Best posts made by GirlCalledBlu

Hi everyone--

I just wanted to let you all know that we have removed the offensive, racist video linked to that character's profile and mailed them directly about it. To the other notes about the theme and our choices, @Seraphim73 and I are working on a response because there are things here that should be addressed.

If something does come up like this again (the video), please drop us a note on the game or here. We will handle it swiftly. As noted in our policies, this game is not here to give someone the place to play out their hate fantasies.

As I know some folks are currently not logging into games much these days, I wanted to share this post here, too:

Hello lovelies,

We wanted to put up some words of appreciation, encouragement, and reassurances. It has been a bit of a mixed-up world lately, and we are right there with you when it comes to waxing and waning inspiration and creativity. We wanted to reassure you that we do not have any expectations for players right now, and want to make sure that this game is here to have fun without too much obligations or requirements.

It can be hard some days to log in, and even harder to feel like there's anything more to do than check in, talk to some folks socially, and then get some rest. We want to make sure that TSS is here for Happy Fun Times and not to feel like "one more obligation." We are going to focus on one-off adventures, some fun artifact hijinks, and other less-demanding plots to minimize the feel of "work" that sometimes games can feel like. The metaplot in Austria and Czechoslovakia will keep plugging along, but we're relaxing on timelines. Czechoslovakia is all about a "danger adjacent" instead of "always at risk" the way Spain was. Have fun with any kind of RP you need right now!

We've decided not to run the idle sweep until the end of May.

We are always so thankful to have you all here. If you need anything from us, let us know! We're always here to help you find fun and an escape.

--L/R (Blu/Serephim)

Want to add just the audio of a YouTube video (without the video!) for a character playlist, soundtrack for a log, or general ambiance?

Here's a step-by-step of how to add this code to a wikidot wiki (sorry, MediaWiki folks, but I'm sure this code can also be adapted for that codebase!).

1. Create a page that will be where you store the raw source code (here's mine: http://ablusandbox.wikidot.com/musicplayer)
2. On this page, copy and paste the code provided:

[[html]]
<style type="text/css">.playerbutton{cursor:pointer;border:none;background:transparent;outline:none;display:inline;vertical-align:top;}.gaf210codes_youtubebox,.preload_box{width:1px;height:1px;overflow:hidden;visibility:hidden;position:absolute;display:inline}</style>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.youtube.com/player_api"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">function toggleButtonPlayer_aduVt(buttonobj){buttonobj.style.display="none";if(buttonobj.id=="gaf210codes-aduVt-playbutton"){document.getElementById("gaf210codes-aduVt-pausebutton").style.display="inline";}else{document.getElementById("gaf210codes-aduVt-playbutton").style.display="inline";}}/</script>
<div class="gaf210codes_youtubebox"><iframe width="250" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/{$youtubecode}?enablejsapi=1&amp;fs=0&amp;rel=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;controls=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;loop=0" onload="gaf210codes_aduVt=new YT.Player(this)"></iframe></div>
<button type="button" class="playerbutton" id="gaf210codes-aduVt-playbutton" onclick="gaf210codes_aduVt.playVideo();toggleButtonPlayer_aduVt(this)"><img src="http://i62.tinypic.com/axnot0.jpg"></button><button type="button" class="playerbutton" id="gaf210codes-aduVt-pausebutton" onclick="gaf210codes_aduVt.pauseVideo();toggleButtonPlayer_aduVt(this)" style="display:none"><img src="http://i57.tinypic.com/2mqugw2.jpg"></button><div class="preload_box"><img src="http://i62.tinypic.com/axnot0.jpg"><img src="http://i57.tinypic.com/2mqugw2.jpg"></div>
[[/html]]

3. Using the Wikidot "Include" code, you can now attach audio-only music to pages. It will create a mini play/pause button.

[[include musicplayer
|youtubecode=!!This is the alphanumeric code attached to the YouTube video. The best way to find this code is to click 'Share' on the YouTube video's page, and copy and paste the code at the end of the shortlink.!!
]]

Here's an example of the final product: http://ablusandbox.wikidot.com/musicplayerexample

There are ways to change the button graphics, and if anyone wants information on how to do that, I can show you how. Some wiki style guides may be better suited for different color buttons.

Enjoy!

Alright. The situation has been handled on TSS. Thanks for the information!

Thanks for all the help everyone!

