Best posts made by Ghost

This thread flows like the timeline in The Witcher

@faraday I think this would have been an amazing conversation over coffee, and I apologize. I don't mean for my tone to come across as accusatory as it did. I'll keep an eye on that, especially with you since you're awfully nice.

In my head this was more of a "DUDE...BUT..." type cubicle conversation about tech stuff, but one thing I think we did amazingly here is provide a point/counterpoint.

I am a former MUer with evident trust issues with the globulous "community" who is approaching this from the point of view of "...the bad scenario" and wanting to state out the width of possibilities to get them out there and undernconsideration

You are still prevalent in the community and are approaching this from a "stepping back from that, this is more likely" approach, and are providing a technical counterpoint about where the safety works and why it is better than it used to be (it is!)

I do think one thing is sure, though. Whatever next state the hobby takes will probably include someone either improving the insecure transmission issue through some new client/interface to cover that problem, or improvements to client/web interfaces using TLS to allow for more of the customization that MuClients provide.

And hot-damn, I'm still wondering about Diffie

News.

Incoming Labyrinth Tabletop RPG with a GM-less system.

You remind me of the babe...

From what I'm reading it'll be less "D&D" and more "Legacy of Dragonolt" (A choose your own adventure style rpg system with characters, some dice, and adventure paths contained in the book material that walks players through scenes/challenges based on choices offered to them in the narration).

Bear in mind that taking some of the references from the TV versions of FCs doesn't change the fact that they're FCs.

Old DC? New 52? Rebirth? They're all comics with FCs, but there have been some drastic differences between each iteration.

Marvel has a lot of the same going on. Earth 616, Earth ####, and technically any Sam Jackson Nick Fury isn't 616 Fury but Ultimates Fury.

So, even if a few references from a TV show are taken (which I honestly suggest people do sometimes because it promotes source knowledge with a wider range of audiences, breeds familiarity, etc) they are still FCs.

Thinking about what I think about this...

I don't think it's a bad idea, but I think you need to try to shoot holes in the idea, see where it could break, and adjust.

A few things come to mind:

1. The prerogative of most players is to succeed at anything and everything. I think this idea could break if someone used the family as a way to legitimize handing friends successes if they used the family for biased means. That make sense? Probably want some kind of accounting system to make sure some ST isnt using the family to pump up their friends/faction. I.e. "The family chose to lend their resources to help buy my friends character an arsenal of assault rifles"

2. You'll wanna probably set some constraints in place RP-wise, like set guidelines of what the family will or won't do so that at least theres a better chance of one ST using the family in a similar way that others do.

One thing I think that would be neat for Miami would be to take maybe a Gotham approach. What if you used said NPC family or elements to give players what most games haven't: Influence usage on a grand scale.

Cops, Politics, the Clergy, Crime Families, etc with an NPC element that will not only be up for grabs but pass instructions down to people affected who owns them?

Like if the Changelings get their fingers into some crime family it'll alter the landscape of the setting?

Waiting on a work call, and building off my prior post I thought I'd share a cool tech tip.

In my other post I mentioned that all telnet transmissions can be logged and reviewed at the router level. Really, having control of the household router can give you godlike levels of power.

So if your kid is using their Playstation at 3am against the rules (or some variation of this problem), do the following:

1. Get the IP address of the device
2. Log into your router as admin
3. Find the connected devices and deny that IP access to send data through the router between bedtime and back from school time

(Note: you can also assign nicknames to devices showing only as IP addresses. It helps to change these devices to names like "Billy's PS5" and "Dad's Cell Phone")

You can turn your kids' computer devices into bricks between whichever hours you please.

I ended up having to do this to my own teen that wasn't getting the point, and since I was the only person with the router password I could control those constraints.

@Auspice said in General Video Game Thread:

@Ghost said in General Video Game Thread:

@Auspice Haha thx I'll read it. I'm way excited about this game, but hang on, I'm accessing my mutant ability to see into the future....

Zack Smith was hired on to work on a WoD video game. If he is in the credits, this will become a contentious video game despite this political buzz

CoughCoughCough.

Sorry, seeing the future takes a bit out of me. Seriously, though, that topic is probably 4 hours away, or 4 hours after someone gets their hands on the game's credits.

I dunno if he was, but so far it's: 'you're allowed to make whatever character you want (female, male, non-binary, etc etc) and the gender pronouns in the game are flexible to that choice' and the 'but mah gamez and politics' crowd are flipping their shit.

To the extent that some are going 'PC CULTURE AREN'T ALLOWING DEVS TO MAKE THE STORIES THEY WANNA MAKE'

So seriously, it's: 'Do you guys have any remote fucking clue what V:tM even is?!'

