Best posts made by ixokai

@auspice said in What's missing in MUSHdom?:

@ixokai said in What's missing in MUSHdom?:

@auspice said in What's missing in MUSHdom?:

I like the idea of Evennia for D&D because some of its core structure is designed for building 'encounters.'

I really don't get where you're getting this from. I'm pretty familiar with Evennia's internals and don't get this at all.

The tutorial 'world' for Evennia has a whole set of rooms that are a puzzle, a combat AI, etc...

So I know it's doable. If it's there in just the base tutorial world, it's got to be able to be scaled 'up' for something like D&D.

There's nothing in that tutorial that Ares can't do, readily.

I'm tired of WoD, which I've mentioned to some people from time to time. I just can't play vampires or mages or changelings or werewolves anymore. Nothing against WoD, this is me in a personal space of: hey, I don't have any more stories here in me.

Demon: the Descent is my favorite book in the nWOD line by a long margin, and its unique take, with demons being not Abrahamic-religion sin based but technomystic spies? Man, this stuff is like gold to me.

I played it briefly on uhh, that game that supported it that I think @coin ran, but I got hit by RL, and when I got back, my original notes on what my cypher was were lost and this sorta killed interest.

I'm not especially interested in any other WoD games, and don't think other WoD games especially mix well with Demon, since 'telling the vampire what you are' has mechanical consequences: the Demon's Masquerade (Cover) is far more visceral then vampire's laws are.

All that said.

Would anyone be interested in a single-sphere Demon game? Well, Demon and mortal+ (both stigmatics and other mortals/mortal+'s who make sense).

@kanye-qwest said in A Game of Thrones MUX Discussion:

@ixokai said in A Game of Thrones MUX Discussion:

A lot of people ignorantly think that you have to defend copyright or you lose it. I don't actually believe any real lawyers are telling any authors that they must say no, though. Its just a sort of urban legend that floats around and people claim to be true.

I mean, I said that because I read an author blog about it, but I'm sure they were lying or ignorant and you are definitely in the know.

Then they have a really, really, really bad lawyer.

But yes, I'm about as well-versed in copyright law as one can be while not being a lawyer. Mostly because my day job has intellectual property lawyers who lecture us about it

@kanye-qwest said in A Game of Thrones MUX Discussion:

So if an author said "sure, I don't care, make whatever you want" and then happened to write something that was very similar to a fan work, that fan could not then turn around and sue the author for copyright infringement, right?

Well, there's a couple elements to this. First, the owner of a copyright has the right-- among other things-- to decide who and on what terms derivative works are made. There is very little in the way of limits on what these terms can be, and can include as @faraday says a restriction on suing the original author.

But the bigger thing is, you can't copyright ideas at all. Copyright covers a specific, fixed expression. Copyright doesn't stop people from making something similar, it stops people from copying -- or in the case of derivative works, making new works that include substantial portions of another work (ie, your characters and world and such). I find people sometimes confuse copyright's rules with plagiarism's rules, since plagiarism includes copying ideas without attribution as being a no no.

This isn't entirely clear cut because this is America and anyone can sue anyone for anything, and so I can completely understand why an author might want to come out against fan fiction (or mushes) out of not wanting to deal with court headaches. But to say that this is necessary to protect their rights is what I object to.

@kanye-qwest said in A Game of Thrones MUX Discussion:

@ixokai that's an about face, but a more reasonable position.

About face? I said:

@ixokai

A lot of people ignorantly think that you have to defend copyright or you lose it. I don't actually believe any real lawyers are telling any authors that they must say no, though.

No. Its not. You don't have to defend your copyright or you lose it. And I still don't think any real lawyers are telling authors that they must say no.

Have To and Must are really firm, absolute words.

Especially since with trademarks, you really do have to defend your marks or risk losing them. I have seen people not fully understand the three areas of IP law have very different rules, often.

