Best posts made by Roz

@acceleration Man, blizzard RP is awesome! We literally had a player basically GM a blizzard weekend last winter. I guess Second Pass also had a potential cheat if you were really determined to have RP in weather opposed to what the code was offering: it ran on 2:1 time that happened by skipping every other day in the code. So you could potentially set something on the off-day if you really needed that sun. But I happen to also love the extra layer of context and spontaneity weather code brings to RP. I can recall lots of times I felt my RP was enriched by weather code, but I can't offhand think of any times I felt like my RP was hampered by it. Which isn't even to say it never happened, but I don't even remember it now because it was so fleeting.

We're doing a total website redesign at my company. Everything's going to be so much nicer and easier to update. It's going to be amazing.

The owners don't really understand the internet and sometimes it's really hard to explain why certain things are important. BUT. We got through going over the wireframes today and all their notes were reasonable and no one hated anything and yelled about it. It was amazing.

I just want +places like Schmitt did them on Second Pass. It didn't hide poses from other people in the room, but it color-coordinated a start to your pose so that people could easily see who was posing in their particular area. And anyone could set up a +place with no hassle. While it did require a change in what you posed, the + to start whatever you'd normally use to pose was simple enough. No chairs/number of seats, just join and leave an area and be done with it.

It was my first introduction to any sort of places code, and I was super confused when I came across what I guess is the more classic, traditional version, because it seemed so strange and difficult and unwieldy to me.

@Cirno said:

@Roz said:

We're doing a total website redesign at my company. Everything's going to be so much nicer and easier to update. It's going to be amazing.

The owners don't really understand the internet and sometimes it's really hard to explain why certain things are important. BUT. We got through going over the wireframes today and all their notes were reasonable and no one hated anything and yelled about it. It was amazing.

What software suite are you using? Drupal? Wordpress? Or is this an in-house, custom tooled, coded from scratch dealie?

Wordpress. The issue is that it's a performance venue with an unreasonable number of different shows every week, so the number of daily updates we have to do is enormous. But our dev has done a lot of work with integration of our particular ticketing platform with Wordpress, so it's going to cut down the amount of time we spend making the same updates in multiple places by a ridiculous amount.

There's a huge list I could make of the issues with our current website. (I've been a part of trying to get them to approve a redesign for about three years now.) I'll just say: we literally have to make the same updates to our desktop calendar AND our mobile calendar. SEPARATELY. ALSO THE ENTIRE MOBILE CALENDAR BREAKS IF YOU MISPLACE ONE COMMA.

April can't come fast enough. I'm ridiculously excited.

@Ganymede said in Fanbase entitlement:

@Roz said in Fanbase entitlement:

This probably looks like a somewhat explosive response, but I am like 200000% done with t-shirt quizzes and fandom gatekeepers. Someone wearing a shirt and possibly knowing nothing about the product does not actually affect your relationship with the product.

You're absolutely right, of course. This is a reasonable position to take.

However, there was a time that the litmus test to figure out who to trust or not revolved around this sort of lore. You know, back in the day when some of us banded together to avoid the wrath of bullies and other sorts of ne'er-do-wells. We didn't have much pride in ourselves, but we knew who belonged and who didn't based on what they knew about esoteric topics.

I do understand that there's a lot of protectiveness in a lot of geek circles that comes from having been bullied and abused growing up for being a geek.

I don't have much patience for "I was bullied as a kid so now I'm going to bully other people as an adult," though.

That said, I usually start with the mini-bots: Brawn (Jeep); Bumblebee (VW Bug), Cliffjumper (Still can't figure it out); Gears (Ditto); Huffer (A tiny truck); and Windcharger (Dodge Challenger). Then there's the normal sized Autobots: Wheeljack (Race car); Trailbreaker (SUV); Mirage (F-1 Car); Jazz (Race car); Hound (Jeep); Bluestreak (Datsun Sport Coupe); Prowl (Police Cruiser, if it were a Datsun Sport Coupe); Sunstreak (Lamborghini); Sideswipe (Another Lamborghini); Ironhide (Van); and Ratchet (Ambulance Van). Add Optimus Prime (Tractor with Trailer), and you've got the original 18.

Sorry, you're no longer allowed to wear any Transformers-related clothing or call yourself a Transformers fan, because you didn't spell Sunstreaker's name right. Sorry, I'm sure you had a good run.

