@jennkryst said in Looking for potential staff for a Colonial Marines (Aliens) game:
Throw it into the BattleTech MUX engine! Because that will never go wrong, right?!?
Do you have access to this? Because I would so run a Battletech game in a second. Kind of.
Oh, okay. I see what you're saying now. Ghost said:
I'm a strong believer in the ethic that if you have 20 characters across 4 MUs, you're only able to focus 1/20th of your creative energy on any given character, and thus you water down the experience for the people you play with.
Yeah, I don't believe in that. I've got several alts spread across games. I keep Allen at New Orleans because it is a sleepy, small game with no consequences of my relative idleness. I still have Daithi, even though it looks like Fifth Kingdom is also slowing down. But on a game like BSG:U, where there's plenty of RP to be had, I've got two alts there.
That said, I also sort of believe in the idea that if you want to RP on a particular game, spending energy on promoting one alt is better than making five and trying to grab as much as you can. Mutli-sphere WoD games are the general exception to this.
@sunny said in FCs on Comic MUs:
Oh ffs. Are we going to be presenting 'people should only have 1 alt' as 'the proper way to play' versus 'if you have multiple characters you're bad at this'? Ugh ugh ugh. Come on, people. There are plenty of valid reasons for people to want more than one PC.
I'm sure there are, and none of them sound very convincing to me. That's fine. I'm also not convinced the Penguins are going to 3-peat, despite the plethora of valid reasons to believe otherwise.
I'm just suggesting that, for an FC Comic Game, you go with one alt only.
@fatefan said in FCs on Comic MUs:
(This assumes, of course, a broadly inclusive approach to comic themes rather than a focused one, like where everyone's involved with the X-Men or is riffing on Batman: The Animated Series.)
An expansive approach to comic themes is a terrible premise.
For example: if someone's looking to get a hardboiled/noir groove going, Punisher or Daredevil or the Question might be awesome FCs to play. However, Superman or Wonder Woman or Reed Richards might not work so well.
It's up to staff to set up what the "groove" is. If you're going for over-the-top cosmic action, you're going to want Star-Lord, Iron Man, Silver Surfer, etc. If you're going for hardboiled, you're going to want to have the Defenders, Punisher, Spider-Man (in my opinion), and the street-level superheroes and villains.
I think the latter theme provides the better storylines, but I don't have much experience with the former.
Here's an idea: for the FCs that you plan to use on a game, staff should write out those wiki-pages.
Seems to be a good way to make sure that people know what sort of Superman you want, the essentials of his background, and so on.
Also, good to point out which version of the superhero you're using, i.e.: which Robin is it? (I want to play Carrie Kelley.)
@the-tree-of-woe said in FCs on Comic MUs:
So, flip the playbook. Check for intent first and foremost and treat knowledge as the secondary concern, and encourage players to learn more about their FC as they play if there are gaps in their knowledge.
See, why bother?
Superman isn't hard to understand as a character trope. Why do I need to know much about him beyond his general capabilities and vulnerabilities? Maybe that's why I'm just no good on these games.
It's also why I like OCs: they have no history. I don't need to memorize or be compelled to study generations of comics in order to be given a pass by raving, rabid comic fans. I can just play a PC with a power-set.
@arkandel said in FCs on Comic MUs:
Thanos + Cable
Fair.
Okay. So, you only get one Marvel character if that's the Marvel stuff controlled by Disney.
There. You happy?
@arkandel said in FCs on Comic MUs:
@ganymede said in FCs on Comic MUs:
@arkandel said in FCs on Comic MUs:
@ganymede said in FCs on Comic MUs:
I mean, unless you're Alan Tudyk, you get only one Disney animated character. And you get only one Marvel character.
Chris Evans.
Those movies don't count.
Josh Brolin.
Jonah Hex is a DC line.
@arkandel said in FCs on Comic MUs:
@ganymede said in FCs on Comic MUs:
I mean, unless you're Alan Tudyk, you get only one Disney animated character. And you get only one Marvel character.
Chris Evans.
Those movies don't count.
@social-diseases said in FCs on Comic MUs:
I could probably see allowing 2, maybe 3 characters so long as those characters were sufficiently different in focus, but...
No, no, no. Not 2 alts. Not 3.
One. One alt. (Ah, ah, ah.) Especially on an FC game, which is what we're talking about.
