Posts made by Pyrephox

@kanye-qwest I think it's valuable in a way, to show that both methods work JUST FINE (when it comes to being competitively viable for a character regardless of which route you take), but probably is not helpful for people who just have to optimize to every fraction of a percent.

I admit, when I think about systems, I more try to think about play experience and the choices players have the option to make for their characters, rather than fine number optimization - although there's a place for that.

When I try to critique Arx's systems, though, it's always with a caveat that there are at least two huge systems which currently don't exist, but which are likely to change everything else around, in terms of character resources and actions: Dominion and Magic. And I can't even say that I know enough of what those are going to look like to speculate on their effects. I know what I would LIKE Dominion to look like, but that's a whole different thing.

Which means that both routes are nearly equal, and each character should just make a choice based on what's more in line with their own goals and experiences. Which is actually an excellent indicator of a part of system flexibility that works.

@ganymede I defended Shyamalan longer than any of my friends (there are even some things I /really/ liked about The Happening), but I admit that nothing he's done lately has moved me at all. But I'm willing to keep an open mind, and I'm looking forward to the movie.

Unbreakable is, without a doubt, one of my favorite Shyamalan films, and one of my favorite films, period. I'll definitely be watching Glass, even if it's likely to end in sadness and disappointment.

I'm not sure that AP, even AP trading, is the problem - or, at least, it may only be a problem because of an overarching other issue: Lack of scarcity.

Silver and resources are effectively unlimited resources, really gated only by skills (which can fairly easily be pumped through activity + rs-hunting + teaching), and when they're acquired, can be turned into sort of an escalating feedback loop pretty easily - you can't trade AP right now, but you can still hire a haggler, or tap a protege, or buy raw resources/silver from someone who has nothing better to do with their time than generate it.

But that silver and those resources don't come from anywhere. Acquiring them has no opportunity cost or consequences, and they don't really represent anything real in the world. "Economic resources" don't reflect the wealth of a land that can be drained, they don't represent contracts with craftspeople who can be fully booked, even when it would make sense. Same for military (where do those new soldiers COME from? What isn't getting done on your lands because you decided to turn a thousand peasants into soldiers?), and even moreso for social. I think that feeds the playerbase's inclination to see acquiring these things as just a matter of "running code" rather than as IC actions that reflect things their characters are doing offscreen, things that matter.

And I think that sort of plays into a lot of the other issues - prestige balloons because people have effectively infinite resources to plug into chasing prestige. Investigations can be pushed along quickly, burning through clues, because dumping 50 resources every week isn't really that big of a deal, especially if you have two or three people helping you out. There's not a lot distinguishing non-leader nobles and commoners because there's no tension between them - and no pressing need to expand one's lands to grow, so no reason to not be friendly, diplomatic, and cooperative (which also contributes to resource/wealth/prestige bloat, because you only have to think about defending yourself from NPCs and not from hungry, hungry neighbors).

I remember, early in beta, staff talked about wanting to make sure that the wealth reflected in the world came from somewhere, that it could eventually be traced through the whole cycle. I feel like, in some ways, that's become a larger challenge as the game has expanded - in the rush to ensure that everyone has something to do, the coupling of 'thing to do' and 'what this means in the world' has been strained.

Unfortunately, the solution that comes to my mind would be a near total rework, and everyone would hate it. So I'm not sure what a GOOD solution would be, but I think it kinda has to start with looking at 'how much wealth, in silver AND resources does the Compact actually have and where is it', and reset things to reflect that, with systems that allow slow, risk-having growth (like conquering Abandoned territories (or your neighbors)), but fewer that just create silver/resources/materials out of whole cloth.

@misadventure I mean, that depends entirely on the method they choose, although I'd say it always involves an exciting and pivotal scene that puts the PCs at the center of the action. If they, for example, decided to raise public awareness, then there'd be a rally scene, where the Bad Guys would be trying to break up the rally or discredit it in the eyes of the media and the PCs have to inspire/persuade the crowd.If they want to go the legal route, then I'd /absolutely/ rip off the Leverage episode where they're trying to "steal a bill" - which has nothing to do with the meat of the legislative process, and a lot with placating and satisfying the demands of the legislators involved (Councilperson A wants Councilperson D to agree with her pork proposal, Councilperson D will do that, but only if he gets Councilperson B's endorsement for an upcoming award, Councilperson B wants Councilperson A to cosponsor a growth bill, and it's all done by the PCs if it's done at all.) The underworld path is going to need to break into the records office to place the forged papers, or intimidate someone for their signature, or to hack into a database, or...or...

