Posts made by Auspice

@RightMeow said in The Basketball Thread:

I know nothing of any sportsball things. But can I say I giggled at it being in 'tastes less gamey' - Like comeon, it's sports. It is a game.

I know it means not MU*, but it still made me giggle.

it and the football and such threads could prob survive being moved to the Other Games board, I agree.

ETA: ALL Non-MU* games used to live here. When I was an Admin, I made the Other Games board. I moved most stuff, but I missed sportsball. That's entirely on me.

@krmbm said in What Types of Games Would People Like To See?:

More games that just have humans as the playable race, please. No elves, werewolves, androids, whatever.

and here 1 out of about 10 people log on to SGM and are like 'oh, humans only? lemme know when I can play an alien.'

NO ONE IS EVER HAPPY.

@Ganymede only shuns me for romance.

@Cupcake said in The ethics of IC romance, TS, etc:

@Auspice But then it's not masturbation!

Well I meant when they stick their IC finger up your IC ass.

Semantics!

@teethteethteeth said in The ethics of IC romance, TS, etc:

When is the appropriate time to announce OOCly "I'm masturbating to this!" because I seem to get it wrong every time.

right when they stick their finger up your ass

@Seamus said in Tablet keyboard:

he uses this one

<looks at price>

Ugh so I had a case w/keyboard for my iPad because fuck yes I'm a writer and I can whip this shit out an-

that motherfucker stopped charging after a month. And I guess that's because I bought a $30 model instead of shelling out for one of the $50+ ones.

So I just bought a basic case for my tablet and I'm using a cheap (it doesn't do the trick lesbehonest) stylus and the Moleskine app for notetaking now while considering getting myself an Apple Pencil for Crimmas.

But if you find a good keyboard, @Arkandel, let a gal know.

@Ganymede said in The ethics of IC romance, TS, etc:

@Auspice said in The ethics of IC romance, TS, etc:

Sometimes, monogamy is the easy route even if I'm not always a huge fan (cause commitment is terrifying).

Monogamy is what I fall back to because I cannot be bothered to be polite or civil to more than one person in the span of a day.

Erin was always civil to Charlie.

@RDC said in The ethics of IC romance, TS, etc:

This whole thread is yet another reason why monogamy -astounds- and -confuses- me. I don't do it IC or IRL, and it kind of solves all these problems.

So I've mulled over this for a moment and I think @Arkandel is correct.

I've had my time as poly IRL. I've come to realize it's not for me, personally (but I do have a full understanding of it). However, I have played characters who are poly or who simply are happy having multiple partners (I have one right now, in fact).

Sometimes, it works out well (see: current character). However, I've had some go awry.

Scenario 1: (@Ghost in fact will remember this) We approach other person, say hey, thematically this is cool, we'd like to do this, are you OK with it? Nothing has been RP'd yet, nothing decided. Third party says yeah! I am! So we begin playing it out. Third party.... begins RPing as if she's being slighted, jilted, cheated on. Begins telling Ghost that he's triggering her RL issues from her husband cheating on her. Begins telling people OOCly that I like to 'ruin relationships.' What we were told and what happened? Totally different.

Scenario 2: Told player A 'hey, my character is poly, doesn't commit to one person,' A is cool with it. They start seeing B also, tell B the same thing. Both A and B (who didn't ICly know about each other but didn't NEED to) start trying to vie more and more and more for commitment, monogamy, my time IC and OOC, until I had to break it off with both.

I think Scenario 2 is much more common than 1 at least. 1 was a nightmare. 2, however, is sadly not a solution. When we really really like an RP partner, we can get clingy to them. And this isn't just for romance. I've had people do it to me just over 'friendship' or adventuring or...

Sometimes, monogamy is the easy route even if I'm not always a huge fan (cause commitment is terrifying).

@Rinel

@Ghost said in The ethics of IC romance, TS, etc:

@Auspice and I have a long history of her going "Dude, I warned you. You gotta stick to people you know" with me replying "I KNOW BUT... I should just be able to RP with whoever comes along but but but..."

It's true.
Oh lawwwwwwwd it's true.

So many times of @Ghost being like 'hey Auspice check out this red flag'

Me: 'Dang, that's a big red flag, maybe you should call the play.'
Ghost: 'But it could be an interesting story.'

Couple weeks later....
Ghost: 'Hoooooooooooooooly shit have I got a story for you.'
Me: .oO(HERE WE GO AGAIN.)

