I know it was a kid because they left behind a whole book of stamps as well. And a young kid at that because my flask was moved and is still full of whiskey.
You can rule out "teacher" because the flask is in there, but you should also add "elitist hipster" to your list, based on what was taken.
@HelloRaptor said:
It pretty demonstrably does, for me, since the amount of bullshit I have to put up with whenever it's gotten turned off for whatever reason is almost completely absent when I have it on.
Admittedly, I didn't consider you in the equation, because any harassment you get is probably deserved.
@Auspice said in Why We Don't Make New Friends Anymore (Or Creepers Do Creepy Things):
This goes for raunchy humor, for teasing people, etc. And it's taken me a long time to learn that re: teasing people tbh. I do it often out of nerves or wanting to fit in but I always struggle to find the right tone.
I have found that the best way to signal to people that I'm okay with teasing and raunchy humor is through self-deprecation. Not everyone's comfortable with doing that. I think that showing people you can make fun of yourself to entertain others makes them feel a bit more comfortable about their own vulnerabilities.
For example, this is me:
@Coin said in Why We Don't Make New Friends Anymore (Or Creepers Do Creepy Things):
I do! I just couldn't get into a good rhythm on SGM.
Everyone knows that the rhythm method isn't very reliable.
@arkandel said in Do we need staff?:
How was @mietze's concern about thematic cohesion addressed by those games?
It was addressed by players, mostly. When you have a group of players who understand the game's theme and setting well, they will generally steer the game towards what staff want to see.
I can honestly say that theme-drift wasn't much of a problem on BSG:U or Fifth Kingdom. That doesn't mean there weren't scenes of silliness, though. On BSG:U, Auspice and I had our PCs RP through a session of Lasers and Feelings. On Fifth Kingdom, there was a memorable scene where my very masculine PC had to wrestle a pig down, but ended up getting gored in the testicles.
I would wager that BSG:U's theme was so tight that Faraday could open it back up again tomorrow, and we could probably get the old band back together to go and fight some Cylons. She could step back, and whoever had the time to run a fight scene could, really. Part of the beauty of her code is that you really don't need staff for anything, and yet you can easily punch through a massive war scene -- 20+ actors -- in a couple of hours.
So, do you need staff? Yes. Do you need a huge staff? No. What's the difference? Automation, good coding, and a tight, easily-understood theme.
@insomniac7809 said in RL Anger:
...to be clear, that was sarcasm, you human excrement; you're the sort of person who makes me wish God was real just so there would be a lake of fire waiting for you.
To be fair, I think that if everyone else in the world would just die already I would have a better commute.
@tragedyjones said in Social Stats in the World of Darkness:
Has any game actually used the Investigation system?
Yes.
And the Chase system.
And the Doors system.
It's called 'reading and playing the nWoD 2E / CoD system as written'.
And it should be on any game that claims to follow that rule set.
Despite the fact that studies and like, two seconds worth of rational thought show that giving money to people directly is a poor way to help the poor, and that many are doing it because it's easy and lucrative to harass people directly until they get paid to go away, which only breeds more of the negative behaviors that hurt the community as a whole, your outrage continues when @Darren says that he doesn't give money to them directly because it supports negative behaviors?
I concur with this.
From what I have read and can tell, this is a kind of problem. If everyone collectively did not give to the panhandlers, market theory would suggest they would move elsewhere.
I feel compelled to point out that this is not in the Hog Pit, everyone (myself included). If we're going to debate, let's keep it above the belt.
@pyrephox said in Social Stats in the World of Darkness:
So I wouldn't be the target audience for a WoD game without social stats in the first place.
I hate canards. Damn ducks.
You are actually my target audience, so I'm trying to work through things carefully. There are a lot of strong, good opinions. My goal is to gather the thoughts, and figure out what is best for what I want to set up.
Thanks for discussing this with me.
Partner: (looks for something to eat and finds a can of tuna, which she opens and eats directly from with her fingers)
Me: (appears from work to see Partner doing so) You know, the cat has the decency to wait until after I take the food from the can.
@tragedyjones said in Do you read the book(s)?:
Do you devour the content, mechanics, fluff and all?
System mechanics, yes. Fluff, no.
Do you skim the character creation and wing it?
No, I read the character creation part very thoroughly. Yes, I wing what I can't fully understand.
Do you just hope people will be nice and helpful?
Of course not, what are you, dumb?
@arkandel said in Social Stats in the World of Darkness:
A system can't be successful unless players buy into it.
Let me attempt to persuade you otherwise.
rolls dice
Okay, so, let me try by Socratic method: why do World of Darkness players so readily buy into the Violence section (combat) of the rules, but sometimes vehemently oppose any attempt to use rules regarding social influence and maneuvering?
We can blame it on that dragon, agency, or we can presume that it is because the Violence section creates a cognizable framework to resolving the confrontation. If it is the latter, then players who seek to resolve the confrontation without staff intervention can either work it out OOCly or use the system that is provided.
And from what I can tell, anecdotally and by report of others, is that players usually resolve things OOCly by collaboration, and when they cannot, well -- you have a situation.
