Best posts made by Ganymede

Because it seems apt, here's one of my favorite songs from my 20s, with lyrics (because James Dean Bradfield is Welsh, and this side of being incomprehensible).

Also, my favorite song to break up to.

And my second favorite song.

@faraday

Why was there a Head in the ship on BSG:U?

The way I figure it, and maybe this will help, digging and linking rooms to a lot of us feels like we're creating something permanent and of worth on a game. Sure, we know that these places we make may go ka-boom if we idle out and don't reassign them to permanent builder bits, but, for the most part, these places have a sort of permanence that isn't matched by object rooms or temp rooms.

It could very well be that Sunny and I, who are, for lack of better term, really fucking old MUShers -- Twin Cities by Teatime old -- are just used to the idea of having permanent rooms on a game, rather than these seemingly-new-fangled knick-knacks and doo-dads like temp rooms and temporary RP rooms, and proxy PCs, etc.

I know that a location created via Public/Private scene are no more or less permanent in the IC world than the Head, but the part of me that cannot sever my OOC mindset, experiences, and ancient ways still finds them less permanent than a @dug room @chowned to my PC object.

So, maybe it ain't even a culture thing. It could just be an age thing.

Sunny and I are old. Really, fucking old. Like, I ain't lying, I think as quickly as zefrank narrates sometimes, no bullshit.

@Testament said in General Video Game Thread:

I dunno, mush politics can be just as bad. At least with games, I can play by myself and everyone else can go kick rocks.

I don't have to worry about ID theft on MUSHes, generally-speaking. Or having to deal with people spewing epithets online, as if they wouldn't completely fold faster than Superman on laundry day in real life.

I can deal with MUSH politics, IC and OOC.

@derp said in Good Music:

The first time I heard them was not that song, but this song.

Yeah, for me, it was this remix.

God, I loved the Manics. Their music was so interesting. Like, the emptiness of some of their ballads to their over-the-top Brit-glam bits (with additional vocals by Traci Lords, actually).

@bad-at-lurking said in Gamifying Plots:

I'd love to have that kind of time, but MUing is not a job and I'm fairly sure that if I stopped feeding him, my dog would eventually eat me.

Dogs are more loyal than that. Cats are not.

Anyhow, when I said "staff," I meant "everyone on staff." Frankly, doing 10 scenes per month isn't a bad goal at all.

To hook on what someone said about incentivizing the behavior you want to see, and presuming your game allows minor PRPs, here's a suggested system that may get some traction:

Offer 1 XP/week as a flat-rate gain to all PCs. Tally every plot run, for which a log is submitted. For every 10 logs submitted, increase the flat-rate gain by 1 XP. While the system creates a free-loader problem, it incentivizes people to get others onto the game and engaged in PRPs, no matter how small or insignificant.

@saosmash said in General Video Game Thread:

Theoretically, generally speaking, you shouldn't be held responsible for a fraudulent signature executed on your behalf. I suppose if someone acted in reliance on that signature in good faith to their detriment there would be an equitable question about what that would mean in terms of enforcement. One question that may come up is what action, if any, you took upon discovering a fraudulent signature was executed on your behalf.

This is more or less my opinion.

The point of an NDA is to restrain someone from talking about sensitive, proprietary information. If you haven't been doing that, there's no reason to try and enforce the NDA.

@roz said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

Seeing yourself in art, and finding that personal connection in a theatrical piece, is really the most important part in the end.

For me, it was the last scene of the show. It reminded me of what Dent said in The Dark Knight: "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

(The Last of Us Spoiler in the Link!)

I probably need to find the Blu Ray.

You have something really interesting here.

Once you have some of the particulars developed, maybe you should devote some time to having some volunteers write up quick stories. One of the things I've found that helps flesh out a world is to write stories from it. The fiction-bits in the World of Darkness bring a lot of light to how players are expected to act and react, and games based on books, comics, or video games have a rich background to draw from that a custom-made world doesn't start with.

One of Arx's strengths is its journal system. As a newbie, you can read some random entries to get a feel on how the game works. What Whispers do, how nobles interact with one another, and so on.

@Thenomain said in General Video Game Thread:

But DA2 isn't a story. DA2 is a bunch of stories.

Exactly.

It should come to no surprise that BioWare's (arguably) most-lauded game in the two trilogies mentioned was Mass Effect 2. The success there was the myriad of story lines, which were united under a somewhat ignominious plot about people getting harvested by the Collectors (relative to the Reaper threat). ME2 was calculated to lead to the denouement of ME3, and while we can quibble about the effectiveness of the storytelling in the latter I do not think there is any argument that the introduction of new characters and elaboration on old ones really made ME2 the best of the series.

DA2 follows the same mold. Having an all-new protagonist is jarring, but it is a deliberate choice after DA:O and DA:A, which tied up the Warden's story nicely. You have a bunch of characters united under a common thread: the Champion. Setting aside Varric's unreliability as a narrator, one of the undercurrents of his storytelling is that there was no single event or character that led to the destruction of Kirkwall's Chantry. Everyone has a part to play in it, something that Varric even admits. DA2's narrative, to me, is clearly trying to play on ME2's success, and I believe it succeeds in doing so.

Where DA2 differs is in the progression of the story, which is divided into three separate periods. These periods are like seasons; and playing through the game felt like going from one episode to another of the Champion's allies and frenemies. Your choices as the player have a profound effect on how each "season finale" plays out, e.g., whether Fenris turns on you. This sort of "series" storytelling is similar to The Last of Us, which is divided into seasons (literally).

