Posts made by Derp

Knives Out.

I loved this movie so much.

@tragedyjones said in What game system would you prefer for a big-tent nWoD project?:

Chronicles of Darkness is a superior system to nWoD 1 in all ways, in what it is designed to do - be an amazing system for a group of players and an ST. It is not at all designed with a MU in mind.

This is literally what we've been saying about every game ever created though. "These were all made for tabletop, they were not created for MU." That isn't even WoD specific. You can say that about anything from DnD to Fate. That isn't a damnation of the system, it's a reality of games in general.

I mean, some of this is stuff that used to exist once upon a time ago, and was abandoned for specific and various reasons.

Like the 'specialized staff' concepts. Once upon a time, games used to have app staff, plot staff, theme staff, player relations staff, etc. I don't remember what the arguments were against it, but I remember it was widespread, and then it suddenly wasn't. Like, seemingly overnight that setup was abandoned in favor of more generalists.

The rest of this has various high and low points.

First, the 'community' isn't actually a community, it's several, with (obviously) conflicting standards and beliefs across multiple genres, so treating it as a one-and-done seems like a bad idea. We can't even agree on basic things on MSB, which is the closest that currently exists to this. The terminology is kind of weird, and this seems like it has a LOT of levels and moving parts, which just means that it's easier to completely break and harder for people to grok upon starting.

Second, even within like-minded groups, you have in-groups and out-groups, and the in-groups can very easily make life hell for just about anyone, as has been witnessed across multiple games and genres, so 'community reputation' really only goes about as far as 'what the loudest and most vocal people say about you', or how many of your friends you can get to have your back no matter how you are behaving. 'Community reputation' is another word for 'popularity', and that never ends well.

I like some of the concepts. But I think that this approach, specifically related to the parts mentioned above, isn't necessary a great idea.

@mietze said in Meg's Rice Thread:

Crockpot congee

My kids eat this for breakfast or request as often as chicken soup or matzo balls when sick.

Put 1 cup rinsed short grain rice (sushi rice works well) in large crockpot, add 1t of neutral flavored oil and toss to coat grains. Add 10 cups of your favorite broth. Cook 8 hours or overnight on low. Before serving stir, bump up to high and cook for 30 mins, salt to taste.

I usually have a variety of stuff prepped sp that people and top their bowls as they please. Our family favorites: chopped leftover meat, sliced green onions, fresh herbs, hardboiled egg, drizzle of sesame oil/sriracha/soy sauce, shredded carrots, fried onions, bacon. I often crack an uncooked egg in mine if it is piping hot.

That is a lot of liquid-to-rice ratio. Does this come out more like a savory rice pudding?

Fried rice.

Best to use day-old rice for this. Either leftover rice you have from something else or just rice you make and leave in the fridge for a day. (You want it cold and not as full of moisture as fresh rice, or it ends up a sticky clumpy mess.) You're gonna want about four cups of rice for this (roughly two cups dry).

Break and scramble four eggs. Set aside.

Throw a dollop of oil in a pan. Some people like sesame oil. I think that has way too strong a taste, so I just use regular vegetable oil. Dice up a large white onion into pieces you find palatable. Sautee those in the oil until they start to sweat, and then throw in a bag of frozen peas and carrots. Add ginger and garlic to taste until onions are translucent. Remove from pan, set aside.

Add a bit more oil to the pan. Take the cold rice and break it up as much as possible without making a godawful mess (you want as many grains to get coated with oil as you can manage, for best results). Stir cold rice into hot oil, frying for a few minutes until it starts to get heated through.

Add soy sauce to taste. I use a lot of soy sauce, but you definitely want to add enough until the rice is brown. Make sure to work quickly here -- it absorbs/evaporates fast in the hot pan and if you don't work fast you'll never mix this stuff fast enough and it will be all weird and spotty.

When it's a uniform color, add your eggs and veggies and mix thoroughly, then top off with some fresh green onions and red pepper flakes, to taste.

