Posts made by Auspice

https://imgur.com/gallery/2O1Ov

Just a reminder of the spoiler tag .

***=Dis one***

for The Last Jedi tomorrow.

Be nice to your fellow MSB-ers yeh?

@glitch said in Alternative Formats to MU:

@auspice Yes, your anecdotal evidence is the correct basis for all the factual statements you've made in your posts so far in this thread. The sheer disrespect and dismissiveness of those not in this hobby, but perhaps interested, matched to the misplaced sense of writing superiority, is infuriating. I'm obviously of the belief that telnet is no longer where I'd like to see the hobby go, but when you adamantly state it's not for you, I can't say I'll be sorry if that turns out to be true.

Someone more even-tempered at the moment might suggest that they hope you're so impressed by new developments that you change your mind, but I think your attitude toward new people will only ever be detrimental. And I'd rather take my chances with them.

This is the most politely worded "Fuck off" I've ever received. Thank you for your time and effort

I support Faraday's efforts on Ares and the web portal. We've had arguments on it, yes. And some things still frustrate me. Even with the web cg. I wish that was all on one page or didn't require reloading between tabs, but it's getting there (I know it's still in development, after all).

But a lot of her work is actively in support of RP and not just for the shiny. That's what I'm trying to say. I don't want change just for the sake of change. I want to see things developed that encourage and enable rp.

I hate logging. I always have. I do not log. I do not edit logs. I do not post them. You have to really pressure me. Except with her scene system. I love it. I sing its praises. And that love goes beyond the logging. I hate big grids. I think people need more freedom to pick where they rp. More flexibility. I get lost on grids and when there's only a few rp rooms, all full... It's like fuck, now what? I'll lose my desire to rp before I ever get oriented. Her system gets rid of that issue.

She's made solutions within the framework that has encouraged more role play. The thing we're here for. I support this.

My favorite thing on these forums is when people are allowed to use hyperbole extensively for themselves, but they get so bent out of shape when someone else uses it.

Of course other people are writing. I was a municipal liaison for NaNoWriMo for years. I have, for my job, moderated forums.

But the numbers of people who are writing is on the decline.

At the kick-off for NaNo in Austin this year, do you know how many were present that were under the 25~ range?

Two.

I met them both (teenagers love me despite my being terrified of them).

But here's the secret:
They don't use tumblr or forums or similar because of the tools.

They use them for the same reason most of us began MU*ing back in the day. They can dive right in. There's no extensive application process. No back and forth. No sheets. No backgrounds. No poorly designed website to dig through to learn an original theme setting.

They just see a post on a forum of 'I want someone to RP with, here's my character: <two sentence description>' and boom, off they go.

We used to just dive in, often with just a name and description, in an established setting.

Places like Shang flourish because it's the same thing. You can have a single name there and be anyone you wish; just jump in and RP with someone, be it sex or not.

The barrier isn't the tools. It's the approach to how we play.

My argument is that you are not going to win over college kids with 'Look! We made a slick and cool iPhone app that's just like an MMO to roleplay on!'

By and far, college kids aren't reading and writing like they used to. This is fact.

It's not a matter of 'Kids are reading and writing, we just need to put on cool sunglasses and win them over, guys!'

We're standing around trying to design a new logo for an outdated product when they don't want the product to begin with. This is Marketing 101 and we are failing. If they want our product, they will find it, regardless.

Improve the product for the people already using it, not a userbase that doesn't exist. And don't give the middle finger to that userbase. I hate using a mouse. I do and structure everything I can to avoid using one; I always have. It sets off cubital tunnel issues that have only gotten worse over the years. So yes, I am going to rail hard against people going (more or less) 'I want this button and that button and to click this and to click that and to have to click things for everything except my poses.'

Phone screens are big, but the idea of swiping this way and that doesn't seem like it'll save much territory on top of scrolling by typing exit names? It's just 'new for the sake of new.'

The core of MU is roleplay. None of this enhances or speaks to that core. What would bring people in for roleplay? What are barriers to roleplay? It was brought up earlier, a few things:

• Difficult CGs (a web form only gives this a new interface; it doesn't make the core of CG easier)
• Long wait times for approval (this is on individual staff)

Those are just a couple that have been brought up in this thread. Once people get past the 'shiny and new,' what's going to keep them around? It's not the bevel on the buttons. It's the roleplay and the people on the game.

@meg said in Alternative Formats to MU:

@auspice Why would this need to eliminate phone MU? Or using not a mouse?

Actually, with AngularJS, I can implement so much more in terms of touch-responsive UI. I could, hell, integrate a swipe left, swipe right, swipe up, swipe down motion to move your character through the grid. How fucking awesome would that be?

Because how often do we actually remember to make things backwards compat? Or fully inclusive?

Or do we just focus on the 'new-new'?

Two decades of MU* and behind me are dozens of half-finished, abandoned projects that largely got abandoned because the 'new' part got 90% done, the backwards compatibility never got finished and all the people who needed it left, so the overall project got ditched and... so on.

The other big thing to consider: inclusivity. I've known a lot of people over the years who MU* because they are blind and it's a game they can play. How many of these shiny new things could they utilize with the same ease? Screen readers could pick them up, but not as fluidly as a MU* client's screen.

@roz said in Alternative Formats to MU:

@auspice said in Alternative Formats to MU:

If you want Discord-style 'chat' for your roleplay, why not just go and start roleplaying there? I mean, people have been roleplaying in places like that for a while now.

