Best posts made by faraday

@kay said in Interest check: pure OC superhero game:

So you'd just prefer to play in something where you don't have to research before playing to feel comfortable

I don't think that's really what @ixokai was saying. Any historical setting is going to need some amount of research if you take it seriously. But there's a difference between the occasional need to look something up and lacking a basic comfort level with everyday life in that timeframe. Most folks have a pretty solid foundational understanding for the 20's (gangsters and flappers) and the 40's (WWII), but the 30's aren't very well-represented in popular culture.

If that's your beloved time period, go for it. But just be aware that it's probably going to be an obstacle for some (many?) folks.

So when I'm not working on Ares, I play Fortnite with my son. We got into making Fortnite creative maps over the summer and recently got the ability to share them.

We have a channel with map showcases/walkthroughs, and you can find all our map codes on Fortnite Creative HQ or Dropnite. (If you use my creator code - faradayllama - in the item shop, I get a little referral bonus for any vbucks you spend. #EpicPartner)

If anyone else is into FN creative too I figure we could use this thread to share fun maps.

@collective You seem to be selectively reading the thread if you think everyone has decided it's a non-issue.

But to answer your question, I think all games should spell out general expectations, but I don't see a need to call out IC discrimination explicitly. I am happy with what my game policy says.

Many games use a rating system and I think that should suffice when common sense is applied. If I went to a R-rated western movie, I would not be surprised by potentially-upsetting depictions of slavery. If I went to a R-rated modern war-in-the-desert movie, I would not be surprised by potentially-upsetting depictions of Islamophobia. Now if I went to a PG-rated family drama and saw people casually slinging around n-words, I'd be understandably upset.

But no, I don't see the need for a disclaimer saying essentially "People will be people, good and bad, as long as it's kept IC."

That doesn't mean I support any of these things in RL. Far from it. -isms and -obias are horrible things. But so is murder. So is war. So are many forms of injustice. I don't expect my fiction - or my games - to present a utopian view of the world.

@Arkandel said in The Great PC Death Dilemma:

This might just be my perspective but I always believed there were just two major issues with PC death in MU* for most people.

While I do agree that for many players the issues are rooted in those two factors, I will present two others from my own perspective:

1. Story
2. Investment

Random, meaningless death is often viewed as "bad storytelling" by readers/viewers.

Making up a new character and getting them involved in Stuff is not easy for everyone. I'm not talking about the stats, which for a game like FS3 may only take a few minutes, but about the character. Generating a concept that is fun, fits in theme, and will be accessible to RP. Finding their voice and fleshing out their backstory. Building up relationships with other PCs.

That process is a crapton of work/stress, and I don't want to play somewhere where another player or GM can just capriciously come and kick over my sandcastle.

@coin said in Big city grids - likes and dislikes:

it would be stupid to think only one way works for all people. Anyone arguing that "if you like a big grid you're stupid" is actually being really ignorant

Well, MSB is filled with people calling other people stupid for liking or not liking the particular style of play they prefer. I don't think that's excusable, but it's par for the course.

@sunny - For the record, I don't think anybody is stupid for liking a grid, I just honestly don't understand it. I accept it as a preference, I just don't get why it matters how you get to a scene. It's like somebody speaking a foreign language to me - it just doesn't compute. If that failure to grok has ever unintentionally come across as intolerant, my apologies.

From a purely practical (not preference) standpoint, the idea of a grid is an obstacle to new players understanding how the game works. I've heard this from a number of people, and also from my own experience trying to write a 'MUSH 101' tutorial and explain it. For example:

@wildbaboons said in How did you discover your last three MU* ?:

A few months ago I spent about half an hour with the help of half a dozen other people trying to help someone new to MUSHing (came from forum RP i think) to understand the concept of a room and grid. They never did figure it out before they decided it wasn't for them.

It's also a barrier to some of the more advanced web integrations. Ares lets you play from the web, for instance (not with the telnet-y MU client but with a dedicated scene page), but the seams between the web side and the game side are messy when the web side doesn't really have a concept of which room you're in.

So I personally think there's a bit more to the issue than just pure player preferences.

I think it depends on what you mean by "min/max" because people sometimes have different definitions.

My definition is a player who spends their CG points/XP in the most expedient way possible to achieve their character goals. Maximum benefit for minimum drawback.

This isn't inherently a bad thing. It just depends on what their goals are.

If the player is trying to make some kind of unstoppable badass that essentially ruins the game for others? That's a crappy goal. Or if they're trying to make a one-dimensional caricature that's lacking in abilities their background dictates they should have? That's also a crappy goal.

But just learning the rules well enough to spend your points more effectively than someone else might? That doesn't bug me.

