Posts made by Kanye Qwest

*nip in the bud.

It's flower talk, not butt play.

@Ganymede Yeah, as staff you have the authority to make bad, self-serving decisions all the time. That's not at all restricted to something you can do in a scene you are running.

@surreality You do you! But this was put up for feedback, and mine is that the excruciatingly detailed condemnations and explanations of all those behaviors comes off, to me, like a bitch session. If you don't think so, or don't mind, your reasons are good enough.

@Miss-Demeanor

I'm not talking about the outlined behaviors scaring people away. I'm talking about the general tone of "ugh we have seen all of this and we are so over it". It comes off like venting, which is not a terribly welcoming tone. It's not about my (or anyone's) inability to handle the matoor thems of WoD.

And yeah, I agreed all that behavior is unacceptable. So when people do the unacceptable thing, can't you just tell them "that's unacceptable" and either boot them out the door or let that be their warning?

I agree that those are all problem behaviors, but spelling them out in such grisly detail would probably inspire some people, or worse: scare off people on the fence about giving this type of game a try.

That may not matter, I get that with WoD or any tt based game you might not be catering to new players, in which case, that's fine. It feels a little bit like venting, though.

My real ? is this: aren't staffers usually chosen from players who have risen to/performed well in leadership positions? The one time I was elevated to staff, that's how it happened. I already played an 'important' character before I was made staff, and while my experience is limited to one big game - in that game, that's how a lot of people were made staff.

So, what's the solution there, if you feel staff should not hold positions of IC power?

@Ganymede said in Leadership, Spotlight, and PCs of Staffers:

@Miss-Demeanor said in Leadership, Spotlight, and PCs of Staffers:

If you are a sphere lead, or headstaff, someone that's a leader even among staff... there's an inherent perception issue with running one's own plots for your character. Namely... if you put in a job to gain approval for a scene that you are running for your character... who is going to tell you no if there's something in that pitched prp that's 'too much'? At that point, you're the one in charge. Who's going to risk angering 'the boss' by telling them they're going too far? Its definitely a bit more sticky of a situation than when 'just a player' is asking for a prp.

I think we can all agree that it's unacceptable for a staff member to run a plot for one of his or her PCs that would benefit him or her in some way.

I don't really agree, so NO WE CAN NOT.

@GirlCalledBlu If the character development you want is losing an arm, of course you can "GM" a scene where that happens. What you might not want to do is put on a scene where your character loses an arm in a duel with the God of the Land Beyond the Seas, but convinces Him to abdicate to her and sets herself up to become Princess of Everything.

Yes, those are extreme examples, but come on. This isn't a question of whether or not staff played PCs should be able to have fun or do scenes for themselves, it's a question of whether or not staff are being reasonable. I'd say you can even use your own PC as the 'set' for a plot. Make it about a murder in your char's family, sure. Just set it up so the players are the ones making choices and reaping rewards.

I applaud them for running the 100. Even if they were telling stories for themselves, that's a lot of dang work and misuse doesn't remove use. People had fun there, clearly - it was a popular game.

@Sunny said in Leadership, Spotlight, and PCs of Staffers:

I do not think anyone should be part of a plot that they themselves are running, staff or player.

I think it's fine if you are player storytelling from your pc, right? Like you run in and say OH NO HELP A WEREWOLF IS HUMPING MY DAD and gather people to help you defeat the werewolf and save your father's furry virginity.

@GirlCalledBlu said in Leadership, Spotlight, and PCs of Staffers:

Yolo is a Staffer on a game, and he also has a character. He is good about not having his character in scenes he runs, and he tries to make sure someone is always his back-up in major metaplot scenes where his character shows up so there's someone to GM his actions if necessary. He is also, while on his character, telling a pretty intense story about an NPC family member being murdered, and there's a handful of other characters participating. It's dynamic, has lots of character building stuff going on, and there's quite a few logs about it. Some other players think that Yolo is making it so his character is in the spotlight because his character is a pretty important character to this plot about the murdered family member.
Is he?

I think this goes back to what @Roz was saying about balance. If Yolo is trying to make sure his character isn't a major lynchpin in the metaplot, but has decided to run this story for his own character's development, is he balancing his role as a Staff with his role as a Player? Or should he have not run this story, because he is the main character of that particular storyline even if it he's running/telling the story as a Player and not a Staffer?

I've been give the impression that the example above is an example of a Staffer putting the spotlight on his character despite the story not having much or anything to do with the metaplot, and the story is being entirely run/told from the Player of the Character not the Staffer of the Game.

Additionally, is Yolo being an irresponsible Staffer because he decided to take his character and others through this story arc (about a murder in the family) instead of running this the story arc as a Staffer for someone else?

Is he running this story as a player-style storyteller, or is this part of the larger plot? I lean towards never being GM/storyteller in a story I'm also trying to be a player in. They're really two entirely different mindsets.

@Cupcake snitches get stitches

@Ghost Ok

I dunno, I don't think people opening games to play what they want with their friends is going to kill this hobby.

But my real question is, where's @ghost's game of pure altruism, where staff is not allowed to have PCs and spend all their time making fun rp for regular players (who can then never become staff or they'll have to give up their PCs).

@ghost is mad that some people play games with their friends in private.

I'm mad that some people get to spend their days raising baby otters.

There's a lot of pointless babyrage in this thread.

@ThugHeaven But that's my secret...I don't want to have fun.

!! But he will have to retire to the Iron Guard if you shoot up his knees.

@Sunny Sorry, that's still really fresh. Maybe you'll come to appreciate it somewhat once the pain has mellowed, a bit. Sorry for your loss, I know how that goes.

@magee101 Ok but I have to ask: did you have ankle length hair, or something?

I try not to, but I make no promises.