Then, finally, there's the introduction of the Arishok, who is probably BioWare's best villain (in my opinion). DA2 breathed life into the Qunari and the Qun in a way that DA:O did not. I doubt that anyone did not appreciate or empathize with the Arishok and his "dilemma", or those who wanted to join him. Tallis fills in even more of those gaps, showing the side of people trying to escape the fatalist-communist regime. The Arishok has the best lines, and the best moments. He attracts people to his side through a mixture of cold ferocity and faithful dedication, promising the certainty of purpose as defined by a holy book, and he commands a legion of deadly warriors bolstered by that purpose.

And now, people may have some insight as to why I like the Sanctified so much, and whence I draw inspiration. "I am here to satisfy a demand of the Dark Father you cannot understand."

@derp said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

We all do this from time to time, and time can change those opinions.

Changing opinions because of the passage of time is fine. Everyone can have a change of heart.

That's not what I'm talking about.

In the case of Allegiance, one of the repeated points of criticism is that the music was sometimes too light and frivolous for the subject matter. For example, in one spot, you see a family dealing with the death of a child at the camp, and then, in the next scene, they are all singing about playing baseball and dancing and making the best of things. It's a corny-as-hell song, and critics, by and large, found tone-change jarring.

I read this and I kind of eye-rolled.

Of course it's jarring. It's supposed to be jarring. It's as jarring as being woken up in the bright hours of the morning to be hauled by armed men into trucks, driven to train stations, and shipped off to concentration camps. It's as jarring as knowing that you are an American citizen, but locked up in your own country for looking like the enemy. It's as jarring as expecting any American to just lie down and take confinement "for the good of the country" when there was an entire Revolutionary War fought because Americans don't really "lie down and take" any sort of bullshittery (at least, back in the 40s).

In retrospect, this is why I hated Rent for a while. I thought that it was vaguely disrespectful to have joyful pieces like "Cover You" and "One Song Glory" when you know damn well that the characters are dealing with HIV. And then a nice, gay friend of mine calmly asked: well, what the fuck else are you supposed to do, lie down and take it?

And, like, not for a moment, apparently, did the critics think: hey, maybe people do seemingly absurd things to make the best of a situation when they have no other choice. Apparently.

So, music? Sure, it wasn't going to win a Tony. Plot? Perhaps over the head of a lot of the audience. But the critics? Some of them seemed to just ignore context or culture when writing their pieces. And that's what I take exception to.

I would like to think that what crippled Allegiance was its seriousness. It lacks levity, even when it tries to be. It's not a show you want to take in when you're being reminded of the loss of a loved one, for example. And maybe it turned off a lot of the older Broadway crowd because no one likes being reminded that the United States forced its own loyal people into concentration camps. Or, perhaps, the producers simply did not think enough of it to keep it going for at least a full season.

It's sad.

But, then, these sorts of things get forgotten over time.

@jennkryst said in What Do You Want In A New Game (3-options)?:

I can help build and stuff! Buuut... will need a crash-course reminder in how building actually works, though, cause it's been ages.

I like to sit and think about development and theme first. I'm generating thoughts via PM at the moment with at least one other person, so if you wanted to message me with your thoughts, that'd work.

@Jaded

I fucking hated that game with a passion. Buggy fuckshit.

@sockmonkey said in Good or New Movies Review:

When can we start speculating and talking about Last Jedi? I mean, yeah sure, I guess all the cool people are like Star Wars, whatever, pfft but I can't waaaaaaaiiiiiiitttttt....

I want to know if Kathleen Kennedy's going to put Taika Waititi in charge of the last episode, or another part of the franchise.

@faraday said in Earning stuff:

Games need to set expectations better so people know whether they're getting a game where they're the heroic protagonists or they're getting a game where they're the supporting characters in a wide-reaching story.

Then games need to set policies to support the kind of game they want it to be.

I concur. BSGU made managing expectations a little easier, though, because the military backdrop meant that the missions run would be, by implication, important events that everyone could take a part in. It’s a little more difficult to do this on a WoD game.

Garrus is cool.

I'm gonna wait for Liara, thank you.

Nearly fucking cried my eyes out before the final battle, when Shepard parted from her.

@jaded

I don't know or recall.

If he ain't going to do it, then he'd better start making new Flight of the Conchords stuff. We're due.

@bobotron said in Flat/starting competency on MU*:

I wonder how this would go over in general.

It depends on your player base.

That said, and it has already been said, nWoD 1E and 2E are built on the premise of advancement, 2E especially. If you eliminate XP as a mechanic, then you are also rendering null and void any power or merit that provides Beats, along with the Condition system. Regarding the latter, you are effectively gutting any of the risk-reward analysis in Vampire.

So, I'd say that, mechanically, you're going to need to adjust game mechanics. And then, you still have to deal with players bitching and wailing.

I don't think this solution to whatever problem you are trying to fix is worth the headache.

@Tempest said in General Video Game Thread:

Who's excited for Days Gone?

It may be this year's Horizon Zero Dawn.

I might pick up Wombat Kombat for shits and giggles, but I vastly prefer Marvel vs. Capcom and its ilk.

@tek said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

All of the songs I've heard from it are just terrible, irrespective of the rest of the libretto.

All of your face is terrible, regardless of your opinion.

@thenomain said in Experienced Tiers or How much is too much?:

It's possible that the way FH is doing it means that you're playing five distinct types of characters (one per power level). I don't know the long-term effect of it so I don't know if it's good or not, but this is the closest I can be to being optimistic about them.

It means you can do that, yes. It also means that no one person can have more than one alt starting at the highest tier. That's in stark contrast with The Reach and Fallcoast, where you could have a slew of PCs at the highest XP level.