Best posts made by Kestrel

@SinCerely said in A bit of trouble on Firefly:

@Kestrel said in A bit of trouble on Firefly:

I have a strong preference for:

Hey those are my boobies how did you get that

Hello Sin

@Auspice said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

@Kestrel said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

Back to RL peeves, disgruntlements and irks.

I just saw a fashion advert on Facebook for stylish anti-pollution air masks.

If that's not peak capitalism I don't know what is.

Yes/no.
It's showing up because of that virus, but they've been a thing for a handful of years at least because of kids with severe asthma and allergies and such who need to wear them.

And I'm pretty in favor of lettIng the kid with a health condition have a cool thing to help them feel better about it.

I live in London which is a city with a toxic air pollution crisis. I'm pretty sure this is the only reason Facebook is targeting me with these ads.

I follow a whole-food plant-based diet, have never smoked, rarely drink. A few years ago I had what felt like sinusitis except it lasted literally 2 years. I saw a few NHS doctors about it to try and figure out wtf was wrong with my nose and was told I had a "nasal polyp". (Non cancerous growth blocking my respiratory system and making it hard for me to breathe.)

When I asked what that is and why I have it, considering the healthy lifestyle I lead, my doctor told me, 'Oh don't worry! Everyone in London has them.' At the time I was walking 10,000 steps a day, often through crowded, polluted streets. After that I stopped.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk, this has been part 1 of why Kestrel campaigns with Extinction Rebellion and is so angry, all of the time.

At the moment, my time is very limited and I would be unlikely to roll into another MU*. That said if I had more time and fewer existing games to hold my interest, a cyberpunk MU* would be at the very top of the list of places I'd want to check out.

Double bonus points if it has overt anticapitalist themes, which I believe any good cyberpunk setting should.

@Sunny said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

That part of me that gets mad when people are talking about their end of the world problems that seem petty and stupid to me in comparison to what is on my plate. It isn’t a competition. I win nothing by being the biggest failure/pain feeler. And yet it is so. Damn. Grating. to listen to. I am myself a huge proponent of ‘if the worst pain you have ever felt is a hangnail, that hangnail is TERRIBLE’ school of thought in my daily life, so my brain is just outright being an asshole.

Iunno, my ability to gaf about someone's minor-seeming pain feels directly proportional to how empathetic they themselves seem to be towards others, or more specifically, me.

I had a rich friend with a great family life once who would use me constantly as a shoulder to loudly cry on about the unfairness of her parents buying her brother an iPad when she can't even get a new laptop, and then show off the brand new car they bought her. She would call me up late at night to cry about her relationship with her parents, and then have the audacity to say to me, regarding my bisexuality, that she 'could never do that to her family' because they've done so much for her. (Specifically bragging about the lucrative bank account they'd set up for her.) She'd complain about the shitty relationships I repeatedly told her to exit, claim she'd never go back again, then go back and need someone to cry to again. Good lord that is drama I do not miss. She never once thought to ask me what was going on in my life, and if she had, she would have learned that I was going through a lot worse on every front. Listening to her whine about her comparatively minuscule problems so selfishly was infuriating.

I have all the time in the world for comforting my friends during silly relationship/work drama when I know they actually care about mine, too.

It's never good to belittle people's pain but also, why do you have that kneejerk reaction? Is it because they're being self-absorbed and making you do unchecked emotional labour without considering your current availability for it? Maybe that's also not so cool.

@GreenFlashlight

Ancient drama archive for your headdesking pleasure, because who needs craniums anyway amirite.

EDIT: sry @insomniac7809 ninja'd u like the sneaky jew i am

@TheOnceler said in Bad TV:

The Nevers.

I mean, it's not even filming yet, but it's Whedon. It's gonna suck.

Can MSB please get an angry react

@Caractus said in Vietnam War MUSH:

@somasatori said in Vietnam War MUSH:

it would be extremely difficult for even the most steadfast American communist to have insertion into the NVA

Reminds me of when I say something to people like "We should improve the social safety net so people don't die as much" and then they go "Oooh! Listen to you! if you don't like it here, why don't you MOVE TO NORTH KOREA!?"

And I'm like "I would if they would let me."

Mind you, I fully realize why they don't want americans traipsing around there nonchalantly; that's how you end up with a CIA cell wreaking havoc and trying to do a Color Revolution.

My dude; this is getting very tiring. Literally no one is buying your act.