I'm now happily using Atlantis. I even like the sidebar with the activity stuff now.

Haha.

@Ghost

I am listening, thank you. But I felt the need to correct you because your evidence was faulty. Nastily saying that our characters had influential political marriages is false, and I have no idea how to approach being accused of using Staff NPCs to funnel plots to characters like it is a bad thing.

Has Grey been in a lot of scenes? Yeah, and I think he acknowledged that. But, is he the central character? Uh, no. Quantity of participation does not equate absolute influence (edited to include the word absolute). Characters who have made significant impact on the direction of the story so far by their actions through RP and requests and their interactions with Staff NPCs:

Cameron
Morgan
Cookie
Cole
Fiona
Faolan
Quinn
Devin
Ruth
Grey

Characters who are impacting the story through their interpersonal relationships with other characters who are not already in the list above:

Cassandra
Thomas
Max
Niner
Asher
Silas
Martin
Frankie
Silver
Evie

I'm sure there are others, and I hope they realize that me forgetting of them is not a slight.

I'm a storytelling-based Staffer. I don't seek to create games just to give people sandboxes to play in. I'm there to tell a story -- so yes, The Husband has been in a lot of scenes The Wife is running, but I am in charge of this story arc, so I'm running a lot of scenes and naturally he's going to be participating in the story -- and why shouldn't he? If he wasn't a staffer, he'd still be in those scenes. If he wasn't a staffer, he'd still be throwing himself out for RP. If he's not running the scene, why does it matter that he's there to participate, and participate at the same level as other PCs?

The thing that bothers me about the ire here is that there's some misplaced assumption that Staffers are not allowed to participate in the games they run. Most Staffers become Staff because they play the game, and play it well, and are recognized. Doesn't mean they suddenly stop playing their characters when they become Staff. And most people who create MUSHes tend to want to play in the game they create, otherwise why create it?

There are plenty of games out there that are run by a private group of people who don't invite others in because they want to play their little games without having to deal with anonymous issues. Obviously that's not why I created this game with Draco and @Seraphim73, because if that was my intention, I'm pretty sure I'd just go RP in a Google Doc with some close knit friends and play out my The 100 fantasy stories there.

Being Staff is hard, and not always fun, and definitely makes you the focus of ire if you mess anything up, but I like telling stories with people. I told stories with you, @Ghost, on 5W and you sure didn't seem to mind it when your character was given special scenes with NPCs or particular highlights. So, whatever chapped your ass in 5W is a total mystery to me based on the stories you participated in and were invited to participate in.

I do what I can, and I think I do it pretty well in the long run. Do I probably fuck it up sometimes? Well, gosh darn, I sure do, but I also think that I try to be pretty damn transparent when I do fuck it all up.

But, I'm here to tell stories about and with my characters too, just like everyone else who comes to the game. And I make it my weekly goal to find at least one character to throw a story hook to -- sometimes big, sometimes small. If @Seraphim73 is a bad player because he participates in RP and joins in on scenes, and generally tries to engage in the story, well then shoot my ovaries, bummer for him. But he's not doing anything any other active player isn't doing on that game -- which is show up and RP.

So if the game doesn't fit you, or you had a bad experience on 5W (which I'm pretty smart enough to know that some people did, because never has there been a game that makes everyone crow), that's fine. And if people are really upset that PCs whose players are Staffers participate in story, I think that they definitely are never going to like playing on a game where I Staff, and probably would be happier somewhere else where Staff either flat out lie which characters are theirs to hide their participation (sometimes for good, sometimes for ill) or just always play NPCs.

Just to nail it home: Yup. Staffers have PCs on The 100, and yeah, they RP with others and participate in story, and aren't just background characters. If that's a problem, then I have no idea why anyone would want to be Staff to begin with. I'd give up being a Staffer before I gave up being a Player.

And just to make @Admiral happy: Come play The 100 MUSH. Frankie almost has her moonshine still in full operation, so underage drinking is incoming!

@faraday has been a good friend since BSGU, and I have loved watching Ares grow into what is the most inclusive platform I've ever worked with (both as a player and admin). She's incredibly helpful, a good-hearted person, and has a very down-to-earth approach to everything. There is no way that we could have been so active in this community without both Ares and FS3.

Always grateful for you, Fara!

