Posts made by Derp

@Ganymede said:

Moon Gifts make a world of difference, but I'll concede that the other Gifts can be purchased at a higher cost. So, you can make a combat-ready Elodoth, but the system stacks it so it's easier to be the negotiator/judge.

A world of difference? Eh. They give you an edge, but not so much of one that they make it impossible for other people to one-up you. I have a pretty combat capable character (really, about as capable as it comes) who is neither Blood Talon nor Rahu. In fact, he's not one of the 'classical combat' splat types at all. I guess It really just depends on how you want to progress.

Edited for cleaner wording.

@Ganymede said:

But try as you may, the Rahu are best at one role. They can struggle against it all they want, and that makes for excellent internal character tension. As much as Ralph wants to be loved and seen for his thoughtful side, his Alpha is going to want him to Wreck-It because that's what he's built to do.

Eh. I have to disagree, here. While yes, you have certain affinities that make certain things come easier to you, there is nothing preventing you from buying other things as well. Short of the Moon Gifts, any werewolf can buy anything, and once it's unlocked, adding facets is all the same price, assuming you have the relevant renown.

Really, tribes aren't that limiting. They're the area where other people defer to you. Auspices aren't really all that limiting either. It just gives you a generalized toolset to use in order to attain your goal. Short of a few rites and merits, any werewolf can really do anything, though they may be slightly more proficient in areas that come naturally to them.

It really depends on how you look at it. If you want to see it in a pessimistic light, then yeah, they're leaving you a trail of breadcrumbs that wanders down a generic path. If you like to keep things simple and don't mind making a generic cookie cutter character, then by all means take it. It's very newbie friendly in that regard. If you're a more advanced player, though, there is nothing stopping you from coloring outside of the lines a bit if you want to experiment with different setup, and they've given you all the tools with which to do it. You aren't restricted from having anything at all, short of Moon Gifts and some merits and rites, which are just flavor add ons.

Angle of approach. It makes a world of difference.

I've found that it's much easier to start new people out with @emit or the \ or \\ shortcuts. Say, pose, and semipose are useful for shortcuts later, but tend to be confusing for newbies, whereas @emit just outputs exactly what they type and can cover the functions of all three of the former.

So, I did go and take a look at these articles, some of the more recent ones anyway.

You know what really screams being open to discussion and wanting to engage in a lively and active debate on things? Going to the 'Staff Ethics' article, having it read like a commandment, rather than pensive back and forth, and then seeing at the bottom that comments are turned off.

That is the anti-discussion format. That is 'this is how it is, and there will be no discussion, we have even put our code in such a format as to disallow it'. That, to me, does not do what you say it does.

Your replies here are also less than convincing that discusion is what you're wanting to engage in, as you deliberately skirt around pertinent ideas and piecemeal your replies. A debate-sparking article feels philosophical in nature, and asks questions that it doesn't necessarily answer. Your stuff just provides answers without leaving room for or entertaining questions or alternative viewpoints.

Kind of like your forum posts.

I do remember reading that thread, but it's not clicking that that is the source. I shall continue to look!

I could have sworn that it was stated explicitly that they were a local variant of the Strix somewhere, but now I cannot find it.

@tragedyjones said:

This may be the wrong place to ask, but, when I compose a message the bottom of the text box is hidden and I cannot scroll down to find it, leaving me to type blind. This is mostly an issue when composing a reply.

It's like that for everyone, I think. So far, nobody has figured out a fix for that. It happens even when I hide my taskbar at the bottom. Hopefully a future update will fix that.

@Coin

That sounds... I'm not sure that I would agree, and the complexity needed to be able to list what information you want to find out of a system that incorporates both seems needless when you could make it two different systems. For example, what happens when a large faction, such as a tribe, has more than one Safe Place listed? Does it list them all? Do you need a sub-command to list which ones are there, and then another to get specific details on it? Can you use the system to find out which groups are there? And then get specific information about one of those groups?

+faction gives a quick at-a-glance thing about 'who is a member of what, and how' and +lairs lists out specific holdings and information. I could see it being in a single command, but it would have to be a pretty complex command in order to be able to differentiate things like that, I think.

@Coin said:

This would be +faction, probably, from what I've spoken about with @Thenomain.

See, when I think of something like this, I think of an updated version of TR's +lairs. +faction is just, in my mind, an easy way to list all of the members of a certain in-game group, like +faction Bone Shadows, so you can see who is in it (and if in use, what status/title they hold).

@Lithium said:

I can say that Jared is pretty awesome, without Jared helping keep people in touch... I'd be pretty shut out of a lot of RP there.

Also: My werewolf pack needs more werewolves. I've got wolf-blooded but few actual wolves... For whatever that's worth I know wolves are highly limited it seems. It can be somewhat annoying since I made my PC with the idea of joining a pack not forming my own, but, everyone I asked said: Form your own, we need more packs, so I did and... yeah. /annoyed.

Jared (@TNP) being awesome: +1. Jared is really great at keeping people in touch with each other and finding reasons for people to RP (even if it annoys the living crap out of my PC IC, lol).

