Posts made by SparklesTheClown

@TiredEwok said in MUs That We Would Love To Make (But Won't):

@surreality

Think you mean HellMOO. It was an interesting game.

HellMOO is still a very active game. I tried it once, then repressed some memories.

Also, HellMOO isn't actually about Hell.

I will legitimately code and write up the Hell game as a side project once my MUSH is finished. I'll even maintain and update it. But it'd be up to someone else to run it.

Meaning, I would fully create the game in every way, but then I'd choose a headwiz for it, if that makes sense. I would not actually staff this game beyond helping with some behind the scenes stuff and perhaps plot flow things. I guess you could say I'd serve as more an executive producer than a director, since I'd be busy with my own game.

@Kanye-Qwest said in Things Coded in Firan:

@Tinuviel said in Things Coded in Firan:

@SparklesTheClown said in Things Coded in Firan:

@Tinuviel said in Things Coded in Firan:

@SparklesTheClown said in Things Coded in Firan:

Also pooping and peeing on Firan not being coded was a common Firan meme.

Pooping wasn't a thing. I'm fairly certain that people didn't have anuses.

That'd explain why I never did anal on Firan.

I'm also fairly certain that was the reason they decided not to have anuses.

this has been dumb forever. There's lots about firan to criticize or mock legitimately but gamerunners wanting to handwave stuff they don't want to code or deal with RP about is perfectly reasonable.

I don't think anyone actually wants anuses, it's just funny to comment on the lack of them.

@Aria said in MUs That We Would Love To Make (But Won't):

Also, double post because A++, would play fae L&L game. Please make the thing now, despite the title of this thread.

A part of the reason I made this thread is in case anyone got inspired by other people's ideas they didn't want to make for one reason or another.

Also I would play a fae L&L game too, to be honest. Similar vibes to Hell in my opinion, but more trippy bullshit.

@Tinuviel said in Things Coded in Firan:

@SparklesTheClown said in Things Coded in Firan:

Also pooping and peeing on Firan not being coded was a common Firan meme.

Pooping wasn't a thing. I'm fairly certain that people didn't have anuses.

That'd explain why I never did anal on Firan.

Also pooping and peeing on Firan not being coded was a common Firan meme.

I'm inspired by Cobalt's numerous posts looking for RP and such.

I kind of want to experiment, as a way of driving myself out of habit and having some new experiences, and also to test out a solution to a problem I've been having.

I want to join a new MUSH, but with the caveat that you're recruiting me to join in an RP thing of yours. Like, say, a group, a faction, a personal connection, whatever. The point is that I'd be joining to support whatever it is you're trying to do (while also trying to do my own thing of course).

Hell, if you happen to mention a MUSH that I'm already on, I'll make a new character there if I like the idea.

I'd of course be choosing what kind of character I'm gonna play, but I'll talk to you about it.

Anyway, I'm open to some pitches! I know this is a weird idea, but I don't know, I'm a fucking clown, let me be whimsical.

edit: Also you can ignore any past preferences or opinions I may have had in other threads. I will be ignoring that for the purposes of this idea.

@BetterNow said in MUs That We Would Love To Make (But Won't):

Dunno how or if it would really work, considering the restrictions of it, but a game based in the Earth setting of A Quiet Place intrigues me.

Your profile picture is offensive.

(it isn't, I just always wanted to say that)

Also I don't think I've seen A Quiet Place yet, but from what I've heard, one could certainly have an area that works like that in a broader MU?

Really loving the Power Rangers comic.

I just bought a book that's a compilation of works by some guy named Joseph Campbell. Mostly because this Power Ranger comic made me realize that I wanted to learn more.

Kind of mad that I only just saw this thread. Since I'm suddenly just kind of being chill and doing random RP shit I don't normally do.

@SquirrelTalk said in MUs That We Would Love To Make (But Won't):

@SparklesTheClown I'd definitely be way into an AU of the Galactic Civil War/Original Trilogy era that just throws canon aside after a certain point and lets the conflict play out differently from the movies. And not just because playing Princess Leia is on my bucket list.

My Star Wars game would definitely be for all the people who haven't gotten confused and now seem to think that Star Wars is Star Trek.

My Star Wars game would be fun.

Since you're all discussing cyberpunk, thought I'd pop in here with this.

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/cyberpunk-r-talsorian-books?hmb_source=navbar&hmb_medium=product_tile&hmb_campaign=tile_index_6

I did a lot of intense black friday shopping, since I'd saved up a lot to repair my roof but the roof repair (well, the patch job that I had done at least) didn't take up as much funds as I expected.

