Posts made by Auspice

@Arkandel said in Getting Young Blood Into MU*'ing:

@Ghost said in Getting Young Blood Into MU*'ing:

But also, let's not gloss over issues the MU community needs to try to solve (to help keep new blood) by generalizing that all online cultures have problems, or by confusing the issue by claiming MUCK, MUD, MOO, MUX, etc all have entirely different cultures.

You're going too far, I think. Just the fact we have all these terms - MUCK, MUD, MOO, MUX - is a barrier to entry.

But it's not.

If you log onto a game like WoW (or another MMO), there is so much slang and weird acronyms and concepts. If it's your first time, the General chat is just a mass of confusing 'W2B BBQ WTF ASAP $$$555 SPM'

Yet new people join those games all the time. The 'lack of a common knowledge glossary' is not remotely a barrier to entry.

But speaking to @Ghost and his post: what most multiplayer games offer is a vacuum. I can log onto SWtoR and play without talking to anyone. I can team up with someone to clear out an area and never say a word.

They make it very easy for those who are anti-social and social to co-exist. And while people can go onto games and shut off all channels, page-lock the game........ by nature of what we do it's harder to be involved.

@Arkandel said in Embracing Rejection:

But there is a gray no-man's land in the middle where we're strangers, and 'rejection' can either lead to trust or very rapidly detract from it.

At the same time, if you go into an unknown game and assume the worst of staff: that trust will never occur.

Which is partly what I'm speaking to. When we are players, we need to extend at least a modicum of trust until/unless it is broken. Because when I am Staff and someone comes in right off the bat being aggressive and treating me as if I'm just an obstacle to be overcome... it hurts my trust.

And that's why I brought up the respect component. There needs to be respect of Staff and Staff needs to show respect to players.

@Tinuviel said in Getting Young Blood Into MU*'ing:

@Auspice said in Getting Young Blood Into MU*'ing:

'without a perfect description that covers even edge cases, we cannot have a consensus and thus must quibble over minutiae.'

Hey, that's my career you're talking about.

Get your RL out of our game.

But no, I was thinking about this more on the way to work and I actually found myself really annoyed. Not at the idea, but at this board.

Are we really trying to convince each other that not having a common lexicon across our hobby is why people don't play?

If I log into Fortnite, you bet your ass there's gonna be slang and acronyms that make zero sense to me. And it's sink or swim. No one's gonna hold my hand and explain every single one. But that game is popular as shit.

Take two MMOs and they will have a ton of differences: from how they do PvP to how the story is presented to.....

...but no one is sitting there saying 'Well, clearly ESO and FFXIV aren't MMOs because they're different than WoW.'

They're an MMO because they're a 'massively multiplayer online RPG.'

(And each of THEM is going to have its own 'culture,' set of terms, etc... even if there's crossover.)

I think we're inserting patent stupidity where there is none by thinking that we absolutely need must have agreed-upon terms for people to have fun and play.
(And yes, I know some of you will joke 'oh but people are stupid,' but I am talking a level beyond usual. If we treat all new people like they're too dumb to pick things up in context or simply ask 'Hey can someone explain 3PR?' then no fucking wonder we can't keep new players. No one wants to be treated like they're too dumb to tie their own shoes.)

@faraday said in Getting Young Blood Into MU*'ing:

If I'm wrong about that, then I'm at a loss to even define any common characteristic of all MUSHes, lol

Unfortunately, I don't think it'll happen either way. It seems to me another of those scenarios of 'without a perfect description that covers even edge cases, we cannot have a consensus and thus must quibble over minutiae.'

We're just on a roll for game theory lately. I love it.
Something I'd like to discuss: the role of Staff and players alike in handling app rejections.

I think we all suffer a measure of anxiety when we see our app was rejected. Even though I've had plenty of times where the rejection is Staff helping me tighten up or giving me insight on how I can improve where my character fits into the game, I still fret before reading it in a flash of 'oh god they hate me.'

And as app staff, I sometimes wring my hands before hitting enter on a rejection in a: 'oh god they're gonna think I hate them.'

As I said: I've had app rejections help me improve my character. Unfortunately, I've also had ones that were nothing but negativity.

Which comes to those 'roles' I was talking about.

I think it's the role of Staff to... make sure you start out the rejection response with what you liked. Paradox and I strive to always do this. (Between his being a teacher and my experience in corporate-level training, we're both familiar with the concept of feedback-with-compliments) 'We really like your concept of...' 'We love what you wrote in your background about...'

And the rejections/recommendations should always be made with a mind of what's best for the game. You might have a really cool app, but if it'd be a conflict for the game or turn out to be really difficult to play on the game, I'm going to deny it (as a hypothetical: someone could come in and give me the coolest app ever for a bartender in Colorado Springs, but I'd have to reject it because the person in question would get almost no RP).

