Posts made by Ganymede

@Arkandel

I don't see any timing issue, unless players are limited to spying via an Obfuscate Code.

I find little difference between a request for information via spying and a request for information via investigation into a PC's background. I see no burden in asking the target PC's player for that information, and, if there is an impasse, seeking staff intervention to, as you put it, make everyone's IC lives a little more interesting.

We want to be able to trust staff to handle conflicts, but if we cannot trust fellow players to be trustworthy and cooperative then we have other, deeper issues to contend with.

@Arkandel

I'm ambivalent.

As staff, I should be able to ask a player what their PC is doing during the period on which another is spying on them, and expect to be given a truthful answer. As another player, if I choose to spy on someone, I would like to think they would do the same. Maybe we go through some rolls to see if I'm successful or not, or not if we can agree on it.

@Thenomain said:

I think this kind of code is worth exploring, and since it's public I don't think it counts as "spying".

I concur that this is not spying, but for what reason was such code popular? I cannot wrap my head around why anyone would use it.

@Arkandel said:

I always feel so dirty upvoting @Ganymede. Damn you people for making me do this.

Making other people feel dirty is what I do, but I usually do it with whips and chains.

Hot water heater fails on Dec. 31.

I have a contractor, but no heater to purchase on Jan. 1, and I don't want to go to a Big Box to buy some sub-standard POS from overseas.

And then I get a decision granting judgment in favor of an opponent.

Gonna be a long week.

@ThugHeaven said:

I wouldn't mind the spying if it was used like it was supposed to.

If you ever meet someone that is spying on others so that he or she can give them a wanted gift, let me know. Otherwise, it's safe to presume that spying is done for selfish purposes.

If you want to drop a plot on players, find a couple in a public space and ask them via page. No need to sit around spying.

@The-Tree-of-Woe said:

Fallout 4's real problem is that it was made for a more dedicated type of gamer. The kind of gamer who posts five page long rants when someone says "this game is really hard. Why this game so hard?" that attack your dedication to gaming, your intellect, and your sexual prowess.

By "dedicated," do you mean "gamer who will avoid his/her responsibilities in order to play the game"? Who will abjure human contact, normalcy, and sexual congress for a game?

I have never found an open-world game difficult to learn. Ever. I find them difficult to continue at times because the gameplay and story get boring, or I lose motivation with the character I put together.

@Cirno said:

Permission to use EXACTLY THAT IDEA you just suggested? It works perfectly in my frame of "Making Fun Of Lords And Ladies Games" Game.

Sure. Have at it.

@Cirno said:

Those are real things people say.

Everyone can have an opinion, and everyone is entitled to be wrong. I have neither the time nor inclination to address people's idiocy constantly, so I let stupid shit like this slide all the time.

I can either argue with people about why they are wrong, or I can do something about it. I choose the latter.

@Cirno said:

Speaking of which, this is exactly why I think people who say things like "SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL POLICE" are fuccbois.

I support local police all the time. I support them like I would support a drunken, belligerent, gun-toting friend: I point out their problems and encourage them to get help.

Supporting people does not connote blind loyalty. It also means pointing out when they fuck up horribly, so that they learn a lesson.

@Cirno said:

What about all those scary-ass news stories wherein people are murdered by someone they met off the Internet?

What about all those scary-ass news stories about young black men getting shot by police for no fucking reason?

@Cirno said:

I really want to make a Silly, lighthearted, Disneyesque Lords And Ladies game of some sort. Maybe you can help.

Of course you can. You can have the Magickal Kindgom of Misteryus, ruled over a family of princesses that are led by Princess Abigaile, or something. Disney doesn't have a stranglehold on ideas -- just shit that directly derives from their shit.

@Roz said:

Do people lie on the internet? Do people get preyed on? Absolutely. But I don't think that it's actually true that the majority of people you might make friends with on the internet are more likely to be vastly lying about their identity.

Ack! The grammar!

Shading grants people greater license to conceal or misrepresent the truth. It's easier to lie, so it's probably more likely. That alone does not mean that you should eschew meeting others via the internet.

I mean, people lie in person too. All the time. It happens.

@Cirno said:

Give me some legal advice, pwease: Now that our Fantasy World War 2 game is underway, will Disney rape us in the butthole without lube if we also make a normal Frozen game, or nah?

I wouldn't do it. Play it safe. Always. That's why you ought to use lubricant and a condom for buttsex.

@BigDaddyAmin said:

Fallout, the plethora of zombie games, and other Bethesda incarnations are the reasons why for me gaming is dead.

The Last of Us, while not technically a zombie game, is the reason why I'm getting excited about gaming again. If you've played it, you know why. It is blindingly amazing.

Otherwise, I agree with you, to an extent. F3 and F:NV felt very similar to me. I liked them well enough, but I don't really care much about what happens to my PC. And those games sort of focus on what the PC is all about.

Contrast that with Mass Effect. I want to know what happens to Mordin Solus, or Jack, or Shepard. You don't have as much control on what happens, but you have a bloody story to work with here that raises all sorts of questions. Can Joker and EDI have a successful relationship? Will I ever get to bang Aria T'Loak?

So, count me in the crowd of gamers that are tired of open-world games. I like something with a well-written story and dialogue.

@Packrat said:

I still find it crazy that prior to World War 1 the main source of income for the US federal government was tariffs, along with how important that was to the establishment of US industrial supremacy in the early/mid 20th century.

I don't see why. The Wealth of Nations talks about tariffs an awful lot. They are really good in keeping domestic trade protected from international competition.

@Thenomain

I have been spoiled by great games that have a definite beginning and end. I liked F3 and F:NV, but I'm hesitant about F4. I'm not exactly sure why.

I mean, I got a PS4 for Christmas. I haven't even hooked it up yet. The thought of sticking it onto my entertainment center just made me start up ME3 and The Last of Us again.

@Thenomain said:

Otherwise, I can't say that the game has an ending. It tries to have a story, and the story has a definitive moment where it could end (even after being forced into one of three factions I don't really care about), but it doesn't. It even gives you the illusion of post-ending denouement, with missions for that faction based upon the ending, but they don't seem to go anywhere. I've played an extra ten or so hours past the ending and nothing gets resolved. Nothing.

This is the main beef I have with open world games. They always seem to end on a whisper.

You guys are seriously begging for Disney to rear its ugly head.