My best friend convinced me that I should buy a Switch, since I've wanted one forever and got all my responsible house shit bought. And I bought my grandmother the TV that I wanted to buy her since last Christmas, but couldn't before because I kept having to spend money on house repair emergencies.

Amazon says the Switch will come the day before my birthday. And the games I bought were Smash Brothers, Breath of the Wild, and Mario Oddysey. Basically a "never be depressed or bored again" combo lmao. But yeah, black friday was very productive. I also look forward to what I get to cook with the Instant Pot 11 in one Air Fryer/pressure cooker thing, among other cool stuff!

Oh, and notably I ordered this tempered glass pie dish thing for my grandmother (got myself one too), because she likes eating out of tupperware stuff, but that stuff always gets filthy and stained so easily. So I got her this dish that comes with a lid, because I think it'll be more sanitary for her in the long run than plastic stuff.

I also finally started reading the Power Rangers comics that I got forever ago, but wanted to catch upwith the show first (I still have like half a season to go before fully caught up, but it's safe to read the comics now), and they are basically everything I could have possibly wished for. Like, it doesn't feel like a rewrite so much as something that expands on stuff that was already there, like certain personality things and plot stuff that could only benefit from being explored a bit deeper. Highly recommend so far.

Kimberly is giving me Jean Grey vibes for some reason, except if Jean Grey was written as a human.

@Rucket said in MUs That We Would Love To Make (But Won't):

I see @Aria talking about a Philly WoD game, and now all I want is a Philly WoD game where Gritty is some sort of supernatural creature that beats the shit out of alt-righters.

But I've also pined over 7th Sea for quite some time too, so I know @Cobaltasaurus's feels there.

Hello, Philly Native here.

I will accept this if Gritty smells like pee. I always insist that Gritty needs to smell like pee to truly embody Philly.

It's difficult to put into words about why this is true and right.

How the fuck did that happen.

@Roz said in MU* Gripes and Peeves:

While differences of IC opinion provide fantastic fuel for RP, acting IC like something was a total disaster that was actually presented by the GMs as ICly successful is...deeply aggravating. RPing from totally different OOC realities is not fun.

To me it would depend on context. Like, some people/characters would have their own idea of success and failure. Like, if multiple people died for example, I'd say it'd be perfectly acceptable for a character to not consider that a success, despite it being technically a GM success.

If I made a Star Wars game, it would start at the timeline of Force Unleashed, and then I would proceed to destroy all canon.

@krmbm Oh yeah, no doubt about that, I was just saying that I want it to be easier. Like, one or two trips to the help files rather than having it open on a constant basis because the code is so complicated.

@faraday said in Differences Between MUDs and Everything Else? (MUSHes, MUXes, etc):

The way I see it, a game has several "dials". These aren't on/off, but a scale:

<--- automated --------------- narrated --->

Automated is coded things like mobs, crafted tangible items, coded sickness, etc. Narrated means driven by GMs/storytellers/players.

<--- immersive --------------- freeform --->

Immersive is code you interact with to simulate what your character is doing. Flying spaceships, navigating dungeons, etc. The code guides the RP. Freeform has few (if any) coded constraints. (I separated this from automated because you can have immersive manual code--e.g. a comms system or news bbs.)

<--- solo -------------------- troupe --->

Are you mostly playing the game by/for yourself, or is it more of a community feel.

---

MUDs tend to have the dials turned more left.

MUSHes tend to have the dials turned more right.

Code-heavy MUSHes (like Firan) and RPIs have a mix, but slant leftwards.

And you don't have to have one dial for the whole game either. Many games have had some things (combat/space) slant left while others (eating/economy) slant right. Or they have some solo minigames while most of the game is a troupe feel.

So I don't think there's a simple tipping point where something becomes "too MUD" for a player. I think it's a more complex sliding scale of taste. Is the specific combination of dials on a game fun for me?

This is actually a pretty useful explanation for what I'm trying to figure out, a very good way of thinking about it.

@Misadventure said in Differences Between MUDs and Everything Else? (MUSHes, MUXes, etc):

I think its definitely that if there is something you can do alone, or in small groups, in an effective way to pursue tracked character gains based on code you get farming.

For me, so far, the best settings for that where you can also RP are ones where everyone is at an equal level approaching a similar set of tasks that also justifies that level of activity (kill counts). Justifying that level of activity also means something like a war, or easy travel over vast areas. An example might be the video game Destiny.

