Posts made by Coin

@too-old-for-this said in Good TV:

@greenflashlight So, sadly, this is never really portrayed in any of the shows. Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Smallville, even the animated Superman... their posture, tone of voice, body language, even the way they walk... never changes between Clark Kent & Superman. At most you will see Clark Kent acting slightly more bewildered than Superman. So really, they've done a terrible job of portraying Clark Kent across every show, movie, and cartoon since 1978. Christopher Reeves is the ONLY true Superman specifically because he's the ONLY one to showcase the difference between Clark and Superman. If you ever watch Batman: TAS or Superman: TAS or even Justice League... anytime you see Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent in the same room, Clark damn near alpha-challenges Bruce every time. Like they full-on mangrip handshake and glare at one another, often with Clark scowling as if he's two seconds away from laser-gazing Bruce right out of existence. Its... pretty ridiculous. Which is why there is now the constant 'how tf do people not SEE that this is just Superman in glasses and a cheap suit?!'.

Brandon Routh did it excellently in Superman Returns, but mostly because he was literally doing Christopher Reeves as Clark Kent/Superman.

@greenflashlight said in Good TV:

@arkandel said in Good TV:

What the hell, they had never seen Clark without glasses on their whole lives?

I haven't seen the TV show, so I don't know if this applies, but in most Superman stories, it's not the glasses. Clark stands differently, talks differently, acts differently. They just don't look like the same person through pure body language. My favorite scene in the 1978 movie is just after Superman's date with Lois when Clark is about to confess, then turns back and collapses back into Clark, slouching into a servile posture, picking up a nervous stammer in his voice, never looking Lois in the eye; all done in a single camera shot so it all rides on Christopher Reeves's acting. Fantastic scene, and it's my permanent canon as to why people don't recognize the extremely recognizable guy.

Absolutely agree.

@arkandel said in Good TV:

@coin said in Good TV:

In Superman & Lois they have teenage twins they have raised together. Just a tiny bit of a technical difference.

Which was also hilarious because... those kids must be as blind as their mom, it must be a genetic thing, since they didn't realize his secret identity either.

What the hell, they had never seen Clark without glasses on their whole lives?

Look man, if you're gonna watch Superman -- ANY Superman -- and not be able to suspend that particular bit of disbelief, you're gonna have a bad time. XD

Also, there are studies that show some people's faces change SO MUCH with/without glasses/bangs/whatever.

@derp said in Good TV:

@coin said in Good TV:

I am glad they are doing something that hasn't been done with Superman before (actually exploring a future with a family).

I have not seen the show in question, but didn't they do this in Superman Returns?

He discovers Lois's 10-12 year-old son is his son in Superman Returns.

In Superman & Lois they have teenage twins they have raised together. Just a tiny bit of a technical difference.

@arkandel said in Good TV:

@coin said in Good TV:

I really liked it, too. It was a bit overly melodramatic but that was definitely to be expected and I am glad they are doing something that hasn't been done with Superman before (actually exploring a future with a family).

The other thing is... I don't know if it's because they had more money to spend on the pilot but the special effects were pretty decent.

Superman's suit in particular looked great. His cape may be CGI, I can't even tell.

I am honestly never terribly worried about the special effects in these shows. Mostly because, even if they are perfect, in five years if I look back at them, they will not be.

Also, his suit was okay. You can def see the padding. XD

@arkandel said in Good TV:

Superman & Lois episode 1 was fun. It was by far the most human version of the characters I've seen; I cared much more about the Clark family drama than I did about the super heroic antics, which is probably a pretty good sign.

It certainly wasn't what I expected, although that might be because I hadn't been watching their guest star appearances throughout the Arrowverse.

I really liked it, too. It was a bit overly melodramatic but that was definitely to be expected and I am glad they are doing something that hasn't been done with Superman before (actually exploring a future with a family).

@sunny said in General Video Game Thread:

so. um.

Valheim?

It was nice knowing everybody.

eta: It's like playing Minecraft for the first time again.

Never played Minecraft (or Valheim).

But I have a standing invitation from @Cobalt to come troll her stream when she does.

Ex-President of Argentina Carlos Menem. Die mad, fucker.

@phase-face said in Good TV:

Would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys urban fantasy content, with the significant caveat that the first couple season in particular do include references to/instances of sexual assault which are fairly major plot points; that element of the show was perhaps my least favorite by far, but it's something that diminishes as time goes on.

It's also something that is tackled in a mature and realistic way, with nuance and respect for survivors and how that trauma can affect them and what it can make them do.

I would recommend to anyone binging it to definitely watch the last episode of the first season and then immediately watch the first 2-3 of the second season. Don't wait. I had to wait and it was a really bad time.