I posit that if players cannot agree OOCly on how to resolve the confrontation, then they may not be able to agree on the method by which to resolve the confrontation, even if they are provided with a method in the core rules. This may be because what is provided is too vague or simple to be of use; indeed, the Storyteller System is very loose with how to resolve social confrontations between player-characters. Maybe this is because the system expects players to resolve it among themselves or to not be such babies about what happens with their PCs, but it is a super big problem. (GODDAMMIT SUPER WHY.)
I'm proposing that a more robust system, like what was proposed in the Danse Macabre, might get more players to engage in using social stats to resolve social confrontations. Maybe it will, or maybe it will just make people want to engage in OOC deliberations to resolve confrontations (who the fuck wants to use my system, fuck it, let's just work it out rather than look to crazy-lawyer-system). It does not matter to me in the slightest.
What matters is that social combat has been the red-headed step-child on World of Darkness games. I believe that making them on par with physical combat will make people stand up, notice it, and pay it some more goddamn attention. And, as per the example I gave, using social combat may be a way to avoid physical combat as the end-all-and-be-all of confrontations. Further, game lines like Vampire make social combat the front-and-center of a story's focus, yet never make it something as tangible and complex as politics ought to be.
Anyhow, I don't want to complicate things, but if there's a way to raise the power level for social stats, I figure it's worth going after.
@Auspice said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:
baking is a science, cooking is an art.
Poppycock, if only because it seeks to distinguish science and art.
I adhere to recipes and times, but there is still an art to baking. Iâm not just talking about decorating, which is undoubtedly artistic. When and how you drop in your eggs or chocolate chips means a lot, I have found, to the simple baking of cookies.
And cooking is most definitely a science, if you are a grill master or want to use an oven. SoufflĂ©s and all sorts of dishes are temperature-delicate; one premature oven-opening and your dish will be thrown off. Precision and accuracy in timing how you make your dishes also helps make sure everything comes out warm and hot, and thatâs a matter of math and management.
I must respectfully dissent.
Plus, Iâve made things I have elected to abjure.
My self-hatred is powerful.
@apos said in Social Stats in the World of Darkness:
I've only been MUing for a few years compared to most people and I can think of 3 cases off hand of someone asking some version of the question, "Can I roll my social stats to try to talk my way out of this and not die?" when they were faced with imminent execution. There is basically zero chance someone doesn't try that if social combat exists and someone is trying to PK them, and whether it's allowed and reasonable is one I'd have a handle on.
I concur with Seraphim73 on this point.
I wouldn't say that it would be appropriate for a social combat issue, but rather a long-term objective that would be resolved with the Doors system. It would be a Herculean task, but that's kind of how good RP arises. Also, it is a good reason for the Prince or the High Authority to be in the hands of staff.
Maybe it's not execution, but the confiscation of the PC's worldly possessions, lands, and title, and a public flogging. That's a reasonable substitute for execution. And then the punished PC can play out trying to work his/her way back up the social ladder as a RP path.
To me, that sounds like a good story -- one I'd engage in.
But, yeah, I can see how another player might stomp their feet, whine, and rage-quit. Heaven forbid there be consequences for their actions.
Fuck that. I dont care how machismo I want to feel at any given time. I wouldn't wanna fight Carano, Frankie Adams, or Ronda Rousey and wouldn't feel one bit bad about them putting some dude in a bar who is giving me shit into a chokehold.
I approve of the casting of actual fighters to play fighters.
@mietze said in Social Stats in the World of Darkness:
I can't answer for Apos but I read their comments to mean more like even though people turn up their nose at allowing other pcs to affect them with dice rolls or social appeal, when it comes to a situation where they are facing real destruction (instead of losing face) they will privately or suddenly embrace it.
That's fine.
People can live their lives believing that there is a house over their roof when there is none, but when the rain comes I wouldn't blame them if they tried to build themselves one well after-the-fact.
In this case, the system is for the other PCs that they want to brush off. If you ignore it, the other PC can bring this to staff. And I, as staff, will ensure that people know that if people use the systems to reach an outcome, you will follow that outcome or you can find another game.
Real simple.
@Ghost said in The Hockey Thread:
How the EFF did my Coyotes end up leading the Pacific division? Wow.
It's pretty simple, actually.
Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta are a good goaltending tandem. As the Islanders proved last year, you can do well with two marginal starters, and even better with two really good starters, as the Bruins are showing this year.
The 'Yotes defense is playing up to its capability. Ekman-Larsson is still one of the best d-men out there and Goligoski is playing at the level he should. The combination of Goligoski and Chychrun is putting up mad points.
Depth. If you look at the forward lines, you'll notice that the 'Yotes top 2 lines rank in the bottom of the League (30th and 26th), whereas their 3rd and 4th lines are in the upper half (16th and 11th).
Weak West. The Western Conference has been pretty weak so far, and easy to feed on.
For more analysis, feel free to continue.
@tempest said in I owe a lot of people some apologies.:
You need to be more careful when handling substances like MSB threads.
Truth here.
You never know when one might get too excited and accidentally go off in your hair.