Alright, so I'm just putting this out there: if there is something going on, on The 100 MUSH that is impacting your ability to have fun there, I invite you to send me a PM on this forum. You can then tell me the situation in detail, provide examples/names, and then I can actually get a better grasp on what is going on beyond "too antagonistic." My perspective may be skewed, and I acknowledge that.

I feel like there is something I have missed beyond "there was just too much PC vs PC tension for me" because it sounds a lot deeper than that. Rather than letting it just go on ignored, I would much rather have people get out all their complaints so I can try to do something about it. And yes, I know, people have said things here, and yes, I will go back and reread everything, but I feel like there's some "I don't want to name names, but..." and that can be hard for me to parse.

I know some of you have moved on and left the game, so you might be giving me info that is "outdated," or maybe you've been following the game via the WIKI and have noticed trends.

Thanks in advance to those willing to do so.

He is most certainly on TSS.

@krmbm and @bear_necessities -- could you two maybe PM me about what happened with him on GH? I'd like to probably take some precautions as we have had reports about him, and have been trying to navigate what is the line between "innocent behavior being perceived badly" and actual concerning behavior.

Based on this post, I believe we might be dealing with someone who should be politely shown out before escalation.

@Ghost said in The 100: The Mush:

Hindsight20/20 leading off with that would have been more constructive and made me look less like a trolly cunt.

Here's my problem with what you said here, @Ghost...

Not once in this entire thing did you ever present your arguments in a way that was constructive. You've been VERY clear your job here is to basically point out all our flaws as some huge PSA to the community. And then, when we opened a private game, you decided to point an ugly finger our way as if we were doing something so outrageously heinous, that it would result in the END OF ALL THINGS.

This was never about wanting to help us as Staffers "change." And, to be honest, I have yet to fully unpack why you have decided we are the WORST STAFFERS OF ALL TIME, OMG -- which is exactly how you have presented us (until now).

TFW was an original theme, and we had developed a lot of it before it opened. It was not a blank canvas for people to paint their own vision on. When there were blank spots, we totally tapped players who would have a horse in that race to help fill those blanks. Demanding player input on everything was not feasible for that game's theme, because we had so much of it already developed when we opened. So, if that is truly what is bothering you, is that we did not ask you for input, then I have no idea how to tackle that. It has been over 2 years since the game closed, so I honestly cannot remember if you ever came to us and offered possible additions to theme.

But as you have said, you seriously need to change your approach, because I personally found nothing you said constructive, and everything you said a direct insult to us as players and staffers. And I cannot tell you how many times I asked people who know you, played with you, or had any general interaction with you what exactly we did that resulted in you thinking we took a massive dump in your oatmeal.

You keep bringing up that we pigeonhole games to be about our PCs... but, honestly, I can't even think of one instance where TFW was 100% centered around Ellinor, Devon, Letha, or Lionel. Or where it was about Nikomachos, Victor, Jeremy, or Drake. In fact, we tended to treat our PCs like total shit as Staffers (i.e. Nikomachos's dad being discredited, thrown under the bus, and his family being painted as unreliable Knights). Now, I'm gonna say that my goal with a character is always to tell their story with them at the center, but I tell that story from my CHARACTER bit, and not from my STAFF bit. So, yeah... my character's aren't flat people who are just there along for the ride or to be the supporting cast. If you got some examples to throw out where we turned our characters into the Biggest Damn Heroes on the MUSH, please let me know. Maybe your perception of what happened is far different than mine. You can either do it here in a public forum, or you can PM me, but honestly... I'm tired of this bullshit.

So if you truly want to help us BE BETTER PEOPLE (since we apparently are the worst), then be as constructive as you think you should be.

@L-B-Heuschkel said in A bit of trouble on Firefly:

And third, we're it. This board has proved highly effective in dealing with this dude, as has the Discord groups that many of us are in. We talk. When it's bad enough, we act. And if there's anything to be learned from this mess, it's that we're actually pretty good at connecting dots and dealing with things. We can pat ourselves on the back for that. No one started up the old chestnuts about manning up or dealing with it or keep this private. We've proved that yes, we can in fact band together when necessary. And that makes me a happy musher.

This came up in the PMs I had with this player who continued to proclaim that he hadn't violated any TSS policies. He was already on our watchlist after what happened with Kestrel, and after he was paging me borderline creepy pages about my poly character -- @Kestrel and I were talking about "gut feelings" earlier today, and I didn't trust my gut with my own interactions with the player.

