One possible solution is to have slow FTL for making transit and travel front and center and fast FTL (as in galactic and instantaneous) for data transfer. So bored free traders, off-duty space marines and passengers between systems log into a galactic VR world and do stuff.
It's a little meta, but it gives people a chance to RP with people not on their ship and do stuff.
@Auspice said in Embracing Rejection:
@Prototart said in Embracing Rejection:
@Auspice said in Embracing Rejection:
@Prototart said in Embracing Rejection:
if you wanna go, like, BnB detail
[flashback intensifies]
yeah, i still have most of a moondragon app i wrote for somewhere that's done in, like, basically clinical writing and has a bunch of page-length traits
I spent like 3 weeks working on an OC and then never actually played because the app process burned me out so bad
I have been there so many times. Write, apply, revise, revise, revise, approval and ... by that time my passion is dead so I'll find some trivial reason to just not play there.
@SG Me too. So much fun. I remember one game where I ended up sinking every last credit into a tricked out pirate hunter because some other 14 year old raided my planet base and wiped out most of my fortune. That was my cue to become a caffeine, sugar and rage filled little Batman, hounding his ass across the galaxy for weeks.
Man, I miss having the time for a really good vendetta.
Trade Wars 2002 with semi-automated systems for trade would make a hell of a fun MU. There was a lot of hidden depth in that silly old BBS door game about being a free trader.
As a player, the only time I have a problem with app rejections is when they feel just arbitrary, rather than actually serving a purpose.
More than one MU I've been on has had a lot of 'unstated rules' about their applications that end up being endlessly frustrating. Stuff like, 'Hey, you compared your character's attributes to existing characters in the fiction that are literally used as attribute benchmarks IN THE FICTION, we don't allow that. And no, we didn't tell you that ahead of time. Rewrite everything.'
Or 'Um, I personally don't like character type X and think it's overdone. No, it's not on the banned or restricted list, I just feel like I need to make a stand on YOUR app, as opposed to anybody else's. And no we don't need to update the banned or restricted policies, I'm just talking to you.'
Or 'Your character is a little too political.' With 'political' being a euphemism for 'character type based on a group that makes me uncomfortable in real life'. In a modern game. (Note, I'm not talking about making a Nazi character here, just somebody who was a mutant rights activist, on a game about Marvel mutants.)
When the rejection makes sense and doesn't feel arbitrary, I'm fine with it. But with no offense intended to staffers out there, sometimes people get very, very micro-managerial about other people's creative process.
So I actually played for the first time in over a year today. And it was fine. I have so much dust I have to shake off, but I'll get there.
Also, it was wonderful to pitch my weird concept, get instant support for it and make it on the grid in under a day. Which is basically the exact opposite of the last ten or so games I played before I stopped mushing for a very long time. No arbitrary hoops, no 'exactly the same thing you said, but rephrase it to the way I like to say it', no 'Well, you can play that if you want but....' side-eye.
It's almost like people are running a game they want other people to play or something. Revolutionary concept in MUSHing, that.
Forgive me if I've missed it, but have we talked about the new blood mushing does get but we don't talk about much on MSB because they basically do their own thing and don't intersect with WoD or whatever type games that much?
I'm thinking about the folks that ran the Twilight games, the 100 games, that one about a superhero academy in Florida, the two urban fantasy TV show mixed-world games, etc. Sure, they are gone now, but they all had good runs with moderate to high populations at one point.
I wonder how many folks there are out there carving out their niche, at least moderately successful, that are basically just off this community's radar, largely.
@TNP Ancient Mushers unite! We have nothing to lose but our reading glasses. And our pills. Possibly dentures. Where did I leave my cane this time?
@Joyeuse said in MU*, Youth, and LGBT+ Identity:
Good golly. Some people have been at this longer than I've been alive
Eh, experience is lovely, but talent and enthusiasm are more important in RP. And reliability. And sanity. And ... a lot of things, come to think of it. 
@TNP said in MU*, Youth, and LGBT+ Identity:
Does Neverwinter Nights on AOL count?
Or Gemstone III on GEnie?
The Sierra Network?Those would put me in the 28-29 years ago range. I don't recall which was my first actual Mush. Maybe Dragonsfire Moo which was a Pern game.
Yes, yes and yes? I was around for those days. But I think my first real mu*s, as in 'use telnet to get to them' were Atlantis and Teleplay, which were also supported by dial up(!) in Silicon Valley back before the Internet was a thing. I remember having to buy a specialized service from AT&T to use telnet and avoid long-distance fees when I moved away from San Jose and wanted to keep playing.
