Best posts made by Sab

One of the things that continues to remind me why I love this hobby tends to happen when I don't expect it. The people I stumble across who really, genuinely make their characters feel like real people completely blow me away, and I'm honestly not sure if there's any other medium that can do it as successfully. When characters don't always try to win, don't always make the best possible decision, and otherwise react in ways that make me reflexively tie them to people I know in real life, I always end up stopping to appreciate it. It's chefs kiss.

Coming from a portion of the hobby that highly rewards competitive players, it's always amazing to run into players who will let me lose gracefully. I love playing bad guys, I love losing, I love facilitating stories that let characters feel like they're playing out a win. But sometimes, if we don't click or there's no communication, playing that out can be less than fun. I love players who keep it collaborative, even when they're super hype for kicking an annoying guy's ass, or realizing the villain they're trying to be.

I also deeply appreciate the players who laugh at my stupid fucking jokes. You know who you are.

I've avoided putting a playlist together for basically no reason other than I'm lazy and was still brand new to MUSHes. But, I have arbitrarily decided that I am not new anymore! My MUSH list is still pretty small, seeing as I started playing RPIs when I was like 13 and stayed with them for the next decade until that portion of the hobby kind of imploded, but I'll list who I remember!

Current:

Arx: Valerius (I played him for a while a little over a year go, someone picked him up briefly in between, and I've been playing him since for the past 7-8 months, roughly)
Spirit Lake: Connor

Past:

San Francisco: Sully
Haven: Sully
Parallel: Roland (the heavily-pierced, something something punk in the Niners)
Atonement: Mickey (his short description resembled: tall, lanky, stubbly, something or other man in the Vultures), Riddle (a vibrantly tattooed, shaven headed young man after the ship left the moon)
nuSOI: Valen (I have no idea what his sdesc was, he was a quiet, kind of shy crafter in the Lodge)
The Inquisition: Legacy: A couple different characters of varying sorts and flavors
Old SOI: Corporal Ash in the Batts, a few other short-lived dudes. They were not good. I was 16. I'm sorry.

There have been a few others that I'm sure I'm forgetting. For a long time I played games that were very deadly, but never played combat characters, so most of my characters lasted a very long time.

hello would anyone be interested in a bunch of pictures of baby bunnies

hahaha jokes on you you better be ready because there are MANY

And my favorite: Groucho Marx

So I think one of the major things about Evennia that's overlooked from the perspective of the people who have some experience working on it, is that a lot of the people interested in using it to develop a game are coming into it with absolutely no coding skills at all. They might have ideas for systems--almost certainly things that they've experienced in games before, or would like to iterate on--but beyond that, they're starting from either zero, or a concept of what coding might be.

To clarify: I mean a lot of the people who might be interested in Evennia have no experience thinking in a way necessary to take what's referenced in the guides and apply it to their own ideas. It's more about coding logic than it is syntax, in my opinion. Learning what a class is can be one thing, but figuring out how to design a piece of code that applies it is totally different.

I know that's certainly out of the scope of what's currently available within Evennia's development, and the easy answer is "Go take a class", but I'm also of the opinion that there's a lot of value in learning to code in the context of MU*s, and even though Evennia isn't currently set up to just pick up and get running (despite the potential ease of use and current library of contribs), figuring out a way to convey the basics in terms that's easy to understand to someone starting completely fresh is hella important.

This definitely isn't the fault of anyone who contributes to it. A) It's not reasonable to ask that they also teach absolute beginners how to code, period, and B) At a certain point it's hard to remember what things are actually completely foreign to beginners.

I have a very, very basic understanding of how to program. I mean I understand how booleans work, and I can write a half-functional if statement. I took a logic class at community college, and I'm taking a coding class here starting in November. Part of the process of me actually applying this class is going to be getting some functional systems onto a fresh install, and I figure while I do that I'll try and document the steps I'm taking to get it working.

If anyone's interested in starting from 0/10 and working towards like, 3 or some shit, hit me up, I'm happy to share whatever I figure out.

