Best posts made by Sunny

@Jennkryst It's also why we shouldn't do it any more in the first place, because those are stupid hassles to enforce. I don't have time to RP in two hours, I have to go to bed. If I can't RP -- actually rp, not halfass 'work around' stuff -- I'm going to go find something else to do.

Edited to add: Why bake a problem into your game that people are going to have to tapdance to get around, that you have to build tools to get around? Maybe, I don't know, don't have the problem in the first place? Easier for everybody.

@Auspice said in How to Escape the OOC Game:

But at the same time: I'm dealing with my shit. I'm there to support my closest friends. I don't have the capacity for everyone else's, too. So if you (general you) come to me wanting to go on about a bad situation....my advice will generally be: gtfo that situation. Walk away. What's best for your mental health is usually just to leave. And also btw to stop trying to drag me in because it ain't my circus damnit.

This is good advice. Good to do for yourself, and a good way to handle the general you in that circumstance. To me, it should look like this:

1. Identify problem
2. Sanity check problem off trusted individual who is willing to tell you you are wrong (just in case you are)
3. If trusted individual who can be relied upon to be truthful tells you that it is indeed a problem, take a deep breath and go to staff.
   3.b If trusted person tells you it is NOT a problem: Let. It. Go. Do whatever you need to get over it/yourself. That's why you asked them.
4. If staff deals with the problem, great! /end
   4.b If staff does NOT deal with the problem:
   i. Escalate if possible (if there is some sort of an appeal system / you were not originally talking to the headstaff)
   ii. Leave

That is how I feel that actual, genuine problems should be dealt with from a player perspective, every single time.

ETA: Added 3.b, forgot that step!

@rnmissionrun said in Alternative Formats to MU:

I honestly do not think that simply moving from MUSHcode to Python (or Ruby) will make it 'orders of magnitude' easier.

https://codecombat.com

This exists for learning Python. I have used it to teach teenagers, and I do not code. This truly is orders of magnitude easier than how we had to learn to use mushcode. This isn't even considering the fact that I can literally go take a class from a professional instructor, do a coding boot camp, buy any number of hundreds of books, watch instruction videos on youtube...and I could continue going on listing ways to learn, NONE of which exist for mushcode.

People being exceptionally kind and helpful when I'm trying to get settled back in towards playing again after way too long away. I was anticipating a nightmare (and was already feeling a wee bit overwhelmed) and ended up with only a minor headache. Sometimes I forget how great the people I hang out with are.

ETA: Seriously, you guys are ducking awesome.

I actually read an analysis thing the other day (I don't remember where, haven't found it again yet) that said the youngins read considerably more than the oldbies. It's something like 67% of people younger than 30 have read an actual book (not necessarily a physical copy, digital counted, but it was a book) in the last year compared to something significantly lower than that for people over 30.

If I were playing somewhere and discovered that I was being spied upon in a way I found objectionable, I would leave (immediately) and probably holler about it here to make sure nobody else was surprised like I was. I have no expectations that my communication is secure, and I know damn well how easy it is to spy. I still have an expectation of reasonable privacy, and if I don't get it, it's a deal breaker. Not because I said something I don't want to be made public, not because I'm super worried about my ts being watched, but because privacy itself is valuable, and if someone violates it for their own gain or entertainment, they aren't someone I can trust in even the most basic way.

The reason I like this, and the X card, is for one of the reasons etiquette is a thing.

When you are having a triggered episode for some kinds of panic disorders, your brain stops working. Processing moves from logic to instinct. Only the techniques that are habit can be accessed when you are in this place. Executive function is significantly diminished. This is to put all of your available resources into paying attention to your surroundings and finding the way to escape.

So, most of the time on a mush, episodes aren't ever going to be full blown like that. However, in crisis mode - which is where we go when we are uncomfortable like this - it is milder version of the same thing. Brain doesn't work. Can't work.

If you have an exact script in front of you that is memorized/written down/requires no executive thought, it can be done. Crisis passes. Everyone calms down.

Having to find words to explain myself in crisis is HARD.

Like seriously. If you go and look at the xcard thread I started a few months? ago, it is the same thing. A whole lot of resistance to the idea of assisting people with this type of comfort from a few key individuals who apparently find it offensive that other people are allowed to handle and care about things differently.

Eta: like I have no need whatsoever to see this implemented on a game where the creator isn't in to it. It probably isn't a great system for WoD given the source material, but -- I mostly play in other genres, and I'm not sure why something like this would be problematic for, say, a Harry Potter or Pern game.

@Otrere

Just don't take any of this as gold. You have to be comfortable, and you have to feel.good about.your final solution. Peeps here often have great feedback, but there are also often really really bad ideas, too. Aim for making your target audience happy, not people here. You will never make the people here (all) happy because there are so many, many opposing viewpoints.

That said, I am incredibly impressed with how you have been reacting and responding to.this thread and the concerns brought up. I cannot honestly think of a better answer than your, 'good points, I'll think about it and let you know.' Good show. I'm excited for your game, and I'm excited for a new-to-me game runner that has a good head on their shoulders. Because at the end of the day, that is the sum total of what really matters to me. I expect to hear great things about this project as you progress. Thanks for stepping up to run something.

None of these games have any responsibility to be anything except what they claim to be: games. They're a place to go play. They aren't therapy, a counter to isolation, or a replacement for a social life. They have no responsibility to support / engage people who cannot follow the rules. Being able to follow the rules is a requirement for existing in these spaces, and if you can't -- regardless of why you can't -- you shouldn't come in.