You can add meat if you want. I prefer not to.

Cheers.

@Admiral said in What game system would you prefer for a big-tent nWoD project?:

@Derp That sounds fantastic. I would still prefer a coder on staff to handle the installation and accompanying hiccups though. Handling code is important and having someone dedicated to it is also important.

Oh, for sure. Just saying that for this part, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. The wheel blueprints are available.

@Admiral said in What game system would you prefer for a big-tent nWoD project?:

An existing codebase that can run 2e splats. A cgen that coddles players is preferred.

Theno already has this fully coded (ETA: for Mux). It's not -quite- copy/paste but it's not insanely difficult to install, if you do it carefully.

Also, the chargen coddles the hell out of players with cg/check. Make the red turn green. It's not 100% foolproof, and it still requires a quick skim, but it's pretty hard to f**k it up.

@Auspice said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:

@Auspice said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:

Managed to get to work today (despite doctor's note to stay out until the 12th: I simply cannot afford it because as noted previously, I am a contractor and unlike employees am not salary and do not have PTO)....... sort of wish I hadn't.

Chills and body aches kicked in on the way here.

But unlike Miss Employee last week, I'm wearing one of those face mask things. I'm also probably past the contagious stage but damnit. Gonna be polite.

I def overdid it yesterday.
Staying home today.

Fuck this flu.

Send chicken soup vibes.

sends Nyquil vibes instead

Also: Don't you work in software development? Can't you do that remotely?

@Pandora

While I've already given the reasons why I don't think this is absolutely necessary, I think there is one more that we haven't quite covered yet --

There is such a thing as 'too many tools'.

If something is already available to do a thing, there is no reason to create a redundant system, complete with its own documentation, to clog up the systems. Even the default commands that games come with are often overwhelming for players to read. I've had an Ares server up for a month or so now and STILL haven't read all the help files, and I"m coding for this beast.

There are a LOT of them, before I add a single command to the game.

At some point, you have to draw a line and say 'no, this is not worth the additional effort and confusion and clutter when such things already exist'.

The problem isn't that the tools aren't there. The problem is that players aren't willing to even use the ones that already exist. Creating additional systems isn't likely to fix that, and can in fact be detrimental for organization and clarity.

If people really feel that there is so much of a problem that a special tool needs to be created, but are unwilling to use the ones already in place -- I'm not sure that's a tenable argument.

@Auspice said in What game system would you prefer for a big-tent nWoD project?:

@Derp said in What game system would you prefer for a big-tent nWoD project?:

@Auspice said in What game system would you prefer for a big-tent nWoD project?:

Just up the amount of weekly XP to 2 and get rid of short-terms, IMO. Increase beats earned for PRPs, encourage people to use conditions more. But get rid of short-term asps.

2xp a week is a ludicrously high amount for a 2E game. You will get ridiculous monsters very fast, because people will figure out how to hit it every. Single. Time.

I speak from experience. You will hate yourself if you make that your standard. You really want it to go slower.

And yet, on most games, people making full use of short-terms (as 'recommended') will be earning 2XP per week.

Which is exactly why I said this is too high. I've been on the other end of this. It doesn't end pretty. You get minor gods in no time flat.

@Auspice said in What game system would you prefer for a big-tent nWoD project?:

Just up the amount of weekly XP to 2 and get rid of short-terms, IMO. Increase beats earned for PRPs, encourage people to use conditions more. But get rid of short-term asps.

2xp a week is a ludicrously high amount for a 2E game. You will get ridiculous monsters very fast, because people will figure out how to hit it every. Single. Time.

I speak from experience. You will hate yourself if you make that your standard. You really want it to go slower.

@Livia said in What game system would you prefer for a big-tent nWoD project?:

@Derp said in What game system would you prefer for a big-tent nWoD project?:

@Admiral said in What game system would you prefer for a big-tent nWoD project?:

@Livia Yeah. Maybe cap them at... completing one aspiration a week? That way you can get 1/5 of an XP once a week.