@arkandel said in How should IC discrimination be handled?:

There is no question handling these themes carefully is necessary

In truth, though, there are many themes that have the potential to upset or offend someone. IC -ism and sexual assault are the two we point to all the time, but that's by no means an exhaustive list. Someone who had to deal with a loved one with a particular mental illness may be sensitive to depictions of that (e.g. suicide but that's not the only example). Someone who lost a child may be horribly upset seeing a plotline where children were harmed. First responders and soldiers may be triggered by all kinds of things. And although it makes me feel icky to agree with the troll in any fashion, betrayal can be a sensitive subject too for someone who's gone through that sort of thing iRL. I've seen people leave games over it.

Games should set expectations. Players should ask questions if they're concerned about how a particular theme would be handled. We should come up with tools to help people resolve difficulties. These are all good things worth discussing, for sure. But that doesn't necessarily mean we should treat this particular sensitive situation any different than any other.

@Ghost said in The Great PC Death Dilemma:

I'd join these games using WoD, NWoD systems, Star Wars Saga edition, Shadowrun and in my head it was "I'm playing the <system> RPG but there's writing included" and it's really not that, up to and including (Original topic) rules on hitpoints, death, dying, etc.

One thing that's worth noting is that the idea of PC death isn't necessarily a given in TTRPGs either. I've played for entirely too many decades, with numerous groups, across several states and even in Germany, at cons with strangers, etc. - I seriously cannot think off-hand of a single instance where a player lost their character without requesting it. I mean, maybe it happened and I've just forgotten... we are talking a long time span here... but it certainly wasn't pervasive.

Are there groups where it happens? I'm sure there are. My only point is to challenge the underlying idea that just because there's a rule in the game book saying "your PC could die" doesn't mean a given game group is going to play that way.

@thatguythere said in Big city grids - likes and dislikes:

I would never do this for a scene in a creative room even if it was set public because if the people wanted me there they would invite me and it is their place since they just made it. Where on grid to me is more like hanging out in an RL public space more of an implied hey we are hanging out.

:helpless shrug: I don't disagree with you, but I also don't know how to help with that. I mean, the instructions say a scene marked as 'Open' has been expressly marked by the creators as being open to anyone joining via scene/join. So the impression they don't want you joining is just... not what the system does. The whole point of marking a scene open or private is precisely to avoid the problem your'e describing where you don't know if you're welcome or not.

On the flip side, I know a lot of people who are just as timid about joining an ongoing scene even when it's in a public bar or hangout on a grid. Not without reason either, as I've personally been on the receiving end of being turned away with "we've already got something going on here, do you mind?" for scenes in grid rooms before. (Not private residences either.)

But hey, it's a new system and it's currently only really core on Ares games. I understand people being skeptical about it. Either it'll catch on or it won't. It certainly doesn't stop you from making a grid.

@arkandel said in Is Min/Max a bad thing?:

So you might not even be giving anything up to play that master of the blade.

Yeah, but... so what?

Combat scenes have been a staple of RPGs since their invention. Virtually every character class/archetype/etc. in every TTRPG/MMO I've ever seen has abilities to make them effective in combat, either directly (guns and fireballs) or indirectly (buffs and healing).

MU players are the only ones who seem determined believe things are different.

If you're honest with yourselves and your players, this isn't a problem. Unless you've got some grand scheme to sustain non-combat RP plots across your playerbase, just tell them up front that combat/adventure is going to be the main focus and make sure your chargen/approval process is structured accordingly. If someone REALLY wants to play a chef despite all that, make sure they understand that they'll be sandboxing their own fun.

It's all about expectations.

@surreality said in How much Code is too much Code?:

To me, it feels like homework and paperwork work-work.

Yeah for me a lot of it just feels like busy work. OMG I need to remember to spend my XP / do my +tasks / feed my harvesters / do whatever +job foo is necessary to earn my paycheck / sit for 10 minutes on a +shuttle…. ARRRGH. No. I just want to tell stories with other people. Get all that other junk out of my way.

(This is not a knock against anyone who likes that stuff. To each their own. I just intensely dislike it personally.)

@arkandel said in How much Code is too much Code?:

In a way and from a certain point of view a lot of code butts up against actual RP in ways that can't always be predicted.

Very true. Though I think anything that directly impacts the characters, not the players (such as XP in your example) is always going to butt up against RP. What blindsides me sometimes are subtle things like @SG (I think it was) saying that they didn’t like to RP any more on BSGU because people were mostly using scene temprooms instead of grid rooms. Which is a valid point, but my experience was the exact opposite. So I agree - code can impact the game in surprising ways.

@thenomain said in How much Code is too much Code?:

To help staff and players facilitate gameplay. Not "have fun", because as above it's subjective…

I would go a step further and specify "facilitate the gameplay the staff wants to foster". There’s nothing wrong with telling folks ‘no’ because a requested command doesn’t fit your vision for the game, even if that might please 8 (or even 80) players.

@thenomain said in How much Code is too much Code?:

@ashen-shugar said in How much Code is too much Code?:

That's when you tell them to just screw off and go away right?

Yeah, like either you or I are any good at that.

Apparently I’ve honed that craft more than you guys

@ashen-shugar said in How much Code is too much Code?:

This essentially sets anyone connecting from the matching sites FUBAR and SLAVE, which disables every single command (including LOGOUT and QUIT) that the player can issue while on your game.
They find it annoying. Fancy that!