Finally saw Hamilton and now I too am trapped in it. (I work in NYC theatre and managed to not listen to it at all until I finally saw it, which was pretty difficult. Threats had to be utilized in my office. My coworkers were very relieved when the ban was finally lifted.)

@Ganymede said in Fanbase entitlement:

@Roz said in Fanbase entitlement:

I don't have much patience for "I was bullied as a kid so now I'm going to bully other people as an adult," though.

I didn't say anything about bullying them, did I? No. I said they were posers, which was a distinction back when.

Maybe not you specifically, but it's wrapped up in a sort of attitude that plenty of people use as justification to totally harass other people.

Also not super interested in distinctions "back when." Just be a nice person now? Stop quizzing people about their t-shirts??

Sorry, you're no longer allowed to wear any Transformers-related clothing or call yourself a Transformers fan, because you didn't spell Sunstreaker's name right. Sorry, I'm sure you had a good run.

But I named 12, which was the point I made before, right? Right. And, again: it's not that I ask people to name the three original jets (Thundercracker; Skywarp; and Starscream). I'd also consider the Dinobots part of the first generation, but not in the 18 that the question seemed to want.

The three jets are way easier to name than 12 Autobots though.

Also you keep editing and I keep having to update my quotes!!!

@tragedyjones said:

@Ganymede said:

@Misadventure said:

It would be important that death have some teeth, at least in my opinion. Otherwise risk becomes a farce, and the whole lifestyle is based on risk.

As a divergence, I have always believed that great shows have death front and center.

I grew up watching Transformers. The narrative changed when beloved Transformers began to die off; not just Optimus Prime, but also Brawl, Ironhide, Prowl, Ratchet, Windcharger, and Wheeljack (among the Autobots).

What made the short-lived Exo-Squad so good was that death was an overpowering theme in the series. It motivated J.T. Marsh and Nala Burns, which pushed the storyline. When they killed off Alec Deleon, I was all, like, WTF? Because he died in a rather inglorious way.

Death is a poignant thing. I cannot abide by storylines where no one of significance perishes over several "episodes," if they are calculated to be thrillers.

Such heroic nonsense.

I thought you were made of sterner stuff.

@GirlCalledBlu said in Leadership, Spotlight, and PCs of Staffers:

1. Staff should not play characters in positions of IC power; by default, they have OOC power because they are staffers, but abuse is always a concern when a Staffer has both OOC and IC power, and that IC power comes through their PC; if a Staff PC does end up in a leadership position, their character should be the minority (i.e. if they end up on the Senate Security Council, they should be easily outvoted by non-Staff PCs on the same council). In general though, Staff PCs should not hold IC positions of power.

A lot of these sound good and responsible on paper, yet I've seen examples that break that rule to the benefit of the game. I've seen staff/worked with staff with their PCs in positions of power that helped the game run smoother because they were always active with the organizational responsibilities. So that breaks #1. However, they were also staffers who were actively and consistently concerned with optics, ethics, the spread of story, etc. They also weren't coming in from a negative reputational aspect -- if you already have a reputation for being bad at sharing story with your PCs, then yeah, I'd say you should follow most of these wholesale. If you've already established that you kind of have a bad eye for your own play in this matter, you should err on the side of caution.

4. When a Staffer is on their PC, they are not operating as a Staffer, but as another PC on the game. There should be a clear boundary, and the PC bits should not be used as an arm of the Staffer. If the Staffer has something to say/do, they should say/do it on their wizbit.

This one I both agree and disagree with. I disagree in that you will never fully separate your staff identity from your PC, and it should be something you're always aware of. You're still representing your game's leadership with how you behave as a regular player, and you're going to be held to a higher standard of behavior.

Here's where I feel like these perceptions/notions are being challenged:

1. RP from Staff PCs should be solely to help other PCs grow/develop.

No, I don't think that's true. Staff PCs are still allowed to develop themselves. Staff is allowed to have fun.

2. Staff PC stories should be minimized, and PC story arcs should be mostly downplayed.

I think some people can balance this better. Again, if you've identified that you're maybe not great at this balance, err on the side of caution.

I don't think that all of these rules that you laid out are necessary for every game. I think they might be a place to start if you're trying to teach yourself to be a better staffer in an area you've been failing at.

@Jaded said:

@Roz said:

@Jaded said:

@Ganymede said:

@Jaded said:

I had a few guests over tonight and each time one showed up the dog would sit at the bottom of the stairs to his apartment and bark at the door. The dog would do this for about 10 minutes. Then each time one went outside onto the patio to smoke, the dog would come back. This guy had the nerve to ask me to not have people over after 8pm because he works 2am to 10am and he's trying to sleep at that time.

