Posts made by Paris

I grew up way north, and I don't get why northern cities don't really value friendly and gregarious folks (and dismiss them as shallow). I'm much happier in the southwest; friendliness and conversation aren't devalued (imo) here just because they're shared freely.

@Rook A lot of F&L's mushers are completely new to MUX, though many of them are MUDders. We try to help folks get over the learning curve, and have been really happy with what they bring to the game-- several have gone on to staff and it's been great.

There is an issue of Mux/Mush having hardcoded and softcoded commands, so redundancy in 'help', '+help' and '@help' comes from that. I may at some point go over help files (I am not not not a coder) and try to update along the lines of 'to get syntax, type x, to get an explanation of the function, type y, etc'.

@HelloProject Yay!

We let players be able to raise most stats as they like (provided they have the xp) without staff needing to authorise it to speed stuff up, too. We're not perfect, but felt that some of the gatekeeping about justification was unnecessary busywork.

So, parts of our code were designed or adapted to try to remove staff as a barrier between players and RP.

@Bobotron just don't hire wankers. Staff should be able to play, too.

@Rook said in UX: It's time for The Talk:

. They use the same systems, the same code, the same OOC grid layout, the same CharGen...

The fact that our chargen doesn't need a specific room in which to do chargen has confounded a lot of folks. Some folks like that you can just work on stuff while chilling in the ooc room; others hate it. One simple change threw a lot of people, even though folks adapted.

There is something to be said for similarity in grid design as well. You don't need to learn a new one anytime you log into a MU*. OOC room, quiet room, etc; that doesn't need to be reinvented. 20 years of ooc grid design has spit out systems that work.

People bitch about cookie-cutter WoD, but personally I just wanted a game in which I could play WoD and have my jobs not take a month and a half for a yes or no question, and where I didn't get shat on by staff for playing a template right out of the books or refusing their rapey dogpiling. I didn't want to reinvent the genre.

Heck, when we were deciding on which system to use, most players begged us to not update to 2.0. GMC was about as far as folks wanted to bend, even though XP spends are SIMPLER.

@Auspice said in RL Anger:

Fuck cancer.

I had a scare recently before going in for my regular testing to make sure I am still in remission. Fortunately, the main cancer is still gone.

The one in my brain? Still ticking away.

Fuck you, cancer.

@Tempest Leland Gaunt.

We're still looking for a Lord Sage, a Satrapy of Pearls fencer, and various other concepts listed at the top of the thread!

Many court positions are also open. We've got two long-term changeling plots starting up, as well as several global metaplots and smaller-scale encounters.

Much as Derp asked to move drama into the Hog Pit and out of a recruitment thread, I'll ask the same.

I'm Paris on F&L, let me know if I can help. o.o

@Thenomain Dr Strange was good in 3d. I avoid it usually because I don't have binocular vision, and the forced depth perception gives me vertigo.

I and Botulism co-run our game. We often disagree, but generally come to a decent compromise, and we respect each other and ultimately want what's best for the game. We are SOs, which can be problematic, but we have been together long enough (21 years), in difficult enough circumstances (we are both severely disabled and without a rl support network) that we're used to keeping shit real to survive.

We take input from from our staffers, especially headstaff, and sometimes agree and disagree. We value what they say, whether we agree or not; and even polite disagreements often result in a valuable perspective.

Ultimately things are Botulism's and my call, but we are better for Encore, Luxor, Bellagio, Sands, and the others' input. Even when we've disagreed it's spurred alternate ideas. Sometimes we go with their opinions even when we disagree, because no one is always right.

Everyone wants the game to succeed and be fun for folks. You can achieve that, or at least try your damndest, without it being about ego.

We've only been open a few months and who knows about the long haul, but I'm satisfied with the calibre of the staff and players. If people stay who they are, and I stay on top of keeping things analysed and efficient, we might be ok.

My personal concern is less theme (though I do have a vision and I and Botulism and Luxor discuss that, I let Bot and Lux deal more directly with that-- that said, Bot and I both worked out game and changeling theme) and more directing and being a sounding board for the people who shape the game. I don't run a sphere. I check in with those who do and do what I can to help them, as a different perspective. I look for patterns. When something stalls, it's my job to get things moving. When folks are frustrated, it's my job to try to resolve the issue. I try to keep the whole of the game in mind. I think that's crucial for a headstaffer who delegates. I guess I'm kind of a manager.

