Posts made by Darinelle

@saosmash said in MU Things I Love:

@darinelle I'm sorry I had to go to bed!!

I should have gone to bed too! lol. But you were part of it too and so

That moment when you're GMing a scene, and the characters are talking about various clues and metaplot things and pieces of information they've found from RP interactions and pulled together into a cohesive story - and then someone adds in a piece of lore you wrote that you loved so much, tying it into what's being currently done and using it to carve a new path in the middle of the scene that you hadn't expected at all. And the whole group plays off it and goes with it and it turns a scene into this haunting, collaborative, beautiful story with depth and meaning and gravitas.

That moment right there. That's the one.

@ghost Admittedly I love when there are swear words that happen from organic RP and then travel through the game and become a thing. Though I don't know that it makes me swear less IRL. >.>

@Arkandel I don't see them as necessarily having to get resolved, but they shouldn't be fixed forevermore if the character's life or perspectives change. My opinion on this is probably largely related to my admittedly limited experience with MUs in general, in that if you play a character for actual, RL years at some point unreasonable goals are probably going to become evident to a character, and in that case it's either a "welp, that sucks, let's do something different" moment or a "welp, that sucks, guess I'm kind of stagnant and stuck" moment instead. I prefer the former to the latter.

I'm not saying they have to be 100% realized all the time, but while the journey is important, walking on a treadmill isn't really that fulfilling an activity to do for years and years either.

Also, regarding Gany's support for +pitch - I don't want you to tell me what you want to do in broad terms. I want you to give me an idea of how you want to accomplish this.

+Aspiration - end, character goal, unreachable or not

Then +pitch me - hey, with this aspiration, the first step my char wants to take is <blah>.

Let that happen, then take what comes of that, and make another +pitch later that says, "okay, this aspiration is still true, so I want to take this next step of <blah>."

Having a long term aspiration that NEVER CHANGES and CAN NEVER BE AFFECTED BY ROLEPLAY is only good when the aspiration is achievable. Sometimes it's just not - so maybe let that change as the story goes, but pitch tells me what you want to do now. If you say "I want to be Prince of the City" I don't necessarily want to have to create a plot for you that has a chance of success, because what if 10 players have that as their aspiration? Do I have to GM a PK plot? Do I have to GM plots where you are destined to fail and have no way to succeed? That's terrible STing, IMO. So +pitch the steps along the way, and if through those steps it's not feasible for your character, maybe aspirations change or maybe you die trying.

Aspirations can be totally unrealistic, but what I never want as a GM is to walk into a story and be forced to tell one with no win condition. That's miserable for everyone in the end, because the players never had a chance to get what they want, and so it's just all futile and no one wins then. It feels a lot like punishing players. (note - scenes that SEEM like total failures but which forward plot in different ways are fine, but if you know going into it that the players are going to lose and not do anything meaningful, then just resolve it in a ticket without wasting time.)

@Taika said in How much plot do people want?:

Thinking on it, I like when people pitch ideas.

'Hey wouldn't it be cool if...?'
'Couldn't we do something about that thing there?'

I enjoy ST'ing all sorts of stories, but sometimes, coming up with them can be rough on a tired brain. I also think sitting down and telling staff or st's 'hey, I'm interested in Y and Z types of plot, but X is kind of meh for me' is really helpful, too.

I also run into not knowing how characters respond unless I play with them often is a hinderance, too. I'll usually run a quick-n-dirty or two to feel out how someone thinks and reacts before trying to throw out more'complex' or less combatty-more-thinky plots.

tl'dr - tell staff and st's what turns you on, or toss ideas around with them.

One thing I really love about Arx as a GM is the +storyrequest feature. Sometimes it results in a STing scene, sometimes in a GM saying "hey, you've interacted with this NPC that you don't normally have access to, and here's what you learned. It's good for multiple reasons:

1 - It lets players tell GMs what they are interested in doing with their characters
2 - It lets GMs pick things to ST, and gives us ideas.
3 - It lets players who need to know things from a specific NPC ask the questions without having to sit through Q&A sessions, which is also a boon for GMs
4 - It lets players advance their characters in thematic, direct ways without having to share their secrets with all and sundry looking for a STer.

There's a similar +prprequest feature I think which I ALSO love, because players who want to run plot can say - "hey, I want to do this thing, is it thematic?" And then the GMs can be aware of PRPs, and weave them into the story/metaplot if they want, and give out plot hooks and secrets to the PRP-runner to include in the course of their story.

Togethery, they give players agency and give GMs knowledge to include in the overarching story, which turns things into a more cohesive world. It's not a perfect system, but I'm a big fan of things that let players interact with the world in a meaningful way and also have parts in the story and build stories for each other. Not everything has to be a major GM-driven plot. Sometimes what players come up with is cooler.

