Best posts made by Ganymede

@thenomain said in General Video Game Thread:

ME:A is playable, but it suffers the rushed production cycle. And it suffers a lot of SSDG (same stuff, different galaxy).

The rushed production cycle made things feel clipped, yes. And it's still a space-exploration sort of game, with mindless side-quests.

But it is a very pretty game for a first-run high-end game. The freeform combat, mixed with cover, was enjoyable. And I loved how you could mix-and-match your powers to fit your play-style, with bonuses given if you group your powers into the traditional three classes.

ME:A, I think, got shat on a little too hard. I enjoyed it a great deal. The character interactions were not as strong as in ME:2 or ME:3, but they are comparable or better than what you had in ME, which is the proper benchmark where we are just getting to learn about the protagonist.

I liked the Pathfinder a lot. I liked the story arcs. I really liked Lexi, Drack, and Vetra.

Horizon Zero Dawn is light-years ahead, but that's like comparing apples and orgasms.

So, let's see here.

Faraday's involved? Check.

Star Wars? Check.

No features from the movies? Check.

Yeah, I'll be there.

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

With respect, there are times when that's a burden that sucks for the people who have to put up with that same discrimination in real life. Why should some people get a pass into Narnia and others get hassled at customs?

Because no one can know for certain if someone seeks Narnia or not.

Because IC discrimination can be the basis for IC antagonism, and that antagonism and tension, if thematic, is a form of RP that can increase activity.

But, as Mietze points out, it is rare to find a player that can inflict discrimination and absorb the backlash with the sort of sensitivity to others that would make the RP interesting and rewarding, rather than painfully reminiscent of RL.

I think that this form of RP is more appropriate for fantastic settings, but I understand why fantasy games would want to avoid the same. But people hate and fear Geralt of Rivia, just as they fear and hate Aloy, despite the Nora, and forgetting or omitting that can sometimes make a setting feel empty.

For a World of Darkness game, I'd see more IC justification for it, yet these games may also engender the strongest kind of backlash.

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

Snow. It's like a movement debuff - a 75% increase to the time it takes to commute to work.

Also, a 75% decrease in the common sense of motorists and intelligence of people.

I fucking hate snow. Not because it's cold. Not because it's inconvenient. Because it triggers all of the stupidest bullshit in people and institutions, to the point where I'm a ticking fucking time-bomb.

For example, 2-hour delays. Do any of those fucks that do this for less than 1 inch of fucking snow know how much of a fucking inconvenience and irritant this is for parents that have to work for a fucking living? 2-hour delays never fucking happen in Canada because it makes no goddamned sense if you spend 3 seconds thinking about the decision critically.

Like, fuck you, Ohio. Motorists, learn to fucking drive. Educators, get up an hour fucking earlier to get your shit done before you need to get to fucking work on time so the rest of the fucking city isn't risking getting fired over your inability to plan. Officials, we have a fucking weather service so fucking think about preparing for a fucking winter, you lazy fucks.

Shit, I can't believe I need to get angry about this fucking shit. 12 years of schooling in fucking Canada, where there are snow-drifts that swallow children whole, and I never had one fucking 2-hour delay. Just cancel school entirely -- or fucking don't.

Fuck.

@RDC said in NOLA 2: Back in the Vieux:

If you are a conservative or a "centrist" you are more than free to come to NOLA and play.

I consider myself fairly conservative, to the point of centrism.

If you spout racist, queerphobic, transphobic, pro-genocidal garbage?

Yeah, this is not part of conservatism or centrism. Common human decency is not political.

@pyrephox said in The limits of IC/OOC responsibility:

I feel like some times people demand too much of others in those positions and forget that the other person is a player, trying to have fun, and not just a dispenser of things your PC needs/wants. If you're wanting/needing something from another PC, take a moment and think about what you are doing to make your needs actively fun for the PC's player.

I feel like sometimes people clamber for positions of power before considering that other players, who are trying to have fun, will require some of their online play time for their PC's needs/wants. If you're going to take on a leadership position, you need to recognize that other PCs are going to need things from you, so take a moment and think about whether you want to compromise your funtime to help others make their time fun.

