Posts made by Ganymede

@loke said in Reasons why you quit a game...:

Some staffers hold two conflicting beliefs, "This is my game,"/I get to do what I want when I want, and "I'm in it for the players." I think if you're in it for the players, you find a balance between taking care of yourself and serving your player base without sacrificing on fairness.

The two beliefs are not mutually exclusive, however; they should be integrated.

"This is my game. I get to do what I want when I want, and what I want is a game that other players can enjoy."

The first part is an acknowledgment of responsibility: it's your game, so you're responsible for what happens on it.

The second part is a statement of fact: you can do what you want, so you should act ethically or else you'll be viewed as a petty tyrant, no matter your policies.

The last part is the mission statement: it's only a game if there are other players involved that are enjoying it.

@arkandel said in Celebrities that are Dead To Us:

Absolutely. But what (I think) we're discussing here is whether a celebrity's image in our eyes is irrevocably scarred by something they did.

Scarred to the point where the person is considered dead, right?

Look, everyone can have their opinion on this. That's fine. I think it's foolish to truly admire anyone outside of your immediate, touchable group of friends and loved ones, even though it may be noble to aspire to be like someone else.

And I may be a cynic when I say that no one -- no one -- is beyond reproach. Everyone has sinned; everyone is vulnerable; but not everyone matters and not everyone is caught.

Al Franken took a negative and spun it into an unbelievable positive, politically. An inquest into him means an inquest into any politician -- Roy Moore, Donald Trump -- who has been accused of or caught in sexual misconduct. A failure to do so would be hypocritical.

But, sure. Perhaps he was wrongfully put on a pedestal, and maybe led us to believe that he should've been.

No one is beyond reproach. The higher they soar, the farther they fall.

My fucking cat bites me in my sleep.

Asshole.

I'm going to take the unpopular opinion here.

Whatever happened to scale or scope? What about a person's reaction? What about what's been alleged precisely?

C'mon. Let's just take a moment to distinguish and not lump everyone together.

Let's start with Al Franken. First, he admitted it happened. Second, he requested an ethics investigation. Finally, and most importantly, he acknowledged that what he did was wrong. To-wit: (1) forcefully making out with a woman against her will during a rehearsal; and (2) taking an awful, awful picture.

Let's go in the other direction for a moment to Bill Cosby. First, he admitted nothing, even though he testified to doing so in a deposition. Second, he continues to deny wrong-doing to this day. Finally, and damningly, he is alleged to have drugged women and have sex with them while they were knocked out over a period of decades.

I want to be clear: I don't condone either person's behavior. But I think it is also clear: these are not the same levels of wrongdoing.

This is a hot topic for me because a lot of my political friends are lumping everyone together, while some of us "moderates" are saying what Jules said in Pulp Fiction. What Franken did, relative to Cosby, ain't the same sport.

@misadventure said in Reporting Roadblocks: Denial, Fear, Shame, Guilt, Embarrassment, etc.:

I vote for @Ganymede clones. I trust her, she's intelligent, has a good memory, and is rewarding to RP with.

Thank you, but you don't want too many of me around. You'd have no one around during normal peak times.

@loke said in Reasons why you quit a game...:

Per 1., do you think it would be possible for staff to recover from this in any way?
Not like, over time, but from a specific instance. If you had a major problem with a staff decision, how would you like it to be resolved in terms of an ideal way?

I would want them to change their minds and do things as I'd recommend. I'm not a dullard, and I would lay a wager that I've more practical experience.

If it wasn't clear, I am driven away from games for personal reasons. Purely personal. I don't expect staff to change their minds just because I disagree vehemently with something they did or do, whether it affects me directly or not.

But I don't take umbrage often. I play where I want to play, and have a mythical ability to get along with just about anyone. What I take offense to are things that most people would. So, it's not just me going.

@arkandel said in Good or New Movies Review:

My only real question is whether he can pull off the age gap. In the movie DCU Bruce is older (not that they dared go the DKR route and make him actually old).

This is why Viggo Mortensen is the only logical choice for the next Bat.

I check out of a game, generally, for one of three reasons, or a combination thereof:

1. I take serious umbrage to a decision made by staff.
2. I stop getting RP, or finding RP, during my active times.
3. The apparent direction of a game makes me PC unplayable.

Based on the above, I don't think there's anything that staff can do, really. I don't expect to step in and save my RP. My RP is my RP, and I get it where I choose to get it. I suppose, like Wolfs, staff could not do things that are problematic or stupid, but that's a matter of perspective.

@arkandel said in Good or New Movies Review:

I do hope though there's room for something falling in the range between light-hearted and edgelord-dark. I really liked Thor but I'd like a more serious take for the next JLA movie (assuming there is one, of course).

When Wonder Woman is considered the most light-hearted of the series, there's a serious edgelord-dark weight on the entire franchise.

Comic books can be grave and serious, and still have some fun. Even Logan had its fun moments.

Give a light-hearted script for The Flash, and put that out earlier. Maybe even do something light for Cyborg. Hell, I think the best idea I've heard is taking Aquaman, and making it a version of Russell Crowe's Fightin' 'Round the World.

@bored said in [L5R] Giri - Now Hiring:

My point isn't to argue any one change, it's that there have been several changes (I think they came out less than a month apart?) and there are almost certainly going to be many more before you open up.

I concur with this.

