Posts made by Ganymede

@TNP

I concur wholly.

I do not regret preemptively banning people for the same reason that I don’t allow some of my exes into my house for a party. I have nothing against them all the time, but I just don’t want to have to deal with them. Some people may think I am being unfair, but it is my house, so I get to make that decision. If they don’t like it, they can go elsewhere.

Similarly, if I know that someone is bound to be a murderhobo in my campaign, I don’t invite them. I don’t care if some of the invitees like the person; my game, my place, my decision. If that means people don’t come over, so be it. I played with Spider; I have been played by Spider; and I have staffed with Spider; so I know exactly why I would not let her on my game.

@Derp said in What Would it Take to Repair the Community?:

I'm not saying it has to be a precise mathematical formulation pointing to this-and-no-other conclusion, but I'd like to see something that backs up that theory if people are going to make the accusation, you know? Give me something.

Preemptively banning someone is not something I do lightly, but when I do I can assure anyone that asks that I have done my homework. No one has to believe me when I say that, and my word as a person is on somewhat shaky grounds these days -- or so I have been told.

They are "usual suspects." As has been pointed out, the number of actual, serious threats have been few and far between. I can count on my hand the number of folks I have or would have done this to. In each case, I have made a simple calculus: is the damage that may be caused by a pre-emptive ban greater than the damage that could be done in the absence of the same? Said another way, I like to make sure that the value of "I have done something" is greater to the community than the price of "I have done nothing."

But ultimately, it was my choice. If people did not and do not like it, so be it. I have long abandoned any ruse or delusion that this place was a haven of free speech or a marketplace of ideas. If it wanted to be so, it failed years ago, and I made no conscious effort in the past two years to change it.

@Seraphim73 said in What Would it Take to Repair the Community?:

One of the first things said about me on WORA was that I was only made a staffer on a game because I was TSing another staffer. Is that the kind of bullshit accusation that used to be thrown around in order to slut-shame people? Yup. Was I TSing that player's character? Yup. Was that why I got the position? Nope. Folks could speak up and describe what I was doing as a staffer, and people could see that even if it was why I got the position, I was being active and good for the game. Done. Was it annoying to deal with? Yup. Do I still remember it a decade later? Yup.

Funny story: when I received an IC position on Liberation, I was immediately accused of using my position here to sway Sunshine, a person who was lambasted here frequently and heavily. I nearly fell out of my chair laughing at how ludicrous the accusation was.

Anyhow, to your point, I concur that the way you remove a cancer from the community is to exclude them from every point of entry, and I hope that the two boards will cooperate to do this going forward.

@Tez

Ouch. That sounds terrible.

@Solstice

I can't tell if the e-mail has been actually changed or not, given that I don't know: (1) what it was; or (2) what you want it to be.

I'd like to figure this out and make sure your change is fulfilled, so maybe discussing via DM is best.

@reimesu said in What Would it Take to Repair the Community?:

We're not. We're just loud.

And ugly.

@TNP said in What Would it Take to Repair the Community?:

But that would be bullying, according to some posters that seem to have the approbation of admin.

In the past, most people have reported creeps and stalkers like Cullen / Azazello / Surtr / whomever through DMs to me. When reports of this kind of activity have popped up, my practice was to ask the reporter to DM me to discuss whether there were any concerns that the alleged creeper / stalker was on this board and, if so, what would substantiate their belief. In some cases, there was substantiation (to my satisfaction); in others, not so much.

Cheating on games, exploiting code, blurring OOC and IC lines: these are things I didn't care about as an admin here. Creepers, stalkers, and doxxers? That's shit I took very seriously. But as creepers, stalkers, and doxxers often do very personal things and, in many cases, cause their victims to do embarrassing things, I preferred to take it to DMs because no one needs that laundry aired. Also, the point of my inquiry was ultimately to try and prevent further harm to the victim.

I guess what I'm getting it as if you suspect there is a creeper / stalker here I think you should inform staff so they can take action to make this place safer for you and probably others. As always, though, if you don't, that's fine too because no one should force anyone to go through trauma again.

@faraday said in What Would it Take to Repair the Community?:

Which honestly makes me sad, because I don't think the MUSH community is big enough to sustain two separate discussion forums

What do you mean by "sustain"?

To be honest, if people stop using boards like this then it is more probable that it is because other systems, like Discord and reddit, are sort of pushing independent boards like ours into the obsolete bin when it comes to finding new players, in my opinion. Also, the interest in our particular hobby, which was never strong to begin with, is no doubt dwindling further now that people can reliably play TT games over video. To boot, we also have had few innovations in the past five years, and it seems to me that our constructive discussions revolve around the same issues we've had since I began playing these games over 25 years ago.

If we're talking about this community, then I would agree that the split may kill us both, but as been stated by numerous people -- and I believe it -- our community is but a fraction of the total hobby population. If posting here is going down, it is possible, if not probable, that this is because many of our past active posters were more interested in posting without filters and enjoying being part of the regular spectacle.

What I can say is that I have no plans to shut this place down, as its maintenance is not particularly expensive. So long as people want to us it to advertise, discuss game design, or post up kitten pictures, it'll be around.

