it'.
Have another vegan/cruelty-free brand: https://www.blackmooncosmetics.com
Closer to UD in prices, but: https://www.blackmooncosmetics.com/collections/black-metals/products/emperor
Lookit dat shit.
@faraday said in Difference between an NPC and a Staff PC?:
@Kitty-Kat said in Difference between an NPC and a Staff PC?:
That said, I think before making any Staff NPC as a character bit, you need to really ask yourself if it could be accomplished by using your staff bit, and some emotes.
I tend to make my recurring NPCs as character objects, mainly because it's easier to pose them that way and I don't have to fix a bunch of logs where I accidentally said: "Faraday steps up to the podium..."
The character object is just a tool. It's how you use it that matters.
It also, on platforms like Ares, gives a very convenient place to attach logs.
@ganymede said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:
These are just transparent assholes to me.
Dat mental imagery tho
@Tinuviel said in Difference between an NPC and a Staff PC?:
@Auspice said in Difference between an NPC and a Staff PC?:
some people can't handle multiple scenes at once.
And some people don't appreciate people they're with being in multiple scenes.
(actually I've never multi-scened when we RP)
I've been doing the curbside pickup at Walmart because if your order is over $50, there's no added fee. And as far as I have been able to tell, prices are the same as in-store. So it's just... a lot easier on my legs to do it that way (and cuts down on impulse buys!). I mean, I get groceries twice a month and I've gone from $80-100 per down to $60-80 per. So it's def. helping.
But today I discovered... I had the store brand for two items and they were marked as substitution-OK. They got substituted (for name-brand items) and I got charged only for the original cost.
I don't know if this was a slip-up on their part or standard procedure, but I know Instacart never did that. If it got substituted, you paid the price of the new item (which caused me to watch things like a hawk when they were shopping because their shoppers often grabbed ridic things that were like 'Oh, the $4 one isn't available so here I'll grab this $12 one that's twice the size!').
Regardless. I'm happy about it. Got everything I needed and at the original cost (well, not counting the must-be-weighed produce but that's to be expected).
Yeeeeah, but that sort of reads like (I mean really? 'dereliction of duty'?): if you staff and run NPCs then you absolutely must be willing to run multiple scenes at once or else you are a bad staffer and uh
Dude.
You're better than this.
Because there is no fucking way I am running a +event in one window and then multiple NPC scenes in other windows 'just because' the tools exist.
You know what doesn't exist? My mental capacity to do so.
@tinuviel said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:
@arkandel said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:
The holiday season is usually reserved for tech requests by friends and family. "Hey, can you fix my computer issue? It will only take you a second!".
When I worked in IT (I was but a cable monkey and occasional hell-desk occupant) and my family would ask such questions, I'd charge them for the full hour. Even if it only took a few minutes. Stopped the requests soon after.
Thankfully, my father is a developer. They assume guy with CS degree will be able to fix all the IT issues, not realizing that dev is a totally different beast and while MOST people in dev keep up with stuff, not all do. My dad is totally capable, but when it comes to pure tech stuff, I'm better.
But the family all still flocks to him. It at least means if/when he shops out to me for answers, I'm dealing with someone who knows what they're doing. I don't have to give the step-by-infuriating-step details, just the 'Oh yeah, go into the settings and change <X>.' reply.
On that food front: my boss is a big guy. And not just sort of broader-built-bigger-naturally... Like, they had to special order a chair for him, big. And he's sort of unrepentant about it, too. Like, I get being comfortable in your own skin, but when you're management and your office is such a mess from all the bags of food you haven't thrown away, food stuff on the ground, etc. that no one wants to be in there (the other day he complained it's because there's no trash can 'on hand,' I pointed out that we all walk right by a big one every day to/from our room... lot of my coworkers privately mentioned later they thought it hilarious that I called him out).
Anyway. This guy is the sort who will message people on their way in to work asking if they'll pick food up for him. If you work a full shift with him, you'll see him eat 3-4 times. Like, full meals. I've seen him take snacks off of other peoples' desks, insist he'll replace it later (people who aren't in the office), and then never do so and claim innocence when they ask what happened to it.
But the worst, the worst is that he is constantly trying to weigh in and lecture people on their eating habits and diets. Like, @Arkandel knows what he's talking about. That's clear enough. But I don't want someone who eats fast food 2-3 times a day trying to tell me that my meal isn't good enough (I usually have a sandwich, carrots, and either an orange or pretzels depending on mood for lunch). Esp. when it's usually 'you should buy <whatever frozen diet meal he's into right now>.'
I'm sick of it, but really I'm sick of him. For so many reasons. But the slob behavior and the need to comment on everyone's eating habits are big ones.
@krmbm said in Difference between an NPC and a Staff PC?:
@Thenomain said in Difference between an NPC and a Staff PC?:
There is so much packed in that statement that I'm just going to leave it there and walk slowly away, around the corner, and break into a flat-out run.
Well, now you have to fail weyrlinghood and do the entire 12 weeks over again.
Poor weyrlinghood experiences are, I swear, why a great many people idle out before they graduate.
@puppybreath said in Want To Move to Austin?:
I'm still trying to get to Austin, but I have a giant dog and two cats, so I'm not a good fit.
It's a long ways off, but next November I'll prob roommate-shop myself (when my lease is up). I would not be opposed to finding a house to rent that can handle a handful of critters. 
After a couple decades I finally got my dream gold and the game died during weyrlinghood so.
Fun times.
I'd transfer her somewhere if there were somewhere to go. I liked being SearchCo during the days I did that on StS and HT. Designing dragons for people was hella fun.
@livia said in Want To Move to Austin?:
@auspice I see how it is you just want me for my train games :<
I want you for more than your train games.
...but they are a bonus. >.>
I will make dragons for y'all.
My favorite to this day was the Maleificent-inspired green. She was amazing.
ETA: that I wrote for someone else that is. My favorite that I received was my bronze on HT.
@Sunny said in Difference between an NPC and a Staff PC?:
I completely agree. I just have a different perspective than the community on it; I'd rather fire the unethical staffer every single time than make a particular plot element off limits.
I'm not saying omg no sexual aspects in plot.
On Reno there was a plot where one of the PCs slept (off camera) with a plot NPC (only existed for the plot). All happened off camera AFAIK and was kind of humorous in context..
I am totally ok with that. It was hilarious and fit with the plot.
What I'm not OK with is long-term exclusive relationships with Staff NPCs be they romantic or not (like my protégé example). Because that's something inaccessible to other players. It's elevating one player beyond everyone else and giving them something no one else can have on a long-term basis.
You used games like SWtOR or DA in previous examples: that works there because YOU are the singular player. In ME, I can hit up Jack because it's just her and me. But on a MU not everyone can hit that because she is one jealous B.
but why can't we RP toothbrushing together all the time?!