And this is my stance because no one has ever provided me with a satisfactory answer to the question: "why do you need to play more than one feature character on a game?"
I mean, unless you're Alan Tudyk, you get only one Disney animated character. And you get only one Marvel character.
One alt.
Just one alt.
@tempest said in FCs on Comic MUs:
People froth at the mouth for alts, it's crazy.
Too fucking bad? People clamored for alts on RfK, but the absence of alts was one of its best policies.
Many people have disagreed with my point of view, but I believe that players need to invest in their characters more. If you cannot get your PC into RP for whatever reason, switch PCs. Keep trying, or don't try, whatever you choose.
I can see very few reasons for playing an alt, other than "I want to try something else but I don't want to lose the RP I have on the PC I currently have." That's fine, but, if you want to get more RP on the PC you currently have, why not put more energy there rather than split them with another PC? And if you just want to switch concepts, why not do that, quit your own PC, and pick up the other? This is especially true for FC games.
Where FCs have leadership positions, activity needs to be higher than just one scene a month. Much higher. And staff needs to be pro-active and get on people to either set up alternate leadership or giving it up in favor of players who can meet staff's expectations.
@tempest said in FCs on Comic MUs:
But, but, Gany...then your +Who list looks small.
The size is not as important as the quality. At least, that's what guys tell themselves.
As I said before: allow for redshirts/proxies. You can bump up the +who list that way.
@social-diseases said in FCs on Comic MUs:
Camping is a problem. There is no easy solution.
Here's a solution: how about only allowing one PC for every player? No alts. You're either playing on the game or you are not.
Permit people to use redshirts or proxy bits for the same PC, so that they can RP in two places at once if they are worried about missing RP opportunities on the game by being occupied in one scene.
@faraday said in POLL: Super Hero MU Gut Check:
FS3 has several built in buffs (suppress/distract/aim) and heals (treat/really) and I can count on my fingers the number of times I've seen them be used across multiple games. Buffing/debuffing often feels useless even when it isn't.
I don't know what buffs exist, and I don't know how they would affect a situation, to be honest.
Your wife is clearly not Chinese, because that shit is paydirt for us.
I should've been playing Horizon Zero Dawn a long time ago.
I'm not sure, Royal. Possibly?
Also, completed all bloodlines. Link to the shared document is on the previous page.
Remove Batfleck. Remove Cavill's dark and broody murderous superman.
I'm sorry, but I like both Batfleck and Cavill's Superman.
I just really hate Zack Snyder.
We should make a thread about this, and duel to the death.
@tempest said in POLL: Super Hero MU Gut Check:
Just my 2c, but if you want OC heroes, make an OC hero game. FC games should be FCs. Mixing them is asinine.
Honestly, the pure audacity required for a player to think whatever harebrained thing they whipped up in 30 minutes deserves the same attention/etc as a comic book character that's been written for 10, 20, 30, however many years and is known by 80% of the players on the game, and has been in cartoons and movies and whatever else is just...
Seriously? It's dumb. Pure and simple.
First, if game designers want to allow both, I'll defer to their expertise and decision. I'm not here to argue whether one or the other varieties are superior. And, as I think someone else said, if you want a game that is purely one way or the other, make it yourself.
Second, I have the temerity to say that, yes, I can concoct an OC that is better thought-through than what other comic book writers can come up with. I mean, that's kind of how new superheroes get created. Sure, not every concept is going to be smashing, but OCs are how you create new stories. And, yes, I think I have the ability to write someone more compelling than 'The Condiment King' or 'Orca'.
Third, whether or not an OC gets any screen time or attention is up to staff and the players: (1) staff to provide opportunities; (2) the creator to engage the OC in the events; and (3) the other players to be inclusive. And I agree with you that OC players should not walk in and just expect that other players will want to include them in their FC RP (after all, we all just gotta get that Cyclops-Jean Grey-Wolverine threesome RP In there), but if FC players are just going to nose out OCs they are part of their own problem -- namely, being arbitrarily cliquish.
Finally, what I'm getting at is whoever ends up playing Legion or Magneto is going to need to be the sort of player that reins himself or herself in for the enjoyment of others because both FCs seem to have expansive power sets. And, from what it sounds like, that sort of player is rare on superhero (and WoD) games.
