Hello! There's quite a lot there in the title to unpack so I'll try and keep it relatively brief.

I'm a young person (23 and some change) who has just recently found their way into the MU* hobby. I'm sure it isn't a secret to anyone that the majority of players and the community are older than that. (Or at least it seems that way!) Generally it hardly ever comes up, though, except when it comes to things like memes or whatever, but there's still this strange feeling of /not quite/ fitting in in some spaces. Is it a matter of age? I see lots of mention of clique and the like around here, so I wonder if this might be a symptom of that as well.

And further on that, without going into my own personal RL identity, I largely play characters that fall somewhere in the LGBT+ spectrum, though generally in the L and T side of things, with a smattering of non-binary or ace sexuality in there as well. When I'm playing a trans or non-binary character, though, I can't help but wonder - am I having the same experience as what a cisgendered character might? Am I missing out on certain opportunities and roleplaying because of it? I'm not looking at this through the lens of victimhood or anything, mostly a curiosity, as I've only just stumbled on MU and I'm still acclimating myself to the kind of community it has.

Thank you all in advance and I'm sorry if this comes off as rambly or poorly focused!

Quick Edit: I'm not saying I've experienced any direct discrimination when playing a non-gender-conforming character -- some people have even expressed that they're happy to see them around -- but just wondering about how different the experience might be from otherwise.

Hello, I am the young blood in that quote! I don't really know if there's any universal way to get new people into here. The only reason I stumbled upon it is I was adjacent to someone in a WoD game I joined on Roll20 who also MUSHed, brought it up once, and I took it on myself to peek into it.

Obviously the first attempt didn't go so well -- I joined Fallcoast and just got sort of drowned in everything all at once, and it was pretty overwhelming, especially as someone who didn't even really know World of Darkness all that well. I sort of inched away until I didn't even open my MUSH client anymore. I decided recently, not even a month ago, really, to give it another shot. FC looks all but dead now, though, and it's hard finding something that really seems that enthralling for someone like me who's got pretty narrow interests setting-wise, but I'm giving City of Hope and this one Star Wars MU a shot to try and see if I stick with it this time around. There's a humongous barrier to entry, honestly. Beyond the archaic sorts of commands and clients, there's just /a lot/ that needs to be read into and learned the hard way, it feels like, unless you basically sit down and have an MU study session.

There's also the inherent expectation of like Wiki participation and set-up and dealing with that code too, on top of everything else, that sort of leaves things feeling incomplete if you just ignore it and try to keep things in-client. I can't remember if I saw it mentioned when I learned about Ares the other day, but the idea of a +profile (@profile, profile, etc) command that elaborates on the snippets included on +finger sorts of deals might be a good idea! I don't know if there's anywhere that does that already or if I've just been missing things, but that's just a note from a literally infant.

All of it might just sort of feel like, idk, standard from the perspective of people who have been doing this forever, but compared to things like Roll20 or other VTT and Discord, there's not a lot of output for the amount of input, unless you're directly interested in the sort of roleplaying and community that you can find in a MU.

TL;DR - I just got into it out of boredom and friends already being invested in the hobby

Edit 2: I've also been looking a lot at Ares, because I want to take up the Golden Rule of being the MU I want to see in the world. With 0 coding experience and half a brain.

Right! I'd never not RP with someone over something like age, it's just shocking to me how long some people have stuck with it. I guess I'm kind of hoping for the same sort of experience and passion!

@Vixanic Oh! I'm totally blind. Thank you! Time to catch up...!

Good golly. Some people have been at this longer than I've been alive

@Ghost All of that. Yes. YES. I want to be able to play awful black metal that sounds like it was recorded in a dumpster while I MUSH and have it be thematic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6wzijeiClA just extra inspiration because yes

Basically what it says there in the title! I remember when I first looked into MU* in 2016 (and promptly disappeared from it) there were a ton of big Star Wars MU* around. Legends of the Jedi, Generations of Darkness, Dawn of Defiance, and I recall at least a couple others that sprouted and were pretty decently big there the brief time I was around. Did people just suddenly stop liking Star Wars or are there more insidious forces at work here?

@Auspice I joined Fallcoast for maybe a week in 2016 at the request of the friend. (Didn't quite stick around, but ended up coming back 3 years later to give it another shot anyways.) And - despite what I've seen in the Hog Pit - most people here seem decent enough! I actually forgot I had an account here until I tried to sign up again last night and my email was taken.

@Coin Hey! I'm an adult. I chop my own vegetables and pay someone else to do my taxes.

I get what you're saying, though! This medium has been around for a long time and I guess most folks in it have had a long time to make themselves a part of it. Just that feeling of being the new kid trying to wiggle their way in.