Edit: Holy crap, I just checked some old paper work and that was 31 years ago.
I'm not sure how I feel about this.
@Cobaltasaurus I remember. Mushing, like RPG gaming in general, seems to be about a decade or two behind the rest of society when it comes to social issues.
10-15 years ago, this hobby had a problem with queer people.
Trans characters rarely, if ever, existed. Lesbians and bisexual women were usually played by very thirsty old men and gay or bi men were usually played as magical sparkle twinks by thirsty middle-aged women.
Queer characters played by actual queer players sometimes got some serious pushback for existing. I remember the 'my MU was invaded by gays!' complaints for a couple of different places, back in the day. And I remember my reaction was, 'Bitch, if you don't want queer guys, don't make a game based on a queer-friendly (for the time) show!'
These days, it's a hell of a lot better. I mean, there are still a lot of people who can't/won't get laid fetishizing queer people. But there are a lot of us playing people like us and not getting any flack for it. Which is nice. Other than the occasional bigoted 'But, but having visible gay people breaks immersion on my game about historical faeries and vampires', it's all good these days.
@gryphter said in Could a MC2 or Heroic Age Supers Game Work?:
I really like the idea of a supers game where you wouldn't need to know all the deep and intricate lore behind every character and plot event, but existing in the continuity of a world we know something about. A huge amount of lore to know or learn is one of the hardest things to approach on a game and one of the easiest things to fail on.
If the original heroic age ended in, say, the 90s, then most people would be aware that there once was a Spider-Man, etc, and their general themes, but not much more than that, unless they are in their 30s or a superhero nerd. The biggest buy-in for players would be system (I'm thinking of going Icons Assembled, by Steve Kenson) and some geopolitical differences everybody would know. (Atlantis is real! And cranky! Latveria and Wakanda exist. Yes, we knew there are aliens, they've invaded a couple of times, back in the 60s through the 90s.)
@Misadventure The more I think about this idea, the more I'm leaning towards Marvel. And yeah, I would imagine that there are designs based on Starktech, Mandroids, Wakanda tech, AIM and Hydra blasters and such out there or can be kitbashed. So a hero or villain who uses, for instance, Wizard disks, and Trapster guns would not be out of theme.
I have been seriously considering putting together a supers game and following the conversations on MSB about the whole canon vs original universe thing.
One idea that I keep circling back to is the thought of doing what Marvel tried to do with their Marvel Comics 2 and Heroic Age lines. Which is to say, 'Yes, this continuity happened but those guys are gone now for some reason and the world is full of legacy characters based on them and original characters'.
I know Inheritance Gambit kind of does this, but I feel like the whole cyberpunk, end-of-days vibe adds a layer of complexity and moves things away from the superhero aesthetic and feel. I would be aiming more for a Next Generation feel. The next iteration of the Marvel or DC universe, with perhaps a few storyteller characters that linger from the last generation but don't actively do the hero or villain thing anymore.
Also, I think this kind of game would work best when limited to one continuity. It defeats the purpose of making an accessible but all OC game if I make the players read through pages of blended Marvel and DC background that I try to make coherent.
Is this a truly terrible idea or does it sound like something people would play? If so, which makes more sense: Marvel or DC?
@fatefan said in Comic/Superhero Games:
If I were adding to a comic/superhero wishlist, I'd love to see a game that was willing to make (and let players make, through TPs) consequential changes to the world/game over time.
I feel you on that one. The static nature of superhero comics and superhero MUs are both frustrating to me, as a life-long fan of the genre.
Which is why books like the Authority and Hickman's current X-Men ...thing... (it's not a reboot or a refresh, more like a reframing) and RPGs like Aberrant get me excited. Same old, same old is harder to work up the enthusiasm for.
@Ghost said in Dead Celebrities 2019:
1 cell, 10 politicians, 1 kabar knife, and 1 egg mcmuffin.
I'm normally not a violence guy but I'd be alright with that.
Really, that's a bit over the top. Heart value blockage is a cruel way to go.
Dang it, Pratchett pro-chronistically took my idea then.
I haven't actually read The Truth yet.
Can I play a struggling writer who works for pennies and is cousin to an existing character?
Cut-Me-Own-Throat Scribbler, the best/worst gossip columnist and semi-investigative* reporter in Ankh-Morpork.
*Which is to say, he'd investigate until somebody made pointed comments about how hard it is to run around asking questions with broken knees, at which point, he'd just kind of wing it.
The Wiki is lovely and functional, with an appropriately professional aesthetic. And the information contained within is excellent.
Well done!