That's fuckin awesome (make who you want) and even more awesome if there is a sort of...dont wanna say romance but mature element to it. Bloodlines 1 had strippers/sex in it. Vampire can be a very sexy game. I say "Hell yeah, bring on the options.

You're right, tho. These people don't really understand VtM. Even v5 introduced a progressive-political LGTBQ+ Gangrel and a female-led Tremere sect fighting against the clan's patriarchal boys club bullshit.

If they did it right and fair(with modern gaming quality), this video game could be a big hit.

@tnp Well, unfortunately not every game and every setting will offer every option desired. The point is that barring OCs isn't about social discrimination, it's about the intended focus on existing characters.

@Tinuviel said in Saving Pages to the Database:

@Ghost said in Saving Pages to the Database:

Fact is, theres a lot of willful ignorance to just how easy it would be for these games to spy on your pages/role play anyway.

I don't think it's ignorance, at least not from this crowd. It's more "but that's not how it's supposed to be done."

I meant it more like drinking soda or smoking cigarettes.

There are negatives, but the negatives get overlooked in lieu of the enjoyment they (cigarettes, etc) can bring.

You take it on faith that staff, who you may or may not know, aren't reading pages, invisible and watching you TS, or saving your conversations with personal info. You resign to I'll...raise hell on MSB if I find out, but ultimately it's about faith and ignoring the negative/risks for the benefit.

@BobGoblin said in POLL: Super Hero MU Gut Check:

IMO one of the flaws that takes place in this community is not enough planning and design go into the game itself, and too much throwing shit against a wall and hoping it sticks does

Kind of like the Cards Against Humanity card:

_________ was neither the MU we needed nor wanted

Every now and then we see a MU advertisement that is more of a probing for interest, which I think is a smart idea. I see a lot of games go into development, a lot of work goes into standing the MU up, and then the people who put a lot of hard work into this labour of love find out that for some reason (issues with staffing, setting, system, lack of interest, etc) the MU flops.

The way I see it, some of these issues can be mitigated in the development process prior to putting any money or wikispace down. However, with a poll, any yes votes are players who will more than likely give the game a stab when it comes out.

@Thenomain said in General Video Game Thread:

Me: Oh wow, Bloodlines 2 is up for preorder everywhere!
GOG: Available March 2020
Me: ... Nevermind.

There are a few things I will pre-order (CP2077 will be one of them to support everyone involved), but with a whole year of lead-time? Yahno.

After Anthem I've decided to reenact my "wait until I know more about what I'm buying policy."

But then again, knowing me, 4 months before Bloodlines 2 comes out I'll squeal like a kid about Masquerade+RPG+maybe nudity and throw money at it.

@tnp Then the answer seems pretty clear. If the game doesn't allow OCs as a means to focus on the characters in the comics, and you feel that the characters from that comic book production company doesn't properly include the social demographics of your choice, then I would suggest reaching out to DC requesting more representation.

Then, whichever characters may come out of that that meet your demographic preferences, they will be appable FCs.

@Taika I think there's a worthwhile conversation there about game cohesion.

In truth, WoD was designed to involve 1 ST at a table with x# players consisting of either PCs of ONE supernatural type or a small spread. (I.e. 4 vamps, one mortal)

LARP expanded it to focus on 1 or more STs at a venue with a larger number of players, usually all the same super type, and could interface with other separate chapters (note:separate) for coordination purposes. These chapters also followed a unified ruleset. These LARPs typically did not run multiple supertype venues all in unison, but with some coordination and occasional cross-over.

So with all of this in mind, what is a good answer for spreading out so many STs across so many players, with coordination, across so many spheres? I dont know, but my initial gut feeling is to treat the mush like a single sphere LARP with less sphere options but more ST oversight.

I appreciate everyone's constructive feedback. This is exactly the kind of discussion I'd hoped to see.

@Auspice said in General Video Game Thread:

@Ghost said in General Video Game Thread:

@Thenomain said in General Video Game Thread:

Me: Oh wow, Bloodlines 2 is up for preorder everywhere!
GOG: Available March 2020
Me: ... Nevermind.

There are a few things I will pre-order (CP2077 will be one of them to support everyone involved), but with a whole year of lead-time? Yahno.

After Anthem I've decided to reenact my "wait until I know more about what I'm buying policy."

But then again, knowing me, 4 months before Bloodlines 2 comes out I'll squeal like a kid about Masquerade+RPG+maybe nudity and throw money at it.

If you preorder the deluxe one you get a stop sign item.

