@Lotherio I did really enjoy playing on 5th Kingdom. I don't remember my character, but I remember that I liked the game and the RP I found there. It really did match my preferred style of play.
I'm excited that you're thinking about bringing it back!
Fate's Harvest seems a bit sleepy for a game its size, to me. Most RP seems to happen in +events, which is fine, but my online times are so erratic, it's hard for me to plan ahead.
F&L has a weird dynamic. Players are very welcoming, but they approach theme differently than most WoD games which through my char for a loop and in the end, my concept just didn't work there. They use a mix-mash of systems which makes it hard to navigate at times. I was never quite sure which set of rules to follow. Also, I had +jobs that I put in on day 1 out of CG open for months, and then closed without resolution. These were things like, "Hey, my integrity is 0, can that be fixed?" and "I need such-and-such added to my sheet." RP can be had, just don't expect staff support on any level. Any other sphere outside of vamp appears to be dead and in vamp, as others have said, there is more physical combat than I have seen in any other sphere elsewhere. There is no attempt to politic at all.
That's not to say to avoid F&L just know what you're walking into.
Also, women, make sure that you're using Bratabase to make the whole experience a bit better!
@bear_necessities
So, one of the big stumbling blocks in the past has been the way +where works. If someone is on the portal in a scene, but not logged into the game, they don't show up on +where.
So, if someone wants to get a sense for what is actually happening on the game, they look at +scenes, not +where. This actively discourages use of the grid.
Which, again, is fine, because I don't think grid-stumbling is the best way to find RP, it's just the way many of us grew culturally use to because of the MUs traditionally operate.
@Sunny I get that. And I would happily dump funds into lifestyle, if it gave me the same bonuses. The issue for me goes back to how I want to spend the 5-8 hours a week I spend on RP. I would much rather spend that time on actual RP then either having to come up with a name and craft something myself or chasing down a crafter to do it for me.
Same thing with a character's wiki page on WoD games. I don't mind doing minor tweaks, but unless I'm feeling really inspired, I'm not going to do a lot of reworking to my wiki, because I want to spend my RP time RPing, not jumping through hoops.
My Current List:
Long Form
Adam Ruins Everything - Long form interviews with the experts featured on the show
Hardcore History - LONG podcasts that go in depth into various periods and people in history. A recent "blitz edition" podcast was 6 hours. Be prepared!
Dan Carlin's Common Sense - Political podcast by the Hardcore History host, currently in a bit of hiatus due to, well, you know, while he processes.
Ezra Klein - Long interviews with whoever Ezra Klein wants to interview.
Politics
The Weeds - Podcast from Vox, goes in-depth into the data surrounding the issues.
AEI Banter - From conservative thinktank AEI, if you're interested in classical, non-reactionary conservative thought, it's pretty decent.
538 - From the Website. Focuses on statistics and polls.
Slate's Political Gabfest - General political discussion. Tends to be very even-handed, even if it does lean left.
What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law - 99% Invisible guy interviews a constitutional law professor about what's happening in the headlines.
Slow Burn: A Podcast About Watergate - Things just don't change, do they
TV
West Wing Weekly - Rewatch of the show, featuring interviews with cast members and experts in the issues that the show discussed
Watching Dead - A podcast by two guys watching the Walking Dead and are Done. I don't watch anymore, but still like to hear them rip the show to shreds.
Game of Thrones Podcast - Breaks down the episodes.
Religion
Phil Vischer - Three Evangelicals discuss current events, why Christian art sucks, why pop culture isn't bad, and the current state of Evangelicalism.
Relevant - If Christianity Today is the magazine that all the Baby Boom/Graham era Evangelicals read, Relevant is the magazine that all their children are reading. If you want to know where Evangelicalism is going and what the next generation of leaders think, and if you suspect you might not be getting that from the news (you're not), this is the podcast to listen to.
Culture
Reply All - Podcast on the Internet and the culture surrounding the internet. Yes-Yes-No is always hilarious.
This American Life - Classic. Does it need an explanation?
