Best posts made by deadculture

@surreality said in MSB, SJW, and other acronyms:

@saosmash FWIW, I seem to be the word-magnet on the forum now. I don't especially care, though, so it sorta just bounces off.

People screaming it in my face RL? Less bouncy. But that's more 'wtf, there is a total stranger screaming hostilities in my face, what the hell is happening here' than the language they're using.

...I did kinda have to chuckle a little at this tiny frail wee little old lady who hurled it and a shedload of other nastiness at me for sitting on the smoking bench in my mother-in-law's condo complex for having green hair, though. She went off. Baffling as hell and just... so much... whut? Like, it's the smoking bench, but I still expect people to snark or side-eye me for smoking regardless because that's how people do, but it being about the hair just blew my dang mind, for real. She was carrying little sunshine yellow crochet baby shoes she was working on while she yelled, y'all, it was trippy.

Lady has mastered the rare art of knitting while cursing.

@DnvnQuinn I think you should give it a try nevertheless. The Haven people are having a good time. It's not an exclusive game. People try to be inclusive. Sometimes it's hard to know who to approach to get oneself involved, yes, but with some RP effort it can work out.

See: @Sunny's former character, who got into the Dauphine's good graces by saving her from a poisoning, became Duchesse, and was very much poised to involve herself in many plots had she simply asked what she could do.

@pog said in Fear & Loathing Shout:

@deadculture I'll be hiding behind Sariel, but just know that I'm thinking really mean things in your direction!

You were going to be Baby Devourer anyway.

That's like being a childe by proxy.

Current roster:

Name Sex Vocation

Blood Brothers (gang)
Wut (#2006) young man Matrix Runner

Deep Sixers (gang)
Hammer (#2638) young man Lieutenant

Hermes Comm. (infracorp)
Timothy (#1996) young man Journalist

Independent
Henry (#10599) young man Musician
Dave (#10917) young man Musician

Sinochem (corporation)
Jiaxin (#1998) young woman Research Officer
Mei (#7508) young woman Research Manager

Sky Reapers (gang)
Pip (#6346) young man Matrix Runner

ZPG (infracorp)
Wei (#1997) middle aged man Deputy Chief
Alex (#3312) older man Peace Enforcement Officer
Sawyer (#3953) young man Detective
Sublett (#6204) young man Peace Enforcement Officer

We really need some ZPG folks. You can take a corp guy or girl (Sinochem or L-A) for instance, and have a ZPG member, too, they're considered a gang for alt purposes. ZPG is basically the corporate police. They're needed for some plot developments.

@pog You'd have been given an exclusive Swiss 24K gold watch to celebrate your entry into the club and a zombie cast in gold with BEST GHOUL written on it if she asked, probably.

I could not get you rocket launchers, though, my bad.

@Lotherio I would say do away with history altogether, then, and instead focus on a setting that is a facsimile, and yet allows you enough latitude to write/act as you prefer.

I recommend 'Lions of al-Rassan' as a source, by Guy Gavriel Kay.

Close enough to the history, not close enough to piss people off, and gives you plenty of latitude to play with the events that unfold after the book's closing chapter.

@Surasanji Oh wow. So you were Battimus! Haha, holy shit, dude.

@Lotherio Trust me, Lions of al-Rassan is everything you need, bundled in a setting. It's a great read, too. Has all the romantic parts you want to put in a MU loosely based on upon the Reconquista.

I remember Theonald, heh.

@Lotherio The book would provide a backdrop; the ending was more or less open, it's not definitive and GGK certainly didn't explore it beyond that. HOWEVER, other books are connected to that one. I suspect A Song for Arbonne (another great, unforgettable book, by the way, right up there with Tigana after I gave it a more thorough read) and the one set on the viking raids, etc. are probably the same world.

You'll always have people griping about this or that when it comes to a lords and ladies game set on an actual historical startpoint. We've both seen that. I think Lions of al-Rassan completely sidesteps that by showing a romanticized version of Christians (Jeddites), Muslims (I forgot the actual name of theirs, but they're the rulers of al-Rassan) and Jews; it's easy enough to transplant the information into one concise page, if necessary.

Further, he provides maps in the book itself, which is incredibly helpful for running a MUSH.

As for the Umayyads, I should probably note that there are respected historical books depicting them as sort of arbitrary in their decisions of tolerances. Some Umayyad rulers were as you described, others preferred to intentionally single out those of religious minorities and execute them. You might call it a cyclical thing, which it was, really.

BUT, if you really want to abstract it away, make it an Arabian Nights thing, and have it set on the Hashashin mountainside stronghold during the Mongol invasions. That would be sort of cool. No religious conflict then, merely ethnic.

@Ghost Always two types of supporters: the assholes and the nice people. The nice people get lumped in with the assholes because the assholes are louder and more violent.

@Sunny Then in that case, there's a severe flaw in the reporting method. You never, ever, bring up the person who made the complaint up with the person being investigated. Also, the log itself should count as proof that said behavior happened, and at the very least disciplinary action must be taken.

@Wretched You will want to set up a series of procedures to investigate the complaint's contents without compromising the person complaining. You will also want to make sure you have as much evidence to go with at first blush as possible. And you will also want to be decisive in taking disciplinary action. Not 'maybe not now, we'll get them later' or devil's advocacy. Immediately. If they are doing something shitty that undermines the social contract between players and the game, at the very least they need to be pulled aside and told sternly it isn't going to fly, and the slightest sign that the behavior hasn't improved needs to be followed by an immediate ban.

@Lotherio The theme is easy enough, though. I really wasn't lying, as you can tell in the book, when I said that it's essentially the same, but set on an alternate-Earth scenario kind of deal. Both 'sides' are depicted fairly, with equal amounts of shitty and glorious people in the book.

@auspice I quit MUing to play several rounds of being a murderous space janitor in a 2D game once summer.

@Darinelle Is this a function of the 'Everything Is Connected' vs 'Individual Stories Matter To Specific People' paradox? Sure, dude got into the Hedge, but how was he taken there?

Conversely, what is Pentex doing that they're bribing the government to buy that lot that just got demolished?

@sthanheykel Have you read Lions of al-Rassan? The conflict is there. It's not bland at all. That's the 'alt-earth' setting we're talking about.

@lordbelh I agree with that on principle, but my interest in seeing a Lions of al-Rassan game supercedes that a bit.