@Ominous said in Dating in the 2020's:

As for dining out alone, I do it all the time. I usually sit at the bar, since it's quicker service and it's not too weird to strike up a conversation with others at the bar, unlike talking to the table across from you.

Apparently I've been RPing social interactions wrong my whole life. Shit.

Is this why I'm single?

I think people are overestimating to some degree the gulf of difference between MUDs and MUSHes. As someone who's played both and whose interest is almost exclusively focused on storytelling and RP, both have the capacity for these things and they share many systems in common. The clients used to connect to MUDs and MUSHes are identical, though you do see some differences in playerbase preference. For example I'm an Apple-user, and most Apple-users who play MUSHes use Atlantis. Most Apple-users who play MUDs use Mudlet, however, because although Atlantis is more stable, straightforward and lightweight by far, Mudlet offers a much greater degree of player-side customisation and scripting that can help you get an edge for complex combat systems or grid mapping. But functionally the information sent/received is the same. People still emote (pose) and RP, they just do it with a touch more game-strategy in the background. Pejoratively this is sometimes referred to as rollplay vs roleplay.

Here's a screenshot of Iron Realms Entertainment in-house web client. It's designed to be as accessible and user-friendly for new players as possible, but most "serious gamers" in that community prefer clients like Mudlet or MUSHClient with which to design their own custom systems:

The gameplay may not appeal to MSB's community and a lot of the information offered in this screenshot may seem pretty useless. Keeping track of your afflictions/buffs isn't beneficial on a MUSH where the pace of conflict tends to me much slower and climactic (over months rather than minutes), but in theory there's a lot here that could be swapped out for what's actually useful. For example a tab that lets you pull up other people's profiles or keep track of activity in other scenes you're following.

I'm aware that Ares already does all of this and I do hope nothing I'm saying comes across as dismissive of any of that. I'm also aware that my balanced interest in both MUDs and MUSHes isn't typical for MSB and so that's why I'm trying to make the point that although I'm looking beyond the bounds of just what's needed for a MUSH, the needs of a MUD/MUSH actually aren't that different. Evennnia for example is a system with web-integration options that can be (and has been) used to create both MUDs and MUSHes.

In terms of @Arkandel's question, 'What is a MU*', I think this coincides with comments @faraday made about figuring out the function that various systems fulfil. If a more modern system like a browser game or a desktop/mobile app could scratch every itch that MU* currently do, I have no reason not to believe people wouldn't make the switch.*

*— except for @faraday's concerns based on extensive experience/research about how to avoid alienating the core community/playerbase these games draw from. Which I'll address in a separate post to avoid getting too convoluted. Please standby for Chapter II.

@mietze said in RL things I love:

tampons are seen as virginity stealers or the gateway to whoredom

Thank you, I'm stealing this plot concept for a horror screenplay.

I just need help coming up with a title. Revenge of the Tampon? The Cotton Menace?

Men's imaginations make for a wonderful source of inspiration.

A while ago @Arkandel made a thread over here about Online Friends.

That discourse aside, I'm curious if people within the MU* community have noticed patterns where the people they enjoy socialising with IRL are concerned.

For my part, I generally choose not to associate with people who undervalue fiction. It's not really a conscious choice to discriminate, I just think everyone has personal verbal cues they hear that clue them into the fact someone's going to bore them, and mine is 'I don't like fiction.'

Everyone I've ever dated IRL has identified as a writer in some way, be it a paid/professional/published one, an aspiring one working away on their novel or someone studying for a writing degree. I connect better with people who engage with storytelling concepts even just on a day-to-day level of quipping about someone's tragic backstory or calling someone a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. I have more fun watching movies with people who'll dissect the themes and structure with me after.

So basically, how much evidence is there of your hobby in how you connect with the real world?

Trust issues suck.

I met a nice person who has done literally nothing wrong, but I can't shake the feeling they might be an axe-murderer and hyperanalysing everything they say/do for clues to confirm this.

On the one hand, maybe I should trust my gut.

On the other hand, my gut is verifiably nuts, so maybe I shouldn't.

Having heightened instincts yet not being able to trust them is not a nice feeling.

@ixokai said in Cultural differences between MUDs and MUSHes:

Let me first define "metaposing" as I mean it, as its something defined by people as different things.

Metaposing is the stuff that doesn't happen between quotes, and which does not describe a characters actions, appearance, or other overt outward displays.