@Sonder

This really is the best ad I've seen in a while.

@ortallus

This is a snippet from an article regarding the shooting in Kansas:

In this case, Wichita local Andrew Finch, whose family members say did not play video games and was a father of two young boys, answered his door only to face down a SWAT team-level response. Allegedly, one officer immediately fired upon Finch, who later died at a hospital. It’s unclear why Finch, who is said not to have had a weapon on him, was fired upon. The Wichita Eagle reports that the police department is investigating the issue, which occurred late Thursday night.

Here's another account from a Kansas news site:

On Thursday, Deputy Wichita Police Chief Troy Livingston said a substation received a call that there was a hostage situation in a house in the 1000 block of West McCormick — and that someone had been shot in the head.

“That was the information we were working off of,” he said, explaining that officers went to the house ready for a hostage situation and they “got into position.”

“A male came to the front door,” Livingston said Thursday night. “As he came to the front door, one of our officers discharged his weapon.”

Livingston didn’t say if the man had a weapon when he came to the door, or what caused the officer to shoot the man.

Here's something apparently from the NYPD negotiation handbook regarding hostage-takers:

Crisis Negotiation Skills #1. “Talk to Me”

The NYPD HNT’s motto, “Talk to Me,” emphasizes communication as an essential police negotiation technique for their crisis negotiators, and for good reason. Opening up avenues of communication to your counterpart signals that you are ready to listen, an integral first step to building rapport between negotiating counterparts by “build[ing] trust…as well as display[ing] empathy,” which can lead to further mutual gains at the bargaining table as the negotiation progresses beyond the initial stages.

Do you see the first step? Is it "shoot at the suspect when he's coming to the door"?

No.

People, like you, think it is okay to shoot at the suspect before ascertaining the situation. It is not. In a hostage situation, you don't point and shoot. You just don't. There is no evidence that Finch had a gun; there is no evidence there were any hostages; and there is no evidence that anyone bothered trying to reach the occupants of that house prior to shooting.

Having personally trained police officers as a prosecutor, I can tell you, right now, that what happened is not how police officers are trained to deal with active hostage situations. At least, not in places that actually put time and effort into training their law enforcement officers.

Think about it for just a second.

Did anyone try to call Finch in the house? No.

Did anyone try to ask for Finch to come out with his hands up? No.

Did anyone use any of a large number of devices to scan the interior of the house? No.

So, how could they have known he was armed? That he had any hostages? If you know anything about procedures in hostage situations, it is that a breach is the last thing anyone wants to do, so you should make all reasonable efforts to make contact with the hostage-taker. And when that fails, then a breach may be necessary.

@admiral said in Random Oddness or 'Is This Normal?':

I don't think vertigo is involved in it. I mean, I have had vertigo before but this doesn't feel like the world is tilting or off kilter. It just feels like really, really, super intense deja vu. Like a conversation or thing I know I've done before. And the nausea comes with it.

Please go see a neurologist.

@sunnyj said in Social Systems:

When looking for good social systems in a game, what is it that you are looking for? Does it need to be quick and not that mechanic extensive? Do you like a complex showdown?

I like the Storyteller System of just having a contested roll.

It's always the players that fuck that shit up.

I also like WoD 1E's Social Combat system.

But then the players fuck that shit up.

CoD's Doors? Nifty.

And players fuck that shit up.

I'm thinking that I just hate people.

Which is why I like the World of Darkness.

@macha

THE LAWYERBOT PRESENTS:

Answers to the "typical" questions:

"Do you think I should lose my job over this?"

"That's up to your employer to figure out, not me."

"Do I need to get a lawyer?"

"That's up to you to figure out, not me."

"The more my name comes up in connection with this incident, the more likely I could lose my job. That's not your problem, per se, but it will have an impact."

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you decided to do what you did."

@bored said in Do we need staff?:

Without it, you get raped by otter furries. And I don't want to get raped by otter furries.