@arkandel said in How old are MU* players?:

I'm pleased to see a wider demographic of younger folks than I expected. Not sure how newbies get into MUSHing these days but somehow it's happening.

I have no idea how other people got started, especially seeing as I'm the only one in the 18-24 age bracket, but I know a lot of people my age that play MU* generally start on MUDs, then migrate over to MUSHes afterwards. I know a ton of tabletop players I hang out with who would love MUDs, but getting them to go straight from nothing to pure roleplay without a little bit of mechanical influence first is pretty difficult.

I think there's a huge market to bring younger people of that sort into the hobby, it's all about marketing and offering the right thing, we just haven't yet.

Hey! I'm Sully on SanFran, this is the first time I'm checking the forums for a while here, my bad!

Sorry for just disappearing randomly, I'm a student and my semester picked up HARD all at once (mostly because I'm a fucking idiot and procrastinated for literal months), and I've been kind of dealing with that so I don't lose my scholarship and get kicked out or some other terrible shit.

Luckily enough, this semester wraps up on the 31st, so hopefully I'll be back about around then, as long as staff's cool with me just showing up again. I love the character, and a lot of the players there are absolutely fucking amazing, so I'm looking forward to it.

In the meantime, feel free to hit me up on Discord at Sab#1239 if you'd like, I'm around often while I cram for my last final on Thursday.

I wasn't sure at first what made the idea of this game pop so immediately for me, but after looking through for a bit now I'm starting to think it's just like, everything. Maybe I'm projecting a bit, but the setting, the system, and the magic lore looks like it's going to work ridiculously well together, and I can say that I am extremely interested.

I am also a huge, huge sucker for scenic small town fantasy and all of the pictures are super pretty so now I'm gonna go look at nature photos and think about char concepts. Fuck me, I guess.

It would also help to know which portion of Phoenix you'll be in, as the different activities can be pretty spread apart. Generally, as long as college kids don't bother you, a lot of the nightlife is going to be in the Tempe area, though you can also check out Downtown Phoenix, Old Town Scottsdale, and the Gilbert area if you're on the southeast side of town. Basically the farther you get from Tempe, the less things there are to do.

A lot of the suggestions above are solid, though one thing that hasn't been mentioned is that we have a ton of little secret parks scattered throughout the city. There's a bunch of local natural art landscaping schools that basically just buy some land usually behind commercial buildings and turn it into cute little parks with waterfalls and ponds and ducks. It's pretty much the only time of year to realistically enjoy these too, so that's a plus.

Most of our malls are pretty standard, but Tempe Marketplace is a cute outdoor shopping center with some decent places to hang and drink, and quality food, including a Portillo's, which is a huge deal restaurant from Chicago. We also have In 'n Out and Cane's (which is a chicken finger joint) which are pretty widely loved, but regional restaurant chains that you can't find across the country.

But, if you're looking for traditional tourist-y stuff, google some local hiking trails and go at them. It's the time of year to do it, just remember to take water. You're not going to die like tourists do when they try to hike here in the summer, probably, but it's never a bad idea.

ETA: I'm also a local, born and raised, so if you're looking for some of the harder to hit stuff, I'd be happy to recommend that too.

@saturna said in Sab's Playlist:

SULLY<3

<-- Opal, currently Auda and Volcica on Arx.

@goblin said in Sab's Playlist:

SULLY! oh man, so glad you're on Arx, I got all unhappy when you disappeared from SF and we actually got all worried about you, a bunch of us (Opal included.) I played Audgrim there, and I play Jyri and Evaristo on Arx, and I'd love to RP with you over there, if we can manage to be online at the same time

Yooooooooo it's super good to hear from you guys! Sorry for just dipping out right when I did, the last bit of my semester was aggressive to say the least, and it went from 0-60 really fast. But I can totally make any RP time work with enough of a heads up, so, just lemme know and we can get something going!

