Or people are using haggle even if they are not min/maxed (THE HORROR) because they can get mats cheaper which means people who say they want to buy stuff from them wont bitch so much about cost and they can still get some $$ for their time.
Not everyone thinks in terms of most efficient or just about number crunching. They just dont.
I would say that events are largely for social /players/. I love people. I have lots of crazy/fun/stupid/near ideas for events. I like to rp with family and groups. I-player like that. So out of all the folks in one of my families I am the most likely to drag people with me to events, the most likely to organize a small get together, the most likely to proactively drop lines to others to invite them to rp about totally unrelated to stats/prestige/systems stuff...even though I am the least socially statted person of that family. Because I like doing those things.
My all women gaming group at college was dispersing when everyone was graduating but me, and someone told me about it. I tried it and fell in love, I love to write, it was more immersive, it beat the meat market effect of going to the RPG guild on campus or gaming store groups (keep in mind late teens/early 20s youngMietze was a curvaceous size 4, petite, waist length Auburn hair and part asian) where misogynistic randos liked to try their lacking social skills/boundaries on me.
Not that there are not creepers and asshats in mushing but I have personally found the vast majority of men in this hobby to be far more respectful, kind, socially intelligent, and sane than the "gamer culture" as a whole in the 90s/early 00s.
What keeps me in: still the people. I have met tons of people IRL over the years. Many people have become dear friends regardless of where they live. 4 out of the 5 people on the planet that I would intrinsically trust with my children in an emergency or that I would allow to see me in a very vulnerable state are people I have met via gaming who have become chosen family (5 out of 6 if you count hubby, who I met on SR Seattle back in the day).
I also have grown to appreciate and adore collective storytelling, which is a very different beast than writing yourself. It is challenging and surprising and fun. 
1000 percent agree and wish that Ad forum posts were locked at the first one. The maker of that post can always edit, IIRC, even if it's impossible for others to comment upon, so it can still be updated, ect. (Or maybe game makers will just have to decide if they want to blow their chance on an incomplete/coming game, or maybe just advertise once they're fully prepared for people to log in/go through CG).
There are ample opportunities for people to present criticism either constructive or otherwise in the appropriate forums for the tone/manner of their criticism.
What makes a complaint resolver trustworthy to me is pretty much in line with what Gany outlines, though I have to say that the only headwizzen that I've ever felt 100 percent comfortable with approaching about a problem of that nature would be Shav, Apos, and Faraday. (Though Apos and Faraday are theoretical, Shav is not, as I did have to seek her help with a very distressing and embarrassing situation though no rules were broken).
There are a few commonalities I see FOR ME that increase my comfort level:
they are invested in the game heavily but do not appear to play personal PCs.
they do not have screaming tantrums nor do they make snide remarks or crusading remarks on pub channels on the game.
I do not know them on a personal level, just a "professional" one.
It's possible that maybe they all throw fits and shade in private that would make TR's staff chan look tame. But they managed/manage to keep that shit zipped up so far as I know. I find it really hard to trust someone once they have gone on a channel tirade or who i know expresses their anxiety or stress in belligerence for public consumption, whether that's an ooc channel or a board post.
There are many people I like in the community who I think are very nice people, but the trust will never be there because of their temper/snarkiness.
It isnt fair I dont think, nor do I claim to speak for the One True Way or anything. But I do think personal behavior in public and how someone handles conflict themselves is a huge measure of what determines my comfort level with them for something major or potentially sensitive.
I adore many people that I honestly would not share a big hairy deal situation with because of the risk involved. I think that's why for me I gravitate towards those I respect but am not close to, so it will not hurt if they disagree, I do not get lazy about explaining things calmly and answering questions, and I do not have to worry about damaging a personal relationship.
I keep hearing off and on through the last handful of years about private channels on discord, slack, ect for people to make fun of other players, coordinate stuff across IC/OOC lines, ect. One could argue since we are a minority of people in the community we are a bit of the same, but just like all the other groups, we think that we're not or have a good reason for what we do. I think the pillowforts have always been in the muing community and likely will remain.
I also think (and have read a similar tale MANY MANY times) that while yes, there are often purposeful bad actors in them--most of the people who are on those things are bit/tertiary circle people, who just think they're joining a chatting place with people they like--and then aren't always sure of how to pull out of it when things start to go in a way that they're really not comfortable with. Or they get turned on (Before or after leaving it or speaking up). I am not going to skim through thousands of posts here, but did that not happen with a few really really bad Arx discord groups (and yes, before anyone gets upset, I know they were not sanctioned by staff)? I know of a few slack groups that I heard about after they blew up or hurt someone on various games. I think on any competitive or large game (maybe even small non competitive ones too, but I cannot say I've ever heard anything about someone discovering a whole slew of private communications in a group about them on a place that isn't) people start out by trying to set up easier/off game communication for probably good intentions, but it's not long before it can go off the rails for many people. Including people who are good people too.