Crimetown - In depth storytelling about the corruption and crime in Providence, RI
Science Vs. - Australian host breaks down scientific studies on hot issues, so that you don't have to.
Misc
Judge John Hodgman - Comedy podcast where John Hodgman handles disputes between multiple parties. Everyone should know both established law and what is and is not a sandwich.
99% Invisible - Short form podcast about design and the stories behind design. Absolutely fascinating.
Intelligence Squared - Debates on a variety of topics.
Heavyweight - Jonathan Goldstein (from This American Life) tries to help people work through their issues and their relationships with varying success. Some of the most moving things I've ever listened to.
@krmbm said in Web portals and scenes and grids oh my!:
@Auspice Having a variable flag that allows scenes to stay open longer than an admin wants defeats the purpose, no?
If I want my game to favor live RP and not have aging scenes, I need to be able to make that decision as the admin. If you want a game that favors asynch RP and having aging scenes, you need to make that decision as a player.
That's kind of the root of my point: Ares isn't making these decisions; WE are.
I've given this some thought over the past couple of days and I feel like I want public scenes to time out rather quick. This is where people should be going for immediate RP right? But with private scenes, I'd be willing to tolerate a much longer time-out.
@roz I don't necessarily disagree with what you're saying, but I do want to add that part of the reason people choose fighters is their accessibility to plot. Anyone can sign up for a soldier and do a thing and be involved, but in the Nox'alfar negotiations, only a select number of high-level characters got to be involved in that.
I'm not saying that's a bad thing, or that social plots aren't happening on Arx, they are, I'm just saying that there's a perception that it's harder to get involved in social plots - whether that's true or not.
Late to the boat here, but I'm finally watching Season 1 of Jessica Jones. I've avoided it because of my general distaste for the superhero genre, but this is good! It's nicely gritty and the use of powers seem to be nicely muted and the threats seem to actually be threatening. Overall, I'm digging the whole film noir vibe.
Now, if only Jessica could stop using her powers whenever she gets angry. It looks so fake and is so ridiculous, it just pulls me out of it ever time.
@Lotherio said in Web portals and scenes and grids oh my!:
I get noting the pace, I always look for pace on a forum game (1 pose a week vs 2-3 poses a day or whatever), it helps me decide. Just an easy way to sort activity would be good without going complex.
Would something as simple as timestamps on poses when you open the scene be helpful then?
@roz Not exactly what I'm saying? Even in non-coded games, Combat plots are the low-hanging fruit. Anyone can show up to them and Do a Thing. It's easier to pull someone in. In diplomatic/social plots, you usually have to know the right people in order to get involved. It's also easier to keep pulling on the same group of people.
Also, while you can have combats with huge numbers of people, diplomatic/social plots work best in small groups. Which is why I think there needs to be more of them (in general, I've just restarted at Arx again, can't speak to the current state of things) and why a lot of them should probably be low-stakes letting people create names for themselves.
This may already be happening on Arx, I don't know, but again, the problem I'm trying to point out is really unconnected to how coded things are.
Some people know that I have a medically fragile niece. Last week, after a lingering cold, she was admitted to the hospital because she was having issues keeping her O2 saturation levels up. It turns out the cold had turned into pneumonia.
So .. yeah, she'll be in the hospital for a bit more now, and when she comes home again, it'll be back on oxygen.
I'm poking around this game. If anyone wants a hanger on or anything like that, lemme know.
Prefer non-changeling since I'm already doing Fate's Harvest.
I actually have no problem with who pops up, I like having a mix of well-known and unknown, because it reminds me to touch base with people.
However, I would love it if randomscene worked in pairs, like the way it did on Firan. So, like, if I have JoeSchmoe in my randomscene, JoeSchmoe also has me. That way we're both looking out for each other and it would make coordinating so much easier, especially for us who don't have a ton of time to commit to the game.
One of the things that constantly amazes me about my job is how hard it is to get the concept of a "receipt" across to people. No, it is not order forms, invoices, or packing slips. No, you can't just stamp 'paid' on an invoice to prove that you paid.