@Arkandel said in How much plot do people want?:

I mean to each their own, but I avoid playing characters that focused on that one thing, not because I find it's limiting to my roleplay but because it doesn't lend itself to three-dimensional characters. If I had PC obsessive to that degree I would need to go in fully aware I'm actually playing someone who has issues, and although that can be rewarding on its own, it isn't something I would choose to do as a general principle.

I agree that only focusing on one thing is probably someone who has issues, but someone who has one overriding focus that trumps everything else can also be largely freeing on a game with 700+ clues to metaplot and all manner of ways to get involved. I really like having ONE thing that trumps everything because it lets me say - "does it directly affect this one thing? No? Then it's optional." If you play a character who has friends in all the houses and is super social and who loves everyone and then three different metaplots happen to your friends at the same time, it can be frustrating to try to help them all and not feel like you've made a meaningful contribution to any of them. That's where having ONE priority can come in super handy, even if you occasionally dabble in other things.

@Lisse24 - For me? It's going really well. If I want to get involved in the major metaplot arcs, I generally either A) GM them (or parts of them), or B) go to meetings about preparing to deal with them, and then send my people on them to get them involved. Then I follow my own happy arc and do my thing.

Every now and again I think - "man, I kind of would like to enjoy this other thing" but then the feeling passes and I accidentally stumble into 10 days in a row where I can't seem to have a single scene that doesn't touch my own story that I'm only really telling like two people about ICly but where random strangers affect it /all the time/. Serendipity, yo.

If you want to give it another try you're welcome to poke me and I'll try to help you pick a character that suits. Or make one that would be able to get involved in some things but not EVERYTHING. I play Leona and I GM as Puffin.

@Sparks - I had trouble with this too in the other direction, in that my character has ONE JOB, dammit, and she will DO THAT JOB and if nothing is directly impacting that job she.... still does that job. So she can't really get involved in traipsing all over the countryside. I've found that having one thing she's interested in that is outside the main story but that interests me as a player helps a lot, and if I have information or don't about anything specifically going on then that's icing on the cake.

In the end, telling a collaborative story for me doesn't have to be world-changing, as long as it lets my character strive toward goals I think are fun. The journey, not the destination, right?

@SG and @Lithium too - I think this is vitally important. The other thing to remember though is you need four things for this to happen:

1. GM Buy-in, in that the GMs have to accept that the world is going to change, and not always in ways they expect. That means that plots that are set forth can't have ONE TRUE SOLUTION, they have to have problems and then you have to give players the agency to solve them in ways that you may not have thought about.

2. Player Buy-in, in that players have to take an active role in coming up with solutions, interacting in the world, and being willing to let what happens affect their characters. And to be proactive too, not just waiting and checking with some nebulous NPC about what the solution should be, or waiting for NPC orders. They have to actively think of things.

3. Communication. If I as a GM don't know that you ran a PRP and that this was the outcome, then I have no way of letting that affect the world. Which is not to say that recaps of every bar scene need to be done, but "Hey, I've been RPing about this thing for a month now, and I'd like to include the benefits of that in this scene in this way" is an important thing to communicate.

4. Trust. Sometimes it's not feasible or possible to show all the things players affect without spoiling the rest of the plot. Players have to trust that when you say "no, this was really a big deal you just don't know it" that it really was. Also players have to trust GMs to be fair and to be kind - if they try something really, really stupid it's awful to see that "stupid" decision that was made with (usually) partial information and (often) bad advice humiliatingly evident in emits or for the whole game to see, like the GMs are making fun of them instead of helping them rethink their character's life choices.

I guess it all boils down to collaboration in the end. Are we telling a story together, or are you trying to force me to GM a story I hate or that isn't consistent with the world theme, or am I trying to force you to play out a story where you have to look like a fool because you mistakenly chose a character who was a fool? AHAHAHAHA SUCKER.

I like telling a story together. It's my favorite part of MUing.

@Misadventure said in How much plot do people want?:

I like plot, but I like subsequent consequences even more. A plot is fodder for scenes. Results are fodder for thinking and getting in tune with the actual goals of the game.

SOOOOO much this. I don't like plots that don't give the people involved in them some way to go RP about it. Not just in a "look what I did" way but also an "and this changed <these things about my world or my character or my understanding or life as we know it" plots. If the goal of a MU is roleplay, then plots should enhance and encourage RP. If you make your plots an end to themselves with nothing connected, then what's the difference between your plot and a repeatable daily quest in WOW?