@tnp said in A Game of Thrones MUX Discussion:

@ixokai said in A Game of Thrones MUX Discussion:

This isn't entirely clear cut because this is America and anyone can sue anyone for anything, and so I can completely understand why an author might want to come out against fan fiction (or mushes) out of not wanting to deal with court headaches. But to say that this is necessary to protect their rights is what I object to.

This is, in fact, exactly what happened to Mercedes Lackey. I don't know if she gave permission to use her world or just didn't say no but she was sued by a fanfic writer who claimed that Lackey stole ideas from her. Now she expressly forbids any fanfic or Mu* based on her work.

You say, "in fact", yet in fact is more nuanced. You can not sue someone for copyright infringement for ideas. Flat, stop. You can't. You can, with a much harder burden of proof, sue someone for plagiarism That's a more complicated case that has nothing at all to do with copyright..

I'd be interested in Ancient Greek RP as long as it wasn't too literally Ancient Greece. Like, if it had the style but not worrying about historical accuracy too much.

@faraday said in How did you discover your last three MU* ?:

Let's pretend you had some writer and/or gamer friends. Would you really feel comfortable inviting them to play MUSHes? Would you be confident that other players would treat them well and actually help them learn to play? Do you think they'd actually have fun?

As someone who has done exactly that, I can answer yes to every one of those questions with ease.

@faraday said in How did you discover your last three MU* ?:

@ixokai said in How did you discover your last three MU* ?:

@faraday said in How did you discover your last three MU* ?:

Let's pretend you had some writer and/or gamer friends. Would you really feel comfortable inviting them to play MUSHes? Would you be confident that other players would treat them well and actually help them learn to play? Do you think they'd actually have fun?

As someone who has done exactly that, I can answer yes to every one of those questions with ease.

That's great. I'm genuinely glad it worked out. For me personally - I would only be comfortable inviting a new player to someplace I ran or played on, or where I had friends who could serve as mentors. I think the barrier is just too high if you have someone brand new to MUSHing and you just dump them onto some random MU with no support.

What's this 'no support thing'? I find people on the games I play are incredibly supportive of new players. I find that when I invite someone to a game, I support them.

I could not have spent $25 faster.

@thenomain said in Changeling the Lost: 2nd Edition:

Here's another example: In Buffy (and later Angel), Angel is a mean-ass vampire who regains his soul and becomes all mopey and remorseful. Spike is a mean-ass vampire who regains his soul and then shrugs about it gets on with life.

I don't know why I'm doing this, but -- Spike getting his soul back made him batfucking crazy and deeply susceptible to the First Evil's manipulations. It tormented and haunted him.

Spike getting chipped which is what he was for most of his 'quasi-good-guy' phase was Spike being tormented by not being able to hurt people until he learned he could hurt demons, so then yes, went on with his life hurting the hell out of demons.

Things are a little weirder in Angel because it started out with Spike being kinda a ghost but this was only after him playing a pivotal role in a redemption arc which let him deal with the whole soul thing.

This nerd nitpick is coming to you courtesy of Ixokai, who should really make @Sunny a buffy game.

I suspect people may disagree with me on many points, but, I think LAMUSH handled feeding right.

(I realize we went to bad places later on in our coding of systems, the influence monstrosity I ultimately made was bad, even though it had good intentions-- but don't judge "game over coded" as being meaningful to all systems in a game)

On LA, every "grid square" had a certain blood value, and depending on the square, there was a different difficulty and amount of blood based on how you fed. This meant those who were good at seduction feeding did well in some squares, but not as well in others; and those who mugged / violence fed did well in some, and not as well in others.

The abstraction wasn't perfect. Yet, it created real value for the vampires. It reinforced their theme/playstyles/feedingstyles, and created real value for masters/elders/coteries in seeking to control certain places. We could have done better with it, but LA had a real solid foundation that engaged one of the essential details of "what it means to be a vampire" into the characters lives.

Nowadays, on most games, "feeding" (not just vampire: Geist, Mage, Werewolf, All of it) tends to just slowly regen, and really taking value in land/territory and having this matter to your life doesn't seem to happen as often. I'm not saying it never happens, but I think games lose authenticity when they forget about feeding their power and the importance of it.