The one thing that's made me feel any sort of directly unwelcome or pushed away is mostly just the overly-thirsty TS hounds on non-sex MUSH's that only seem interested in doing exactly that. The rest of it, I suppose, is just being self-conscious and anxious in a new space!

Going to chip in here, too! I've got some weird ones on my shelf.

BATTLELORDS OF THE 23RD CENTURY - Basically just reads like a weird WH40k ripoff, but I never looked to into it beyond buying it for the name alone.

Brave New World - an archetype-based superhero game in which JFK was transdimensionally assassinated by dinos in mechs and replaced with a shapeshifting reptoid. There's a lot of other weird AUness but that's the part that always stuck out to me the most.

Retail Magic - an ashcan production from the same guy who translated the MAID RPG, where you roleplay as store clerks selling magical items to adventuring parties.

And a recent buy from just the other day: TINGLEVERSE - Roleplaying in the Hugo Award Nominee Chuck Tingle' Mythos of bigfeet, unicorns, dinos, humans, and living objects. It is a trip.

Edit: Totally forgot to mention:

• Bath Salts - roleplaying as telemarketers in a cubicle just trying to survive the week
• MYFAROG - the ludicrously racist Nordic Fantasy RPG written by black metal famous vocalist and murderer Varg Vikernes. (that I bought years ago out of dreadful curiosity and it was worse than I ever imagined)
• Suzerain - a card-based RPG that I've never been able to figure out what it's about from a Google search and just don't have the energy to read, but it just all seems too incredibly abstract

To comment on something that's been brought up a few times so far, I suppose I should state my own personal stance on this sort of representation! There's no reason that someone can't play something they aren't. If that were the case, there likely would never have been a single book published that wasn't strictly non-fiction. However, like has also been brought up, some people play it as a caricature or fetishization of what they're wanting to play, and some even thinking of it as 'playing well' -- speaking with experience from other RP communities.

Something I've noticed as a trans person (emphasis to play off Rinel, also some more stuff based on other RP communities), is there's like three levels of interaction with the idea. There's the usual, where it's just never brought up, like in most RP, and it just another facet of a well-rounded character. There's the occasional exceptional roleplayer who is in the know and is down to incorporate such themes into personal roleplay as a means of personal growth or development - or at least the development of the relationship. And, finally, there's the TS hounds I've mentioned earlier, most of whom are straight/bi men who like to play with the idea of (forgive me for even using this phrase) 'traps not being gay'. Either in a romantic context, where constant reference is made to certain 'tells' of transness, or in others, where emphasis is placed on that blurring of orientation.

It's squick.

But I generally don't conceal it, and wear that sort of identity openly on my sleeve, so that it's easier to come to the notice of others! Foster a sense of community, etc. Solidarity and all that. Definitely outweighs the cons.

@Rinel said in MU*, Youth, and LGBT+ Identity:

The problem with this is that a lot of times people put out feelers about their IRL identity in games. The fact that I've always gravitated to RPing women, along with the facts that I don't participate in TS and don't get anything sexual out of roleplaying women, was one of the (many) puzzle pieces that led to me coming out to myself.

I also had a similar experience to this, when I first started playing tabletop games. A long, arduous process.

@Ghost said in MU*, Youth, and LGBT+ Identity:

As far as I'm concerned, RP whatever you please, and I support exploration into the perspective of different genders, specialities, religions, species, etc.

This! This is good. It's just a matter of research and being able to respectfully portray something that you aren't. Which is easier for some than others.

@Jennkryst @Auspice Age of Alliances does, in fact, have space trucking mechanics! Hyperspace speed mechanics that translate to real time between destinations on a pretty decently sized galactic grid. I think there's a bit of buy-in when it comes to getting into that system, though, but it seems like there's a healthy level of fluff to it!

(I haven't personally messed with it, but there's a huge number of people that do. I started play as a lowly Spacehand.)

@reversed said in New Face 4 New Games:

" But I was also born without whatever lobe of the human brain causes "ah, jeez, am I staying true to Previous-Player's vision?" anxiety.

That's basically what's keeping me away from playing Roster Characters. I get hella anxiety when it comes to things like managing other people's NPCs or playing roster characters that have been played before.

@Tyche Yup! I own a physical copy of it. It's a delightful read.

@Roz Arx is one I've been looking at a lot, it's just kind of incredibly intimidating to try and hop into, haha. Especially as someone who doesn't really want to play a roster character, but also is scared to try to add something that might be unwelcome to the lore.

@Auspice I'll sit down and give the movie a shot once I'm free from work! I've heard of Stargate a lot, but it never really made its way in front of me.

@Ganymede Suggested that this might be the place to put this up, so let me know if it might be suited in a different part of the board.