Staff should also look for ways they can help players in the approval process. I don't mean 'page people while CGing to tell them what to do.' I mean if you look at an app (FS3 in this example) and they've spent only 38 of the 40 starting points and they have just a Competent in Athletics when you think their BG justifies a Great... tell them. I 100% have rejected more than one app on SGM just to say 'Hey, I think your character needs a higher score in <skill>.' Don't let someone hobble themselves out of the gate.

I think it's the role of Players to... gracefully accept a rejection. Approach it with the understanding that Staff is looking out for what's best for both you and the game. Respect their vision and go in with the (polite) expectation that they'll respect yours. It may require some meeting in the middle and you may give up a bit more ground than them, but in the end: it's their game.

Players should also understand that a rejection of their app isn't a rejection of them. It's not a 'you're bad and you should feel bad.' It's looking out for you to have the best experience possible. So yeah, feel bummed for a few minutes that your initial app wasn't approved, but then sit back, read over what they said, and try to apply it.

There's also nothing wrong with feeling a need to defend an idea. Maybe it just wasn't clear enough on the first time. If you absolutely feel your character needs that 3 in Basketweaving: say so. But for each thing you 'take,' there should be some 'give.' If you want Staff to give in to you, be willing to give in to them. 'Yeah, I see your point about my Legendary in Composure when I have an RP hook about having anger management issues. But I do feel that I need to be an expert in underwater basketweaving because of the years in Tibet learning from a monk. I've written more in my BG to expand on that.'

Players have a responsibility to make a character that fits into the game and approaches Staff's vision for the game.
Staff has a responsibility to help players make that character, while respecting the player's vision for the character.

And both have a responsibility to treat one another with respect.

I've been mulling this evening on character concepts and one I'm hung up on is the 'jack of all trades' or 'can do all the things' character.

I do not think these are done maliciously, but I've been mulling the why of it. And yes, while I do believe some cases are people just wanting to literally be able to do any/everything, I think it actually falls more into the following:

1- Being afraid of not being involved ('needed'). So instead of specializing, they try to be 'decent' at everything.
The problem here is that other players tend to not like these characters and avoid them. Understandably, IMO. When Bob-the-JoaT can do everything and Jane the specialist needs someone on a plot, she's scared to go to Bob because Bob can do ALL THE THINGS... including her thing.
So people taking this tact find themselves actually left out more as people go for other specialists.

2- Their concept isn't 'tight' enough. So they toss points here and there and over there because they only have a general idea of who/what their character is.
We've all done this one, I think. Where we have a vague idea and we're just trying to get through CG. So we're like ehhh iiiiiiis she 5-dots worth of that skill or should I hedge my bets with 3 and put another 2 here and another 3 there and another.....
I've learned to catch this in myself in FS3 at least. If I start out CG and pick out 2-3 stats to boost up first before filling in the others and BG skills around them, I know I've landed on a solid idea of who my character is and what role they're meant to fill.

Neither of the above is malicious or wrong, but I think both cases need firm guidance from app staff. 'Hey, we really love this part of your concept and background and think you should absolutely focus here.'

@Thenomain said in Consent in Gaming:

Be aware of bleed.
Be aware of your own feelings.
Become aware of others’ feelings.

honestly I feel like this is all we need 95% of the time.

That said:
The concept of 'consent' is sometimes a battle. Because some people wanna use it to escape consequences and then it can easily become a dirty word because that leaves everyone else feeling abused.

The approach SGM has taken is: you can step out of anything at any time, but it does not equal escaping IC outcomes. It just means no one can ever make you RP it out.

Don't feel comfortable RPing your character getting arrested after they stabbed someone in front of a cop? Okay. Cool. You don't have to. It happened off-camera. But you can't say 'No' to dealing with the consequences of your decisions.

(Now, obviously, players forcing bad shit on other players is a different story and covered under our 'no harassment' policy. But this is largely for 'consent to plot' so that's what I'm focusing on.)

@JinShei said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

@Auspice I've had to start having things delivered to work because "please don't leave on the doorstep where it can be stolen but put in this thing I have specifically put here for parcels with Parcels written on it" is too complex. They also left our gate open twice to let puppy onto the road. I flipped my shit then...

Ugggh.
My complex now (we didn't when @Ganymede tried sending me things!) has something called an 'Amazon Hub' which is like an Amazon Locker just for the complex. All deliveries (except oversized ones) go to it, not just Amazon.

The problem with my boots is they insisted they were in the locker. They were not. I even had to call Amazon Hub and get them to confirm and relay back to the other team. It was a mess. THANKFULLY only happened the once.

It makes me miss living in a house TBH. The house I had back in SC had a big porch and was set back enough from the road.

Honestly, I think 'MUSH' has become akin to 'bandaid' or 'kleenex' in that what was a brand name (a specific type of codebase) is now a common-use term.

I used to always differentiate (MUX, MOO, MUSH, MUSE, MUD..........) and I still often just say 'MU*' in the sense one might '*NIX' as a catchall for Linux/Unix/.....

