Once in a long while a game comes along with a unique theme that makes me sit up and pay attention, and looks awesome enough to pull me out of retirement. Something that genuinely excites me to play, rather than merely "I'll make something and try it out".
This is what this game feels to me.
A bit of a random thought: I believe we have Surreality to thank, but this game has the slickest Wiki I've ever come across. It takes all the proverbial Japanese out of the instruction manual.
I don't know when Faraday started coding, but I know when I first met her, I thought she was just a fun partner to RP with. Then some years later she mentioned she was building the initial foundations of Ares, and I was like... wait, what? How did you even do that??? I was pretty mind-blown by what she was building, because it was so revolutionary for Mushing.
And it was done by someone whom I thought was just another regular player. That was a pretty awesome blindside.
@BetterNow Plus, a common platform makes trying out new games that much easier. It takes away a lot of the learning curve from the old Mushing days.
Again, playing the merry-go-round.
So kind of a funny story... I actually logged on to see how populated Fate's Harvest is compared to Darkwater 2.0, and when I did, I suddenly remembered I made a character there when FH was in alpha/early-beta (thanks to @skew!) but never played. Of course the PC bit no longer exists after all this time, so I was reminiscing on the public channel and Annapaura suddenly chimed in. She remembered me and apparently had my PC on archive, which she copied and pasted over and all of a sudden I have a fully CGen'd, pre-approved character whom I don't remember much of!
I guess I am playing on Fate's Harvest now! Laziness wins again.
@Cobaltasaurus I for one am glad that you brought back Darkwater for a bit. It let me revisit my old PCs: to see how one of them has changed and progressed in 10 years, and another actually saw a major development this time around. Not to mention the Assault on the Fraternity House - finally got to see my Ling in an actual fight. That was both memorable and awesome.
Darkwater 2.0 never picked up the way 1.0 did (probably because of the 1e system), and the playerbase remained small all along. That being said, that small playerbase was inordinately active, and ironically you could usually find more RP there than much larger games. Short as it was, I think it was a damn good run. You should be proud of it.
Long long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I tried a couple of original Sci Fi themed Mushes. The main problem I found, was the each setting required extensive reading to understand. Furthermore, none of the games provided enough documentation to fully explain every aspect of their settings -- this is not a knock against them, because it's not even remotely realistic to expect a comprehensive write-up of an entirely original universe. Common examples were: what specific technologies existed? How common were they? How did the economy work? How did people obtain material goods? Who built starships? Etc. etc. The few scenes I got into almost always ended up on hold until we got clarification from staff, which was a bit of a hassle.
In my estimation, that's why SF games based on Star Wars or Star Trek are more popular: simply because they use shared settings that are popular and well-defined, which take the guesswork out of the roleplay.
Updated 2021-01-20
Whoever came up with the playlist idea, kudos. This gives me a reason to compile a list, which is only to get less complete as time goes on. My mushing days started back in 1995/96? and lasted until mid-2013, with acouple of long breaks in there. The list below is roughly chronological (at least, the WoD part), as much as a I recall...
Cajun Nights: Chantal (mortal), Saralee (mortal), Hadrian (Ventrue)
Metro: Janice (Ravnos), Hadrian (after he left Cajun Nights)
Tempest: AJ (BSD, I think?)
Santo Domini: Isabelle (Tremere), Sachavelli (Giovanni don), Quickstrike (BSD)
Due Rewards: Arkady (Brujah), Liane (M+ CSI), some others I can't remember
Denver Dark Destiny: Isabelle (ported from Santo Domini), Marianne Beaufort (the ridiculously verbose Ventrue), Victor (Gangrel)
Generation X (That 80's Seattle one): Scissors (Bonegnawer Ahroun)
Shadowed Isles: Seanna (Fianna), Rain (Hakken), Aunt Ana (Troll)
Metro v2: Lillian Hayes (Technocracy intern)
Masquerade: Sasha (Corax)
Arctic Rage: Victor (Get of Fenris)
Darkwater: Sydney Rae (mortal, federal agent), Mr. Quiet (Ogre)
City of Hope: Sjovold (Get of Fenris)
Oathcircle: Elisha/Nibbles (Pooka), Mad Jack (Redcap), Megan (Children of Gaia)
The Reach: Marie (Wolfblooded Cop), Poison/Aunt Sigi (Crone/Kross), Oscar/Electro/Sparky (Free Council Obrimos), a couple of others I never got around to play much.
From the Ashes : Ivy (Redcap)
Bump in the Night: Anthony, Olivia.
Fate's Harvest: Svetlana
Non-WoD:
Birds of War: Mlle. Solace, The Contessa, Jurgen Schlag
Steel and Stone: Alise, Rutger Nayland (the first one, anyway)
Sweetwater Crossing: Lucy Vancamp, Andrew Cash, Elena Avery
Cold Space: Illyanna Shevchenko
The Triangle: Lena Valk
Lantern Hill: Troy, Sophie, Eve
Kushiel's Debut: (briefly) Regine, Vallis, Marilene
Coral Springs: Koa, Bam-Bam
8th Sea: Beppe, Mako
Arx: Veronica Keaton, Vercyn Halfshav
Calaveras: Nina, Eve, Franklin
Savage Skies: Ling, Jericho
Welcome to the Euphoria: Tannen, Jessica
Current:
Uh....