Basically, the short of it is that I'm relatively new to MU*. On, like, all levels. The only reference I have for it so far is sites like mudstats and MSB here as to what games are out there and the options they provide. A player count and gripe threads can only provide so much, though, and what I'm looking for here is basically references to games that might be worth joining into for a good first shot in the community and hobby.

All that I've played so far is City of Hope and Star Wars: Age of Alliances, so that's the only experience I've really got, and basically speak to my sorts of setting preferences. Space opera and small-scale urban fantasy or paranormal mundane. I'm totally open to anything, though, so long as the setting isn't something impenetrable or rooted in a huge property/IP that has to be read into to make a character fitting into it.

A little side-note, but something I've always had a bit of fun doing in the past with tabletop games in the like, is joining in with a joint concept! If anyone would want to do that with a relative stranger, I just think going into a new place with a defined relationship to another character is always a boon for sparking RP and easing into things.

Thanks to you all in advance!

Also a thought: advertising? Are any MU advertised outside of communities that are already heavy into MU*ing?

What primarily keeps me there, though, is just being able to write. I've been trying to piece together attempts at possibly running PRPs because I want to contribute to worlds that feel like they're sort of persistent and living around whatever I'm doing. Some moreso than others, but with the same conceit, without falling into the "Living Worlds" of communities like Roll20. I enjoy writing multiple descriptions, fluffing out different facets of a character who's playing a minor part in a sprawling tale of a city or an entire galaxy. There's a lot of scale there and that's definitely one of the draws for me. There's definitely some clunk, but it's worth working around, at least for me, in the pursuit of the kind of avenues it can take me.

I mean, that's just how it feels so far. Maybe I'll get disenchanted and lose the stars in my eyes after a little longer and some of the uglier parts start to rear their head.

@Ganymede said in Getting Young Blood Into MU*'ing:

@Joyeuse said in Getting Young Blood Into MU*'ing:

I decided recently, not even a month ago, really, to give it another shot. FC looks all but dead now, though, and it's hard finding something that really seems that enthralling for someone like me who's got pretty narrow interests setting-wise, but I'm giving City of Hope and this one Star Wars MU a shot to try and see if I stick with it this time around.

Without malice, I'm going to recommend that you not spend much time at City of Hope. If you're interested in World of Darkness games, you're best served asking folks around here the highs and lows of available games.

There aren't many any more, despite what you may want to hear.

Oh. There's that disenchantment lol. I've been trying to ignore threads about it, living on willful ignorance. I'll take that advice into mind, though, and poke around at what's there! (I've been looking at that one Ares game, Grey Harbor(?), and might just move onto that for the paranormal fix.)

(I've already sort of been looking for an alternative, but I've fallen into the trap of getting too attached to a character and being reluctant to leave them behind.)

Hello, I am the young blood in that quote! I don't really know if there's any universal way to get new people into here. The only reason I stumbled upon it is I was adjacent to someone in a WoD game I joined on Roll20 who also MUSHed, brought it up once, and I took it on myself to peek into it.

Obviously the first attempt didn't go so well -- I joined Fallcoast and just got sort of drowned in everything all at once, and it was pretty overwhelming, especially as someone who didn't even really know World of Darkness all that well. I sort of inched away until I didn't even open my MUSH client anymore. I decided recently, not even a month ago, really, to give it another shot. FC looks all but dead now, though, and it's hard finding something that really seems that enthralling for someone like me who's got pretty narrow interests setting-wise, but I'm giving City of Hope and this one Star Wars MU a shot to try and see if I stick with it this time around. There's a humongous barrier to entry, honestly. Beyond the archaic sorts of commands and clients, there's just /a lot/ that needs to be read into and learned the hard way, it feels like, unless you basically sit down and have an MU study session.

There's also the inherent expectation of like Wiki participation and set-up and dealing with that code too, on top of everything else, that sort of leaves things feeling incomplete if you just ignore it and try to keep things in-client. I can't remember if I saw it mentioned when I learned about Ares the other day, but the idea of a +profile (@profile, profile, etc) command that elaborates on the snippets included on +finger sorts of deals might be a good idea! I don't know if there's anywhere that does that already or if I've just been missing things, but that's just a note from a literally infant.

All of it might just sort of feel like, idk, standard from the perspective of people who have been doing this forever, but compared to things like Roll20 or other VTT and Discord, there's not a lot of output for the amount of input, unless you're directly interested in the sort of roleplaying and community that you can find in a MU.

TL;DR - I just got into it out of boredom and friends already being invested in the hobby

Edit 2: I've also been looking a lot at Ares, because I want to take up the Golden Rule of being the MU I want to see in the world. With 0 coding experience and half a brain.

@Ghost All of that. Yes. YES. I want to be able to play awful black metal that sounds like it was recorded in a dumpster while I MUSH and have it be thematic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6wzijeiClA just extra inspiration because yes