@Cobaltasaurus said:

If you used GMC and the GMC supernatural merits for psychics, I would play. I might even play if you used GMC tweaked hunter, though I think some hunter powers are ridic ar least vs the supernat merits in GMC.

I'm still thinking about psychics. I think they need some tweaks to fit in, a bit of a boost really, but the GMC Psychic merits would be a start.

Hunter would get a big overhaul of course. Their latest book (I can't remember its name now) included some notes to detail its hunter / GMC crossover issues. Also, those Hunter groups which are purely antagonistic to anything not purely human would be npc only. My idea for a game is with psychics and witches a gray area, not something you just kill, so some compacts/conspiracies are just not suitable.

I'm totally only interested in a GMC game, no matter how much work it takes to tweak, but there's questions on what that means because obviously outside of the basic merits Onyx Path are focused on converting the major splats.

The key detail for me is, its a game about humans. Everyone fundamentally who is a PC, is a human. Human in the World of Darkness, a world which is vaster and stranger then we think of in terms of WOD, because the whole story isn't told by these monolithic histories of five races.

Its not a story about vampires, werweolves, mages, oh my; but about humans surviving and challenging against hauntings and possessions and rakshasa and vampyr and skinwalkers and wendigo and .. and and and and.

@Lithium said in Something similar to WoD, but not quite:

@Sunny Every buffy game I've seen has devolved to horribleness just the way Anita Blake games do.

I've had a lot of fun over the years on Buffy games. Mystick Krewe had a bit of crazy, but nothing like the sorta crazy that WOD tends to get to. Devilshire was a lot of fun for awhile. Yes, every MUSH devolves into horribleness eventually, but that's just a part of the cycle of life.

If I can get off my ass and build a grid (augh I hate building), I'd open my Buffy game like yesterday. I build like a room a week. >.>

@Sunny said in Coming Soon: Arx, After the Reckoning:

Bah. Just because I throw a fit doesn't mean I won't actually play on these other things.

You're sensible and work through these things. Some people aren't.

This game sounds pretty much awesome and I will try it, though heavily coded isn't generally my cup of tea.

Generally speaking, heavily coded isn't, BUT, they seem to be wanting to take cues from MUSHes that the coding isn't for RP things but instead stuff like crafting and direct combat, which I'm more okay with.

@Wretched said in Cultural differences between MUDs and MUSHes:

@ixokai said in Cultural differences between MUDs and MUSHes:

Powerposing is NEVER OKAY. Never. Under any circumstances.

Let me change that to 'Powerposing /without permission/ is not okay.' Sometimes in a scene I will ask 'hey, can I powerpose for a sec here' usually with a hint of what I want to do, or I am simply in a scene with someone I know well and I know where the boundaries are. Sometimes a bit of a powerpose will smooth things along rather than going back and forth 4 more times, and save another half hour of RP, so you can move things along.

That's, IMHO, by definition, not powerposing. You've got permission. The essential component of powerposing is you are removing the ability of another player to decide their character's actions and reactions.

By asking permission out of band, you are not removing their ability to decide. You've simply used a different channel to make sure they have made the decision of their character's response.

@Kestrel said in Cultural differences between MUDs and MUSHes:

@ixokai said in Cultural differences between MUDs and MUSHes:

Why is being polite and showing respect asinine? Especially since the denial is so incredibly rare as to being extremely exceptional?

It's pretty asinine, from an outsider's perspective, because it's totally unnecessary by the admission of everyone on this thread who's explained why it's necessary.

I responded and I didn't admit, in any way shape or form, that it was unnecessary. I said it was a courtesy, not a rule. Courtesy is how life among different people is kept oiled and moving smoothly

I think the idea that you would ask someone if you can join a scene just to be able to determine that they're an arsehole on the off chance they say 'no' is pretty weird. That seems like a person is begging to get offended.