A bunch of others I was on briefly, but just can't remember enough details to list (Memoirs of Betrayal, Fallen Leaves, Hint of Malice, Mountain Cauldron, some others). I had a string of different Black Fury characters but I can't recall any of the games they were on. There was also a handful of comic book MUs that I was on for about 6 months (it was a phase), but I can't recall their names.
Did some sporadic staffing over the years, on Due Rewards (can't remember the staff name) and Tempest (sorry Gany, I was Ms. Orange, unless you took up the mantle later on). Never wanted to staff ever since.
Just one thought about Actives versus Casuals: As someone who got sucked in MMORPGs BIG-TIME for the last two years, I have a new appreciation for the very cyclical nature of online gaming commitment. A lot of players go through alternating phases of very active play and barely-playing-at-all, so from a practical point of view I think it would be difficult to lock someone into an "active" or "casual" category.
No one is talking about needing to know technical minutiae, but a game needs to provide some basic levels of detail for a huge variety of matters just so players can play without making assumptions in every pose. Take for an example a non Star Trek transporter; it's not the same as "really fast horse or car". I don't need to know its engineering principles, but I sure need to know HOW many people can be transported at once. What's the range limit. Can it be blocked or be interfered with. Can it transport through defenses. Same thing with a weapon; what's the range, does armor help, can it be used as a heater, how concealable it is... these are not things the player can just handwave, nor should you want them to.
The lack of definition in an original SF setting might be advantageous in one application though. Has anyone seen Red Dwarf? An original comedy SF game can end up with all sorts of whacky stories by messing with ill-defined tech. It won't be to everyone's taste, but I personally would love it.
Over the last 12 months I have made on-and-off attempts to dive back into Mushing, but I have noticed a culture change since the days of yore. Gone are the days where you can hit the grid and randomly find public RP, and interact with people you won't normally socialize with. The spheres are now more insular. RP, when it happens, is primarily private. OOC chatter is the new norm. Stories and plots only take place at scheduled events, almost disconnected from "normal RP". Somewhere along the way, the spontaneity of RP and story has been lost.
I hope this trend turns around. I say this not because I'm an old-timer longing for the 'good ol' days', but realistically in a world of flashy MMORPGs and other entertainment options that offer instant gratification, Mushing needs to be more welcoming and more exciting to stay competitive in attracting and retaining players. Falling into the role as a glorified chatroom is the exact opposite of what this hobby needs to be.
Personally I've stopped trying. It's a bit sad and disappointing, but after 20 years Mushing has lost that spark of wonderment for me.
I am gradually turning into a misanthropist thanks to DownWithOPP and his ilk. My logical brain simply cannot fathom how someone fails to decipher that they are not wanted or welcomed after repeated bans. Or that creating a new alias to sneak back on is an amateurish trick which does not make them look smart.
Get a CLUE already. Then get a LIFE.
@Ganymede Not just IN, I'm bringing people! Definitely come play. It's a nice sandbox.
Updated. Lured out of retirement by a unique theme.
@cobaltasaurus said in Darkwater: The Return:
Birds are doing things! ...and I found out that someone was doing something not-so-advised with their crown. So the end-boss antagonist showed up at the Sit n' Spin, and boy did everything go wrong.
And now the Bureau is drawn in to investigate. Because you don't blow out every window, bend every tree in the neighborhood and send cars skidding across the street without getting the MiBs' attention.
@botulism Yup, Cold Space is the only original Sci-Fi game I played on that I enjoyed and stuck with. Aside from the fact that the setting is not that far out in the future, it's also set on a single colonial ship essentially "Lost in Space" so we didn't need to worry too much about understanding the rest of the universe.
"Good Hunting" was superb, one of my favorites.
I'm only through about half of the shorts, but so far "Good Hunting" just wouldn't get out of my brain. The story is amazing but the mixing of genre makes it difficult for my brain to process. The best part though? Victorian Steam-Punk Hong Kong would make a kick-ass game setting.
You know I very much enjoy playing with you, and I appreciate that you are willing to do all the work to spin up new games and new themes every now and then. But I gotta ask, why always teenagers? I mean, I did the teen drama RP for a stretch, but after three games I'm completely burnt out. Some of the themes you come up with can be pretty fun to play, if I can play a proper adult character and interact with other adult characters.
This is not a knock. I'm genuinely curious about the focus on teen PCs.
It's morbidly fascinating to read about this sort of behavior. The fact that when this guy's loudly blaming people for not having "adult conversations" with him, there is a complete and utter lack of self-awareness of the irony. I mean, even a dog will recognize its own reflection after looking into a mirror enough times.
Can people really be this blind to their own faults? Sometimes I think it is by choice.