@Cupcake my question would be why, and to what end. If you enjoy and feel comfortable with things now, what would be the purpose of changing that? Is there some reason why anyone should step outside of their enjoyable/comfort zone to portray a certain orientation or gender?
What does "do better" in this context mean?
I think if someone wants to do better in regards to orientation or gender maybe the answer is to be more accepting of other players' choices where possible rather than personally make choices others have made just to be different. Though I can see being inspired to take more personal risk, I do not believe people with the widest variety of RPed genders and attractions and sexual RP are "better" than someone who has a narrower range in that particular way.
Maybe I am misunderstanding the thinking here though.
I have to admit that the specific disability quota is really offputting to me. Just as offputting as a game saying "we have too many asians" (I have in fact heard this said before elsewhere!) And I have seen limitations on non-straight pcs too, though this was in the 90s.
I have had a character fart out loud during a scene (hey, I was playing an ogre, so.). Another player posed their PC smelling it and reacting.
I do not think anyone who had two brain cells to rub together would have considered that interaction to be plot advancement, or a meaningful touchstone to the story of the game. Funny? Sure. Livening up a boring as fuck meeting? Yes. Did I get more RP invites after that from people I didn't know before? Yup.
But. Still not advancement for that PrP or even my PC's story. I daresay that NPC farting at someone probably wouldn't be either. Unless it was a giant dragon farting on the king to start a war or something.
It is possible to listen to someone's tale of woe and not be drawn into the drama. It is also possible to have empathy for the person who has a lot of excuses for bad behavior and still neglect to get drawn into the argument or talked into no consequences. There's a wide spectrum of responses.
It is possible also to be proactive and smart and still get your ass bitten by a bad actor. Or allowing someone to get a rise out of you. It happens.
There are definitely other ways to do it, though as a potential new tool was being discussed, I thought I'd weigh in.
I have seen people only being allowed to sign up for public GMed scenes once in a certain time period, or that is the stated expectation but have rarely seen it enforced.
Bigots are human too, really. I've heard a lot of good and interesting conversations with them about other topics, especially at family gatherings, it's not like they're not people who (usually) have people they love and care for and would make sacrifices for, ect. Just like people who are not bigots can be mean as fuck too, when it comes to how they act towards certain others, and nice people can be dumb.
@faraday and we hear a lot about people on mushes or even the games themselves fizzling out due to one person or a few key people dropping out or shifting availability.
Potential pool of people and desire simply isnt enough. I think those same problems will persist.
So I do wish that maybe we decided to be more supportive of more variety. And not handwringing about game "failures" and instead maybe just try and keep a less idealized view of how things "should" look like for something to be a "success." More places and more diversity and less aversion to not looking like what we "grew up with" when we started (there are many very different eras of the last 30 years of the medium) will help.
And I know there's a decent pool of potentials and newbies, I run into them a lot and introduce people to it too. Maybe that's why I am not in the SKY IS FALLING club?
Yep. That's why many people have said here and elsewhere that MSB does not equal the totality or even an accurate representation of mushing or how most players feel, ect.
This is why I think scope is important.
I loathe the buffy TV show and do not really care for the Battlestar reboot. However I adored playing in/exploring those settings on mushes, maybe I enjoyed it more because I wasn't stuck in the loop of "unless this is like the tv show I like then it sucks/is not fulfilling"?
I personally prefer defined scope in a game. And I also very much prefer limited scope.
A single or curtailed spheres. Focus on a specific planetary system (or on a station, or on a ship), a specific time period before or after the novel/tv/movie. All special snowflake power people. Or none. Or a mix.
I think game runners could save themselves some aggravation by booting (after of course, trying to discuss with them the reasons for a decision of scope) people who cannot let go of being horribly disappointed that they can't play <outside of scope whatever> on that game and how they just cant believe it and want to fight/figure out a way around it.
It really sucks that you have to do both (detail the scope AND remove people who cannot get over it) if you do not want a free for all game (and if that is what you want, awesome!) But I am glad to see more and more gamerunbers being more firm about that.
I feel strongly that respecting player time is important. If assumptions are off the rails and there is no way to tie them back in a new way to the plot/plan, then I try to make it clear that they reach a dead end/that approach will not work and they discover that ICly. If they continue to pursue, then oocly I will say no really, it wasnt a bad roll or anything, it just won't work and encourage or even offer some guidance if desired.
Smart players dont always pick up the trail, and sometimes STs who think they are giving clear hints really aren't. It is ok and shouldnt be a value judgement on anyone. But if the player tangent doesnt inspire you to a new way to get them back on track, I think it's better to just say that they are taking the wrong approach, correct any misinformation of OOC thematic misunderstandings, and then help people get back on track, or if they do not want to get back on track it is okay to say that for time reasons you really cannot continue to support the mcguffin in further scene even if they are personally having fun with it (maybe they can run a prp about it that can continue on?)