Posts made by Ganymede

@surreality said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

Of course learning a new system is harder. The first time someone plays an established system, they have the same learning curve, however, and it wasn't an obstacle to them then.

If someone doesn't want to learn new mechanics, it is on them to say 'no' to a game that requires them to do so, not on the game's creators to refuse to do something new or eschew anything that isn't repeatedly trod ground to benefit that person's laziness and/or preference.

The odd part of this phenomenon is that, while the World of Darkness' mechanics are simple its content is not. Meanwhile, Arx's mechanics are arguably even simpler, and people will still consider it an impediment to play.

As another example, Star Wars SAGA edition has simple mechanics, but its Feats and Talents require an almost-encyclopedic knowledge in order to manipulate those mechanics efficiently to your benefit. Meanwhile, some people believe that Unisystem or FS3 is hard to grok, when they are anything but.

I think it's just familiarity. I like the World of Darkness because I know the source material so damned well, or well-enough that I can work my way through games easily. It wasn't as easy when I was on Arx not because Arx's mechanics were hard but because I have over two decades of familiarity with White Wolf's stuff.

That said, getting into White Wolf stuff takes a considerable amount of time and guidance. Vampire is particularly complex, even as Mage is system-wise.

@Ghost said in The MU*Bucket List:

I gotta admit, I really do want to make a character that is severely likable, but horrible in bed to the point of justified murder mercy killing.

Been there, done that.

@Nasgarath said in Nasgarath's Playlist:

We tried to bring it back to life twice (in 2005 and 2007) but it never really picked up. Eddings just doesn't attract big crowds anymore.

Depends on the scope. Boil it all down, and the Belgariad/Malloreon cycles are an L&L tale.

It might be just how you market it.

@Sunny

You're not the crazy one.

@Nasgarath

If I explain my humor, it will cease being funny.

@Admiral said in RL Anger:

Months after my family cut me off I get a text today from my mom saying she is 'praying for me'.

So few Christians seem to understand that Jesus told you to pray for people because they were already damned. Once damned, only through prayer and forgiveness could you be welcomed back to God.

It tickles me in the irony when people say that they are praying for another person to receive good fortune, because that's clearly not how it goes.

Thank God I'm Catholic.

@Wavert said in Where do you draw the line in having your character take what would otherwise be an "IC" action for them?:

For example, maybe I logically know my PC would seek out PC X for further details about some plot thread they have, but I don't like X's player and find them grating to roleplay with, so I'd rather find another way. Or maybe my PC is the sort to jump headfirst into situations without thinking about, but I know staying true to that behavior in this particular instance would mean RPing something i'm not ever comfortable with (Maybe it would just get me into something that's too dark or stupid than I wanna engage with).

Use @mail to send an IC letter to PC X requesting information, if he or she has it. If PC X provides the information, then you have acted to your satisfaction in an IC way and avoided RPing with PC X's player.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

PS4: LowVirtualMemory
Steam: LowVirtualMemory (or Metamonkey, I can't remember)

@Auspice

Maybe you should do that, then.

@SG

I didn't say that the movie wasn't scary. It was. So is being in a pitch black room with random gunshots going off. Which would have been more entertaining to me.

@Duntada said in What locations do you want to RP in?:

Does that sound like a kind of place that would be acceptable, or would the "high stress" you think be too much for most characters?

And why would the supernatural characters go there? That is, why that place in particular?

Nothing above really answers that question.

@surreality

My short review of Equilibrium:

Ah, what is there left to say about this cult-classic? Visually-impressive. Stimulating ideas. All good bits for a good movie. And, really, Equilibrium is a good movie.

Yet much about it seems fashioned from the same puerile sense of style that followed The Matrix. Allusions to Christian myth -- John Preston / Prester John -- aren't easily overlooked, especially when the "soldiers" are called clerics. The whole idea is a mish-mash of nerd fantasy -- oh, let's use angles and mathematics to explain this gun kata martial arts crap! Yay! Woo! At least The Matrix didn't demean us with that crap.

There's little I liked in Equilibrium that I didn't find and enjoy in Tank Girl, but that movie didn't try to keep things serious for us, and wallowed in its comical nature. In the end, all of the glitzy coolness of Equilibrium is eaten up by the banality of its over-wrought polemic: that its wrong to tamp down creativity and emotion in favor of logic and formula.

So, aside from the visuals, it's hard to truly marvel at the movie, which gets consumed by its own sense of self-importance. It's almost enough to drown out the ironic play between the message and the movie's similarities to The Matrix.