Single-sentences, rapid-fire RP. 'Mary giggles.' 'Bob smiles.' 'Ryan says, 'Let's go.' 'Mary says, 'Okay.' 'Bob goes over there.' 'Ryan follows.'

You too could be part of that engaging environment!

If an interface of buttons and drop-down menus is what you need for the future of your roleplay, it's out there. If you need avatars, it's out there, too. There's MMOs with roleplay servers.

I just happen to think the crux of MU*ing happens to be the actual writing aspect of it. And the more we obsess over what buttons we're clicking (or not), the further we drift away from that.

And maybe I'm alone in that thinking, which makes me kind of sad.

I think this is a pretty unfair representation of the conversation going on. We're talking about how and why to develop a better, more user-friendly experience for the kind of RP we already have. No one is saying the writing isn't important. We're saying that the user experience of getting to that "actual writing aspect" could be improved in a way that would make it easier to use and more welcoming to new people who might enrich the hobby.

People do not read:
http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/many-college-students-are-book-virgins
https://www.sott.net/article/354868-Book-virgins-College-students-who-have-never-finished-reading-a-book
https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2016/04/why-many-college-students-never-learn-how-to-write-sentences/

They do not write.

You are trying to bring people that do not exist into a hobby by alienating the people that do.

You want to add ultimately pointless bells and whistles to things that will eliminate the people that phone MU.
You want to cut out the people that prefer (or can't for health reasons) not to use a mouse just to RP.

All to gain the one or two college kids that actually do enjoy reading and writing?

If you want Discord-style 'chat' for your roleplay, why not just go and start roleplaying there? I mean, people have been roleplaying in places like that for a while now.

Single-sentences, rapid-fire RP. 'Mary giggles.' 'Bob smiles.' 'Ryan says, 'Let's go.' 'Mary says, 'Okay.' 'Bob goes over there.' 'Ryan follows.'

You too could be part of that engaging environment!

If an interface of buttons and drop-down menus is what you need for the future of your roleplay, it's out there. If you need avatars, it's out there, too. There's MMOs with roleplay servers.

I just happen to think the crux of MU*ing happens to be the actual writing aspect of it. And the more we obsess over what buttons we're clicking (or not), the further we drift away from that.

And maybe I'm alone in that thinking, which makes me kind of sad.

On Witchcraft and Wizardry, your PlayedBy images had to be +1/-1 year of your character's IC age.

And yes, they did in fact heavily police this. I knew people who got in trouble for using images outside of the range.

I flee my two days in San Antonio to return to my routine of hiding in my apartment when not at work with my two catfaces today.

Ike:

AJ (Action Jackson):

@derp

Yeah, no. Fuck my brother.

This happens 2-3 times a year.

He goes back on another 'I stopped taking my court-ordered medication / therapy because reddit said this mix of illegal drugs would be better' binge, has the cops called (because he ends up naked in someone's yard, attacks someone, OD's, etc.), and drags the whole family down for a few weeks.

Shit like this and his threats on my life are why I've disowned his ass.

I just wish the rest of the family would quit enabling him.

My father has always walked ahead of my mother. He will never, ever slow down to walk with her. Today he outright fussed at her for 'making' him wait. Well, fussed at us because I was walking with her. I even made a comment of 'You could walk with your wife.'

Apparently he is 'physically incapable' of walking slower.

And of course, my pointing out that he could walk with her meant that he had to behave like a child and take a different route back to the hotel just to beat us there and show just how much we slow him down.

So glad I'm going back to my place tonight. And back to my routine. Because his BS on top of my brother being back in the hospital for another episode and calling my mother roughly every other hour just to take up her time has me sick of family for another year.

@templari said in The Kitten Army (GIF Heavy):

@auspice said in The Kitten Army (GIF Heavy):

@karmageddon said in The Kitten Army (GIF Heavy):

Double post because Hot Dudes with Kittens. I don't even use Instagram but I still visit. >.>

<mashing the follow button>

ETA: I mean, some of 'em aren't my speed, but some of these guys have amazing eyes (look I have a thing for eyes okay)

I'm not into them, but what hot dudes? All i see are amazing kittehs.

https://www.instagram.com/girls_with_cats/ ?

@karmageddon said in The Kitten Army (GIF Heavy):

Double post because Hot Dudes with Kittens. I don't even use Instagram but I still visit. >.>

<mashing the follow button>

ETA: I mean, some of 'em aren't my speed, but some of these guys have amazing eyes (look I have a thing for eyes okay)

@seraphim73 said in Alternative Formats to MU:

@faraday said in Alternative Formats to MU:

And what are the up-sides? @Seraphim73 could make a custom multi-descer instead of the built-in one for all the descs that nobody's going to read Someone else could make a custom notepad instead of the built-in one.

Now why would I do that? No one's going to read them anyway. Heh.

Also, I totally can't code. I should get on that though, just to build my own custom multi-descer in every system known to MU*kind.

Many years ago I built my own multidescer for a game that didn't have one.
Back when I cared about having more than one desc.

@templari

Black kitties are

@jaded said in Cheap or Free Games!:

@auspice
You might be able to do it logging onto your Uplay account through their webbrowser. It does not say through the Uplay client how long it is available for.

Looooooks like it worked! (So others are aware: https://free.ubisoft.com/promotions/assassins-creed-black-flag/16/ good through the 18th I do believe.)

@insomnia said in Cheap or Free Games!:

Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag is Free through Uplay right now.

Do you need to get it through the uplay client? If so, how long is it available? I'm away from my windows machine for a couple days.