@tiredewok said in The Challenge of 2020s:

I caught a headline blurb saying the Gorilla Glue lady was considering suing the company that makes it. Like they're at fault for her utter lack of common sense.

She came out to say that she never said that and doesn't know where TMZ (shocker) got it from.

Her scalp and hair were also saved by a plastic surgeon who offered to help her pro bono.

@faraday said in Developing a WoD Codebase for Ares:

@coin said in Developing a WoD Codebase for Ares:

Really, I could see a CoD game working find on Ares; those things aren't necessary, they're actually usually just artifacts from the way MUs have been doing those games for so long, people think that if a new game lacks them, it's wrong. It's not.

Sure, but it all comes down to expectations. You can play WoD on Discord or a forum with no code whatsoever. There's been at least one Ares game that used WoD just with hand-crafted PDF sheets and the generic die roller.

Like I said - if all you want is a sheet and some roll commands or whatnot, it'll work just fine. It's only the immersive and PVP aspects that potentially are an obstacle, depending on what vision you have for the game.

Right. And I'm just saying that the more common vision people expect of the game now-a-days is less about the 'immersive and PVP aspects' which have almost always brought more bad than good, anyway.

Much like the OOC Masquerade was dropped.

@faraday said in Developing a WoD Codebase for Ares:

However, CoD games have traditionally included a lot more code than just the skills system. Immersive code like that “reality level” stuff or real-time “blood tracking” systems don’t mesh well with the scene system, web portal, and asynchronous RP. And they would be impossible to build as a plugin because they affect multiple core systems.

Also, Ares systems are built with OOC cooperation in mind. For example - profiles are public, plots are public, there aren’t advanced faction permission controls and stuff. I’ve never really played on CoD games, but I’ve been told that they tend to involve more OOC obfuscation or antagonism. A game like that would not be a good fit for the Ares platform.

Honestly, the vast majority of people who play WoD/CoD would probably be more than okay with dropping the "reality level" and "blood tracking" stuff (at a coded level, anyway). Most recent games on MUX don't even use them, not to any real extent (if at all).

The antagonism and stuff is also less prevalent than before. Really, I could see a CoD game working find on Ares; those things aren't necessary, they're actually usually just artifacts from the way MUs have been doing those games for so long, people think that if a new game lacks them, it's wrong. It's not.

@buttercup said in Good TV:

I don't know if I would call it 'good tv' but I am enjoying Warrior on HBO Max. I was always a Bruce Lee fan as a kid and Enter the Dragon is of course on my top ten due to this.

Why wouldn't you? It's great TV, as far as what it intends to be.

@surasanji said in Interest Check: Exalted 3rd ed Mu:

@groth How lucky our Dragonblooded will be, then, that we're based in The Empire of Prasad! I hope to see a lot of Dragonblooded characters.

I totally understand wanting to play a celestial exalt, but I really do love the terrestrials. They feel really fantastic and are a ton of fun to play.

Like I said before, the best way to keep Solars (and other Celestials) from overshadowing the Terrestrial Exalted (and God-Blooded) is to just tell them not to and smack'em upside the head when they do it anyway.

After the first Celestial that oversteps and gets his ass overrun with three dozen Dragon-Blooded NPCs is left a bloody corpse at the entrance to Prasad, the rest will get the message. Just sayin'. >.>

@groth said in Interest Check: Exalted 3rd ed Mu:

@coin said in Interest Check: Exalted 3rd ed Mu:

@surasanji said in Interest Check: Exalted 3rd ed Mu:

@warma-sheen I hear you and I hope to be able to get it done right.. I'm prepared to fail, if it doesn't work out the way I hope.

I agree with you regarding where the fun starts or stops. Exalted is a character driven game (imho), and failure is and SHOULD be on the table even for powerful exalts.

Losing is a huge part of character growth, I feel, so. I should hope my players expect to win some, lose some and write some great stories in the process.

As I've never run a game before, I'm excited to give it a try all the same.

If you're playing Exalted and winning all the time, then why are you playing Exalted?

Like, I get it. Solars are the exemplary best at everything -- that's their thing, excellence -- but that excellence can only come to real light when challenged; if you never find something you actually need to overcome, you're really just a bully. And yes, Solars eventually all basically become bullies, but the point of the game is before, not after!

Thematically Exalted in general and Solar exalted in particular has never been a game where the player characters are expected to face great difficulty in their area of expertise. Rather it's about exploring the consequences of power.

You'll have no problem dealing with the local god, monster or corrupt official but will that improve the lives of the locals or will you bring unintended consequences upon their heads?

I mean, yes and no. When you start, you are absolutely supposed to have some issues; or not, and that brings on the issues when you exceed your grasp.

But it doesn't really matter. I could argue the intricacies of Exalted's themes and what you can do with them and what's the "right way" or the "correct themes" of the game all day, but it's pointless.

