Best posts made by surreality

@faraday said in Hello MSBites! Grade your administrators.:

That is a pretty serious mischaracterization of why that thread was split. Sure, it started out as "hey doing this will make your game fail", but then people started chiming in with increasingly-hostile rants about how all MUSHes are basically derivative crap and the code for anything other than Arx required no effort. That's not civil. That's not even remotely constructive. And the final straw was someone calling me "tiresome and disingenuous", which may be mild by hog pit standards but is still pretty blatantly a personal attack. There's no justification for any of that in a civil debate.

^ This. A thousand times over. (I will refrain from going into the 'easy is hard' argument here, and how astonishing and wonderful it is that we have people in the community working their asses off to create tools that allow others to make a game with relative ease or how hard it is to do that, but anyone who has ever touched any sort of software or development project intended for dissemination rather than an individual project already knows the 'easy is hard' maxim very well.)

The reason debates don't stay civil around here is because a good many people around here don't value civility. They have stated repeatedly that they'd rather the whole forum be gloves-off.

For the record, I don't want that.

We do a pretty good job keeping the political flame wars to the politics board. Why can't we keep the MU flame wars to the hog pit? Because the people involved just can't be bothered to rein themselves in.

This is what I think should be happening, and when it's not happening, people should be reined in.

@Cobaltasaurus I still have a few tweaks to put in for fussy little bits, but shouldn't take long. I can remove anything you want gone pretty easily -- just need to know what stays and what goes.

@coin Unless they do it via this gif.

Then they get a badge or something. And possibly all my love forever for embracing the dorky cheeseball spirit of things.

@faraday It doesn't even have to be a hot button issue. Heck, I got insulted in this thread (which is supposedly inappropriate) in a completely baseless fashion because I'm 'not pure enough' an idealogue for someone's liking, and they decided it meant something patently absurd and disgusting.

And they got cheered on for doing it. So... yep. Pretty much that. This actually is a problem. Saying "that person is ignorant" only gets us so far collectively when that ignorance is bolstered and encouraged at the expense of truth and sense.

@tek Absolutely sure I'm not alone in saying: if something like this ever happens, please don't hesitate to reach out in any way you feel comfortable, even if it's just to vent or hear somebody confirm that the crap going on is not OK. A damn is officially given.

It's an update I never really wanted to be making, but I think some folks have probably seen it coming.

I'm out for a while. Probably for good, but I know better than to say the 'n' word. (Read: never.)

I'd like to apologize to the folks who have been looking forward to the projects I have had puttering along, because your patience has been pretty legendary with my slow ass. I'm sorry I didn't get further with them. I may pick them up again some day and just go full world-builder or something.

I'll check PMs over the next few days if anyone wants to keep in touch; just provide contact info if so. I'm not on skype much, mostly gmail, but every once in a while the phone's on so skype again becomes a thing.

Be well, everybody. I sincerely hope for the very best for all of you, whether we've played together somewhere across the 20+ years I've been doing this or not, whether we agree on all the things or fight like cats and dogs.

To the folks starting games, may they draw the right crowd and generate fun, may the drama never drive you bonkers. I offer only this one random piece of parting advice: savor the creativity your players share with you; every bit of imagination and creativity, no matter whether it fits your vision or not, is a precious thing. Never take that for granted, and figure out, somehow, how to be both proud and humbled by the fact that you had the ability to inspire.

@faraday Yep, that. My preference as well.

RL, I talk about scheming in this context. I hate scheming against people. I love scheming for people.

@friendlybee said in MSB, SJW, and other acronyms:

@deadculture said in MSB, SJW, and other acronyms:

@friendlybee The same could be said of modern US liberals, but the game of pointing fingers and using labels, once again, is counter-productive.

A bold claim, when this entire thread was spawned because someone said 'hey can we not use the c-word please?' and it resulted in a screaming/sobbing fit that's still ongoing by a very upset conservative, angry they had to face social consequences for open misogyny.

...did you even read the thread? Because that is not anything like what happened here. At all. In any way.

This came up because I was called a cunt, and I don't personally care. The person who called me that isn't screeching, either, nor do either of us bear each other any ill will. I made a joke about it because other people have made a federal case about it. Another person politely asked that no one use the term. Another pair of people entirely lolwhut'd it, at which point those of us who have seen this song and dance performed a dozen times sighed, shook our heads, and tried to warn people not to go there lest there be pointless, stupid drama.

And here we are, engaged in pointless, stupid drama. Like I said: high school.

Please keep up with what's actually happening? If you're going to engage in a discussion about facts, actually discuss the facts. Your recounting of events bears no resemblance to them whatsoever.

...and, as a final update, I'm out, folks. I'll check in for the next few days for any PMs or whatevs for skype or email info if anyone wants to keep in touch, but the pending situation that had everything on edge went... poorly. I can't be around any more. I won't be doing game stuff going forward, or playing anywhere, so if that's the interest (which would be understandable, duh), I can't be that person any more. Sorry, folks. I really did try.

For the folks I have met here, and through this hobby over the past 20+ years, thank you. Even the people who drove me crazy gave me great stories to tell, in the end, and I thank you, too. (Even Spider and Jeurg.)

The universe is made of stories, not atoms."
Thank you to all the people who let me believe this for as long as I have, and may your world be made of many stories worth telling for many years to come.

Be well, and know I'm sincerely grateful.

@Atomic said in A fully OC supers MU:

As for actual setup, I'm looking at a couple hosting solutions. If anyone has advice there, I'll happily take it.

Digital Ocean has been consistently solid. They're monthly rather than annual, but for $10/month you have all you need and more control of your virtual server without the potential hassles of shared hosting.