That pace of activity really sets things apart. Even in a war setting, imagine if I could go out of a Battlestar and kill hundreds of Cylons a day. That would completely undermine the desperation of the staying away from the cylons, and the idea that combat with them was deadly.

A heavily coded but highly deadly roguelike for say WW2 infantry action could be immersive, but not MUD-like.

You could mitigate this somewhat by having encounters not be deadly, for instance they would be social interactions (see the video game a Minuet of Ambition), or by having gains only widen your available options for actions without ever creating a power gap (or an end game that everyone is assumed to be playing at). Again, pacing becomes the issue. And if you limit actions to a few an IC day or week, then they are minigames, not the MUD experience.

These are also a lot of good points. I was thinking about much of this myself. I thiiink what I have in mind will more or less avoid a lot of this, since I've always found power creep shit to be a bit annoying, and I have no desire to have MUD grinding happening.

@Apos said in Differences Between MUDs and Everything Else? (MUSHes, MUXes, etc):

@SparklesTheClown said in Differences Between MUDs and Everything Else? (MUSHes, MUXes, etc):

Like, at what point in a game's design do you think an average MUSHer looks at a game and goes "that's too MUD for me"?

The places a MUSH player will opt are pretty simple but also very dependent on an individual.

a) Something coded in the game that they feel they have to deal with but do not enjoy. Ie, RPI having to eat/drink/sleep or required maintenance tasks.
b) Feeling that they are prevented by coded constraints from roleplaying about something they want to do. This is not necessarily a bad thing, it can be sanity checks and automatic thematic enforcement.
c) Feeling that code is removing their narrative autonomy over a character. In RPIS this is mostly automated actions.

I think the most effective trade offs are making interacting with the environment feel rewarding and responsive, and act as thematic reinforcement of what a character is really good at and what they are bad at in regards to the environment. But always making sure it stays true to the character and players aren't forced to handwave things away for narrative ease.

The idea of reward, immersion, and constraints is a pretty useful thing to think about. I absolutely despise eat/drink code and never thought they added to anything. But I think certain code that add to the narrative of the game is definitely useful. Sanity checks is definitely a good example. Having code that pushes narrative rather than hinders or limits people I think is the ideal nuance here.

@krmbm said in Differences Between MUDs and Everything Else? (MUSHes, MUXes, etc):

@SparklesTheClown said in Differences Between MUDs and Everything Else? (MUSHes, MUXes, etc):

Like, at what point in a game's design do you think an average MUSHer looks at a game and goes "that's too MUD for me"?

It's about documentation for me, not about how far something skews in terms of code. That is, typing kill monster/sword/optional switch/non-optional switch is clunky, but I have no problem doing it to do it is long as help kill is a useful file. Everything I need as a player should be documented in an easy-to-read help file.

Look at Ares for a good example of what I mean. Every command is well-documented, every system and admin responsibility has a tutorial.

Even though coded combat is all about combat thing1/optionalwtf=thing2/more options=dude for reals, I love playing with it, 'cause I can just type help combat and all the commands are right there, or go to /help/combat on the portal. I would never have imagined myself giddily roll-playing my way through scenes, but the documentation makes it easy to turn potentially clunky strings of code into useful RP baubles.

If you build it and then document it, people will come, Ray.

While I fully intend to document every command in the game, my aim for this game is for documentation to only be for if you needed. I intend to try and create more of a layer of abstraction than normal, since I think a lot of the way coded things are done is very frustrating. One of the things I hated the most was having to consult like five different documents in MotM just to use the combat system, and even then things were very clunky.

My ultimate code design philosophy will be to code the game for people who aren't coders. I think most MUSHes are coded by people who don't seem to understand that not everyone is a coder. There's so little UX and quality of life things that goes into stuff, so I want to fix that.

Obviously I can go on ranting about what I see these differences as, though personally I do think the primary difference at this point is that MUDs have MOBs and anything outside of a MUD generally does not.

But what I'm wondering is other people's opinions on this. What do you think keeps people from just playing a really good RPI MUD, arguably significantly better and more robustly coded equivalents to Firan or Arx (no offense intended there, mostly my own opinion on what the code aims for), but instead aim for playing a Firan or Arx or a very intensely coded MOO?

Like, at what point in a game's design do you think an average MUSHer looks at a game and goes "that's too MUD for me"?

I'm asking this due to my code ambitions for the game I'm working on. Considering that I never shut up about the topic, you know that I generally consider myself to have a good grasp of the what, where, why, and how people play specific things, but this is one question that somewhat alludes me, because it's not something I can easily gather data on. So I thought I'd simply ask the community at large.