Frankly, the appeal for L5R is the setting, and I think this is true for many. I like the Great Famine, but I also like a lot of the older Crab material. I think you should pick a particular time and location, and then work around how you'd like the game to unfold. And I think it should remain far from the Shogun so as to not let "high politics" dominate.

@greenflashlight said in Reporting Roadblocks: Denial, Fear, Shame, Guilt, Embarrassment, etc.:

Sounds like we aren't talking about the same things, then. Sorry to waste your time on a derail.

Hey, now. Some of us who disagree with you are hearing you.

Having worked in a prosecutor's office, I understand the concept of victim agency, and restoring the victim to power in a situation. Bringing a case against a victim's will is an important consideration. If the victim refuses to testify, for example, a prosecutor's office generally won't bring the case to trial unless there is sufficient corroborating evidence that it can prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the assault occurred without the victim's testimony.

That said, I'm not a prosecutor when I'm running a game: I'm dictator for life. I'm not going to shy away from that, and that characterization is absolutely true, no matter how someone gussies it up. I cannot deny that many people will not report because of victim agency concerns, and this is a valid concern; however, I lean towards moving to act because I don't want a wolf among the sheep, picking them off while I twiddle my thumbs. This has happened to me before, and I won't let it happen again.

@vorpal said in Good or New Movies Review:

Now we just need to hope that they line a good director for the sequel so it's not a mishmash of two different visions trying to push each other off a cliff. Maybe they should just give it to Patty. Patty knows what she's doing.

Here's to hoping they give a spinoff series to Jemaine Clement. Taika Waititi did a fantastic job with Thor: Ragnarok, and kiwis have been showing, on the regular, that they are gifted when it comes to stories about superheroes and Gods.

@ixokai said in Reporting Roadblocks: Denial, Fear, Shame, Guilt, Embarrassment, etc.:

I know for a fact that a regular tactic of The Clique used to be to file false complaints against someone that went against them. Pillowfort would decide on an enemy and organize around destroying that enemy.

I can believe someone and still perform an investigation into the claims.

What I remember of the Pillowfort is that they never really raised anything substantial. I recall them reporting VASpider and her husband to me when I was staffing at Denver by Night, and I remember that my investigation turned up nothing. I dug a little bit, and there was nothing there. At all. They may have gotten better at it.

Anyhow, as I said in another post, you can believe and still look for what's really going on. I can believe something happened that made someone feel uncomfortable, and the next moment dig into why that happened.

@thenomain said in An Apology to BSO and BSU.:

I'm not defending anyone here (I don't know enough to have an opinion), but questioning the idea that others can behave poorly and punish everyone in a thread regardless of the civility of others. I fear the chilling effect this would have, or the power this would give to those who want to drag any thread that they personally want into the Hog Pit.

I concur.

@sunny said in Reporting Roadblocks: Denial, Fear, Shame, Guilt, Embarrassment, etc.:

If I am unable to act on what I am told, what is the purpose of telling me? I can't help make things safer for the person telling me. I can't help make things safer for anybody else.

When I'm wearing a staff hat, I make it very clear that if I learn of any plausible, credible claims of harassment, stalking, or making people feel uncomfortable about being on the game, I will investigate and take action. I also make it very clear that I play characters on my game, that other staff have alts on the game, and that I regularly converse with other staff.

Whether the informant wants action taken is not my concern.

My purpose is to protect the game, and not the feelings of any one player. My idea of a safe environment is not an environment where a potential harasser or stalker feels safe.

Until I fulfill my promises to The Descent, I can't help. Otherwise, I'd probably pop in as a Theme or Plot Staffer. I presume we're using L5R 4E, as 5E is in beta?

@carnivale

DownWithOPP made an apology to me a while back, which I accepted. I accepted the apology because I sincerely believe that he didn't mean to offend me -- and he didn't, not in the slightest.

Regardless, I am compelled to recuse myself.

I will have to leave this decision to @Arkandel.

@surreality said in RL Anger:

'Live with it' isn't the answer. Better, less dangerous medication should be on the agenda, though, for real.

How about affordable care?

"Pain acceptance" isn't a new movement. It's been around since -- well, forever. Doctors regularly inform patients as to the chances of full recovery, the chances of return to normal, and so on. These opinions form the basis of future damages, and other fun things I get to haggle over in my line of work.

Where I'm originally from, it is common to get a second or third opinion. Why? Because health care is more readily-available and cheaper. Exploratory surgery and searches are also more affordable, and more available. Hell, health care in general is better and more exploratory when providers and patients don't have to worry about some asshole insurance adjuster making some nigh arbitrary decision as to whether a procedure is covered or not.

There are limits to what medical science can do. And there are limits to what insurance will pay for. You can remove one of these problems with enough common sense and political will.

@arkandel said in Good or New Movies Review:

Hey, it's disappointing. I wanted a JLA movie to be awesome, if for no other reason than that to ensure there are more made.

I did too, but then they allowed Zack Snyder to direct it, and that's when you should have known that it wouldn't be that great. I'd let Michael Bay direct over Zack Snyder.

So long as Zack Snyder is allowed to direct, the DCU will never, ever take off. Ever. Ever, ever.

@arkandel said in Good or New Movies Review:

From the previews and scores I'm reading online, it really sounds like Justice League will be disappointing, or at least average.

And this is a surprise because ... ?