I love Ghost, but his desire to keep OOC/IC separate makes him ignore some big ol' red flags.

This is why I do stick to certain people I know and can trust for stuff like relationship RP. Because it's a big ol' field of landmines. Sometimes I step out of the comfort zone and take a chance (and the last time I did that did lead to one of my best damn friends so hey sometimes it does work!), but for the most part, I'd rather leave some of the riskiest fucking RP to where I know it'll be safe.

@Arkandel said in The ethics of IC romance, TS, etc:

Just to be clear, what I meant was things happening IC that are wrong OOC, but which both players involved consent to.

Players have consented to rape scenarios.
This is a whole thing on games like Shang.

If all the players involved are OK with it, go for it.

I mean, for fuck's sake, I've had a werewolf bring live animals to her vampire lover so they could kill them and fuck in the warm blood and guts. I imagine there are vegans/PETA types who would be utterly appalled by that even if I find it kind of amazing to think about in that part of my mind that loves horror.

@Ghost said in The ethics of IC romance, TS, etc:

We had some good times. Success story. High five. Zero RL tension. Hooray for writing fucking stories.

That story, btw, ended up exactly where I hoped. Like, it's rare you can pull that kind of thing off on games. So many 'romance' stories just go 'RP a few weeks, forever in love, cuddle on couch and fuck everyday.' I love that they got into some rough times, one went off to cheat, they had a HUGE FIGHT DESTROYING A CABANA and had to figure out how to get back on track over the course of months. It was perfect. It's why I miss it.

@Arkandel said in The ethics of IC romance, TS, etc:

If your PC is going to cheat IC on another character do you feel obligated to let your partner's player know?

Yes.

Because it might be uncomfortable RP for them. They can 'opt out.' Not they can tell me I'm not allowed, but they can decide: hey, I'd rather our characters break up than continue down this path.

Gonna CALL SOMEONE OUT here, but not in a negative way, in a 'how this worked out' way. @Ghost and I had characters together on 5th World (and it was awesome; they were destructive but supportive but awesome but romantic and I honestly miss Nitrim and Cyrielle sometimes I will be totally honest). During a rough time in their relationship (when Nitrim was shutting Cyri out because he was going off doing dangerous shit and thought he was doing the right thing by not keeping her in the loop), she went and found comfort in a friend that turned into 'more than' a shoulder to cry on. I was OOCly communicative with everyone involved. The friend knew OOCly that it was just a 'fling' IC. Ghost knew, OOCly, that she was cheating.

And for all that he talks a big game now, he got anxious back then. But we're talking something that was 7 years ago so y'know what? I 100% believe he's changed and grown and gone through shit since then (I know I have!). But back then I'd totally get anxious, uncertain pages some days of 'Hey, is everything okay? She's not leaving him, is she?' They never felt CLINGY or NEEDY or like OOC BOUNDARIES were crossed, but more like weather checks. And he might feel called out right now (sorry boo), but I share this because I never felt bad responding to them.

They actually cemented my belief in being communicative is a good thing because in the end, when Nitrim found out about the cheating and they had it out, their fight was epic (esp. considering they both had POWERS) and their road back to their relationship was hard, but holy shit was good RP. I loved every minute of it. I wouldn't change it for anything. And honestly?

I don't think it would have been achieved if I hadn't communicated with everyone involved every step of the way.

Do you think you are responsible for a character whose roleplay is related to yours if your paths are to separate? In other words do you feel guilty someone else's PC might become quote/unquote unplayable because of your IC choices?

Fuck no. See above re: communication. If I communicate it and they don't work out ahead of time that it might be an issue?

Two poss. scenarios:

Me: My character is gonna murder these dudes in front of your PC.
Them: Cool, OK.
Two weeks later....
Them: I can't play my character anymore because that scarred my PC for life!

Nope. Not my fault. They had the opportunity to opt out.

C-O-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-I-O-N.

Now if someone says 'hey I'm not cool with this' and you force it on them anyway? Yeah. That's on you. Fuck you.
(But also they prob shoulda logged out and 'Bye Felicia'd your ass.)

Very closely related to the above, what if the choice that takes a PC mostly off the table is OOC? For instance if you stop being active on my PC's spouse to play an alt with Theno's PC. Do I have the moral high ground to get pissed off?

It depends? Like did you tell me? Did we talk about it? Or are you avoiding me?
Like do I get to login every day and see you on that alt? Did I page you a couple times (not advocating constant pestering here, just a page or maybe @mail) to ask 'Hey can we schedule some RP?) to only be ignored?

