Posts made by Devrex

I recommend you mute/ignore/block whichever person this could ever be about that surely isn't me.

Given you falsely accused me of insulting you when I was scrupulously polite to you, did not apologize for blatantly telling me to fuck off, did not apologize for your graphic language, did not apologize for making false accusations and casting aspersions on darn near everyone here, and are giggle-dancing all over the place as you continue stirring the pot, I do believe I, for one, am going to go right ahead and take this most excellent advice.

Bless your heart, @Ghost.

@Ghost Well, now you're sinking to the level of personal attack. Being told to fuck off, specifically.

You made me feel like garbage.

I will commit to discussing the topic. Here you go.

Constructive example of what you could have said:

"Now that AI art is an option, is it time to phase out using actors and real people for our character art? Perhaps that would be more respectful to the real actors we're using now, and would avoid any potential that they could come across our RPs and be upset about how their face is being used."

There. Done.

See, YOU got on here and insulted everyone on here. You used the most graphic, disgusting terms possible to come on and make veiled accusations about everyone here and everyone who plays MUSHes. And for no real reason other than perhaps needing an outlet to unleash some emotion.

@Ghost: you clearly run with a very different crowd than I've run with.

Could you please tone down 1) the depiction of absolutely everyone in this hobby as some sort of sicko, including, by implication, the very people you're debating this with and 2) the extremely graphic language you're using to describe certain acts, as that was intensely uncomfortable to read?

You don't really know the motivations of everyone who uses PBs or likes them for every reason they like them, and while it's possible AI art could be a better choice, there were many constructive ways that you could have said that that did not have to include making everyone who has ever used a PB feel like garbage.

@Ghost Yeah I think it looked pretty good from the player side, and that's pretty good feedback too...I was afraid if I charged less than $20 a seat it would look like something was wrong with my games. You can filter by game system to search for games, or time, or anything else, last I saw. And I guess there might be some appeal to: "I know that Curse of Strahd was really fun cause my friend played it and had fun and now I want to play it too," and the certainty of knowing someone competent wrote the adventure. I wouldn't want to be militant about bumping seats, that sounds no fun at all. I didn't try it as a player cause I don't have that kind of money to burn right now, but I did think I could make a little extra dough. Unfortunately the systems I'm interested in running are not D&D and Pathfinder and so I struggled to find players.

@Ghost said in Observation:

@ZombieGenesis I actually looked up startplayinggames and have had pretty good success finding inexpensive GMs of quality games so far, and might throw my hat into running games for a little side cash.

My docket right now consists of V5 Vampire, Aliens, Walking Dead, Secret World (when I get it), and the new marvel rpg. I was also in on the kickstarter for Alchemy and that looks like it'll be a super sweet vtt for running streamed games.

What I learned about StartPlaying is it's hard to get players if you're not doing D&D or Pathfinder, and if you're not running pre-published adventures. Very weird to me as to me running a pre-published takes less creativity and skill than writing your own, but that's what people are paying for.

@ZombieGenesis This whole post pretty much sums up my experience and why I am no longer playing anywhere, running anything, posting much, or running stories anywhere unless it's for a handful of friends via tabletop. It's not worth it, I'm so super tired, and every time I consider summoning up enough energy to do anything of the sort, I remember what the costs are going to be, nope, right out, and go do literally anything else. I grieve sometimes, because this was a big part of my life for almost 30 years too.

Just adding my own voice to this...I appreciate it too. Reading fewer posts, but knowing the posts I see will be civil and thoughtful is a pleasure.

@Misadventure You might also get some traction by asking PCs to set some goals. Phrased like: "What are three goals your PC wants to achieve that they will need other PCs for?"

Thus PCs will generate "quests" for other PCs as well, and will have the basis for some story and relationship building. Even if it's simple as: "The blackberries for my special blackberry jelly are up in the hills where all the bears are, and I'm scared of bears and need someone to go with me."

Which is my over-coffee stab at a Stardew Valley example.

Some could be one-offs, but at least one should be a reusable schtick.

@Hella Depends very much on the system. Pathfinder is very crunchy, so I don't generally run it. Crunchy systems can make chargen a PITA, yes.

The difference is that my DM is there, helping me, and is my buddy, and will probably get me into a character by the end of a conversation/session 0.

On a MUSH, I could wait days or weeks to get that character approved, especially if I'm struggling through the system. So, on a tabletop, if I have to roll a new character, I have lost an hour, and my four friends will go out of their way to help me establish my new character in the story.