@darinelle said in Sab's Playlist:

@sab AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I saw your post on the MU Things I Love and was about to reply to it about how I had this awesome scene yesterday where the emotional quotient was super high and meaningful and it was awesome and wasn't it just great when people were awesome.

And then there it happened to be that scene was literally with your char. ALRIGHT THEN.

<3333333333333
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, it's always super lovely and I stan the fuck out of complex scenes and relationships like that. I am ridiculously flattered, thank you!

As long as I actually have the time RL, I prefer just letting the scene happen naturally. Usually if the scene feels like it's running long, it's running long. Otherwise, I've been in day-long scenes that are entirely welcome and not tiring at all, keeping me engaged the whole time. Really, it just depends on the characters involved and the dynamic presented.

Updated with my new dude on Spirit Lake. Lots of potentially weird, quiet stuff planned with him, so if anyone's interested in scenes, feel free to hit me up!

TIL that, after playing these games for 11 years, I have been grossly underusing clients.

There's just so many buttons, you guys. Like what do they all do.

My first job in High School was at a local board game store in a mall, so I have a huuuuuge array of opinions on tons of different games, but 100% my favorite over the years was FFG's Battlestar Galactica. It took all the best crunch bits of an FFG game and added a liberal dose of Werewolf into an amazing cocktail. It was extremely hard to win as the humans, but that was half the fun. Last I checked it's out of print, and I don't have a copy anymore, so I'm holding out for a reprint.

Otherwise, I massively fuck with Arkham Horror. I love Betrayal for the same reason, but co-op games that are basically guaranteed to kick your ass are easily my favorite. Unfortunately, most of my buddies do not share my opinion, so I haven't been able to play in years.

@three-eyed-crow Yeah, I honestly don't know what the deal is, I just know that Filibertos are everywhere and they don't use lard in their refried beans so I can eat them, while other places require exactly 1 extra step and that's clearly TOO MUCH.

Back on topic: The East Valley (so, around Mesa/Tempe/etc) has some really, really incredible non-American food, and some super dope Americanized versions of other cultural staples. The Dhaba was mentioned, which is an incredible Indian joint in Tempe, though really I haven't found many Indian places in the valley that aren't excellent (except Curry Corner, fuck Curry Corner unless you're 19, super drunk at 5 PM, and want basic-ass food ready in 5 minutes).

If you can make your way out to Chandler, near the Chandler Mall, Tott's Asian Diner is like, the Chinese American restaurant in Phoenix. I've known people who make a ritual of stopping there whenever they come to the city. Their orange chicken is ridiculous. They also deliver on grubhub, if you're close enough.

A non-standard suggestion for the Mesa area, too. If you've a fleeting religious interest, we have a huge Mormon Temple that's pretty neat to look at if you're architecturally inclined. You won't be able to go in unless you're Mormon, but it's cute.

Mesa's Art District is super, super nice, despite always forgetting it exists. There's tons of little specialty shops and street art and exhibits set up in random buildings. It's right off the light rail too, IIRC, so it's not a bad jumping off point if you want to head down to Mill Ave or Downtown Phoenix after, too.

Also, as @Jeshin mentioned, there are many really quality Hookah Lounges in the valley, though ymmv if you've never smoked hookah before.

@tat Was this a bait? Because it worked.

@bobotron

Holy shit, yeah, wow, that is an incredible deal for that. God damn, good for you.

You should be able to run pretty much anything with those stats at 60fps if that's your goal (though it might not always be at max settings), if you're looking for recent recommendations I have a few that flew under the radar:

Ni No Kuni II is a pretty quality action RPG with city building mechanics. It can get a little stale after 30+ hours, but 30+ hours of fun is usually enough for me to qualify it as worth it. It also has one of the most batshit insane openings in any game I've seen in a long time, in which the POTUS watches a nuke detonate in his city, gets transported into a fantasy world in a younger body, and then stumbles onto a coup by some Rat Dudes(TM) trying to overthrow the Cat King(TM), at which point the POTUS pulls out a Fucking Gun (!!!) and lays some of the rat dudes out. Very good.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is Ninja Theory's attempt to make a AAA quality game with indie sensibilities, which basically means it's extremely pretty, extremely polished, but shorter with a price tag to match. The combat is good, the voice acting is excellent, and the puzzles are interesting. It's also a masterful examination of living with schizophrenia, so fair warning that there are some mental health triggers involved.

