Best posts made by Derp

Guess it's time for the Republicans to forget they held Scalia's seat open for months as they froth about how Trump is the only person who can appoint the replacement and we get thirty years of rolling back every right since the 60's.

IMO - If you sign up for a game themed with existing material, and then get shocked and appalled when the theme explores similar concepts (which is usually a good sign you have not read existing materials), I don't think the fault lies with the game runner for not warning you what you're getting into.

@Ganymede said in RL things I love:

When I get 6 hours to cook.

German red cabbage sauerkraut. Sausage soup w/ mirepoix base. Arborio risotto cooked with leftover broth from the soup. And later, gluten-free apple muffins.

Yes, my family probably doesn't deserve this, but I like to feed people.

They don't! But I do! Feed me!

@Thenomain said in PC antagonism done right:

"Let's keep it Cat & Mouse, not Cat & Missile." - The Mighty Monarch.

Pretty much exactly this, yes. As @Arkandel points out:

if you give nothing up by being a white knight (say, opposing that Elder doesn't penalize you in tangible terms in the least) then it's a win/win. That, to me, speaks of poor game design where they are fewer interesting choices to make.

Antagonist PCs should be at least somewhat numerous and/or powerful. Those two work on a sliding scale, really. The point is, there should be enough of them, or they should be powerful enough, that a full-force direct assault on them would be the height of stupidity. And vice-versa. They shouldn't be able to wipe the protagonists off the map either.

But more importantly, there should be some sort of advantage for keeping up the antagonism. World peace is boring. Look at some of the existing games where the PC faction is the only one. There's no threat. No threat means nothing really happening. PCs languish in obscurity. And you can't even move a threat in, because PCs have had months and months to set up every kind of alarm bell there is. And then:

@Misadventure said:

Then you have unleashed the Hounds, and the more people are involved the more likely the path of Final Victory will be selected, and achievable.

The status quo should not be 'we've won'. The status quo should be 'we need to tread carefully here'. Make there be some incentive for keeping the peace. Generally speaking, neither side wants a bloody conflict. The reality is that they don't go as cleanly as most MU conflict tends to go. They're long, and bloody, and messy. They take resources, and they drain everyone involved on some level, because nobody wants to be dealing with that shit when there are other issues they could be attending to. So if someone steps out of line for no good reason whatsoever other than they got a wild hair up their ass and wanted to go pick a fight, there should be consequences from both factions.

That's not to say that conflict can't happen. But conflict shouldn't be murder-first, question-later. It should be give and take, back and forth. They should both act as the foil to each other, and occasionally things can get heated, sure, if there's some real big piece of the pie on the line. But all in all, they should be trying to screw each other over, not trying to plot ways to annihilate the other in some kind of Final Solution BS.

@hedgehog said in MUSIC:

@Derp

Here. Have a photo from last year's Dracula's Ball performance in Philadelphia, where I was suddenly both video tech and official band photographer (in spite of being expressly not a photographer):

<3!

@Arkandel said:

Ideally that's the main question I'd like to see addressed in this thread; not just what (which I feel most of us agree with) but how. And remember, such systems need to be as easy to use on an everyday basis and require as little direct staff intervention as possible.

• What the Players Want Isn't Necessarily What They Should Get - I mean, let's face it. We've all felt similar situations before. Just because a kid -wants- ice cream for dinner, because that makes them just the happiest of campers, doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea. There are lots of unhealthy things that happen if they get their way all the time. The same goes with a MU. Just because the players want the game set up a certain way, doesn't mean it's a good idea. Lots of games lately have tried to custom tailor their stuff to exactly what the players of the game want. And it's ended up with stagnant games where this is nothing to do, and people RP in little cliques instead of going out and interacting with the world. Because there is largely nothing in the world that can hold their attention long enough to really engage with it. It becomes monster-of-the-week plots and social scenes, instead of long-term planning and any real kind of strategy.

• No Top-Tier PC Leadership - PC Leadership is always problematic, because then staff has to negotiate things with the PC leaders, who can essentially hold the game hostage while they issue mandates from on high. Mandates from on high should come from the staff, the storytellers, whoever. But it shouldn't be in the hands of players. You might let PCs get middle-management positions. It could be fun to play the Provost of a Councilor. But PCs shouldn't be on the Council. Or if they are, the HIerarch should be NPC, and should have veto power. Because that's how you keep the game from becoming some kind of boring, conflict-less Nirvana. The players should always have something to work toward, and keeping the top-tier 'governance' of the IC world out of their hands goes a long way in making sure that there are always ways to introduce dynamic conflict and meaningful consequences.

Fundamentally, I disagree that the systems used need to have as little direct staff intervention as possible. I think that staff are ultimately the ones who tailor both the world and the story, and while PCs can do meaningful things inside of it, the 'hands off' staffing approach is really not a great idea for making sure that this sort of things comes to pass.