People ask me why I don't want to have a dog. This is why.

I like my cat because he leaves me the fuck alone most of the time.

I would have a cat but my roommate isn't fond of pets.

My cat is way better than my roommate.

Sometimes my roommate IS my pet, in a manner of speaking. He gets so wrapped up in World of Warships or his online ship-girl game or something else that I have to remind him to eat.

Pets do not need reminders to eat. Pets remind YOU.

@GirlCalledBlu I feel like your summary is a bit of an exaggeration of what's been said, particularly "That a character's development is dependent on someone else running plot for them." There's a really big difference between an ongoing plot (Yolo doing an ongoing investigation of his family member's murder) and a one-off scene.

Part of this is strange for me to put into words because I'd never want to GM getting my own arm cut off. Like, running stuff for myself is inherently less fun for me. I guess sometimes players are in the position of "I want to explore this story for my character but I don't know anyone who would run it," and maybe I've just been lucky with storyteller friends. (I also did have a PC's arm cut off, but it was the GM's idea and it was definitely because I was using Sebastian Stan as a PB. It made some awesome RP though.)

So much of my reaction to this discussion is learned instinct that I'm having defining the difference between these two things you're asking about. I would certainly ask someone else to cut off my arm if I decided I wanted it done, though.

@dontpanda Oh my fucking god that sounds rage-inducing

@Sunny said in Harassment in VR, there's something we can likely learn from this.:

@Roz said in Harassment in VR, there's something we can likely learn from this.:

No, one woman being sexually harassed is not another woman's fault just because she was using her sexuality to make money.

It needs to be repeated.

NO, ONE WOMAN BEING SEXUALLY HARASSED IS NOT ANOTHER WOMAN'S FAULT JUST BECAUSE SHE WAS USING HER SEXUALITY TO MAKE MONEY.

Honestly, @Insomnia, you can say that you have no problem with sex or sexuality, but all of your words on this topic have seriously grossed me out with the level of misogyny in them.

@tragedyjones I had to block one particular ex on Facebook just to keep myself from doing this.

@Glitch LEARN TO +MANAGEROOM/TOGGLEPRIVATE N00B

@Kanye-Qwest The term gets misused prolifically, but I do think you're right given that some of the harassment is centered on religion.

@lordbelh I think that's very well-said and I agree that the exchange didn't leave the best impression on the thread. I'm already invested in Arx and have felt staff to be very welcoming and responsive on the game, and this won't make me leave, but lordbelh is absolutely right that this thread is your public advertisement face. It's certainly not fun if someone who you clearly have bad blood with is calling out stuff on your game thread, but life as a game staffer is a bit different than life as a game player in that regard.

@Admiral I keep having an instinct to downvote your post just because the content it like FUCK THAT SHIT. That must be maddening and awful.

@Apos said in Coming Soon: Arx, After the Reckoning:

Yes, arguing with players can be a huge red flag. But let's also not forget how many games croak run by super sweet and nice people.

That's a bit of a false dichotomy. Neither @lordbelh nor myself said that you needed to be nicer or more accommodating. For my part at least, and my impression is that lordbelh was coming from the same place, I was reacting to the super hostile language KQ (but not you or Tehom) was using. Trust me, I do not feel more reassured by a staffer who bends over backwards. I have been staffing for years myself, and I have played the game of screaming into a pillow and then coming back firm but even-handed to a player a lot of times.

I did not, nor would I ever, suggest that any staffer endure someone screaming at them without reaction. But there is a professional reaction to it -- the one where you firmly say, "This isn't acceptable, you're being removed" -- and the unprofessional reaction of losing your temper in public.

I, personally, would leave a game for both: staffers without enough spine to manage players AND also staffers who badmouth/argue/lose their cool/generally just behave in a hostile or rude way to players (or to people who are addressing them about their game). Because both spine and professionalism are, IMO, integral to good staffing.

I don't think you needed to ignore the concerns or questions coming up in the thread. As Gany said, you didn't have to react, but I think that most of your reactions were perfectly reasonable in explaining why things were set up a certain way. But some of the reactions from KQ really weren't a great reflection on your game.

@Thenomain It's not a journalistic piece, though. It's someone's personal blog speaking about their personal experience.