Yeah, no. I didn't sign on to be somebody's free therapy, and I don't expect anyone to be mine. Take that stuff to private conversations with the friends you make, friends who may indeed be willing to go that extra mile. But don't subject random strangers on the internet to it.
@cupcake Here is the spiel I usually set -- and I am the master of asyncs, largely because stupid European timezone.
OOC notes
This is an asynchronous scene, meaning that it does not happen in real-time. You'll have time to write, and it's okay to write a novel if you want to, but you don't have to -- short and sweet gets the job done too. I reserve the right to move scenes on after 24 hours of no activity, even if it means skipping someone.
Start time is when the first GM emit drops; being present at this time is not a requirement.
Because no, it is not at all unreasonable to clarify what your tolerance for downtime is. I have scenes I have negotiated privately that move maybe weekly because of the health or work situation of the other player, and that's fine. Because again, this was agreed on in advance -- that glacial would not be a problem.
It's not fair to keep someone waiting for weeks if you have not agreed that it's going to be like that.
I put that disclaimer in the event description, and I put it in an OOC line at the top of the scene when it begins, so that I am certain everyone has seen it.
I am in agreement with a lot of people in this thread but at the same time I'm chuckling and cringing in European. The idea that I can restrict my playing to my close circle and not bother with meeting new people? From timezone stupid, you pounce on everyone in the hope that they're a keeper. You kiss a lot of frogs to find some princes.
Gray Harbor; a small town sitting on a thin point of the Veil -- the 'curtain' that separates our world from whatever is on the other side. Heaven? Hell? Parallel dimensions, other worlds? No one knows how it really works. Many who live in Gray Harbor have powers that seem to originate from the other side, and that's not all that the thinning of the Veil causes. The town's official murder rate is through the roof, yet somehow, the FBI never seems to get involved. People pass through and find themselves unable to leave, or drawn back. Other people leave and find their memories of the place hazy, or simply forget they were ever there.
Gray Harbor has no single source material. It's a supernatural sandbox based on many ideas and concepts. Powerful influences include the novels of Stephen King and Clive Barker, TV-series such as Castle Rock, the X-Files, and Stranger Things. Plots and storylines are told by the story telling team and by regular players with a yarn to spin. It's not a game of winning against the dark or solving a supernatural riddle. It’s a game about surviving onslaughts both supernatural and mundane, protecting your loved ones, and keeping your sanity while you do. We tell intense stories -- horrible, haunting, speculative, and sometimes just plain funny -- about ordinary people given extraordinary abilities, in a place where the nature of reality itself is constantly being negotiated and pulled in many directions at once.
Welcome to Gray Harbor. Everything is fine.
[Disclaimer: I'm not staff, I just selfishly want more company, particularly during European hours. Come on over, ask questions, talk to people, see if we're your thing.]
One thing that might be worth considering at this particular time is not the game itself and its concept as much as it's the timing.
I'm all for new games. Everyone who has an idea should definitely go right for it -- the good ideas will float, the bad ideas will sink, everyone gets to try on new things, everyone wins. But right now, you're not just going up in against 'there are many other games out there, what makes yours special'. You are going up against what's already killing a number of those games: 2020.
No matter how great your idea is, you're up against a year that's only going to get worse as November draws closer, Covid-19 and what it's done to people's finances and marriages, and political chaos -- not just in the US but pretty much everywhere. What's killing games right now isn't that they're bad games -- it's that no one has the energy to play. I'd sit down and work very quietly on those theme pages and your no doubt excellent idea until 2021. Because at this time, the odds of a new game surviving and doing well are bleak, and a good idea deserves better.
That said and onwards:
The first step in game design is to have an idea. You've got that. The next, to identify your audience and your goal. Describe -- mostly for your own use but also to potential other staff -- what kind of playerbase you want.
None of this affects your theme directly. But in my experience at least, identifying the OOC goals and intentions will start thought processes that will help you narrow down the IC theme as well, and make it more water tight. No plan ever survives its own implementation intact, but the less pitfalls the better.
If this is not the advice you were looking for, feel very free to ignore and move on. I speak from the perspective of tabletop game design where entirely too many great ideas die the death of no one taking the time to work out who the game is for.
Got to admit that as a chronically ill person I'm getting a little tired of "Don't worry, only immuno-compromised people will die." But, I'm still not believing in the coronacalypse. Flu is a far greater threat to me at the time being.
@Auspice said in How to Approach (nor not) a Suspected Creep:
That may be part of why they stand out to me, also.
They do. That certain kind of special, super focused attention that a character, typically male, gives to one other player, typically a slightly insecure female. I've observed it often in my capacity as guild leader, admin and so forth. I tend to present male in games myself, and thus, I get to see it from two angles -- that of recognising the behaviour as something I've seen directed at myself from people who know my OOC gender, and as a fellow male observing someone quietly separating a female from the herd, so to speak.