Basically, always focus on the actions, and on making it a) PC-centered where the action is concerned, b) within the PCs' potential capabilities (it doesn't have to be EASY, but if you don't want them to do something, then just tell them, don't have them waste several hours of play time doing something they have no chance succeeding at), and c) /fun/ to play for the players. Chat with the players OOC about what they think would be a fun way to go about X - players are going to differ. I like PC-centered scenes that are driven by 'what does everyone want'. I know other people who really enjoy NPC-centered scenes about 'how does the world work'. I'm sure there's even people out there who'd genuinely enjoy researching property law, and drafting a proposed replacement.

@misadventure The thing is, you don't need to detail that. This is /exactly/ the sort of thing that cinematic game systems are designed to allow to happen. Someone has a skill involving this (which could be as broad as 'shenanigans' or 'politics' or as detailed as 'property law' or 'real estate manipulation') they roll it, they succeed, and discover "there's a loophole in the law that allows you to do X" (or allowed NPC Y to do X), and then you focus on /what are you going to do now/.

MU*s get too bogged down in the details of certain things, and don't focus on the INTERESTING part, which is: what do the PCs do now? (And don't make them have to research property law to Do Something, either - 'we want to close that loophole' okay, great, you can do that by a Charisma/Media path of whipping up public support/knowledge, an Intellect/Politics path of working with the establishment to get the law changed, or a Wits/Forgery path of creating false documentation that's better than the false documentation that these guys have. What's your pleasure?" Then play out from there.)

@faraday I disagree that the example you offer is a good example of that. It's absolutely OK in my book to say, "This is what my character is, and I'm not changing them - if you're not okay with that, then this RP relationship should end." As long as you don't throw a temper tantrum OOC when someone takes option B. It's okay to not change the core of your character for someone else...but it's also totally okay for them to decide that means that they aren't interested in playing with you, or playing out a specific thing with you, any further.

@faraday I don't know - to me, that says that both of these players will be happier and more comfortable if the particular kind of relationship that their characters are in ends. Neither is wrong, and some people really do enjoy high-drama in their RP relationships, in which case Emotional Wreck PC might be a great fit. Some people really /don't/.

The issue in the above is only if either player somehow views "not continuing in this particular sort of RP relationship" as an OOC punishment or something, and thus refuses to either compromise OR let go.

"Modeling a healthy relationship" is not the point of dramatic, romantic, or comedic fiction, anymore than people ride roller coasters to learn how to drive. Healthy relationships are pretty boring unless you're inside of one, and they don't generally make good, gripping stories that give people emotional catharsis.

It's fine to not like certain dynamics in your fiction (I definitely have big problems with the ever-popular "manchild and mommywife" sitcom dynamic, which is why I don't watch sitcoms), but it's really not the job of fiction to meet any sort of moral or instructional standards, and particularly not the job of iddy fiction like most romances and rom-coms, most of which are based on the idea of "what if these two incredibly different/unsuitable people actually end up being suited for one another after all", something that rarely ever happens in real life and is appealing PRECISELY because it rarely ever happens in real life.

@wretched Yeah, I started getting leg cramps a lot when I was hyperglycemic before I got diagnosed. Apparently it's related to neuropathy, so if you're starting to get a /lot/ of cramps, I'd definitely talk to a doctor.

Otherwise, the toe stretch works.

Woke up today to a tire low pressure light and remembered that I'd hit the hell out of a pothole last night. Oh, and sometime during the night my heater turned on and /never turned off/. Even when I attempted to turn off the unit itself.

Hello Monday, how you doin'?

Oh no. I only knew him from posts on here, but he seemed like a good person. My condolences to his family and friends.

@cobaltasaurus Good luck! Sometimes, I think having something that you know no one else will ever see can be tremendously freeing, when it comes to writing.

Sort of participating. I've got a little over 10K in a novel I'm working on now, and I'll go ahead and see if I can't finish that this month, but I'm not going to stress over it.

@auspice That's awful. I'm so sorry.

@arkandel Which is why one of the things that is really, absolutely needed, is for staff to have a clear, strong, well-communicated vision of what a specific game is about. WoD games have an unfortunate tendency to regress to the mean because everyone just kinda dumps their own assumptions in and you get a muddled mess where people kinda just do their own thing until they get bored and drift away.

A strongly themed game will not be for every player, or every character, but the players that it IS for will be more engaged, excited, and active with one another.

@sparks That would also be helpful! It might be helpful in a different way, but it would certainly lower the bar for usability to get started.

@sparks Remember that it doesn't have to be the BEST resource. Just one that lets the prospective coder (who, remember, maybe doesn't actually enjoy coding, but just wants something functional enough to do what they do enjoy, i.e. design the game) fumble their way through something that works.

@sparks Links, maybe?

Like, when you mention classes, maybe a link to another resource that explains what classes are. I know there are plenty out there, and people might be more willing to just go, "Hm, don't know what that word means, let me click" than to Google it for themselves. I know it would help me!