Posts made by Faceless

My past character on Fallcoast was named Dayne. He was, in short, a blast. Dude was a Changeling (Summer) and a Gilded Aspirant of the Sacred Band of the Golden Standard(read: he was suuuper full of himself and all about building a mythology around his own name), he was my first step into that splat, and altogether he was just a really, really enjoyable character.

He once killed a... those Hedge werewolf-thinga-ma-bobs... by German suplexing it. After bear-hugging it. So really it just looked like Dayne was slow-dancing with this thing for a couple rounds, before slamming it around until it decided to stop living.

Dayne hosted a wrestling match for a title belt... which I think the 'championship' was even named after himself. The belt(think like those 'professional' wrestling belts) had a pair of balls riveted to it.

He attended some huge party in the woods once and, I took pride in his reaction when a Winter courtier rolled something like 40 successes on some power activation that was supposed to scare the shit out of people - he literally grabbed the person next to him, threw them over his shoulder, and ran screaming into the woods - activating his own abilities along the way to make him run farther, faster. I took some self-pride in that because many people have trouble allowing their characters to show weakness. So Dayne just shrilly screaming as he fled into the night? I took some pride in that reaction.

Dayne was once caught in a motel room; covered in Hershey's chocolate syrup, fucking a watermelon with a picture of Barbara Eden(circa I Dream of Jeannie) stapled to it, a picture of himself stapled to his chest, a dead squirrel somewhere abouts(because he'd done copious amounts of cocaine with it), and that's just some of the crazy that Dayne was discovered doing or was a background feature in that particular scene.

He had a theme song(generously shown to me by another player). I once sent a @mail to a bunch of people, probably 30-something characters, because Dayne ICly had a picture of himself sent to each of them, thanking them for being his 'biggest fans', of himself in a bright red Speedo, with a rose + stem clutched between his teeth. None, or at least veeeery few, of these people were actually his "fans". He just assumed since they knew him, clearly they had to be his fans.

He got in a junkyard Jell-O pool fight with one of @Royal's characters that went hilariously as three superpowered Summer's just started flying leg dropping, punching, and headbutting one another for no other reason than to let a little anger out.

He was in effect an opportunity for me to play a character that was just over the top and larger than life, uncaring of what others thought because that was just Dayne. As a roleplayer, he was really well outside my usual comfort zone. My characters don't tend to be on that scale of extremes. Dayne wasn't fit for that. He was a cocaine addict and, really, probably had a lot more addictions than his sheet really indicated; all of which were just coping mechanisms to help him handle his greatest weakness: fear. He was an exploration of a personality and behavior, because I tend to play characters who take life a bit more seriously because they would. I feel like that only scratches the surface of Dayne, but I think it gives at least a decent enough example of why I really enjoyed playing him.

So I'm putting this in the Mildly Constructive section because this is not intended to be a thread where people bring up their issues with someone's past character or whatever. It's just a thread for folks to talk about past characters that they enjoyed playing, made them think 'Fuck yeah, I love this character', generally made them feel good about roleplaying, and (preferably) why. So if someone posts up "I had a character once named Jim Bob Buttsniffer...", that's not an invitation for people to come in trying to harp on some thing Jim Bob Buttsniffer did or didn't do or the player for that matter. Leave animosity outside.

Additionally, you don't need to include a name if you don't want to! The whole point is to just have some pride in your own ability to roleplay because as much as we take it for granted, some people do have trouble writing a fictional character and sometimes the internal workings of a character's mind aren't shown or on the surface. If you want to comment with some positive memory of a character that someone writes up for themselves? Have at it! Positive reinforcement is a good thing, I think. It motivates people.

So I want to know about the characters that you consider some of your favorite to have played!

I'll throw up a couple of my own examples below to kick it off.

@skew

My youngest has many nicknames. He earned a new one today when he burst through my bedroom door while everyone was taking naps. I was in the process of getting fresh with Mrs. Faceless as the door flung open and in he charged, climbed onto the bed, and proceeded to leap onto my chest and face.