@Ominous said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

Discussion of Ohio places has summoned me.

@Ganymede said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

This is a wealthy suburb. With purportedly educated people. Who just want to ask irrelevant question after irrelevant question about a very basic principle of property ownership.

JFC, these motherfuckers are too damn stupid to live.

I mean, here. Live here.

Honest.

I will do you one better. I am the sole Code Enforcement officer for South Santa Barbara County. When the rich fucks in Montecito complain about their neighbors building a shed or trimming a hedge too much, I am the one who gets to knock on Oprah Winfrey or Prince Harry's door to perform a site inspection. I even had one guy hire an attorney to file his complaint (a form that consists mainly of address of violation, description of violation, violator's name, your contact info) and the complaint came as a 30+ page packet with things labelled Exhibit A through P.

I feel this. So much.

@surreality re: Tinkering

I know that this probably isn't as constructive as it could be, but I'll throw my two cents in here.

I think that part of our problem, as a culture, is that we're convinced that there is some One True Right and Only Way to do things. We design our games around this idea. We build our community around this idea. But at the end of the day -- there are too many people here for any one thing to be right for all of them. We're not one community. We're several different communities that share a common thread, but one that's nebulous enough that it cannot be solidified into any one solid thing. It's online RPG, sure, but that's about where the commonalities end.

Some of us like WoD. Some of us like D20. Some of us like Lords and Ladies or homebrew or games based on different kinds of fantasy fandoms.

And that is not a singular community. That is a creole of different beliefs, cultures, etc, and we come here because we can use a sort of lingua franca to try and reach out to each other. And in doing so, we try and compare notes and such, but at this point, I think that we can safely agree on; there is no one way. The best way is the one that makes the game run like the game-runners want the game to run, and players will either enjoy that way, or they won't.

Places like this help to solidify ideas, but I don't think it's fair to use it as some sort of lab to try and create the very best thing for everyone. Everyone is different. There will always be differences of opinion, people who would be happier if things were different (and people who are happiest with things just the way they are). At best, this place gives us an outlet so that we can say 'this would be better if...' and see how many people agree with that sentiment, which can be the impetus for other games where things run differently.

From what I understand, we used to have a great deal many more places available. Now there aren't so many. We've got people like Theno out there making it easier for people to start things within specific genres, especially with his various WoD stats systems, but at the end of the day, it's still costly and time-consuming. And with that, there should be... I dunno. A certain amount of leeway given to game-runners that we don't often see in places like this, because they're not doing things A Certain Way.

Given that ... perhaps it's time we tried to figure out how to make it easier for the folks to make their own games when they dissent with the way certain ones are run (despite all the arguments against GOMO foo, it's still the best option for getting more options). I think that we could figure out a way, as a hobby, to make it cheaper, easier, and overall more efficient, rather than trying to find the One Gameplan to Rule Them All.

@GangOfDolls said in RL things I love:

Covid Sad Pile of Cheezits

There is nothing sad about Cheezits. Especiay the thin, snappy cheddar sour cream and onion ones.

Nobody can be sad with those in their mouth.

@Arkandel said in What does advancement in a MU* mean to you?:

Make damn sure to let your newbies be able to catch up. It doesn't need to (and shouldn't) happen too fast; let them work for it since otherwise it invalidates your oldbies' efforts, but make it possible.

See, this is the part that I'm getting hung up on in most of our systems that currently exist. You either start off as Pretty Damn Powerful, or you know you'll get Pretty Damn Powerful within X amount of time just because of the way the system is coded, and I see two problems with it:

• First, catchup xp means that players have to put basically no effort into what they're doing (see my frequent bitching about secrets of the universe getting absorbed through the starbucks wifi while you shop for boots on amazon). The ones who are really active will pull the train for the entire game, and they're almost guaranteed to not be that far ahead of anyone else when this happens. At a certain level of xp, even the coded leg-up they have becomes trivial.

• Second, players under these systems get pretty damn entitled real fast. It's easy to talk a lot of shit about the people at the upper end of the tier because you know that in a few weeks you'll be right there with them xp-wise, so why should anyone ever show any respect for the people who have been around for a good chunk of time and put in some real work to make things happen?

While I'm all for characters catching up, so to speak, I think that you should also get equal 'pay' for equal 'work', up to a point. I'm cool with diminishing returns, but I don't want a system where John the New Guy can come in and know that with half the work that Prince Whatsit did, he can get the xp that Prince Whatsit -has-. Many people might not like that idea, but ... that's the one I like. And if I start my own game, it'll probably end up a lot like that.

Other people can use catchup systems all they want to, my personally? If you wanna catch up to the old guys in half the time it took them to get there, you'd better be ready to get your hands dirty.