Nothing you're saying makes sense to me. I didn't say anything like asking to join is done to determine that someone's an asshole. I also didn't say that a no response indicated an asshole, or was offensive.

It's a social construct that makes no sense. It's inefficient. It's a waste of time.

It makes perfect sense. Its called being polite and respectful of the fact that there are costs to one's actions and one's presence in a scene in addition to the value you add.

Maybe there's a better way of doing things. Just a thought.

Like what?

@Kestrel said in Cultural differences between MUDs and MUSHes:

Others in this thread are making it clear that asking is some kind of weird social dance to determine whether or not the other person is an arsehole. ( @ixokai, I was referring to this post, namely.)

Be careful with giving too much credit to one person's response. I don't in any way agree with him and I know a lot of people who don't, either. If you're going to ask, respect a no, otherwise, why are you asking? If you're trying to litmus test for dickness like that, then all you're doing is proving you, yourself, are a dick.

This scenario just happened a moment ago and was relevant (lol, I wonder how many of you are in the scene or on the game and having this conversation simultaneously):

A pages B, C, D, E, and F: Room for another? Wanted to check before just joining!

<OOC> E is okay with it.
<OOC> C says, "I'm fine with it as well."
<OOC> B is having a hard enough time keeping up with you four "But I am willing to pose out and A to come in since I think E has accomplished what he wants with me in this scene.
<OOC> E says, "That's okay. If it's too big for you, we can just say so."
<OOC> C says, "Well I was actually hoping for a nap, so I can pose out next round and she can take my place instead."
<OOC> E says, "Up to you, C. Can always ask her for a raincheck."
<OOC> D says, "I can handle one more but after that I'll have to flee"
<OOC> C says, "Eh, sleep seems real nice right about now, so I'll pose out next round and she can take my place."

You(D) paged A, B, C, E, and F with 'Sure, come along over.'

A arrives from the Apple Orchard.
A has arrived.

G pages F, C, E, D, and B: Hi, room for two more at the Village Centre?

<OOC> D laughs
<OOC> E says, "Now that's too big for me as well."
<OOC> C says, "Heyo, A! I'll be posing out this round, so you'll be taking my spot."
<OOC> A thumbs up.

You(D) paged G, F, C, E, D, and B with 'We you but half of us would have to bail then because the scene's just about its limit for our available attention right now.'
G pages F, C, E, D, and B: No worries.

Did A or G have to page? No. But had they not, three people would have joined the scene, and multiple people would have left. The end result would be a different scene. Is that good or bad? What if A or G wanted to RP with someone who was going to leave due to overcrowding and attention-limits? Or, what if the existing scene just basically ends as a result of the people coming in, at which point A, G and the remainders are basically starting a new scene? At that point, is there really any value for anyone's fun if that new scene just gets started in another place? Does place really matter?

(And should B, C, D, E and F decided to take their scene private? Then A and G wouldn't be able to join them either. Is that a better outcome?)

@Kanye-Qwest said in Cultural differences between MUDs and MUSHes:

@Arkandel

If they'd all just shown up in a public space to rp, maybe they would!

Honestly, I don't even know what points are left to make here. Some people seem to think politeness demands you ask permission OOC before even posing into an open, public room (which I am vehemently opposed to).

You're putting a whole lot of hard weight behind what people have repeatedly said is a courtesy, or politeness. It doesn't "demand you ask permission". It suggests that its polite to take other people's involvement into account. But, in essence, yes. Sorry you're opposed to it. Don't know what to tell you.

Some people seem to think you should ask permission OOC before butting in to someone's /scene/ specifically. As in, not to pose in to the bar but to pose sitting down at your table and joining - which is common sense, but could also be done IC.

I have literally no idea where you're getting this.

@Thenomain said in Cultural differences between MUDs and MUSHes:

@Arkandel

What, you can't sit at a table and have your own scene? Do people not use "places" code anymore?

No. I hate places. I have always hated places. I want nothing to do with places. And on games that do pervasive logging, places is a nuisance.