@haven Asshole works, and everyone has one.

...because this is not always a drama flounce thing. Sane space to contain this kind of thing; this is fairly standard on games for a reason these days after all.

Me personally: I'm out to deal with RL. Inspiration to write creatively is out the window, likely for good, and RL is taking up too much of my patience to deal with the usual bullshit in the hobby to do dev or non-artsy things in a hobby when RL's draining as fuck-all. Physical health and work stuff get priority, because (duh) RL is a thing, and time and patience are in limited supply for the time being. Still hanging around here to see if inspiration eventually does strike, and this is where I tend to talk to certain folks most easily. Plus: there's a lot of funny shit here on the regular and that's nice.

@Coin said:

I'd rather sit the offending player down and be like, 'Look, this attitude is not cool.'

This is the cultural change we need in the hobby -- not just in staff, but also people internalizing that message.

Too few staff are willing to do this, thinking it inconsequential, or just not wanting to get involved in any potential drama themselves.

Seriously, more people need to do this and be willing to do this.

For ye olde record:

I made a login there in a fit of 'maybe I will try something'. (That would be Lily, for anyone wondering who the fuck it was.)

I played one scene probably about a month ago, which was fine. I wasn't blown away, I wasn't offended, so I really don't have any feedback to offer in either direction, so I haven't bothered to really say anything. People were nice from what I observed, staff and player.

I logged in once after that a handful of weeks ago, thinking maybe I would carry on, but then my 'nope, I am still RP oomphless' kicked back in and I haven't logged in since. Likely won't, since 'the moment, it has passed' and I don't think I could get back into the character's head even if I wanted to.

That there's accusations of people from here trying to burn it down means I'm definitely not going to be putting effort toward trying to crawl back into Lily the Dorkbomb's skull. If it isn't true, that's shitty to claim, and if it is true? I'm not of a mind to get shot in some crackpot's feud crossfire.

This is really shaping up brilliantly for the second story from everything I've seen of it, and there's still plenty of stuff to do in the land of confusion between stories -- IC!

Presently, the cast, unaware of their real identities, are in the midst of trying to figure out who they are, deciding whether or not they want to cling to the identity they had in their former role (even knowing it's probably not real), and trying to find a way out of the bizarre holding area they find themselves in. This is a lot more entertaining than it may sound; a number of characters are trying everything to find hidden exits, means of communication with the outside world, while others are just trying to rest and be relieved that they're probably not actually dead. Probably. Not everyone can agree on that, really, either. Crackpot experiments to discover how reality works in this space are perpetually ongoing and range from trying to find names in baby books on the shelves to setting the whole dang place on fire.

This only has a few more days to go before the next story starts (pop in now!), but the reactions to new characters in the holding zone that no one had run across in the previous story -- and thus no one has any idea at all who they might be -- are really a lot of fun. (Some of these people they did meet in the previous story, but either look profoundly different in age, or may be hiding their former story identity out of a sense of shame, etc.)

It's trippy and meta in a good way, and if you're the kind of player that enjoys that (HEY @COIN I'M TALKING TO YOU HERE IF YOU GET THE TIME SOMEDAY SOON, you'd probably love the hell out of this), it's definitely the time to pop on and look over the list of available roles to nab one.

Again: people are stunningly chill and funny and willing to try things. That is awesome and fun, sometimes hysterical, sometimes absurd, sometimes horrifying, but in the best ways.

@tempest said in Miami, Blood in the Water:

If anybody doesn't get "Fallcoast staff is panicking because it dropped from 100+ person who lists to 30 person who lists in the span of about a month" vibes from this "advertisement", I think it's a case of being willfully obtuse.

They've been talking about it for months in spots scattered all over the forum. It has a thread now -- presumably -- because they're getting closer to doing something with it. Wretched has a pretty cool thread about some of the neighborhood systems and such he was asking for feedback about from well before there was any mention of the new game here.

I'm just not seeing the muppet flail or the hair on fire freakout. People in this thread are also saying:

@icanbeyourmuse said in Miami, Blood in the Water:

@tinuviel Truth in that. A bunch of friends and I made a krewe and a good percent of them lost interest because of the reset.

...and similar's been said privately and in other threads as well. 'Something new is coming, don't get too invested or start winding things up' is a thing.

Asking for feedback and input from potential players who like their staffcorps and game running style, while giving people ample time to wind up their stories, is something that I'd put in the 'considerate and wise staff decisions' category rather than an indication of mortal terror.

As usual, I hope both games absolutely rock, and the people on them have a blast.

As usual, everybody who likes WoD makes a login on more or less every new WoD game that surfaces, and there's a huge attrition rate within the first 2-3 months if people don't find it fits their personal groove or doesn't click, because most people are eager for cool new places to play and are interested in checking them out. We've seen this with literally every WoD game that opens, people, c'mon. (It'll happen on Miami, too.)

@auspice Not gonna lie, popcorn time in the Observation Deck is joy.

I mean, who doesn't 'no, no, don't split the party!' or 'awwww, damn, they're gonna get it... ' at horror movies?

Cheering on fellow players going through the classic horror tropes is a lot of fun, it really is.

Even on wikis, traditionally 'inactive' and 'dead' are different categories.

People fairly often consider it reasonable to leave town for a while IC and come back; if that isn't the case it probably needs to be laid out a little more clearly than simply leaving the word 'inactive' sit there, open to any and all interpretation.

@pyrephox I have yet to see a system define 'X' as 'perform the following script, whatever I want that script to be', which is a major aspect of the problem.

Both call and response need to adhere to the same version of reality. If call or response is wildly afield, some kind of arbiter is likely necessary.