Considering running an OTT game. Mostly not in touch with my old regular group. I don't know yet what I'd be running, but that will depend on who all I have interested. Something fantasy-esque I'm sure. If you'd be interested in playing in an OTT game run by me (I run a LOT less of a tight ship when I'm doing tabletop, for the record), let me know. No promises made at this point, just putting out an interest check.
Still really appreciating this discussion, folks; I am really interested in the topic, and I love seeing all of the different perspectives on what can/should/shouldn't be done around this.
I absolutely do not criticize just to be a bitch . I was incredibly frustrated because I and some friends were actively looking for a place to play Changeling, checked out your game, got excited about the setting...and then ran smack into the brick wall of 'that is too much time to invest on a game that seems to put more emphasis on it being a dangerous, character killing environment'. Yes, bad things happen, it's the WoD. Nobody is going to contest that, but when something goes out of the way to say that when combined with a difficult (and you can say it isn't all you want, but coming up with a couple of pages in background and answering some potentially difficult questions does not take 30 minutes for us narrativists) app process is a dealbreaker.
We can all deal with stupid House Rules, every game's got them. My game's going to have them. They're secondary. Still, let me tell you, making birthrights 'real' is what I would consider a stupid House Rule. It's not a dealbreaker, but I will never not grit my teeth and roll my eyes. It's okay; it's not my game, they're clearly stated, and I can easily tell whether I can live with them or not.
I don't know you.
Nobody around here knows you. It does not matter if you have an article on your wiki that says that you are experienced at balancing risk and reward and people don't have to worry. It is absolute fact that all we have to go on is what is written. If you are repeatedly being misunderstood across a wide spectrum of people, the problem isn't them. Looking at your app process in the context of I do not know this staffer, I have no reason to believe that I am not wasting my time.
To maybe bring the point home a bit, I'm working on a game right now. Our plan is to not require backgrounds or approval at all; character creation includes broad sweeping character-story choices (born on the streets, nobility, etc) much like, say, GW2 has (but with more options). People will stat themselves, and they will go play. They will have a flag set on them, and at some point someone will come along, review their character, and stamp it with a final approval or go 'hey, yo, let's talk, your being a hobo and your etiquette being over 9000 don't make sense' and work it out.
This is still going to be too much work for some people. These people are not bad players, they are not people you would rather not have on the game. These are people with busy lives, jobs, children, and a couple of hours a week to play. They aren't obsessive about it any more. They partake in the hobby in a healthy fashion. Making policies that favor the crazy people like me over the sane people like @mietze or @Ganymede is insane.
I would not at all advocate going as open as this for an oWoD game. It would be horrible and I would end up lighting people on fire and then stabbing them in the face. Virtually speaking, of course. That doesn't really work for an oWoD game. But where my game is sitting at one extreme, the app process on your game as described and quoted here by you is at the other.
Given that you folks on the game seem pretty up on GNS theory (it's actually outdated now and has been replaced by an interesting model, for all that the creator is a dickwad), the narrativists in general are going to see that app process in a vastly different fashion than you do.
Last but not least, take your fallacy talk and shove it. Again, you're incorrect. Yes, it's a newbie move. No, you trotting out your resume is not related and on-topic. There are plenty of people out there that have been doing this longer than you that still make horrible, stupid choices because they don't actually understand the implications of what they're doing. Worse, they are often entrenched in their ways. In some regard 'I have so much experience' beyond a certain point is actually a negative, because that means you've had that much longer to not only learn bad habits, but to have engrained them so deeply into your mind that there is no way to ever change them.
Copying the post that made me ask (Goldfish if you want I will totally delete this and you can repost or w/e, I just don't want the link to not be here!)
@Goldfish said in MU* Gripes and Peeves:
Re: Period PoC again.
Here's a tumblr link like I mentioned. The URLs are long and the text is tiny but a resource is a resource.
EDIT: This chick has a whole list of whatever the flavor of brown you want. This is just one.
Yeah, as a female, I don't voice with randoms, period. Way too much crap over the years. My guild uses Curse, it works, is easy to use, and manages my add-ons beautifully. I don't see anything about this new feature that would entice me to switch to it.
Brainstorming Exercise:
Short scene sets that people can use as a jumping off place that aren't 'walks in' or 'sits on the couch when X walks in' or 'is at the bar hanging out'.
Action ideas! Any genre, any setting, public or private, whatever ideas you have. Games have different rules on plots and NPCs and things too, so go ahead and assume you have staff permission to do whatever:
My partner passed away on Saturday. Sudden. I think at this point everyone who played with him regularly knows; if this is how you're finding out, I apologize, I tried to get everyone. I'm uh, not going to be a great community member for a while. If you see me being a shit, please tell me to go take a nap. I'm TRYING to moderate myself but my brain isn't 100% functional.
Shit, missed it on first look through. I actually looked, too. Thanks!
So, something we've been throwing around regarding Dust is some sort of 'hooks/prompts' section of chargen. People can take one or not, they're just things (either plot or setting related) to work into your background.
If one gets chosen, it comes off the list unless it's something that can be multiple people, and then it'll go back on. Possibly considering a small amount of bonus points at the end of chargen for it or something. Hell, it could even be a variable point thing depending on how immediate the need is / where the request came from.
The keys here I think would be:
What are folks' thoughts on such a thing?
I wish you all of the besti; hope and healing for the future.
How sunk would I be knowing absolutely nothing about the setting except for having read the first book a million years ago with my horribad memory? It interests me as an RP setting, but I had a hard time with reading the book. ^^
@Auspice said in Getting Young Blood Into MU*'ing:
@Sunny said in Getting Young Blood Into MU*'ing:
Denying someone's shared experience because it 'shouldn't' be like that isn't helpful.
No one denied anyone's experience: we shared ours. Please don't insert malicious intent where there isn't any.
Er? Maybe take your own advice about inserting malicious intent? I wasn't making an accusation, it's all good. I was agreeing with you. o.o
ETA: Like, expounding on a point isn't an attack, I promise. I was elaborating on the sorts of issues that new folks have to deal with with differing cultures between games and how many, many things there are that change between games.
@macha said in The Work Thread:
So, on a day when my current job is sucking eggs...
I have started receiving equipment from the job due to start next week. I didn't get a confirmation email, but I think sending me an expensive monitor might supersede that.
I cannot tell you how relieved I am to hear this news. Probably only a fraction of what you're feeling though, so I'm sure you get it. 
Thank the stars.
They mostly all have their characters done, I'm the lagger, but we're a mostly Unseelie sort-of-a-Household; our former Baroness is now a Knight and we've come on a QUEST to Detroit because of how awful it is there, in short form. The characters are pretty great thus far; it really should be SO much fun.
In my opinion, there is a wide gulf between 'didn't happen' and 'didn't happen on screen'. If someone is roleplaying that whatever happened off screen DID NOT HAPPEN, then that is something else entirely. I am specifically -- and only -- referring to a difference of 'happened on screen' and 'happened off screen'. If someone takes 'happened off screen' to be 'didn't happen', then they would be in violation of the rules.
Characters should have to deal with the fallout of their actions, absolutely. I don't think that this means that players have to be punished with on-screen roleplay that isn't fun.
My Secretlabs chair was nearly life changing, because sitting in it never hurts me. Definitely recommend.
I am Rae there, and I'm happy to help with Changeling stuff, and yes yes yes you can Chrys as a Wilder. Need to be careful with the local thing, Wizz.