@Auspice

I watched it twice. So good. Can't wait for next season.

@HelloProject said in Identifying Major Issues:

Also who doesn't have like 10 burner emails? It's not that heavy.

So much this.

@silverfox said in The Work Thread:

I am utterly shattered right now. We were suppose to go back in person starting Monday, but today they abruptly made the decision not to.

I just had a parent text me (yes, I did give out my cell phone number because parents need every fucking tool they can get their hands on right now) and tell me about how shattered her kid is. He was suspended before we went remote the first time and she just said, "He was so ready to be a good egg" and I'm just... heart broken.

We just closed all of our schools here through Christmas, and cases continue to spike. This is the new reality now. It sucks, but... I think we need to prepare for the long haul on this one.

@HelloProject said in Identifying Major Issues:

porn email, a business email, a general personal email, etc, which is what I do

You too?!? Brofist.

@Aria said in The Work Thread:

@saosmash said in The Work Thread:

@Derp I'm literally preventing myself from getting paid by not doing this contract invoice and yet.

Why meticulously organize the SharePoint library of training documents, templates, and standard work that I get paid to manage.....

When I can meticulously organize the org charts, source material, and land holdings of imaginary houses for an online game I play for free?!

PROCRASTINATION PROJECTS.

To be clear here: I don't think anyone is attaching me, though I do appreciate @Surreality for saying that. It's refreshing.

To be clear on another thing: Yes, the entire staff of Fate's Harvest is listening. We are aware of the feelings, we're in active discussion on the matter, and we take your concerns seriously.

What we are doubling down on is this: We are not going to remove a player before they have presented themselves as a problem on that game. This goes against the spirit of things that the Game Owner wants to see become canon there. So no amount of outcry is going to get us to magically remove the player before she has done so.

However, that doesn't mean that we aren't doing something. We've already shifted course a bit in light of these things, and continue to discuss ways to try and help handle the situation in a way that protects us and all of our players, both present and potential. While we haven't come to any solid conclusions yet, you're being heard. We just won't take the (in our opinion, drastic) measure of removing a player from the game before they present themselves as a problem. I know that this leaves some people disappointed, but that's just the way it is.

And on that note: We invite anyone who sees something shady going on to let us know. Staff can't be everywhere all the time, as players have pointed out, but the players also have to communicate with the staff if something suspicious is going down (beyond 'this person is present'). If you see something, say something. Preferably with some kind of log so that we can see it too.

One interesting thing about the game: logging is pretty heavy on most players' to-do lists. If you want to do more than the standard one xp a week, logs must be submitted. Pretty much everyone is aware of that, and scenes get logged pretty diligently, so logging is already in our nature. And we do read them.

So, as constructively as possible: We know. We hear you. We'll take action if it even starts to look like a problem. But so far, it doesn't look anything like that. If that changes, we'll be on it. Trust.

@Wretched said in The ADD/ADHD Thread (cont'd from Peeves):

Man, I feel so personally called out by this.

@Paris said in A Constructive Thread About People We Might Not Like:

@HelloProject said in A Constructive Thread About People We Might Not Like:

I also like to think that there's no fucking way these people wouldn't get dragged for doing that shit in the modern era.

Having had a really unpleasant run-in with an extremely homophobic staffer in the last year or so, which resulted in several other staff becoming pretty unpleasant, and the resulting OOC retaliation and ostracism, I can assure you that people still get away with that kind of shit.

You and I don't always agree on things, but in this case, that is a super shitty thing to have happen. I refuse to accept homophobic OOC bullshit at any level, and that is one of the things that I will absolutely make sure stops, one way or another. It's 2017, that sort of attitude is bullshit in the highest.

@ganymede said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

@auspice said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

My best instructors were the ones who gave me honest, thorough feedback. Who were willing to take the time to talk to me when I had questions. Who provided a cut-and-dry syllabus (really, there is no need for cutesy shit with a syllabus: there's a reason there's a formula. it works and people understand it).

Well, I can give honest feedback because there are two kinds of students:

1. Students who think I am their friend, and are sorely disappointed; and
2. Students who think I am not their friend, and are never disappointed.

My syllabus will be tough to get done, I'll admit, but I'm probably going to tell them: "Look, I know you have 12 weekly assignments for 12 weeks, but get them done and in on time and you'll get the full 5% per, up to a max of 50%, then we grade your final assignment for the remaining 50% because whether I give you an A or a D won't matter if you can't pass that bar exam."

I may ride their asses like Zorro, but those students are going to have a nice portfolio of work, some worthwhile feedback, and know how to litigate a whole slew of real estate lawsuits.

I strongly desire professors like this. Can I sign up for your class? (j/k, that would be weird or whatever.)

@Paris, on Fallcoast I'm Enki/Heka.