So, this thread helped me narrow in on what was making me uncomfortable, and why his interactions so far on the game had set me on edge. In my conversation with this player before he was asked to depart TSS, I was very pointed with him that the MU* community is just that... a community. If the community takes issues with how you're acting, then maybe you should... change it?

@arkandel said in Wheel of Time MU*:

But @seraphim73 probably remembers the WoT MUD we were on

Totally random aside, but I got to admit, it's super cute when people reminisce about A Moment in Tyme. @Seraphim73 told me he's reading all his old logs (which I might make him show me so I can go: omg, did we all really RP like that?!). So adorbs. ANYWAY.

Honestly, I'd be curious to see how a WoT game might work just using a traits system and pocket dice. I mean... I might be high off an exhausting week and it's Friday, so CALL ME CRAZY, but I'd check it out.

A year ago...

An archeologist is bound to a post, standing on the rocky ground of a Mediterranean island, where he must now watch helplessly as officers of the Drachenordnung gather around an artifact of great power. It is beautiful golden chest crowned with twin sphinxes, wings arched back in a graceful display; the sand dusting its surface does nothing to tarnish its radiance. But he knows that there is death inside.

Greedily, a D.O. officer orders that the chest be opened, unaware of what lurks beneath that lid.

The archeologist has almost no time to turn to his companion, shouting, "Close your eyes!"

Then the lid opens—

AND NOW, THE NEXT GREAT ADVENTURE... — Starting June 6th

The Drachenordnung have been upsetting ancient tombs and cities throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, seeking artifacts of power that may bolster its continued expansion throughout Europe. To upset their efforts, the Sky Guard arrives off the coast of Heraklion, Crete, placing them in the heart of this history-rich region.

But old enemies return using abhorrent magic to raise the dead and aid in their pursuit of an ancient mystery that may lead to a long lost city.

The Sky Guard must not only battle the forces of the D.O. and their ever-expanding influence, but also race them through boobytrapped tombs, solve ancient puzzles, and save history itself from being used to further the fascist cause.

So weigh your options, because now is the perfect time to fly The Savage Skies.

@Deviante Let us know if we can help!

... that is if the game felt overwhelming.

If it's life, right there with you. #ughadulting

And for my last trick of the night...!

Google Fonts are fabulous for font choices, and since they are web-based, they can easily be added to a wiki theme, and then used throughout the wiki to break away from the standard Serif or Sans-Serif fonts (hello, Verdana, my old friend).

First, go hog-wild on the Google Font database, and choose a font: https://fonts.google.com/

Let's go wacky, and decide to use Bungee Outline (which is a fun font, but not one I would personally use for headers).

Before you can use the font in your theme, you need to import it using @import.

Open the raw code for your theme (in Wikidot, you find this under 'Themes' in the Appearance & Behavior section, and then in the 'Custom' themes).

You might already have some features imported, either by choice or because of the theme base you are using. Regardless, you will place this import at the top of your code using this code snippet:

@import 'https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Bungee+Outline';

This will add the font into your theme. Now, you can use the 'font-family' code to use this font anywhere in your theme. For example, let's say we're going to use Bungee Outline for our H1 (Header 1) font:

h1{
    font-family: 'Bungee Outline,' cursive;
    font-size: 175%;
    font-weight: normal;
    text-decoration: none;
}

I always add another font variable because there's a chance some people have disabled web-based fonts. If they have, the header will default to 'cursive.'

@Ominous and @ixokai (missed your response before I clicked submit)

An extremely fair observation/complaint we've gotten. We are slowing things down in response (edit: and providing more downtime for less fly-by-your-pants RP). While the first season of the show takes place over 21 days, doesn't mean we have to try to cram everything we possibly can in, in the same amount of time.

Hopefully that will help.

Every time he calls Faraday, "Lynn," it creeps me out.

I'm not going to put up a post that asks people to stop being IC assholes. I believe it is not my place as a Staffer to make people change their characters unless they are directly going against theme.

BUT...

I have zero tolerance for OOC assholes, manipulators, aggressors, threateners, harassers and any other OOC bullies you can think of.

So, while I'm certainly not going to put up a post asking people to stop being IC assholes, I'll certainly put up a post asking people to let us know when someone is an OOC asshole.