You know why you're bored? The absence of otter furry rape, I reckon.

When I played on Eldritch, you know who were conspicuously absent from the game? The handful of foul, power-gaming, goal-oriented, fun-sucking, must-be-dominating players. I'm guessing it is because the game was set up in such a fashion that you really couldn't do any of that.

I also didn't notice the same thing on Fallen World because, I suppose, I either didn't see much behind the curtain or that staff team, again, kept a tight ship.

People can say, "but, Gany, those places petered out within 24 months." This is true. And maybe we can hypothesize the absence of shitheads makes a game boring to play on. Maybe that says a little bit about what World of Darkness gamers are like.

But, like you, I don't buy it at all.

I buy into what Thenomain is saying, for the most part, but not entirely. I am of the opinion that every game needs not a PHB but a Hammer: the person that will come down and without hesitation intervene when a player comes off the rails. Too often, there's no such staff member; everyone believes that if we all just play nice, everyone will play nice.

That's bullshit.

Otherwise, yeah, you need the right staff. That's hard to find. I know who I trust out there to run these sorts of games, though, so --

@auspice

Dear God, no.

The part with the arrow: that's me.

@ghost said in Forgiveness in Mushing:

I think you'll find that mushers who aren't so concerned about the social currency side-game of mushing aren't easily "hurt" by disagreements/miscommunication, and usually approach the concept of forgiveness/conflict resolution like normal human beings.

To be fair, the converse is also true.

If you believe that the "social currency side-game" is about your reputation, then you should be more concerned about letting the mundane go.

Of all the things I worry about in our hobby, it's my reputation. Yes, I've done stupid shit; yes, I'm not a friend to all. But whatever reputation I have is what I've kept and carved from 23+ years of playing, and I'm damn well wise enough now to know how to maintain it.

@arkandel

My turn.

I’m suffering from anxiety and depression, and I feel stupid about it.

Let’s get one thing straight: I know I have nothing to complain about. Good job. Good kids. Good partner. Good parents and in-laws. I should be a pig in shit.

I’ve been wildly successful lately. Haven’t lost a case or decision in eight months. Partners are giving me more work as we get busier. I’m busier. I pretty much handle both the new associates like I’m their sensei. Wonderful talent.

I’m behind in my work. By a week or two. And I’m anxious.

I may be teaching an MBA course soon. Business law and the legal environment. And I’m anxious.

I’m registering to take exams in Canada to get certified up there. And I’m anxious.

I feel like I’m drowning.

The post above is an excellent example of players coming up with an idea, and staff running with it. It doesn't require any more code-tools; it only requires the implementation of an idea.

@juke said in If you work hard, son, maybe someday you'll RP:

I really think people have to learn to engage. Besides, these are useful interpersonal skills to have in any arena of life, and this setting is pretty consequence-free as a place to try it on (I'm talking like real, serious, lasting consequences, not MU* drama). There ARE good, kind people out there doing this. I have met many. They'll respond well to honest efforts that have everyone's enjoyment in mind -- whether it's social anxiety causing the speedbumps, or a lack of experience with storytelling, or just plain shyness, or whatever. Even figuring out how to approach people and create a good connection from which to work together is pretty useful daily life stuff...you know?

I said this in another thread, but what I've learned from MUSHing I have applied to many parts of my personal and professional life. Conversely, what I have learned from my personal and professional life I have learned to apply to my MUSHing experience.

I'm good at engaging, so I should engage. I'm good at politics, so I should politic. And I'm good at supporting people in their endeavors, so I should do so in the virtual world. Applying all of these things is good practice for when it might matter more.

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

STOP BEING ASSHOLES TO YOUR ASSISTANTS.

Associate: You want me at the consultation?
Me: Yes. Don't forget to bill for it.
Associate: Isn't it your client?
Me: I'm not starving for hours and numbers. You bill the hour, you take the hour. Let me worry about me; it's my job to worry about you.

This is how you run your law office as a partner.