Posts made by Roz

@GirlCalledBlu I tend to think PC-centric plots are always better served by a different GM running things, whether or not the PC is a staff PC.

But also, there are two different answers here: is Yolo generally known by the playerbase as being a very giving and player-centric staffer? Does he have a reputation for making lots of story for other people? Then most folks probably won't be bothered by him getting his own story. And if they are, there's a certain defense in going, "Listen, I've run a lot of story for the game and for other players, I think it's fair for me to have one plot focused on my character right now."

Does he have a history of issues balancing spotlight as far as the rest of the playerbase is concerned? Then it's not going to look great.

@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.

@surreality Don't worry, JJ has already been renewed. And the Luke Cage series wasn't exactly a takeaway in response to JJ -- it was already planned out as part of the Defenders quartet (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist).

also supergirl is awesome

L o l I always think of this AMV for that song.

@lordbelh My character's definitely an asshole, but no. This is a very SERIOUS and SINCERE complaint about Leo's TERRIBLE PLAYER.

So everyone's super nice here except for this one guy Leo who's just a REAL FUCKING ASSHOLE. I don't know what crawled up his butt, JEEZ.

@TNP said in Dragon Age: Dread Wolf's Rise:

Reusing so many maps was just outright lazy.

Or desperately necessary because they were being rushed through production by EA and forced to produce a finished product much earlier than they wanted to.

@Vorpal said in Comics Stuff:

It's a very rare moment right now. A lot of what DC is doing right now is good. I haven't said those words since, maybe, 2009... maybe even longer. I'd say enjoy it while it lasts- Marvel is currently doing not-so-hot with their Civil War II fiasco, which is bogging down the entire line with its gloom, doom and haven't-we-done-this-already?

Jesus Christ I wish Civil War II would just END. THIS WASN'T GOOD THE FIRST TIME, MARVEL.

@Akurel Lol. But my love of DA2 isn't based on Kirkwall itself so much as Hawke and his merry band of misfits. And I'm certainly not going to build a game about them for obvious reasons.

(Also I'm not going to build a new game. Although the A&O team has certainly chatted about what would make a good DA game setting. We think something like Kirkwall or the Free Marches or something like that. Base things in one city with a lot of cross traffic.)

I love DA2 with the fire of a thousand suns. I don't care they were rushed and reused the same map a billion times, it's far and away the best Dragon Age game for me.

I actually don't agree that DA2 is a gritty game. Gritty isn't just about bad things happening in the game -- although plenty of bad things happen -- it's as much about tone and tenor and reaction to the bad things. But THIS is DA2 to me:

It's an awful, terrible black comedy. Like, it's literally ridiculous how much shit the game piles onto one person who would probably rather be sitting in a bar with her group of misfit loser friends getting trashed than actually be forced to save the shithole of a city she lives in.

That said, gritty isn't the word that comes to mind when I think of DA:O, either. But I can swallow it far easier for that than I can for DA2.

Also, Fenris is amazing. Fight me. (ง’̀-‘́)ง

I also really appreciate that the original theme is aggressively non-sexist (apart from that one jerk Great House) because so often in fantasy themes people are like BUT IT HAS TO HAVE SEXISM BECAUSE HISTORICAL ACCURACY as if all medieval-ish themes have to somehow reflect specifically those aspects of our own medieval era. Because elves are totally conceivable, but lack of sexism is way too unbelievable. It's nice to have one place where it's just like, nope we just don't have that as part of our fantasy world.

This game is a huge change for me in terms of setup but it's fun so far and the staff has all been super friendly. I'm having fun!

@krmbm said in Threads of Pern:

@Songtress said in Threads of Pern:

What would a Modern Pern/Alt Pern game have to look like?

These are two totally different questions. What a Pern game looks like and what an alt-Pern game looks like can be approached much differently. Just to address a "modern" Pern game, though, here's my wish-list/manifesto.