You linked to my random bitch and said its about different in metaposing etiquette, but I disagree: my bitch was about powerposing, IMHO. Powerposing and metaposing are different. Powerposing is about writing about another character in such a way as their player's ability to choose their reactions is taken away.

Powerposing is NEVER OKAY. Never. Under any circumstances.

Metaposing is okay, in a limited degree, provided its about your own character or entertaining in general. It is NOT okay if its used as a vehicle to insert OOC commentary about other characters that those characters do not have an IC means to interpret and thus react to.

A certain amount of metaposing adds to atmosphere and entertainment, and as long as its not wielded against other characters, its fine. However, when its used to snark them and get in a comment that can't be responded to IC, its unfair and not okay.

So here's what I inferred from your post and the others that followed it. This is OK for me to metapose:

Kestrel is one cocky motherfucker. "I bet I can climb this wall in two seconds flat," she says with a smirk, stepping on up to the wall in question. There is no way she can climb that wall — look how short her stubby legs are.

This is not OK for me to metapose:

@ixokai is one cocky motherfucker. Kestrel just stares at him with a baffled expression when he steps on up to that wall with the clearly stated intention of climbing it. There is no way he can climb that wall — look how short his stubby legs are.

And so, with both of these examples of metapose, one is OK because it's my character I'm writing about, and the other is not because it's about yours and is a powerposing (or godmoding, as MUDers where I come from would call it) metapose. I inferred that it's the combination of the two that becomes a problem.

y/n?

@HelloProject I'm not brave enough to share mine on MSB, but I took it on an iPhone, which has the live photo feature. As a result it perfectly captures a very discernible drunken sway, drooping eyelids, twitchy eyebrows and a stupid smirk.

In my defence, it was taken on Bourbon Street.

@ThatGuyThere said in Cultural differences between MUDs and MUSHes:

I think one of the big reasons people tend to be conflict averse on mushes as opposed to muds is that Mud have code that is likely unbiased. I mean you can write code that cheats but that is a lot of work and easy to discover by others with access to the code. On a mush especially one that uses tabletop rules conflicts are adjudicate by people. This is a feature not a bug but also raises the specter of favoritism, especially in OWoD where book rules were written vague on purpose by the designers.
I know on games where I trust staff I am much more open to conflict rp then on games where I am less trusting of staff.

Don't think I can get behind this theory.

I'm new to MUSHes, but I've played quite a wide variety of MUDs and RPGs over the years, from IRE to RPIs to play-by-post to tabletop and Skype-group D&D.

By far, Iron Realms Entertainment's balance-MUDs, which are the most code-heavy places I've played on for longer than a month, had the whiniest, worst sports and sour losers. I mean sure, people there are more competitive, but I'm sure anyone who's played there can back me up on the drama caused by issue (report-a-player) storms, accusations of people abusing OP skills, unfair ganking tactics, etc. Cries of foul-play are worse there than anywhere, despite everything being so tightly controlled by code and 'game law' alike.

I've always had a lot more fun on freeform RP sites. Without any kind of coded punishment or measurable e-peen points to accrue, people feel they have less to lose and can just let go in favour of focusing on the story. And since you can only 'win' by emoting a scene so awesome that people happily go along with it, it's in everyone's best interests to strive to win one another over socially, in that way — even if that social aspect is just as anonymous writers with high regard for one another.

You do bring up a great point though, which is trust. I suppose building that is what makes or breaks MUSH conflict, in the end.

On the topic of self-selection that @lordbelh brings up, and with @faraday's (among others') analogy that explaining MUSH culture is more like explaining kilt-wearing in Europe than kilt-wearing in Scotland, I wonder if the setting one chooses is a good way to predict player trends. With Kushiel's Debut being a Lord-and-Ladies style MUSH that focuses on social/political intrigue, for instance (as I'm given to understand — I don't play there), are people more conflict-averse there than on say, the 100 MUSH, which is a criminals vs. tribes war/survival game?

Tragedy in the life of someone I dislike or who's wronged me.

There's a very strange layer of discomfort there because I don't normally have positive vibes for them, and I'm not terribly comfortable reaching out to offer well wishes, yet at the same time I would never in a million years want anyone to go through what they're going through right now.