As for the low number of wolves -- yeah, we know. We're working on that. We have been holding off on reopening though because we have transitions (first changes, embraces, etc) to do for the first time ever, now that we have the code for it, and we wanted to make sure that there were enough open slots for the people that wanted them. Werewolf will be re-opening very soon.

No great comfort right now, I'm sure, but that is at least the reason for the current low number of wolves. We will open things up to new blood soon, though, and hopefully with that we can get people coming in already thinking about Packs they want to join/form.

Code to track and tally shared merits.

Safe Place
Totem
Etc

Keeping it all spread out in notes is a pain in the ass. You need a code that can pull the total from a list of players, and in the case of Totem be able to be modified to reflect new traits and benefits.

The Strix can be everyone's problem. Pretty much any ephemeral can. Same goes for the Idigam.

Demon + Mage would be fantastic together, but only if you don't mind hte fact that they willl chase each other in circles and try to pin the other down constantly. Their powers and themes are similar enough to be awesome but opposed enough to provide an interesting tension dynamic.

Werewolf can play well with anything, especially given hat Oher Things can be full members of packs now.

They are what you make of htem. None of them play well or poorly with each oher by default.

Most of my time lately has gone to the absurdity that is the start of the semester, when teachers are frantic to put a dent in the syllabus, students (especially the icoming fall freshmen) have no idea what they're doing and do silly things like run around in absolute panic and turn the parking lots into a demolition derby. That sort of lovely thing.

But normally I am available for RP, and shall be again once I'm a couple weeks into this thing and people realize it's really not that freakin' bad.

In the few instances where I have personally turned down RP, it was because of time issues. In the one instance I have seen someone ask to be included in a scene and denied, it was because it was an already-large scene (which some of the players commented on sizewise) for a specific pack to do an important pack-related thing, and scene size + you're not pack = not this time, maybe next time!

Which I don't think is being cliquish, so much as it is practical. Which is another point: Just because someone wants into something, and does not get in it, that does not automatically a clique make. There could be legit reasons.

If we're talking about WoD games, let me remind you:

Cabal
Coterie
Pack
Motley
Krewe
...

That is built into the system, and rewarded.

@Coin said:

There's also the Beaten Down rule, where if you're a mortal and take more Bashing damage than your Stamina (or any Lethal damage at all) you are Beaten Down and can't really function offensively without spend Willpower (discussions of whether this rule is optional or not are superfluous, it exists as a possibility you might want to consider).

Also oft overlooked is the rule that if your goal is to outright kill a fool, rather than just beat them down, ot have to spend willpower to do it as well.

@Coin

You have successfully made me lol for the first time today. I owe you something for breaking my desire to beat people over the head with blunt instruments.

It only gets bad when I'm tired. And that didn't come from being an academic. I learned to really type like a pro when I became a musher, and then got a job as a research assistant. A full year of doing something sixteen hours a day makes you pretty good and speedy, but I have not yet mastered blind accuracy.

@Coin said:

@Derp said:

Fucking freshmen.

Yes, I understand, you think that being late your first day is the end of your college career. It's not. Professors expect you to not have a clue, and the first day is rarely important.

Yes, I understand that you think being in the middle of campus is the best, and you turn the parking lot and garages into Thunderdome. You will learn, in time, that it's best to park at your main building, and only travel to the campus center for lunch.

Yes, I know, you're full of questions, and normally I would be happy o help you, if you would just CALM THE FUCK DOWN. But you panicking is making me ehausted, and I"m losing my goddamn patience. I swear I will hit you with a chair if you scream a question at me again.

I's your first day fo your next FOUR YEARS. Or more. SEriously, ake a goddamn breath.

Easy. Might wanna type a little less angrily. You're typoing all over the place! It's very unseemly!

It's not being able to see the bottom line. Couple that with an ancient laptop (because I have not picked up my new one yet, it just came in!) that has half the key letter ing worn off from use, and .... yeah. Bad. All Bad.

Fucking freshmen.

Yes, I understand, you think that being late your first day is the end of your college career. It's not. Professors expect you to not have a clue, and the first day is rarely important.

Yes, I understand that you think being in the middle of campus is the best, and you turn the parking lot and garages into Thunderdome. You will learn, in time, that it's best to park at your main building, and only travel to the campus center for lunch.

Yes, I know, you're full of questions, and normally I would be happy to help you, if you would just CALM THE FUCK DOWN. But you panicking is making me exhausted, and I"m losing my goddamn patience. I swear I will hit you with a chair if you scream a question at me again.

I's your first day fo your next FOUR YEARS. Or more. Seriously, take a goddamn breath.

EDIT: Not being able to see the line you are typing at the bottom is the most annoying shit ever. I suppose I have to hide my taskbar to use this thing without spelling errors.

As a complete aside from WoD: I do really enjoy Rifts. But it's a very complex system. Even moreso than DnD and WoD. So if you're looking for less system, that is not the way to go, but if you want something that can handle just about anything you can think of from multiple different realities all rolled into one game? Rifts is a great way to go.