Special Agent Cockblock was born.

I kind of wish that I could draw so that I could turn him into a comic book character.

@saosmash said in RL Anger:

My brother lives in Puyallup and I am not capable of saying Puyallup correctly.

The natives found it hilarious when I'd try to say 'Cuyahoga' back when I lived in that region. Especially since so many damn places have it included in their name in and around the Cleveland area.

@surreality I don't remember. It was a name that I'd never need to pronounce again, so I wasn't determined to remember it. I think it was in New York, maybe?

@sunny said in RL Anger:

Also, wtf people who actually get mad when their complex last name is mispronounced. Mad!

Right? I once had someone get offended that I mispronounced the name of the city they lived because it basically looked like someone had transcribed the sound of someone speaking in tongues.

@darinelle said in RL Anger:

@Sockmonkey

I empathize with your story, but I thought of you. Perhaps this is your time to shine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IRB0sxw-YU

This link has inspired me to move out of our house and move into an apartment complex.

This damn link made me not scowl for a couple minutes.

@tinuviel said in MU Things I Love:

@faceless That's like... the holy grail. I only ever get extremely good luck on rolls when they aren't important.

Me too! Probably why I got so excited! For once a roll seemed significant and with some form of pay-off!

@aria said in MU Things I Love:

@faceless Nope, sorry, you gotta explain this one to us now, bro. Or at least to me. Because I want to know all the things.

Tell meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. <pulls up the storytime rug and sits at Faceless' feet>

I just had some extremely good luck on a roll is all. Something that proved to be very beneficial, mechanically speaking. Within the scope of lore, just something that's probably exceedingly rare.

@auspice said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:

Are men's and women's razors actually different?

Whether there is a difference? Like a real difference and not just by perceptions? I don't know.

Do I feel like there's a difference? Most definitely.

Today's MU Things I Love:

When something on a game happens that is so good that you then have to spend five minutes explaining lore, mechanics, and statistical implications to your spouse because they're curious why you've just shouted aloud:

"Ohhhhhhh, shit SON!!!"

When normally you're this:

But briefly become this:

ETA: Then you remember it's just an imaginary thing:

@arkandel said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:

To me the multi-blade stuff are just gimmicks. We fall for it because they look cool in their cool packaging and their cool commercials.

...won't front. I only bought my Fusion because the colors drew me in. I'm not ashamed. I'm a peacock. You've gotta let me fly.

Update: she didn't even bother to ask my advice. She's already decided on the pay cut, #1 ranked place.

So much for daddy getting some new guns.

Thanks, Obama.

@arkandel said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:

@faceless I personally use a safety razor. It shaves great, and for an one-time investment of under $100 I can get replacement blades for almost nothing. And the razor itself will last for basically your whole life.

Got a link? Googles pulling up some results that I'm not sure if I'm looking at the right thing/brand/etc.

Right now I'm using a Gilette Fusion, which with their disposable cartridge razors, comes out to about 8 for somewhere in the ballpark of $25, I think? I can go through one of those cartridges a week, easy. So something long-lasting and/or cheaper, while not being cheaper quality? Would be excellent.

@arkandel said in Staff and ethics:

When I'm referring to creeps I specifically mean creepy players. That means no springing stuff on people, guilt-tripping them into it, pushing and nagging until they give in or... well, anything of that sort. If both people are into it, go for it.

Right! What I'm saying is that sometimes there are staffers and players who blur that line. Clearly since the character is a creep, creepy, or creepalicious? Then so must be the player. I've seen it a lot the last few months. Maybe not creepy, but any negative behaviors.

You play an ambitious character that exerts the authority that they have at their fingertips? Well, the player must clearly be a domineering jerk who is clearly toxic. No joke. This is a legit thing that I've encountered. A character exerts their authority(up to and including knowingly overstepping their authority, IC, because they suspect they can get away with it) and it's taken as the player being the above mentioned. It happens in that scenario. You don't think it can happen in an even more controversial topic?