That's exactly what happens. It's like watching a sheepdog separate that particular sheep from the herd. Singling it out, moving it away, out of reach of the rest.
Typically disguised as special interest, decked out in compliments about good roleplay and interesting background, and then followed with hints and observations that others are not so well intentioned. Be careful with that guild member... Don't talk to her, she gossips... Unspecified dirt, quiet continuous gaslighting. And then, some day, you sit there with this person in tears, when they realise that they've been played, used, and isolated. They leave the game, or at least the social circle, because they feel that they can no longer trust -anyone-. Your game is out one good person and the creep still remains, waiting for his next victim.
Does it always work like that? Of course not. Most IC exchanges, however creepy they may seem, are quite harmless and nothing covert is intended. I've seen this happen to myself and others enough times, however, that my radar is up and when I do spot red flags, I'll rather ask than feel sorry later. Even if it nets me the occasional 'mind your own damn business'.
@mietze That particular kind of player who's written a mile long background and can talk about his characters' past achievements for six hours, yet can't string together three minutes' worth of interest for the similar work anyone else has done. Because everything is about him, and he is so intelligent and powerful that actually, you should just hand him the victory trophy for solving the plot by existing and go home now.
Yep, I've met him. And GM'd for him, which is even worse.
Not all characters are going to click, obviously, but I at least try very hard to give my own characters a reason to be interested in everyone, to an extent.
The character I primarily play at this time brokers information; he'll listen to you whether he personally finds you interesting or not because there is no way to tell whether you'll suddenly mention something that he does want to know about, or say something that may prove useful a month from now. This gives me an excuse to go anywhere and insert myself into any constellation of social class, occupation, and species -- just curious, happened to walk past, paying close attention while pretending to be just the next guy at the bar counter.
It works. It also lets me determine whether other players have an active interest in playing at a pace I am compatible with. I am fine with slow pose scenes where it may be hours between poses if that's what I've agreed to do with someone, typically in another time zone. I am not okay with waiting 40 minutes on grid only to be told 'skip me had to go afk bbl'. Yes, that happened. Yes, I make a note when it happens, to not bother with that person again in a real-time context.
Grabbing a moment to vent about the person who just in all seriousness told me that I don't understand what it's like at all for someone to be quarantined for weeks and not able to leave their house. Because I have lived like this for years and hence I am used to it, and it's not hard for me.
Yeah, sure. I mean, I don't mind at all not being able to walk, no worries, it's permanent, that makes it cool.
That feeling when someone tells you they read your log of a recent scene. Even if they were not in it, and were not mentioned in it, and had no reason to give a fig about it. You made something interesting enough for someone else to decide to sit down and spend their precious time reading it.
@Tinuviel said in Diversity Representation in MU*ing:
@L-B-Heuschkel said in Diversity Representation in MU*ing:
I don't know if it's less blatant, but less... offensive? As in the stereotyping has been around for so long that we understand it not to be hurtful a lot more. The Norwegians are rich, the Irish are drunks, the Danes can't speak without sounding like they've got a mouth full of potatoes, the Germans are humourless drones, etc.
Depends a little on what stereotype it is. You tell me I sound like I have a mouth full of potatoes and it's -- just that. Hahah, yes, and the Dutch sound like they're choking on the potatoes. Also, man, don't do English food if you want to live.
Stereotypes such as you can't trust a Finn to not solve an argument with a knife, an Italian will screw your wife and daughter behind your back and a Greek will homosexually assault you, aren't quite so innocent. 
This whole thing confuses the hell out of me. Not the 'it's frustrating to see my gender and orientation being used as fetish fodder' -- I definitely get that. What I don't get is how many people play their sexual whatever first and their character second. Don't want to be perceived as a porn trope? Don't make sexuality the only thing your character advertises in order to invite others to interact with the character.
See, as I recall being on the game that Jinshei banned a black character from, it's worth noticing that said black character was banned because it managed to hit every porn trope on the register. Every single one. Not one player was in any doubt that this was a character designed to rile people up and make them uncomfortable. Several players complained about it being horribly racist even before it got on grid (if it ever did).
Now, it's entirely possible that this was another black character, and if that is the case, please ignore and move on. Nah, that's the one.
But if it was -- and you genuinely sought to app a black character who would have embarrassed Pornhub's cuck porn section... Then yes, maybe the problem is not only with the games you app on.
Most games -- in the MU* hobby and otherwise -- that I am in touch with report the same kind of slump and exhaustion. The same applies in real life -- hell, my neighbour who is usually all but anal retentive about his lawn has more or less let his roof collapse because with all the free time of quarantine, he gets nothing done at all.