We went with 'cap overall xp from any source'. Personally, I think Aspirations are good. Nobody ever bothers with Conditions anyway so it's not like that's a huge drag. But Aspirations give you something to strive, and let you drive your own story forward without having to wait on staff to run shit for you.

You take those away, and you're just making more work for yourself in the long run, as players get bored that there is nothing for them to do and not enough plot but they're too busy to run PrPs…

That's a choice you want to make very carefully.

I hate short term aspirations. Every time I've done 2e character gen coming up with 'aspirations' in the system has always been my stumbling point. And then I get people telling me I should be completing 3-4 short term asps per WEEK and I'm wondering if I ever have time for anything else.

They don't really have to be a total slog. They don't even have to be incredibly detailed. You can put in generalizations and work them out just fine.

So if I had to come up with two short-term aspirations for a werewolf, I might go with:

1. Talk to a werewolf I haven't met.
2. Do a scene in non-human form.

For a vampire, this could be:

1. Resist the urge to feed at an inopportune time.
2. Get a feel for how the local Harpy operates.

Basically, think of what you would want to do with your character anyway, and make those an RP goal to strive for. Get rewarded. Always have something to look forward to, even if it's routine stuff.

@Admiral said in What game system would you prefer for a big-tent nWoD project?:

@Livia Yeah. Maybe cap them at... completing one aspiration a week? That way you can get 1/5 of an XP once a week.

We went with 'cap overall xp from any source'. Personally, I think Aspirations are good. Nobody ever bothers with Conditions anyway so it's not like that's a huge drag. But Aspirations give you something to strive, and let you drive your own story forward without having to wait on staff to run shit for you.

You take those away, and you're just making more work for yourself in the long run, as players get bored that there is nothing for them to do and not enough plot but they're too busy to run PrPs…

That's a choice you want to make very carefully.

@Kestrel said in The Dark Side of online Role-Playing:

There's that, and then there's what this thread has turned into, which is @Carex saying that kids who rp sex are little sluts who can handle his digital dick. There's room for discussion on the former. The latter needs to be shut down HARD.

So now we have gone from "OP didn't say that" to ... saying that Carex said things they didn't say.

Interesting choice.

@Macha said in The Work Thread:

@Arkandel At first I read Jenkins/Ansible as Jensen Ackles and wondered wtf that was doing in a tech conversation

I read "conversation" as "convention" as was like "shit, I would go to that to see him be all hot and nerdy."

@Ghost said in The Dark Side of online Role-Playing:

@Derp said in The Dark Side of online Role-Playing:

@Ghost said in The Dark Side of online Role-Playing:

@Derp said in The Dark Side of online Role-Playing:

Ultimately it probably won't change anything. But there are two distinct lines of thought in this particular thread, and that's probably at least worth discussing.

Or a spin-off thread about snooping on your kids.

This one really was supposed to be about online dangers to minors and not about the politics of monitoring your child's online behavior in a way that is healthy for them.

Well, yes, we could do that...
...but the entire tangent started because the OP posted a list of things and some of us went 'wait, what?' This is one of those things on that list. So ...

But is it really right to do that when their original point what that they basically reaching out to warn people about the danger to children?

HOW the data was gathered wasn't the OPs point. Let's let them have their thread (and let it keep as a future thread to gather info on) risks to children coming near the hobby.

I guess I'm saying that it's really easy to grab a few words out of a post and spiral it into something that wasn't their point, and that I'm sure the "parenting" side of the topic would be a great discussion; just not at the expense of piling onto the OP this who posted it as a result of a horrible RL experience.

It's a chance to support someone after a risk to their kid.

I'm not against it. Ask one of the admins to spin it off.