For both players and staff: Try to more often say yes instead of no.

Be willing to go out of your comfort zone. Obviously not in cases of abuse or that will bork theme, but be willing to deal with whatever weird shit will come up.

Find a reason to go to the thing. Find a reason to make the thing work.

Accept that some people are determined to interpret everything you say or do as the worst thing ever. Accept that they will try to get others to agree because there is validation in being chronically aggrieved. Accept that you don't need to engage or argue: if you are not actually doing what they say you are, it should blow over.

Log things. I need to do more of that.

If you don't intend to do jobs, don't take on a role that requires you to do jobs. If you do, do them before you roleplay. Do them first, not last. Do them for everyone, not just your friends. Do them in a timely manner. Do them even of you don't like who submitted them. Make sure your staff keeps on them. Get admins who like to do them. (I have quit games because staffers chronically refused to do jobs in a timely manner- it should not take a month and a half to answer a yes or no question, or approve a prp, especially if similar jobs get rushed through for friends of staff.) If one slips through the cracks, apologise and then do it asap.

Basically, you will have to slog through stuff other than roleplay, and if you hate that shit to the point where you actively avoid it (whether it's jobs, dealing with players, plots, whatever), make sure your admins are doing it.

When you fuck up, or when your staff does, rectify it and acknowledge it. Conversely, don't dick over your staff if they don't deserve it. If you really like a staffer but they shit on players, or they are really good at a thing but they shit on players, drop them from staff. If you need to create elaborate rules to mitigate that staffer's issues, they don't belong there, either. Yes, it's your game, but enabling abuse is shitty.

Same goes for players: even if they are good at some things, running things, if they are regularly shitting ooc on players, show them the door. Yes, even if they are adept at skirting just under the rules. You are allowed to remove ooc drama from your game.

Lastly, no one forces you to take any and all players on your game. It's your game.

@HelloProject said in RL Anger:

So I try to remember the consequences of hitting people, because there is a limit to the pure goodness in one's heart to simply not hit someone when they become grossly racist every time you're alone with them and none of your other friends are around to see it.

Record it with your phone, even if just the audio, and play that nasty shit back next time folks deny it. It won't necessarily win you much, but you can rebut the 'they never would have said that' bullshit with their own words.

You might get the 'they were probably joking' bullshit, though.

@Three-Eyed-Crow said in RL Anger:

@Paris said in RL Anger:

Tempe really was awesome. We have to stay in Vegas for work and we love it, but we miss Tempe a lot. Shame it's gentrifying, it had a great vibe and affordability.

If you can buy, this is a good time. I could get a decent condo for something in the $150k range, in the area where I want to live. Given the way the area's going, I feel like I need to do it within the next couple of years, though. I am saving toward a down payment!

We can't, we're street performers, so our income is all cash and we have to stay in Vegas to work.

Tempe really was awesome. We have to stay in Vegas for work and we love it, but we miss Tempe a lot. Shame it's gentrifying, it had a great vibe and affordability.

Having a broad pool of friends helps, you can ask about the local nomenclature culture.

@Ghost said in RL Anger:

@Thenomain AGREED.

Here in Az, the area around Arizona State University in Tempe used to have affordable apartments ($800/mo for a 2BR around 2005) around the campus. Since then, those apartments have all been bought out and replaced.

Thst's a shame. I lived about a block behind Mill because it was actually affordable for a young couple to rent there, unlike Mesa, and there was always something to do even if you were mostly broke.

We've often thought about returning, but not at prices like that.

@Thenomain said in A Constructive Thread About People We Might Not Like:

I'm of mixed feelings on this. I see the purpose of being able to see a longer pattern of behavior, but not sure if I like giving tools like this to staff I don't trust to be responsible with it.

We already see it. If folks are allowing certain players to play on their games, it's out of willful ignorance. There have been fewer and fewer folks like that popping up in the hobby (as attitudes about acceptable behavior change as the playerbase has matured , imo).