That really works? It boggles my mind that it would irritate anyone any more or less than being sitelocked. Like… you just click the disconnect button? Goes back to: people never cease to surprise in the ways they interact with code.

@Hella said in Stranger Danger?:

I enforce firm boundaries, period. IC, OOC, all the boundaries, everywhere.

Oh yes, very true. I only call out IC relationships specifically because that's been the #1 source of boundary issues through the years.

@thatguythere said in Big city grids - likes and dislikes:

If I had never had a scene there then I wouldn't care gridded or not, but by having five or six or x scenes in a place it becomes an important place to the characters story.

OK see I can actually understand that. I guess my perspective though is that the continuity - the shared story of a place - is independent to whether it has an @dug room to it. I can use a RP room a dozen times to reflect my character's personal apartment or Mama's Diner and then those places too have a story attached. They become more than just a name. You get to know Mama, get those shared experiences, etc.

Granted if there's a common hangout defined (whether via a scene system hangouts list or a grid) it's more likely that more people will develop those connections with a hangout spot just because it'll get used more.

@arkandel said in Is Min/Max a bad thing?:

In other words a min/maxed warrior type can get very decent mileage out of social situations even if they play their low stats very appropriately - no faking involved. A min/maxed scholar can get their ass handed to them in very short order.

I think it runs deeper than that. Even on my FS3 games, where there is expressly no coded combat death, the games are PVE, there are free background skills to let you be well-rounded, and really no social combat stats to speak of - you still have people min/maxing combat skills.

Why? Because they want to be a badass. More specifically, they want to be the baddest of the badasses.

I don't think this phenomenon is exclusive to combat chars either, because I've seen it on other games. Con artists and politicians will min/max their manipulation skills; investigators will min/max their investigation skills. It is a rare player indeed who wants to suck at their character's "thing", whatever that may be.

I agree with part of what @Auspice said: Yes, what sets MUSHing apart from those other games is the style of how we play. IMHO there are two spectrums at work here:

(Online Tabletop) ...... (Collaborative Writing)
(Real Time) .... (Tennis Match For Extremely Patient People)

In terms of style, most MUSHes are closer to online tabletop (sheets, rolls, rules) and hyper real-time. Things like PBP and Storium may have sheets/rules, but ZOMG are they slow. You toss out a pose and wait two weeks for a response. It astonishes me that they manage to hold anyone's attention. MMO RP is real-time, but without the tabletop trappings. It's just emits.

That said, I agree with @Moonman that playing over telnet(*) is driving away people who otherwise might love our style. Ultimately I believe it will be the death of our hobby.

I said it in another thread, but the current generation of adults at least can tolerate MUSHing if motivated enough because they grew up on DOS and things like that. The majority in the next generation has never used a command-line tool in their lives. Expecting the touchscreen/mobile generation to learn "bbpost board=title/message" just to play a game is insanity.

(*) - Since everyone always trots out the "telnet is just a protocol" argument - I'm using it as a shorthand for tools that are limited by our choice of telnet. Command-line-driven, no mouse control, no graphics, no web support, and no basic support (bold text, emojis, editing what you just typed, etc.) that you wound find in every modern text communication app.

@Misadventure said in Stranger Danger?:

It's a question of self awareness, and managing that bleed.

Yeah, I mean - if authors and fans and actors can all get overly invested in their characters, it's only natural that MU players will sometimes too. But that's why boundaries and communication are important.

@Ghost said in Stranger Danger?:

^ I write this because it again highlights how quickly these things can get personal despite your best intentions, and whoever it is they say they are one needs to just hope they're stable enough not to impact your RL.

Isn't that true of any relationship, though, online or off? Someone who's had bad experiences is naturally going to be more leery than someone who hasn't, but it almost seems like you're saying it's better to just never engage OOCly at all. (Maybe I'm misunderstanding.) Even if that were practical, I'm not convinced it would really insulate you from drama.

@tempest said in Genosha (Interest Poll):

This culture of "OMG INSULTS! INSULT! THAT OFFENDED ME! CENSOR!!!" is not healthy.

Rules of Engagement

@silentsophia Hiya! It’s like the Old Home Week thread

@derp said in Shows and Movies We're Looking Forward To:

I'll go ahead and start this thread with: Willow

I was totally going to post about this too. So excited. One of my favorite movies. My brother and I would quote it constantly.

@thatguythere said in The Death Of Telnet: Is It Time To Face The Music?:

What I don't want is giving some random other player the ability to shit out images on to my screen. I much prefer them getting to put a link I am politely not click on. If the default is to see them and the onus to figure out how not to is on me that is not a situation I would care to sign up for.

Then don't? I mean nobody's forcing you to.

But I'm pretty confident in asserting that the number of people turned off by having to use a command line with an obscure syntax is far, far, far greater than the number of people turned off by having to click a button in their account profile to disable images from automatically appearing.