@Ghost said in The Dark Side of online Role-Playing:

@Derp said in The Dark Side of online Role-Playing:

Ultimately it probably won't change anything. But there are two distinct lines of thought in this particular thread, and that's probably at least worth discussing.

Or a spin-off thread about snooping on your kids.

This one really was supposed to be about online dangers to minors and not about the politics of monitoring your child's online behavior in a way that is healthy for them.

Well, yes, we could do that...
...but the entire tangent started because the OP posted a list of things and some of us went 'wait, what?' This is one of those things on that list. So ...

This thread is going off into two different parts:

The first one, where @Buttercup posted some actions and made some suggestions about safety,

And the second, where some of the things that @Buttercup suggested feel really problematic for some of us, based on various education and experiences.

You can condemn one problematic behavior without condemning the motive, just as you can realize that a condemnation of a specific action does not mean a condemnation of the entire person.

@Carex is picking one thing out of the list and saying 'this is not cool', though I think that he's misunderstanding what's meant by that.

Carex's point is -- vocal, and not entirely relevant to the OP's situation, but the underlying concern is at least legitimate in a general fashion.

Maybe he's a troll, and maybe he'll be gone. Just another day at MSB. But other people have likewise chimed in about that level of spying feeling really over the line, and counterproductive.

Ultimately it probably won't change anything. But there are two distinct lines of thought in this particular thread, and that's probably at least worth discussing.

@faraday said in Armageddon MUD:

While I agree with you that it's ultimately subjective, I think your example misses the mark a bit. As @L-B-Heuschkel points out, you're describing an ICly harsh environment. That says nothing about the OOC atmosphere.

Sorry, maybe I was missing what I was trying to say:

In this instance, the judgment against the players would be OOC because they are embracing one of those uncomfortable topics (slavery/abuse/loss of agency/whatever) that many people like to set up as 'you are a reprehensible person OOC if you support or engage in this behavior, even IC'. Once upon a time, we had very clear lines between the IC and the OOC, but those started to bleed ages and ages.

And thus, there's no clear line on what is or is not objectively terrible or permissible because it's all pretty damn dependent.

Like you replied later, the key is expectations -- letting people know what they're getting into, and getting their agreement.

@L-B-Heuschkel said in Armageddon MUD:

Atmosphere and game culture matters a lot. In a supportive environment that doesn't tolerate stalking, grooming and other abusive behaviour, stalkers, groomers and abusers will be rarer.
Whereas in a toxic community where no one gives a fig in the name of 'free speech', the people who are considered prey will leave.

Responding to the right thread this time --

-- I don't agree with this, actually. I mean, to most of it I do, in that you should be rooting out undesirable OOC behaviors, certainly.

But I also agree that this depends heavily on the game's environment and atmosphere, and game culture.

Here's the thing that we all seem to have forgotten at some point -- every game is different, and more importantly is trying to cater to a different set of people that hold different values. But yet we keep talking about them in terms of universals like there is some sort of Declaration of Universal Gamer Rights out there that is in force.

There isn't. Nor should there be. Gamerunners and creators are trying to offer a specific experience to a specific group of people, in most instances, and those values can clash greatly. What some people consider abusive behavior (which, let's be real, is pretty goddamn broad and at times a little questionable) is perfectly reasonable to a different set of people, and the ultimate authority on what is or is not acceptable is the one running the game. If I want to run a Dark Sun game where everyone starts as an Arena Slave and then gets to fight their way to freedom, that isn't going to appeal to some people. It doesn't have to. It shouldn't. If you're fresh off of a MLP Mu, it's probably going to seem like the most hideous and abusive thing in the world to you, and a toxic environment that you don't want to be a part of.

And you shouldn't be.

Despite what some others might think, there is no objective test for what is and is not permissible. It's only subjective. And like all subjective things, you ultimately have to vote your own conscience, and decide whether to be a part of that experience/group or not.

That does not make either party wrong. It means that there are different standards and different values across different venues.