It's unfortunate if your particular circumstance truly prevents you from treating other people with respect and behaving to the minimal fucking standards most of these games have, but you cannot expect them to let you piss all over everything just because you can't control your bladder. I would feel VERY badly for somebody who is incapable of controlling their bladder, but if they wanted to come in my house they would have to wear a diaper, stay on the porch, or not drink before they came to visit me. I can't accommodate that like their doctor might be able to, I don't have the professional cleaning supplies on hand, and all my stuff is cloth. It SUCKS, yes, absolutely. It's STILL unreasonable to expect that kind of accomodation in this environment. They can't help you (they're literally incapable), and you shouldn't expect them to.

I don't have enough spoons for me right now. Every day. I don't even have enough for me, let alone my family, my friends, or my job.

'Strangers in online spaces' don't get any of them right now. There are moments I feel bad about that, but the world we're living in right now is REALLY hard.

@cyberdemon

Awesome. I'm really happy for you! I am so glad it's working well for you. It's absolutely not the general case though.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/5/1729/htm
https://academic.oup.com/qjmed/article/113/8/531/5860841
https://www.baltimoresun.com/coronavirus/bs-hs-mental-health-issues-during-pandemic-20200828-aof7ox3mhngkvf6zql36kb43mq-story.html

If anyone is interested in further reading, I have more where those came from. I'm also happy to dig around and find a few that are more laymen friendly if needed, but I figured the horse's mouth would be more effective here.

Craaaaaaafting again. I CAN DO IT. NEW STUFF, not just the same recycled template wear.

@chibichibi said in Idling all day on MU*s:

Is it just me or do more people spend all their time idling in the OOC room or quiet room than actually going out to RP?

What's the point of even logging in if you're just idle? How would a MU* try to change this? How can we as players try to change this?

Thoughts?

What is the actual problem that needs solving?

Often, the idling is incorrectly stated as the problem, for example:

The problem is actually that people aren't out and playing on the grid in any number; they are instead sitting in private rooms doing nothing. The problem is attributed as "people idling in rooms" when really the actual issue is "not enough accessible grid RP is happening". You cannot solve the actual problem here by addressing the idling issue.

Alternately, the problem is "people are engaging OOC significantly more than they are playing". This can be attributed to people idling during the workday as the problem, when the problem is actually just how people are engaging with the game.

Each of those problems have different solutions, and then again there are differences between how staff could handle it, and how players could handle it.

The first step in actually dealing with the underlying problem (if there is an underlying problem, and not just zomg stupid idlers) is identifying it correctly. "People idle" is not the correct problem to address.

eta: those two examples listed above are just examples; there's a million and one other possible 'actual problems' here. None of them change the situation, though -- the ACTUAL problem needs to be identified before it can be addressed.

The longer I participate in this hobby, the more I come to the conclusion that this platform is bad for competitive play. It does cooperative very well, but actual players competing with other players, due to the distance between people and how human brains work, actual competition is ultimately poison.

This can be partially mitigated by completely removing the human judgment element (reducing it to objective code), but ultimately a whole lot of time and effort has to be put in to adjusting for the problems the platform introduces.

Note, I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm saying it's trying to climb a mountain barefoot. There are completely valid reasons to do it, but holy crap it's too much work for me.

eta: Also, I'd like to make the distinction between actual competitive play and cooperative play that involves antagonistic/antagonist characters, because they ARE different things.

I was not joking when I said that if someone doesn't see the inherit 'why this is an awful idea' in the concept of a pay to play mush, they have absolutely no business running a mush of any sort, let alone one where money is involved.

It shows a complete lack of understanding the basic problems involved in running a game, and not enough understanding of human behavior to see how adding money to those problems makes them a terror. And again, if you start making money off of someone else's intellectual property without licensing, you're in serious trouble.

I'm pretty sure that this is a lot like....

"Hey, should I light myself on fire?"

@Halicron said:

@faraday said:

But this: "A good RPer can turn a nod into a six-line pose."

Really? That I'd like to see

The question was a difficult one to answer, and it clearly vexes Bill in a way that's troubling the stout fellow. He pauses, pursing his lips, but checks himself before uttering a word. Dusky grey eyes the color of graveyard granite flicker across the street, to a gaggle of children and tolerant mothers watching like mother hens. Remembering the cigarette in his fingers he brings it to his lips and inhales, ash crackling in the silent wake of inquisition. He holds for a count and then like a smouldering dragon exudes twin plumes of smoke through his nostrils. The late winter's winds pick the ash up and carry it off and away, into the crisp sky overhead. He turns back to Denise, finally, and a tight smile crosses his face. His head dips a fractional amount-- the thinnest of concessions-- and then the smile disappears, and his cool gaze returns to unreadable speculation of passing pedestrians.

This pose would make me stab someone. It's a ton of words to say nothing, there's pretty much no content, and there is very little given for me to actually respond to. If more than a handful of these sorts of poses happened in a scene, I would not enjoy playing with the person.

@Auspice

Yes. Yes, yes. I would LOVE to see a 'storyteller's storyteller' sort of position on a game, in which their focus is primarily on running things for the folks who run things. As long as you had somebody looking out for that person, too. But really, that sort of thing would be ideal.

I love ambiance emits.

Even when it's the same six 'a frog makes a frog noise' 'the waterfall splashes' 'a fish jumps'.

Anything that takes some of the weight of imagining the world around me out of my brain and into the world itself. I love tools.

Having a doctor that actually listens to me.

FFS, it makes such a difference in the quality of my life to have my GP believe me when I'm in pain.