Because if you're ignoring me then I'mma move on and get my rocks off to someone else.

When it comes to TS what's the correct way to suggest it? Do you let the RP become more explicit until the big words come out or you get told no? Do you page the other player first and explicitly ask if they want to do it? Something else?

Eh. I'm still figuring this one out. Sometimes I will straight up page someone and be like 'yo, I think our chars are compatible' and sometimes I just see if the RP goes that way.

I have no idea which works better, tbh.

Assuming OOC consent between adult players is there anything in an IC relationship, including TS, that you consider unethical? No, I'm not going to give examples since I'm keeping this classy! But you can.

I think this is a ymmv and depends on a whole lot of things. I mean, it depends on setting, theme, the characters involved. You're talking about IC here after all. What one character considers unethical another may not, right?

@Thenomain said in General Video Game Thread:

don't think that people remember that the limited selection of buggy games gave us classics like Bloodlines. Good writing, developed world, and a game that was buggy and yet somehow still playable? We should be so lucky to get games that we want to play this badly.

Right. And this is why well yes, I am at the delay, I am also entirely okay with it. Developers need to have no shame in delays to put out a functional game.

@Rinel said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:

Update: fuck the heebies and the jeebies I just churned out a notice with two incorporated motions LIKE A BOSS

I AM (occasionally) UNSTOPPABLE

sometimes you are a smol bird in a big bird costume?

@deadculture said in All Our Heroes:

any decision that doesn't work or can't be implemented should be overturned for something that works and is easily implemented.

I 100% agree with this.
Sometimes a concept doesn't work. Sometimes what works in theory doesn't in practice.
No plan survives first contact with the players and this goes not only for plot, but also for policy.

@Ghost

they delayed it to make it a better game.
look it'll still be out in a shorter timeframe than anything Onyx Path ever does.

What is the responsibility of leaders to check themselves on policy vs opinion?
What is the responsibility of players to call out leaders on bad opinions?

IRL, we clearly have no problem doing this. Particularly for leaders we dislike (hello China, Trump, NKorea...), but even for leaders we like (we would agree with Obama most of the time, but there were decisions he made that we'd go 'hey now, that wasn't cool' and voice our disapproval in public spaces such as Twitter and Facebook). It's part of what we do as society.

However, on MUs, we often don't do this. The need/want to fit in (particularly when a PC leader is seen as a route-to-staff or even a staff alt) causes us to often fall in line, even for things we disagree with.

So often I witness situations in which a PC leader will give an opinion and it gets followed as if it were law, even if PCs would otherwise disagree with it. To give an example:

A Lance Prince (Archbishop!) is sitting around and says: 'You know, I think we really ought not use junkies as herds.'
It's not declared law in the City. It's simply an opinion.
But those sitting with him, knowing he's the Prince, knowing he has sway and power and is OOCly bffs with the Vamp TL ICly go: 'Yeah, totally. We'd never do that!'

Next thing you know, word goes around. 'Don't use junkies as blood bags!'*
And PCs with Herd (Junkies) merits start getting the side eye.

It's not a Law.
There's nothing against it.

OOCly, some people are actually kinda pissed. They've even +requested from Staff and had it clarified: 'There's no rule against it. You're totally fine. This is perfectly acceptable IC. Some people might not like it.'

But ICly, the atmosphere is: this is super bad, you should never do this.

And when those people try to speak up IC: 'Hey, I'm well within my rights, this is fine' they find themselves ICly dogpiled and even ostracized, threatened with being staked, cast out, etc., as if it were a law and suddenly they find themselves facing a decision: do I keep fighting this (because I'm not breaking any rules IC, because I'm within my rights, I'm correct, and I paid for a merit) even though it's exhausting... or do I go with mob rule?

I see this happen often on games. Very, very often.
Hell, I've been on both sides: the side going along with something because I don't wanna be the weed that gets cut down and the side fighting back because goddamnit that was just an opinion not law. And you know what? The latter fucking sucks. It's exhausting.

So what this comes down to is:

• How much responsibility is on the PC leader to weather check or make it clear between opinion and law?
• How much responsibility is on players to make sure they always play right and are as opinionated as they'd be IRL, even though we all have that desire to fit in (and not risk OOC ire from players/Staff)?
• Is there a safe/healthy way to find a middle ground and what is it?

*ffs don't argue the semantics of the scenario. I know a proper Lance Prince would be unlikely to give this edict. It's a HYPOTHETICAL you knobs.