It's not a matter of free time but of emotional exhaustion. I suspect that a lot of games and communities are going to need to accept that half or more of the customer base is flying at one quarter impulse until further notice.
@lotherio said in How to launch a MU*:
For me this isn't a seller. Most MU's I've been on have not had NPCs or tasks or mini-games to do when no one else was around; unless one counts the rise of wiki's in the past 15+ years and prettying up the wiki as a minigame. I see this closer to MUD-type play and they do it better. Whether its farming, fishing, trading, econ, quests, mobs, interacting with old-school style 'AI' npcs, whatever. If I want these I'll go there or just get the app that fits my fun for minigame.
If no other players are around I'm probably moving on.
This. There are plenty single-player games out there, and they have better graphics. I play MU*s to interact with people and tell stories, to write, and to talk about what we write. If I want to kill time playing a simulation or resource management game, I'll fire up one that does it better.
I don't mind some semblance of these things existing in a MU*. I played MUDs for decades, and going to whack mobs with your buddies while chatting OOC is nice and social. But farming it alone -- again, there are better game options available. It all boils down to, for me, these are social games, and if I want to play solo, I can find better.
It's not a structural or organisational thing as such, but one which makes or breaks a game for me: The feeling that everyone is as welcome as they want to be, whether that means being on 8 hours every evening or just checking in every other day for a bit.
It's definitely a cultural thing, and it only happens when management and the older players make an effort to make it so. Set a trend of talking to new people, of channels being non-hostile, of answering questions also when they are stupid, and you've come a long way.
From staff's side, this means booting the assholes, but it also means not rewarding unwanted behaviour with attention. It's very easy to fall into the hole of catering to the loudest. But me first, me first behaviour also helps create an A and a B group of players. The ones you want to listen to the most and create stuff for the most, are the large, not particularly loud group of people who just play the game, interact like adults, and don't cause any great ripples. They're not always the most exciting, but they're the ones who keep your game from falling into dramatics and cliquery.
@greenflashlight I'm going to go with, the staff needs to be players.
It sounds so simple. Nothing is ever that simple, of course. But in terms of importance, it does matter. Some game runners take it on themselves to be game runners because they want something specific and the only way to get it is to run it. This is great. Some then go on to think that having an idea and implementing it somehow makes them a superior segment of the population, and bloody hell, they will not let you forget it.
Running a game does not make you a better human being. It quite possibly makes you a sucker because it's a lot of work, and you certainly deserve kudos for putting in that effort so the rest of us can have fun. But there's one hell of a difference between respect where respect is due, and expecting to have some kind of communal authority and status of visionary.
The best game runners I've played under and/or staffed for have been people who saw themselves as players, just putting in more volunteer work. Some even went as far as to play their own games anonymously in order to avoid sucking up or special treatment because staff or staff adjacent.
It's natural to want to play with your friends. We all do that. In my (let's just admit it, opinionated and not very humble) experience, there is a leap made sometimes where new players cease to be potential future play mates and friends and become annoying pieces of obligation. If you're ever in that last mindset as a game runner -- get another hobby, go on a break, do something else.
I'm not convinced it's transparency (though transparency is good) as much as it's respect. Players need to respect game runners for hosting, running, and maintaining the game. But game runners also need to respect their players. When neither respect the other, the game turns into a horrific cesspit of 'what can I get away with' and 'who cares, everyone's an asshole'.
I always have a purpose for a social scene -- whether it's coffee shop or bumping into people at the grocer, or just crossing paths on the marina. The purpose does not have to be complex or deep; a lot of the time it is simply 'meet this new person' or 'drop some plot info I got yesterday on others so they have it too'.
It gives me direction, though. I like to start with an opener of some kind that involves the game's location and theme: Is it the local Blueberry Festival (why, yes, last night in fact it was!), is it a cold and rainy morning where my character is dripping on the carpet while he waits in line, is there something local and unique to this setting to engage with?
And then I try to steer the conversation towards whatever it is I am trying to do -- unless it's already going somewhere else, in which case I just hop along for the ride.
I feel very uncomfortable if I have nothing and no particular reason to be there. But it's okay for that reason to get drowned out because somebody else had something more exciting. The main issue for me is to remember that the point of these scenes is to live every day life, but also to network and make information spread to those who weren't there when the thing happened.
Sometimes, I really think Will Wheaton said all that needs to be said: Don't be a dick.
No game will have a 100% rate of success but communication goes terrifically far when it comes to sorting out these things. At least for the major league abusers, they tend to have recognisable histories from everywhere -- and I think it's entirely fair in self defence to have a policy of one complaint and you're out when it comes to people who have done this shit in the past. Some of them have done it so much that they shouldn't even get that one chance, given their demonstrated lack of intent to stop doing it.