If you haven't played A Hat in Time, it's the best platformer of 2018, including Super Mario Odyssey. I can't recommend it enough.

If you do co-op stuff and like Left 4 Dead, especially if you're into Warhammer, check out Vermintide 2. It's much better if you can find a group to play it with, but it has some of the best first person melee combat in the industry, and the process of getting better is extremely, extremely satisfying.

I haven't played it myself, but I've only seen good things from the new CoD, too, if that's at all up your alley. The new Zombies maps are pretty rad, and the battle royale mode is apparently implemented p. well.

CarrierRPI is a survival horror, roleplay intensive game with an emphasis on exploration, mystery, and world-building. Starting off with a small area, the players are set to survive against horrible threats, each other, and the elements, as they discover why they are where they are and the mystery behind their location.

Hi! I'm Sabrelon, Lead Staff, and I'm happy to say we're working hard on getting the game out swiftly and fully. Using a custom codebase built off of CircleMUD, we have access to years of work that was done before us that we have ready to put to use!

Our forums can be located at http://carrierrpi.mudhosting.net/forums/index.php and I suggest if anyone has any questions, suggestions (I'm open to any and all), or comments, please swing by and check us out! Beyond story, I try to make it a point to be transparent, so if anyone has any questions for me personally feel free to shoot me a message on there!

@sab said in Make Evennia 'more accessible' - ideas?:

Too much shit about starting a tutorial without actually starting the tutorial

Okay, so I mentioned the other day that I wanted to get a barebones, really, really fundamental tutorial started for people getting into Evennia from literally no knowledge at all besides the fact that they want to build a game. I have a lot of reasons for that, which I won't get into unless asked, but the assumption I have while I'm writing this up is that the reader knows basically nothing advanced about computers, MU*s, programming concepts, and Python/Evennia at all.

Work is going to slow down a good deal once I get to the actual meat of it like the actual coding process ('cause a lot of that I'll be figuring out as I write). For now, I've seen more than a few people over time say they've run into trouble with installation, so I'm fleshing that out.

Really, all I'm asking at the moment is for people of all sorts to take a look and see if there's anything you'd like to point out as I go along. Specifically, it'd be really useful if someone who's never tried to install Evennia before can check it out and see if what I'm saying makes sense, and point out where it doesn't, and for experienced people to tell me if I fucked anything up.

As of this typing, I have a pretty basic To-Do list for the Installation section, as well as a few other sections I know I want to work on in some capacity or another. I have a prototype of how I want the actual content to be structured (Thanks again Pax), and then a basic draft started of the first couple sections.

I know this is going to take a while to get finished, but selfishly the act of writing this whole thing out in really basic terms will help me learn it, and holistically I'm hoping to lessen the barrier to entry that a lot of people with really good ideas have when they're just getting started.

I have a test tomorrow, but I've been studying all day, so for the rest of the night I figure I'll keep working on this in between prepping for my cert exam tomorrow. With that, I'll be around for a while, so if you're interested in chatting about this, coding, or whatever else, you can hit me up on here or on discord at Sab#1239.

ETA: I'm a fucking idiot and forgot to link the doc so rip:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-C9txEcopx_G6_CKl8kUNZ-xJp1AYX-TrD75EskmZ5w/edit?usp=sharing

@meg I can't wait to get #funnygang trending in game.

Do hashtags trend on Instagram? God, I'm old.

@ThugHeaven

Yep! Level-less and Class-less system. RP Experience is gained and used to raise skills, and you get it by roleplaying with others.