@Ghost said in What Would it Take to Repair the Community?:

Says the one who actually has the power to tell people to leave the dinner table.

Actually, I don't at the moment. I relinquished my duties as an admin as of June 30, 2022. I just keep the lights on now.

@faraday said in What Would it Take to Repair the Community?:

It's like Thanksgiving with a dysfunctional family. You need Grandma to play peacemaker, or to rule with an iron fist (like Mal in Firefly: "Walk away from this table.").

Clearly, you're Grandma, y'know.

Just pointing that out.

@Solstice

I think there is disagreement as to whether the community is now experiencing a painful rip or whether that actually happened a long time ago.

@Kestrel said in What Would it Take to Repair the Community?:

This is not a tale of two warring tribes, nor as @Derp puts it, friction resulting from "two very different groups of people interacting in the same space".

This.

To reduce what has happened recently to a splitting of two groups is overly simplistic, in my opinion. I will admit that it seems that two "cliques" have separated themselves; however, from my privileged perch, I believe with strong certainty that this is merely the result of a long-standing feud that divided the community for quite a while. And, as for accountability, I admit my responsibility in splitting the community.

We now have two places with two separate identities. I do not think this is a bad thing at all. I hope that we can be cordial and cooperate when matters greater than us arise -- for example, if Cullen / Azazello / Surtr / whomever shows their head on BMD, I hope that someone will alert us so we decide whether to follow suit here before shit gets real -- but if not, so be it. To date, I only know of one request for cooperation, and that is maintaining the archives of arguments we still have here (Tributary asked us) for reference. It is a promise I intend to keep.

But, as I said before, time is probably what is needed to bridge any rift that can be fixed.

@Taika

I think that modified weapons should at a minimum cost XP and come in the form of a merit. Otherwise, people are going to make them with impunity.

@ZombieGenesis

It was called Match if the Millennium.

I think modifying FS3 is the best way to go because it has a combat engine that can pit you against NPC bots without the need for staff. And it is as fun as you might think.

Go for a spotless record. Beat up all the NPCs you want, or get beat down by them. Don’t matter; have fun.

@Taika

You know, I have a crafting system lying around my hard drive somewhere, right? And I can clean up your write-ups because I have all of them.

And my free time will dry up once I start teaching in the fall.

@mietze said in What Would it Take to Repair the Community?:

Sometimes it's not really something to repair in the sense of making everyone feel at home and comfortable. Sometimes it's just accepting what you can do, what you can't do, and that other people are where they are and it's very possible that there really isn't a "one true way" to do/look at/feel about most things.

I really like this way you put it.

I said elsewhere that we live in a society that demands snap judgments and hot takes. People oblige when they've no reason to, and then have to backtrack as facts begin to emerge. Keeping an open mind is difficult when you are pressured to make your mind up immediately, and patience and time sometimes are in short supply.

But when I can, I try to be as patient as possible.

(Not that my damn kids give a shit.)

@Ghost

I don't mean to be flippant or nonchalant, but you are looking for answers which have plagued every community or group since forever.

I remember when we had a huge discussion back five years ago as to whether we should remove the Hog Pit. Discussions were hot and heated back then -- very much so. Warnings were thrown up, and when staff believed that nothing more constructive would come, the discussion ended. After that, activity was tepid until members were comfortable with how and where to engage based on the policies that came out of it.

It takes time and patience, and letting people choose from available options what is best for them.

@Bellecourt

Thank you.

The write-ups actually come from another game I worked with @Taika on. I've been meaning to ask her if she wanted me to re-write the descriptions so as to better fit what City of Shadows is like, but it's been a few years, and I don't think it matters a whole lot.

If you're looking for a dynastic feel, though, you might want to check out the Myrmex. They were based on the Melissidae, but have more of a evangelistic cult-ish feel to them.

@Ghost said in What Would it Take to Repair the Community?:

So I ask: Really, what would it fucking take to clear the air and make the environment more 'repaired'?

If you're referring to the community that once inhabited here and its predecessors, then I would only say "time."

I'm not sure what air needs to be cleared, to be honest. Positions and opinions have been stated and re-stated. I presume that posters, past and present, can make their own decisions. So I presume as well that what can be repaired promptly has been repaired.

These presumptions may not be correct, but I've always believed you cannot force two people who dislike or distrust one another for reasons great or small to decide to mend and move forward, unless they want to.

@Bellecourt

You may want to check out the website Taika has in her profile too. My understanding is that they are using different-than-normal bloodlines, so I don't think The Carnival is available, although the Blood Brothers are a close analogy.

@Macha said in RL things I love:

Forget a dime, brother can you spare a job? (I'm happy for you if you're happy.)

That depends. Do you like bouncing at bars or running karaoke events?

And now I have five jobs, and I couldn’t be happier.

In case anyone wonders why I’m not around much no more.

@faraday said in Street Fighter The RPG:

It wouldn't fit within FS3, but you could definitely make a different card-based combat plugin using the streetfighter rules.

I could, I guess. Or someone could do it for me.

Will pay for code.