Unless we've already got an OOC problem player on that we have already talked to and warned about their behavior, we do not snoop, set people suspect, or spy on OOC conversations (or IC ones for that matter). If there is OOC conflict happening and we aren't seeing it or it isn't being brought to our attention, we have no idea it is going on. We want/need people to bring these issues to our attention if they are happening, because I can't imagine a Staff who would just be cool with people being OOC jerks to one another.

Here's my deal: I don't feel comfortable as a Staffer to demand that a player change their character's personality for any reason. That's not my job, nor my place. I can't imagine how I would feel if a Staffer paged me and went: So, you're character is really too cheerful, and people really are finding your cheer grating when they RP with you. Could you be less cheerful? (Yes, I used a different emotion on purpose).

I personally would feel awful, and question whether I wanted to stay on the game because Staff felt it was their job to demand I change/tone down my character's motivations/personality (particularly after they approved my character knowing she was particularly cheerful).

The only time I feel that Staff is in the right having that conversation is concerning Features, where personality and character traits should be captured properly. Otherwise, the best Staff can do is offer situations/hooks that might motivate my character to be less cheerful (like, I don't know... watching her best friend die).

But, as I said before that, I have major issues with OOC aggression and antagonism because that's what drives off players/kills a game faster than IC jerks and assholes.

While I was writing this post up, a friend of mine challenged me to think about how I define clique, and I have been using the term kind of loosely for "any group who plays primarily with each other." But, she pointed out that, that is probably not how it is being used in this particular thread.

So, for the purpose of this discussion:

Clique = exclusive group that does not include others in plot-based RP, keeping plot hooks to their "group" and generally trying to dominate the plot.

Playgroup = group of people who play together based on availability, interests, and general "Hey, I like RPing with you," but not exclusive as defined as a clique.

While I prefer that characters don't splinter off into their own mini-groups/tribes that separate them from the IC Locations, I understand that this may happen (i.e. a small group deciding to go off and create their own mini-camp outside the main delinquent camp). If that does happen, Staff will have to work to bring those splinter groups into the main story arc.

Because splinter groups promote exclusive cliquishness, I would prefer that the RP remain centralized. It is easier for playgroups to interact if they are all in the same IC location and forced to work together. But, I understand that splinters might happen, and I'll do my best to make sure there's some support system in place for those groups.

As I have been sitting here, ruminating on this, I think my best response now is to just be more deliberate on how story is being disseminated to the player base. Proactive players tend to end up as frequent participants in plots, but that does end up punishing players who have limited schedules, struggling to find opportunities, or just feeling like they end up missing the hook entirely.

As lame as this might be to some, thanks to those who have been open to me contacting them privately or them contacting me privately to help me see exactly what people are talking about concerning the cliquishness. Since my personal definition of "clique" wasn't meshing with what was being discussed here, I wasn't really able to see what people were talking about.

I do now, so thanks. I'm sorry to those who felt I was being irritatingly obtuse.

Perceptions are important.

People are presenting their perceptions of events, and -- while I do not agree with how they think something happened -- I respect that their perceptions are important and count, just as I hope they respect my perceptions.

Not once have I felt that I was abusing players, my role as a Staffer, or the way in which we ran games. Obviously that is not how some of you feel. So, best I can do is apologize for any point in my Staffing career where my actions were perceived that way. I appreciate those who have given constructive feedback.

Because I feel my perception of the whole Gideon/Grounders thing should be noted. Running the idea of two PCs being the Grounders captured and introduced to the 100 was suggested to me by a friend of mine that I have Staffed with in the past. They suggested that I ask a variety of players about how to introduce Grounders, because of the very reasons people bring up about the "echo chamber." And frankly, I asked @Miss-Demeanor because I had asked a couple other players, they gave me some feedback, and one of those players suggested I ask her because they believed she would provide me with some good feedback. She was presented as a person who would be a good one to ask, so I asked.

That's really all my intentions were, and if they were perceived as poorly, then I apologize for that.

At this point, I feel like there's really not much else I can say. I feel that some perceptions here are incorrect, and the accusations accompanying them are something I am thinking about more.

I adore being part of this community, but the impression I am getting here is that I am not a good Staffer, so there's that. I'm not going to turn into that person that people don't RP with or interact with because I made poor decisions, or thought I was doing a good job and I wasn't.

Thanks again for the feedback.