Constant doom is exhausting, for players and for staffers alike. Giving people lulls between the major events so that they can RP about what just happened, meet new players, get new players involved, and further personal goals is important. Here's what I like as a plot mix:

1-3 large-scale arcs going on in different areas at the same time as a slow burn. That gives players who might not do something about one thing to work on another thing. If Bob and Joe hate each other, and metaplot arc is for Joe's faction, Bob doesn't have any reason to engage. But if there's one for a neutral faction going on at the same time, he does. I like this, especially when they get to that week or two of culminating in a BIG DEAL.

Minor character-development driven plots going on that offer players a chance to do their own thing and develop their own characters in fun ways through events and action and RP with others. This can (and I would hope does) generally include PRPs. The caveat is I want PRPs to be able to be RP'd about outside of the PRP. If I go on a werewolf-killin' spree with my Hunter in a PRP, but then I get back and want to RP about it, I should be able to, not have it be "well, that didn't really happen in the confines of this story."

But timing is really important. If we've just spent 2 weeks of intensive RP dealing with a metaplot thing, I need a week or two to relax a little. Take some time off, let my character assimilate what just happened. To RP about it and to think of other things, to do the minor character things (major for my character, minor in terms of influence on the game world) that help make my character richer.

I think in many ways it's not about sheer number of plots. It's all about timing.

I don't know that I care though. I mean, yes I want us to win the Cup. It's a great high, it's a fantastic thing. Tampa Bay's a weird place though, man. We've had the Bucs for so damn long I'm not sure we know what to do with a super winning team. We get extra hockey most years now, in the form of playoff games. The Bolts continue to do what the Bolts do best - put butts in seats, give an entertaining game, and show their love to the community.

I guess I judge whether he's an awesome GM like this - is our dream alive every season? Yeah. Does he pick players who love the game and are great members of the community? Yeah. Is it fun to watch and follow along with? Yeah.

That's what I want. It's why I stopped watching most other sportsball - I want the accessibility, the relatability, the love of the game and the dream. I want the team, not a couple of outstanding players who drag the rest along. Whether or not they win all sorts of Stanley Cups and whether or not they create a dynasty is really irrelevant to me. Keep coming up with a good team full of awesome people I want to watch? I'm so there.

@Ghost

That's all about Phil Esposito, to be honest. He started the game in Tampa, a place where no one thought a team would work, and started with community outreach. The first couple of seasons we didn't win that much, but they were involved and part of the community. It's a culture that has continued on, and it's why we love our Bolts and they love us. Win or lose, they're our team and I hope that continues. The current ownership has spent some ridiculous amount of money rehabbing the area around the arena too, which I know is good for him in the long run but it's also great for the economy. The city doesn't have to pay for it either, it's just development from the owner and that's excellent all around.

@Monogram Well if you don't want a local team and of the three that used to be local Detroit was your best option, but bleh Detroit, then you should clearly be a Tampa Bay Lightning fan, since Stevie Y was the best part of the Red Wings and is now the TBL GM.

Not that, being born and raised in TB like I was, I'm biased. Or anything.

Also the best part of not living where the team you love is based is that you can get the NHL package and there aren't blackout dates for any games except when they travel to play your home team (if you even have one near enough to matter). RAWK.

@Auspice said in Coming Soon: Arx, After the Reckoning:

Yeah, but right now I can only do very small (3 or fewer people, total) scenes except in very rare cases and maybe two, three scenes a week at most. Lou was awesome. I loved playing Lou, I really did, but I just... don't want to put myself in a place again of having people fussing at me for not doing more.

I mean, feel free to come play a King's Own. It's a slower pace than most of the rest of the orgs, I won't pressure you, and I'm happy to make sure you're updated and have things to do on your own timeline. (I play Leona, the faction leader)

@ShelBeast said in Darinelle's Playlist:

Man, I miss Caohime. I was Dorian on TR. You were one of my favorite people to play with!

OH HAI.

I loved our roleplay together! And was sad when you quit playing Dorian. But then I quit Caoimhe and life got busy and things got nuts and STUFF AND REASONS. She remains one of my favorite characters I've ever played, at least in part because of the way she was CG'd.

@Coin said in Darinelle's Playlist:

You can't be busy with other stuff for a long time and leave us high and dry and then come back and be like 'waaah they're busy now'.

Hypocrite!

I mean, I feel like I've successfully proven that I CAN, in fact, do JUST THAT.

@icanbeyourmuse - Well, you know I'm Leona at least. And Royal and Coin don't play. BECAUSE THEY HATE ME. (where hate is defined as "being busy with other stuff")

@Coin @Royal ... He's not wrong.