So yes. Staff and players alike will blur the absolute shit out of the IC and OOC line, to the point that they'll attribute character behaviors, personalities, and the like to the players of them.

I'm not entirely sure if this is the right thread? But it seems an adult enough topic, I guess?

The Dollar Shave Club. Anyone here use it? Is it worth it? I go through razors like mad some months. On top of routine maintenance, I periodically use a razor to shave my head so if I do that three or four times a month because I just like the look? That runs through razors pretty quickly.

I think at present I spend about $30 or so on blades and sundries per month? So if anyone uses Dollar Shave Club, is it worth it?

@arkandel, I don't disagree. You're right! For me it's a matter of consistency and transparency. An unwritten rule, that is then enforced? Is going to cause some turbulence and controversy, if it's off-the-wall enough.

Faceless gets banned because he keeps paging female players like...

...despite being told not to? No one is going to bat an eye at that. No one reasonable, anyway.

Now someone gets banned because their character was being a creep? I mean, some people play creep characters. Do you think Ramsay Bolton would have been as interesting a character if he wasn't so terrible? People play characters in MUing all the time that use their genitals to get what they want; male and female alike. These are fictional characters. Sometimes they aren't the best of people. Sometimes they're simply flawed people. How about on The Reach when a character was made that was an obese female and the whole basis of that character was basically "lol she's so fat"? Which soon after saw the character frozen. I later recall seeing someone mention that character either on WORA or MSB, the player of it even chimed in to say 'hey, I wasn't trying to be offensive, but that's how it was taken', which I can totally see as reasonable. Because what offends Player A doesn't offend Player B. Point being that apparently it was some unwritten rule that a character couldn't be that thing or made a player or group of players feel bad. Intentionally? Not by the account of the player of the character. By the offended parties? Oh, yes, it was most definitely a deliberate attack! Maybe instead of the players playing controversial characters? We start banning players who can't separate IC from OOC, make believe from reality?

Mind you, I'm not defending that character or the player of it. I'm using it as an example of unwritten rules that can be sprung up from out of the blue that... frankly are so hyper-specific that, yeah, it'd be nice to know that shit before you get slapped down for it. Because most people wouldn't get slapped down for it, because they won't toe that line - so long as they know it exists.

Yes, staff must use their judgment in a lot of cases. A lot of those cases can be largely streamlined by having even a very basic set of rules. Most games do, for that very reason. It's then up to that game's staff to determine whether they want to go into more detail and depth than the basic outline of the Big Ones.

One of the fastest ways to piss off a large group of people is to have ever-changing expectations and/or lack of consistency. As much as staff and players don't like a player that is unpredictable in their expectations or behavior, we tend to collectively not like it even more from staff because to paraphrase Stallone: "THEY ARE THE LAW!!!"

When someone has power over you, even if that's just some nerdling behind a monitor on the internet on a MU, you expect a degree of consistency and I'd dare say there's an expectation of some basic fairness. You also want their expectations to be very clear and concise. Otherwise you end up with places like WORA, MSB, and the like, calling out those staffers and those games for their inconsistencies. "If you're going to be Robocop every day? Be Robocop every day. If you're going to be a wet noodle? Be a wet noodle every day. Whatever type of officer you decide to be, be it every day. Otherwise you're going to be shanked some day because you're playing games with people".

@kanye-qwest said in RL Anger:

@faceless I know you weren't asking for advice at all but...if the lower paying job with the award winning employer culture won't put you in dire straits? That one, all the way. A company that respects work/life balance and takes care of employees is so, so nice to have.

I do appreciate the advice, regardless. There's where I've personally leaned myself in terms of suggestions. Her previous employer was ranked third or fourth; there was a reason that she loved it. I want her to love what she does. So going from 3rd or 4th place to 1st? That seems like a great thing to me.

That pay increase from the other place though... it's just so tempting. More toys!