I have a whole word document I send to people to explain what I look for and they still send me packing slips.
@stabby said in Miami, Blood in the Water:
@ganymede said in Miami, Blood in the Water:
Fate's Harvest, generally, is one of the best-coded places I've ever been at
Even just the +ref stuff that's set up is amaaaaazing. I don't have to flip through books to find rolls? Yes please! Embrace my laziness!
It's also great for those of us that don't have all the changeling books. Without it, if confronted with a power in a scene, I'd be scrambling to google search for a pdf or compendium, or stuck just having to trust that the power was being used correctly.
I agree with everyone else that relative simplicity is a must. I'm a fan of a simple contested roll for direct interactions between players.
I think these contested rolls should be done fairly frequently, because then they become part of the games culture. To encourage this I think players need to get something when they lose a contested roll, xp comes to mind. Giving XP for losing a contested roll, would also be a way to help new players catch up to dinosaurs, since the lower-xp players will lose rolls more often.
I think the consequences for contested rolls should be well-defined. For example, CoD's conditions are great. They were fun to RP out, they are defined ahead of time, and they reward players for playing along.
I think anything that has major consequences for a character should always take multiple scenes. Again, this is sort of like Doors, although, I would make the number of scenes the same across the board to keep the possibility of confusion and cheating down (Yes, I am a big fan of simplicity and transparency in systems).
I like the idea of status systems, when I've seen them on a game. I'd like it if they actually did something and were tied in better with social rolls. I think they could give players with social stats something to do. I don't have firm ideas on implementation.
Finally, while I'm lean non-consent, I don't think anyone should ever be forced to RP on a regular and consistent basis with a player they would not prefer to. I think players need to have consent privileges when it comes to things like marriages/ghouling/family/etc. I know it's not explicitly tied to social systems, but probably worth remembering when throwing things together.
@mietze - what @Ganymede said.
On the personal side of things, I nearly failed 1st grade mainly because I have little tolerance for busy work (a trait I keep to this day). They tested my IQ and I did well.
On the professional side of things, there's a lot going on in Education right now. A lot of it is good research that is being twisted as it makes its way down to the classroom level. Even teachers who are aware of how things are being twisted, can only do so much since they're at the pressure of the administration and such. All this to say, this is a momentary blip and things will go back to how they used to be, but probably not for another 5-10 years or so.
@scorn said in Reno is closing! ....Or is it?:
One of the issues we ran into with Reno was that our generous XP policy led to a heavy population of 'dinosaurs.' We're going to be toning that back, at Portland. Things will be more challenging. People won't be able to sneeze in the general direction of a Rank 5 ephemeral and wipe it out of existence. Risk will return as a prominent factor, and along with it, we hope, more of the 'darkness' that's supposed to be a core theme of the World of Darkness.
This makes me generally excited. The theme in recent years has been to throw XP at players, specifically through the tier system, but I don't see those games having a ton of success getting people out there and interacting.
(Can you put a cap on alts, too?)
On a smaller, sphere-specific scale, an issue we've long noticed across many games is the disjointed nature of the Mortal/+ sphere. Generally, it winds up being comprised of scattered 'lone wolf' types, who don't really fit in anywhere and usually wind up feeling pretty left out of the game overall, unless they manage to tie themselves somehow to someone(s) with a supernatural template. We're changing that at Portland. Plans are still in early stages, but we hope to create an active and cohesive sphere for these folks, complete with backstory of their own and two distinct factions they can get involved with.
I'll take some mortal factions, yes please.
@ortallus said in Social Systems:
An interesting idea. Also, I believe in Fate system, if you have something negative proposed, like a shot at one of your weaknesses, you can choose to take a Fate point and roll with it, or effectively burn the Fate point to get out of it. Pretty nice mechanic.
I'm not familiar with Fate, but that system certainly seems neat. I think the way I view it is that you want to give people something so that they don't view it as a loss and to take the sting out of it.