Solution's the same.

@packrat said in Interest Check: Exalted 3rd ed Mu:

I really feel that not allowing celestial exalted as PCs would be by far the best option.

Allow them as NPCs for specific plots or stories? Sure! They make great protagonists and similar, but they should not be anyone's main character unless you want things like people making 'placeholders' that they RP only until they can make a Solar or similar, with the dragonblooded PCs also then basically being allowed to continue living or achieving anything only according to the whims of experienced celestials.

To put things into perspective in my tabletop game we had a starting Solar fight a duel against an Essence 3 dragon blooded who had mastered a martial art (a good one! Shining Point) and had probably over a hundred experience points spent in total. This duel was completely and totally one sided with the outcome never in doubt. It is not as bad as in 2e where above a certain point a Solar could render irrelevant dozens of dragon blooded but the power differential is still huge. An equivalent experience Solar is very much a 'boss battle' for an entire well coordinated brotherhood of five Dragon Blooded.

I disagree, but mostly because, well, I want to play Celestial Exalted.

If the power disparity is a problem you anticipate, then put in other safeguards or rules to handle it, "realism" be damned. If you want the Dragon-Blooded to be dominant in an area, just tell the Celestial players not to fuck with that area.

If you can't trust the players not to respect their fellow players' fun, then are they players you want in your game?

I mean, you're literally setting a whole place where the DBs are dominant -- DBs dominate due to NUMBERS. You don't need "more DB PCs than Celestial PCs" to make that point. You just need to be willing to pull out the Mass Combat with four dozen Dragon-Blooded all working in sync.

@surasanji said in Interest Check: Exalted 3rd ed Mu:

@warma-sheen I hear you and I hope to be able to get it done right.. I'm prepared to fail, if it doesn't work out the way I hope.

I agree with you regarding where the fun starts or stops. Exalted is a character driven game (imho), and failure is and SHOULD be on the table even for powerful exalts.

Losing is a huge part of character growth, I feel, so. I should hope my players expect to win some, lose some and write some great stories in the process.

As I've never run a game before, I'm excited to give it a try all the same.

If you're playing Exalted and winning all the time, then why are you playing Exalted?

Like, I get it. Solars are the exemplary best at everything -- that's their thing, excellence -- but that excellence can only come to real light when challenged; if you never find something you actually need to overcome, you're really just a bully. And yes, Solars eventually all basically become bullies, but the point of the game is before, not after!

Lol.

Sign me up for a Solar who fails five times just so he can succeed the sixth.

I remember one game (it was a Pulp-styled Exalted game) where my Night Exalt (and his crew) kept running into this Abyssal pirate who kept kicking their asses, especially my guy. So I lost, and I lost, and I lost, and I accumulated XP, and I built a Combo that included a Perfect Dodge, and a Perfect Attack and an Extra Action Charm; and then I made sure I had enough Essence. And, like, the fourth or fifth time, my Exalt straight up challenged the guy to a duel. Abyssal said yes. And I blew him up. He escaped, but I almost deleted him out of existence. It was awesome.

It would have been real fucking lame if I had been able to do that the first time.

It's also true that eventually the bad guy has to be willing to lose. If you're playing the antagonist, the narrative contract says you'll win or get the upper hand a lot at first, and then eventually get foiled. That's how that works. The problem with letting players do it instead of the Storyteller is... well... players get attached.

@jennkryst said in Interest Check: Exalted 3rd ed Mu:

@autumn said in Interest Check: Exalted 3rd ed Mu:

So I would recommend being super cautious about copying one of the long-time pain points of Amber games: having a higher up tier of PC that's, well, better than the sort the average person gets to play. The other flavors of Exalted might be better kept as NPCs and/or villains; otherwise you have to walk a very narrow line between allowing too many in play (which risks the game becoming entirely different and no longer meaningfully about the Terrestrials at all) and allowing too few (which runs the risk of DB players getting cranky about being reduced to second fiddles in a game ostensibly about them).

This, incidentally, is a reason why a creation-wide game could work. DB politics on the BI or in stronger Satrapies, Celestials out and about elsewhere.

Yeah. It would be awesome if the plots in Prasad were DB-heavy while players with Celestial Exalts could run amok a little more freely in the rest of Creation, doing PRPs, having adventures. It would divide the game, yes, but it could work, especially if you can have more than one alt.

@surasanji said in Interest Check: Exalted 3rd ed Mu:

I'll keep updating as I go.

PLEASE DO.

@greenflashlight said in How are you coping with COVID (and other 2020 fun)?:

@caryatid Personally, I don't trust people who don't have reasons to cry during the holidays.

I don't trust people who need the holidays to dig up their reasons to cry.