@faraday may have hit it on the head: a MUSH is a game that emphasizes RP over code.

I don't know who plays Laurent on SGM, but this is a shout out (love letter?) to her.

She proved me wrong on the idea of voluntelling a player to be first to pose in a PRP and in the most wonderful way. I was very hesitant about the concept, but she's now utilized it twice and it worked beautifully. She didn't just tell them to pose: she gave them the tools they need. She chose a different person each time and it came across more as a highlight of the player rather than putting them on the spot.

But really, thank you for putting proof to concept in regards to asking someone to be first to pose in a scene and adding in that facet of telling them what you want to see in the pose. It worked far, far better than I thought it would and I am happy to admit I was wrong in my hesitation.

@Ganymede said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

@Auspice said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

But every so often, a delivery driver shows up at my door: 'Those were some of the best instructions I've ever had.' And I usually praise them for actually reading/following them.

Bitch, I sent you crackers and socks, and you didn't get shit.

Don't tell me them fools be good.

Oh, Amazon never is.
But every so often a Papa John's driver or DoorDash driver is.

I actually had a repeat of that at my security job this spring.
Ordered shoes for the job. Amazon insisted they were delivered. I insisted they weren't.
yadda yadda bought a new pair.

Three months later the original shows up at my door. ????

@Wretched said in Carnival Row:

@Auspice What special thing is in the basement?!

Elysium.

@Wretched said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

I'd like some reasonable boots once more, but i got them fat ankles.

I still have muscular thighs from my soccer days.
Best I can wear is combat boots.

Everything else is for dainty-legs.

I mean, there are boots out there for wider calves but it doesn't fall into the goth/punk spectrum that I lean toward.

@Derp said in Carnival Row:

@Runescryer said in Carnival Row:

Also, there's always the option of a player establishing their own, rival business.

This sounds all well and good until every single PC wants to run their own.

Learn from WoD games. Don't let them all have nightclub brothel apartments.

My nightclub brothel is also the local werewolf bar.

@Wretched said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

Also with delivery drivers that don't have to call me to find my apartment in this maze of a complex.

Of my friends who have visited my apartment complex, only one ever made it without having to call me and be guided in.

But every so often, a delivery driver shows up at my door: 'Those were some of the best instructions I've ever had.' And I usually praise them for actually reading/following them.

@krmbm said in How important is it to be 'needed'?:

We keep an up-to-date list of what concepts we think are most needed, open but overdone, closed until further notice, and (a very short list of) banned concepts.

This is almost exactly what I've done on SGM. I need to update the needed list (meant to add that to my to-do list, thanks for the reminder!), but I've absolutely been sliding things into the 'restricted' list based on being overdone. Because of that 'you CAN app this if you really want, but we're going to be extra critical and it's for YOUR benefit' factor.

As to whether or not people have more or less success picking up needed concepts than what they'd prefer to play? Enh. There are several characters on GH right now that I would have sworn would never get any traction, but now they're right there in the thick of things. And then there are several that were awesome concepts that I thought for sure would slot right into plots... and they wind up doing a few coffee shop scenes and wandering off. So it kinda seems like a crap-shoot.

So my feeling here is along these lines:
The person in the former category? Is probably playing what they want to play.
The person in the latter category? Was either trying a new-to-them idea or made a char that they thought the game needed, but wasn't their personal interest/forte.

On BSU, I tried playing a doctor. I rarely play medical types, but damnit I had an idea and I wanted to make myself expand my horizons. She was a really cool character with a great backstory and I absolutely got some amazing interpersonal RP in with the person who was hooked into her backstory....... but actual stuff relating to her being a doctor? I hated it. It just didn't work for me.

So yes, she was really cool. Had a lot of potential. But it just didn't work for me because.... I made a char that wasn't what I enjoy playing.

@Lychee-Bae said in Podcasts:

@Auspice You think people can't insert politics into fiction? Wew.

So how long until you start n-wording us?

@Seraphim73 said in Consent in Gaming:

aftercare

MUs are BDSM?

@Lychee-Bae said in Podcasts:

@Auspice how much do the people bring their politics into it?

It's a fictional podcast about supernatural events.

So: what politics?

@Wretched said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

@Ghost This was a good one, usually they waste 12 minutes finding veins and re stabbing me before getting help, this girl just got it in one go.

I went to the ER once for severe abdominal pain (this was about a year before they finally realized my gallbladder was trying to kill me). Had to get a CT with contrast.

Lady comes up on my left side.
Me: 'You're gonna want my right arm.'
Her: 'Oh, it's fine. I'm already setup over here.'
Me: 'No, really.'
Her: 'I know what I'm doing.'
Commence her trying inside my elbow, then below that, then below that... until she can't do that arm anymore. She goes to my right side: boom, first try, no problem.
Me: 'I told you.'
She huffed and scurried off and I was left answering questions at work the next three days because my left arm looked like someone had beat the shit out of me.