It almost feels like a 'be careful what you wish for' scenario? Almost like I caused this for them even though rationally, I know that's silly. Like maybe I wished bad things for them on some level and now way more horrible, disproportionate punishment is actually happening to them. I don't believe in karma because I feel like there's no justice in the universe but this kind of experience is making me realise that even if there was, that wouldn't be the best thing either.

@Thenomain said in Cultural differences between MUDs and MUSHes:

Can you please frame the example situation as it would happen on a MUD? That is, you asked someone if you could come to their house, they said nope sorry too busy, and that's off-putting to you. What is your cultural expectation?

OOCly, it wouldn't happen.

My character would go to, say, Bob's house, Bob's house being somewhere on the grid where I can find it. The character would knock on the door, which he may not answer for any number of reasons:

1. Bob isn't home. (Although usually there's some means by which I'd be able to learn this IC before heading there.)
2. Bob is AFK or busy IRL.
3. Bob is at home, but cannot come to the door because he is literally tied up by a burglar or is busy banging Suzie.

If Bob is a friend OOCly, he might drop me a quick tell saying, 'Hey, love to RP, but I'm cooking dinner right now / Bob can't come to the door.' There is no expectation that he should do this, but he might.

Whatever the excuse is doesn't matter. My character still knocked on the door, ICly, and for whatever reason, Bob didn't answer.

Later, when I run into Bob IC, my character will say, 'Hey Bob, I swung by your house earlier, but you didn't answer. What's up? Were you too busy banging Suzie?'

Bob will reply ICly saying, 'No, your mother', 'A burglar came in!' 'Sorry, I was asleep', or something similar. If OOCly he's promised to RP with me at some point and is sorry he couldn't earlier, that may still happen, but it wouldn't change that at this particular time, my character knocked and he didn't answer. We may turn this into fuel for conflict or my character may say, 'That's OK, I understand', and they get over it. There's no anxiety in the approach because whatever happens, happens. The story will still be driven forward around this incident.

A better example though would be that Bob is having an open house party at his place. It's crowded enough that people are saying they might leave soon, because they don't like big scenes. There would still be no expectation that I should ask if I could join — my character would roll up to his house and walk in. Two people might leave for an adjoining room. I might even leave for an adjoining room. Or Bob, ICly, might say, 'Hey KestrelCharacter, we don't want you joining our party', and he'll shove my character out the door. We may have a fight on the front lawn.

A MUD I recently played had place code, which I liked a lot, as it meant that my character could join this party, go talk to someone on the sofas, get bored, then go talk to someone at the buffet table instead. Everyone you see in this room is basically 'open to RP' because they're online and IC (there is no OOC lounge), but to avoid having to focus on too many things at once, you can split the scene into multiple sub-scenes for various, dynamic groups within. I may go from place to place and roleplay with everyone in the room in a single evening, but only one at a time, and not have to be inundated with the spam of people privately making out on the sofas while I'm standing at the buffet table. But with a quick look around the room, I can make myself vaguely aware of what's going on and pick and choose which information I want to see. (e.g., look sofa — oh hey, two people have set their shortdescs/roomtitles/looktexts to be eating each other's faces. I'll bring that up to my buffet partner conversation partner, and maybe clue in the sofa couple that they get the sense people are talking about them.)

A non-violent direct action group I'm a member of is holding discussions online about ways to raise awareness for environmental issues.

Due to strangely pervasive spelling mistakes, a legit discussion is now being held on the viability of gorilla gardening.

I shouldn't laugh.

Relevant: Monica Lewinsky on the Price of Shame (22:30 minute TED Talk)

Choice quotes for those who CBA to click:

I was seen by many, but actually known by few. And I get it, it was easy to forget that 'that woman' was dimensional; had a soul, and was once unbroken.

I lost my reputation and my dignity. I lost almost everything, and I almost lost my life.

There is a very personal price to public humiliation, and the growth of the internet has jacked up that price.

We talk a lot about our right to freedom of expression, but we need to talk more about our responsibility to freedom of expression. [...] Let's acknowledge the difference between speaking up with intention and speaking up for attention. The internet is the super highway for the id, but online, showing empathy to others benefits us all and helps create a safer and better world. We need to communicate online with compassion, consume news with compassion, and click with compassion. Just imagine walking a mile in someone else's headline.

I can imagine that just by posting this there's already a visceral hard eye-roll reaction for a holier-than-thou attitude. And honestly, that's the problem with certain internet and global cultures. Apathy is currency, and acting like you give a shit gets people either defensive or suspicious.

@Wretched