On a MUSH, I'm now looking at being bored out of my skull with no way to participate for what could amount to half a month. Maybe one or two friends will actually interact with the new character as quickly as they interacted with the old and create a background that lets you jump right back in as an old friend or whatever. You're going to have to go through the same tedious small talk getting-to-know-you RP that you already did with the other 38 people to get re-invited into stories. So you lose a much bigger investment of time and energy. Which is why I don't think it's necessarily fair to get frustrated with MU*ers for not wanting to lose characters.

@JinShei said in PhD help:

L.Muresan.19@unimail.winchester.ac.uk

Sent! Good luck to her!

@Ghost Yeah that's also my vibe. Very much the "Let's play a big TTRPG." Or as I sometimes say, "MUSH lets you be in the book, and that's what I want to be doing."

Granted, when I storytell on a MUSH I don't want to kill players. I'm willing to have lots of things happen to my character, but a) creating a character on a MUSH and getting it approved is a much bigger PITA than creating a character with friends on a table and getting my GM to say 'go for it,' and building up the web of in-character relationships it takes to get involved in anything is a similar PITA, much bigger than just rolling up a new character and b) death isn't the most interesting thing that can happen. But I also like systems and am about story. I think what MU* brings is the ability to create deeper characters and deeper character ties. So I don't really care if people want to use it for relationship RP. Relationships are part of that.

I think it's more important to set the expectation up front and on paper for what sort of game it is, as well as what the philosophy and approach is. It's a spectrum, and telling potential players where, on that spectrum between TTRPG and social-MU* the game is meant to be, can be helpful.

@ZombieGenesis Some of the other plugins could also work well. Someone already coded a Cortex plugin and a FATE, and one or two others I can't remember. The audience that is super duper into FS3 isn't necessarily the audience that would come in on a game with any other system.

FATE might work well; you could probably look at how the Dresden Files used it to modify it for Nightlife. I see many similarities between the wiki write-up of how the Nightlife system works and how Dresden handles the loss of humanity and stuff.

That said, a quick readover of the Nightlife system certainly indicates it has enough in common with WoD/COD mechanics to make it a doable changeover.

I'm also not quite as cynical as Ghost about coding the system you like, or about how people want to RP and what they want to RP. If you are good at code, like the system, would like to use the system, then I'd say as a counterpoint to his valid points that after awhile if you're going to make a game at all, you gotta do what pleases you and lets you make the game that you like and that you're passionate about playing and running. That's part of staying sane, too.

@Hella I'm so glad you had fun!

@ZombieGenesis I think players are open to different experiences, and I know quite a few players who are pretty burned out on WoD. I think if you're passionate about running it and you've got stuff going and make it easy for players to find stuff to do then you'll get plenty. You might not get 70+ per night like you will on a WoD game, but you won't get the problems inherent to 70+ people a night, either.

@ZombieGenesis Great review, and now I want to check out this game at some point (despite being a bit burned out on Marvel).

I wonder if some of the vagueness isn't intentional, given in comics, characters often can or can't pull off extreme versions of their powers "at the speed of plot." But it definitely seems like you'd have to have the right group to play it.

@Hella There's no need to be nervous! I think you'll find the vibe to be relaxed and everyone will be willing to help you until you're comfortable with the system.

@Ganymede Hahah yeah. He's home now. Mostly hiding under the bed but he seems like he's doing alright. He had a plate of food I put just next to the bed and he reached out a claw to draw it baaaack under so he could eat under there. But he came up to see me last night.

Kaiden is doing good! I just spoke to the surgeon. He went in at 3 AM this morning. They had to do some very light interventions once in there but the surgeon says he's doing really well, already eating, drinking, and pooping. We can pick him up later today!

The second vet was much kinder, much more willing to work with us, and far more skilled. They've done an initial non-invasive procedure for him and are waiting to see if they need to get more aggressive, but for now, Kaiden is stable and will be there for the next couple of days. They let us see him before sending us on home...he looked like he was enjoying The Good Drugs but seemed happy for pets and the reassurance that we were still around. I'm feeling optimistic. Everyone who helped, you just have no idea the difference you've made today, but you are so appreciated beyond what I can express in words.

@ZombieGenesis Thank you so much. Every share and we’ll wish helps. We did meet our fundraising goal! The initial hospital transferred us because they didn’t care that Go Fund Me takes 5 to 7 days but the new one was a lot nicer and checked him in after I showed them the campaign. The doctor hasn’t seen him yet…doctor is in surgery with another kitty, but they have him back there on his IV and stuff and I don’t think they are going to be all like: “9K upfront NOW or we don’t operate!” I so appreciate everyone who took an interest or shared or helped, words really cannot express.