• IC/OOC separation of duties. HT does this by giving each area its own game staff, made up of volunteers. Sometimes, these volunteers are also the IC leaders, sometimes they aren't. Then the areas each have two members serving on the game staff, and the game staff answers to the wizards (who don't actually play; they just make sure the code works and the kids don't throw sand at each other). NorCon ran (runs?) similarly, with wizards there to handle code, and everything else managed by volunteers.
• Require approval. Make new characters write some kind of history (even if it's just a rough sketch), description, etc.
• Don't make a billion areas. PW still tries to run with like 500 Weyrs, and they basically just constantly have to be running Hatchings. Having one or two areas is perfectly acceptable. Personally, I prefer just a single geographic region (i.e., a Weyr and a Hold), but having two seems viable. Just be prepared, if you do more than one area, for there to be constant bickering between the two areas.
• Set it during a Pass. There are a few Interval games out there, but most current Pern gamers would prefer a Pass game. That's why HT did a reboot three years ago to start the game over during a Pass.
• Provide non-Thread conflict. HT originally had this by way of the Oldtimers vs. Nowtimers plot, but that's unraveled, and you can start to see the game devolving into typical "Pern" stuff: Impress, get a boyfriend, have some babies, rinse, repeat. Instead of trying to write Pern's conflict out (color hierarchy, gender issues, non-riders mistrusting riders, etc.), use these as fodder to help drive a story.
• Have stories/plots. There was a game a few years back that looked promising in the sense that it did most of the things above, but the game owner said in no uncertain terms that she wasn't going to be guiding plots. She wanted all plots to be player-driven. After a few months, the players wound up wandering off when it became apparent that she honestly meant that. We had some fun, but we also needed a game that was being guided by someone (or a group of people, whatever) with some kind of plan. HT is currently the most successful and active Pern game because - although there are issues - both areas on the game have active OOC leaders that try to come up with plots. Some plots are more successful than others, but it does give people something to RP about in between baby-making and vying for gold dragons.
• Make dragons easy to get. It's called the Dragonriders of Pern. People will play other walks of life, but dragonriders are going to be the go-to. Allowing easy access to insta-riders makes it so the game isn't littered with nothing but adolescents waiting for Search.
• Don't try to get rid of Hatchings. Like it or not, they still excite people, and they still get people to create new alts and branch out. Just roll with it.
• Slow down time. Pern used to be hard-core with the 4:1 aging. People gradually got comfortable at 3:1, which is what HT and NC currently use. I'd go a step farther and suggest doing 2:1, since current Pern friends of mine have expressed that 3:1 still feels too fast.

Those are some of my observations for what has and hasn't worked over the ~20 years I've been playing silly Pern games.

glhf

Second Pass that closed this year or last year did most if not all of these. It had its own failings, of course, and I don't have any experience with any of the more "classic" Pern games, but it seems like it did a decent enough job being a "modern/alt" Pern game.

Of course, that doesn't help if you'd like to play on it, because it's gone now.

@Cupcake I am not sure who your character is, but: openarms

About Us | Canon | Policies | Join Us

X-Factor Solutions just celebrated a milestone - an entire year of being open without succumbing to the Russian mob, the mutant terrorist organization Revelation, out-of-control plants, swords and sorcery, an alien invasion, or bankruptcy.

Not that it was ever built to withstand such things. X-Factor was meant to be a mutant temp agency, the sort of place that did odd jobs and provided a little extra cash at a time when finding well-paying work as a mutant presented a challenge.

No plan withstands first contact with the enemy, though, and it turns out that there are still plenty of enemies out there, whether you're a mutant or not. There's all the usual stuff, like restless Friends of Humanity members looking for scapegoats and a community full of people who turn to less savory occupations to make ends meet, but lately in Mutant Town, it's been more.

Lately, the fabric between worlds has started to thin.

The first rift led X-Factor into a cosmic conflict on a galactic scale, tearing apart widely-held beliefs about how Staten Island ended up in rubble six years ago. The second one spilled out into a war-torn fairy tale. Now the government's come knocking, asking the questions that are on everyone's minds:

Two rifts, so close together, so soon?

What's happening to the walls between dimensions?

And is anyone ready to handle it?

X-Factor is a second-generation X-Men movieverse game with a cyberpunk feel set in the year 2046. We are a single faction roleplay-focused game with a friendly atmosphere and a playerbase that loves to hang out and chat. We use Faraday's FS3 system for chargen and combat.

Just a little update. Checking out Arx!

I'm not a big tea drinker but I'm rather fond of Yorkshire Gold.

I think you might mean http://dreadwolfsrise.wikidot.com/?

A little while after we moved away from Maryland, our neighbor told my mom about how her son was doing some sort of nature project and that there used to be so many chipmunks around and now there were no chipmunks left.

@Apu Tux at least didn't bring her kills into the house. She chewed off their heads and left them on our doorstep instead.