Almost.

@WTFE

My short review of The Matrix:

For the sake of brevity, I'm going to stick with the first movie, which is, for me, the only movie I care to recognize when asked about my thoughts on the trilogy. "There were three movies? Pretty sure there was one movie and two pointless, boring, overwrought wankfests that make the Twilight series seem watchable." Which it isn't, by the way.

I liked the movie. I liked the premise, and I like the execution. To say that the entire concept of existence within a machine is novel or ground-breaking is akin to saying that you only heard that there could be more than two genders in the past couple of years thanks to Caitlyn Jenner. That is, if you so believe, then you probably haven't been paying attention to the very genre that The Matrix attempts to rise from: science-fiction.

The idea of being trapped in a contrived universe is a trope used in various genres and settings, from ST:TNG (Ep. 82 -- Future Imperfect) to The Truman Show. References to Plato's Allegory of the Cave and other sources makes The Matrix about as new as dirt. The difference, however, is that The Matrix is able to take those ideas and present them in a wholly ground-breaking way. It's not the ideas or the message, but how it is shown.

I'll admit I was entertained, but I was also entertained by Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, which also broke ground in how it presented its poorly-written plot. Still, it would be wrong to hate hard on something presented with such glitz and glamour that so many others would attempt and fail to replicate. This is a movie to be watched for what it is, not what it says. And for that, we thank you, Wachowski Brothers.

@WTFE

Then keep 'em coming. But try to skip movies this year. I've seen a lot of good movies this year.

@Lithium said in New/Old mush now hiring staff!:

Most of them used some version of the Amber Diceless RPG which works very well for a MU* setting, if you're dealing with adults.

... so not a MU*?

@ZombieGenesis said in POLL Gothic Fantasy System:

This is NOT a game that is in progress. Just some discussion among friends about what may or may not work on a theoretical game.

What are the players to do on the game? Is it a "kill monsters!" game or a political game? A survival game or a story-based game?

@WTFE

My short review of Paranormal Activity:

If your idea of a good time is having loud noises and sudden movement startle you, then you are either a house cat or someone who liked Paranormal Activity. The fact that this series got several sequels/installments serves to reinforce my belief that ill-educated people will always confuse pornography for sex.

I sort of understand why this is the case. This movie came out around the same time that YouTube got kind of popular, and porn tubes started to proliferate. People like to have what they want immediately, and to have it be as gratifying as possible. I shouldn't say "people", though; rather, this is the common perception of what we are entitled to, as this is as horrifyingly incorrect as labeling Paranormal Activity as entertaining.

The only thing paranormal about the movie is its popularity. It's spooky. Whereas horror fans could have enjoyed gems like The Orphanage (Il Orphanato) or [REC], they instead found themselves adulating this awful cinematic abortion that's about as fun as voyeur porn at a convenience store: something exciting might happen if you lower your standards enough, but you're probably better off buying a subscription to BangBros., which produced more films that are more entertaining, humorous, and tongue-in-cheek than Paranormal Activity.

It'd probably make more sense too.

@Pyrephox said in What locations do you want to RP in?:

I would definitely like to see a WoD game that played up how fundamentally corrupt the world was, without making it 'and everyone is always miserable forever'.

People should try making characters with some depth, then.

Or learn how to perform improv.

Or, you know, have a wit of awareness for the world, which is pretty corrupt as it is and makes many of us miserable forever.

The conceit in the World of Darkness isn't that it's different; it's that it's not different.

@Auspice

My short review of Insidious:

The first half of the movie is what you come for. The script is solid, the performances good, and the material interesting. Watching a family struggle with the haunting of a child is harrowing, and Byrne and Wilson play fine in the roles of the concerned, scared parents.

But, as usual, Hollywood tries to tie up what never needs to be tied. Dread is a funny feeling, one that Hollywood seems doomed to never understand. Effective horror movies make you wonder; they don't come to a conclusion. And that's why the second half fails utterly.

About the only frightening thing in the second half is realizing that the villain is really Darth Maul with goat legs, which reminds you have how terrifying Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was. It's like remembering how badly your childhood memories were hobbled and raped by Lucas' horrid inability to create dialogue, names, dialects, and interesting situations. And then, like in this movie, you wake up, shivering, wondering what the fuck happened and why you're missing enough money to get you a passable meal at the local Texas Roadhouse.

I can write these all night.

@Auspice said in RL Anger:

Insidious.

Ironically, the first remains the best.

Like Sinister, which is a far better movie.