$old! OMFG why didn't you say earlier that there would be a stop sign item????

Technically:

1. No one ever bothered RPing daytime scenes when playing vampire. The default setting for all scenes was night. That Miami has longer days means very little unless there was timecode detailing day vs night that vampires were expected to adhere to.

2. Werewolves aren't as tied to forests as they used to be (in WtA), but swamps apply.

If anyone in FC (who played Vamp) ever RPed indoors/outdoors based on coded time, please let me know, but I imagine like all WoD MUs, the concept of time is more a plot device than anything.

@Seamus said in The OOC Masquerade ?:

Back in the days of yore, it was something that we took very seriously. Staff was to code everything to keep the masquerade as secret as possible. But the trend toward openness has started -- we'll call it transparency. Is this something to even consider when starting a new project, or is it just something that is ok to break now-a-days. To some degree, I am in the camp of why bother with it anymore, but something, and I really don't know what, keeps me from just nuking it all together.

So what are the hive mind thoughts on this?

I may not be a part of the hive mind, but I can opine on this.

IMO, wikis and PBs have done more damage to mushing than good; doubly so wikis when it comes to WoD, as I think they've normalized some bad habits.

WIKIS: I think they're decent for coordination, listing of rules and policies, and character information for games without secretive masquerade-type elements. I think they're amazing for game logs. Having said that, I think they've also normalized some aspects metagaming and wiki-stalking. In terms of the masquerade, I think wikis have made it so that people can choose to avoid players based on what their wiki says ("His wiki says he's a cop, and my character is a crime boss, so even though his character is just hanging out during the scene, I'm going to leave it") or the opposite (The infamous quasi-OOC bang list).

PB: I won't proselytize on PBs all that much, other than to gripe that thanks to PBs, some people won't role play with frickin Milla Jovovich because of some bad experience from 2009, and apparently the same 100 faces exist in every game thanks to PBs. It's a writing hobby. Create faces and personalities. Dont just play ChrisPrattStarLordWerewolf, and for the love of god please stop dangling "hot/interesting PB" as bait to encourage role play. Far too many people draw to PCs by who their PB is, and I think it's garbage.

If I had my way, wikis would be for game logs and game information, but would nix character pages and PBs altogether. It's a writing hobby. Wanna see what a character is like? Write it. Wanna describe what a character looks like? Write it. Wanna know what clan Lucretia or Donovan are in? Get the fuck on the grid and find out.

@SunnyJ X Men works because on a philosophical level the two polarized factions make sense. The characters (mutants) come pre-packaged with a reason to care.

DC/Gotham could be a bit more difficult due to the different pockets of effort, with plenty of lone wolves, and various approaches to fighting and/or committing crime.

I just got my Kickstarter core box of the Nemesis Board Game. Hooooly shit.

Nemesis Kickstarter

(It's concluded, sorry to say, but will be retailing soon if not now)

Thia game is sexy as hell, I'm going to be getting a ton of stretch content for my Intruder pledge, and added on the Medic character.

This game is amazing and thoroughly recreates the genre feel of Aliens/The Thing/Event Horizon.

The last time I played, my character had a broken arm, was bleeding, and had an alien egg in her chest waiting to hatch. I had to crawl her through the decks and avoid the creatures to get to the surgery room. There, she had 2 rounds until she bled out or hatch the alien from her chest.

The surgery machine causes 1 point of damage (because WTF, like Prometheus, you're awake while the surgery machine takes it out of you), so I couldn't do it until I healed. I searched for a medkit, used it, and on my last turn alive used the surgery and took the alien out of her.

THEN I had 4 rounds to check if the engines were broken and get her ass to her cryo pod before the ship jumped (if the engines were broken, the ship would explode on jump) so that the sudden g-forces wouldn't liquefy her.

She ran. On the way she got attacked. She got a card that needs to be scanned to determine if she was infected again. On the last turn before jump she got to the cryo-bed, got in, and the ship jumped.

But did she live or did the alien hatch from her chest while she slept and it killed her?

The whole table was on pins and needles as I scanned the red plastic over her infection card and...

...clean.

IF YOU CAN, BUY THIS FUCKIN GAME

@faceless said in Visit Fallcoast, sponsored by the Fallcoast Chamber of Commerce:

@ghost said in Visit Fallcoast, sponsored by the Fallcoast Chamber of Commerce:

I can't say that if the change were in my hands that I wouldn't have gone with a new locale myself.

Beaver City, Nebraska by Night.

I've been there.

When you're 15 that city sounds like exactly where you want to go, but no no no no NoOoOoO it doesn't live up to its name.