Best posts made by surreality

@ganymede ...the sig says it all.

@Prototart said in Getting Young Blood Into MU*'ing:

sometimes I really think people just try to solve these problems that are mostly imagined or hugely overstated ones bc it's way more palatable than "maybe so many people quit mushing bc of mushers"

This is a real factor. Like any hobby, assholes in it can drive someone away from it, and none are asshole-free.

A bigger issue, to me, is that expectations are typically unrealistic by default. This is harder to avoid than it may seem, because people creating games, like everyone in the hobby, have a set of unspoken ideas of what the hobby even is. (And goddamn if people can't stop high-horse shit-talking anyone who prefers some other way. This not endearing.)

As a result, when games are created, 'how they work' on this level is not always explicitly outlined. We don't have a particularly good vocabulary to describe the various flavors of games under the MU umbrella, which exacerbates this considerably. It makes it difficult to define the game for creators, and difficult for players to determine whether or not a game is for them when browsing.

This is not a small hurdle.

Not screenshot, but really?

YOU THINK YOUR CHARACTER IS COOL? MY CHARACTER IS A FUCKING
FUSSY TIEFLING SORCERER FROM A SLAVE OWNING CITY WHO HATES TO BE TOUCHED
THAT SOUNDS FUCKING TERRIBLE

...I totally know where I can play that! Everyone, quickly! To Shang!

Edit: Wait, wait... I have actually met this one there, I think. Lots of this one.

SOULLESS TIEFLING DRUID FROM AN AFFLUENT UPBRINGING WHO DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF POLITENESS

I think, re: terminology, it's more useful to focus on describing intended play style than anything else, aside from the specifics of theme and setting. (Tabletop simulator, freeform collaborative shared world writing space, etc.) This info is probably going to be more useful to a newcomer than the specifics of the codebase it's built on.

The new arrival doesn't care about the difference between MOO and MUSH or DikuMUD historically, why they're different, or how they've been used, why this game is different than the other MOOs before it. They're interested in the kind of play they can find there, and how to do it.

Tell people that.

@mietze If you haven't been watching the TV series adaptation of 'What We Do in the Shadows'... the first two episodes are worth that hour. The second especially made me think of the stressy crap you've described dealing with re: local orgs, and you have probably more than earned the laugh. (And would likely be able to spot even more things about it that are funny that folks not involved in such things wouldn't notice.)

Vampires at a local community council meeting. No, really.

@Trix The 'IC punishment because I don't like you OOC' kind of situation -- which I have definitely seen on and off over the years -- is the sort of thing I'd mention to staff. It's not easy to prove, but in an ideal world, the staffer in question will look into it and drop a bug in the player's ear to knock it off at the very least. That -- ideally -- is often enough to get someone to not continue that behavior, since they know they're being observed for potential abuses.

@Aria said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

And again, since I have boobs the size of an adult human head, that means I'm buying bras that normally range from $60-$100 for $30-$50.

I am glad I am not the only person who has to use that descriptor to really get it to sink in. Also enormously empathetic.

In this context I present my RL peeve of the day, knowing that at least two other people on the forum will get it now: OMGWTF husband, stop putting things on the edges and corners of a table I have to walk past while carrying stuff.

Or at least stop asking me why it keeps getting knocked on the floor.

Worse than cats. So much worse.

@Ghost said in Cyberrun:

Priorities i guess.

This is exactly the sort of passive aggressive shade-throwing this thread does not need.

@Ghost said in Cyberrun:

Just not okay with online pedophilia havens.

...and this. Again: you do not need to behave as you have been behaving to convince anyone that pedophilia is a problem.

Implying that anyone not behaving the way you are behaving is cheering on, or participating in, pedophilia online? Is laughable on its face.

Pyrefox nails it.

...is my personal favorite.

Yeah, not gonna lie, the real popcornfest is going to be watching the reactions to whatever happens at this point.

@Tinuviel said in Cyberrun:

Secondly, my main problem with this entire conversation - especially your parts of it - is that it is bluster. If you want to do something about it, like reporting it to law enforcement, or internet watchdogs, or whomever... do so. We're not the MUing police. Not by a long fuckin' shot. We don't have authority, or impact, or influence enough to just decide "Okay, MUing is banning this thing now."
Thirdly, this entire conversation needs to stop. You need to go take a break, write emails or call who you need to call, because us chatting about it isn't going to change anything. Literally ever.

Seconding this in full. Thank you for sparing me the effort.

@Auspice Malibu Vampire Barbie.

...dammit, now I kinda wanna make one of those some time.

@Meg Thank you, Meg. That is a relief to hear on some fronts. It's what I've been trying.

In one case I've been trying limit all communications to positive and cool to one of the folks involved, which is why this is beyond baffling to me on some level, 'cause... benefit of the doubt and I am a human being last I checked.

I don't have the time, energy, or attention span to maintain two faces. I'm not interested in taking oblique, paranoia-inspiring jabs at people and have been working hard to say what I mean directly rather than via insinuation. (That only seems to escalate conflict, and while that may be rubbernecker popcorn fodder, it's not healthy IMO.)

...yes.

Also just adding this:

I am a pretty straightforward person.

• If I give you a compliment, I'm not punking you.

• If I criticize something, it's because I think there's an issue and I care enough to say something rather than let you fumble.

• If I sling an insult at your behavior or whatever, yep, I probably meant it. If this upsets you and you think I'm a jerk because of it, I own that. Hate me forever if you want.

• If I say something that offends you (that is not using some ridiculously over the top obvious insult), please tell me so because I probably did not intend to offend you and I will do what I can to make it right. I don't enjoy actually hurting people, especially when I have zero intention of hurting them in the first place.

• I don't think bullying behavior is a fun sport, or funny, and there's no 'cute, harmless' way to engage in it.

• I have a very hard time lying about anything, ever, due to severe and persistent childhood trauma bullshit that I'm not going to go into here. It is more comfortable for me to accept consequences for a shitty thing I did than tell a lie to avoid them. (Also, this means: please don't ever ask me to lie for you.)

• I have memory as imperfect as everyone else's. That's why I am asking people to disclose anything that falls under the above, because I recognize this flaw in myself and if there is something and I have forgotten it, I want to know about it so I can do whatever I can to make it right. It's rare this happens when I'm making a conscious effort to never do a thing, but saying 'I don't recall it ever happening when I'm making a conscious effort to not do a thing' is still subject to memory being what it is, and while I believe it to be true as I write it now, there may be something I don't recall -- and I want to know what it is if it is out there.

I think the above -- or most of it, at least -- applies to most users on the forum. This may be naive of me, but it is what I believe to be true. It's the exceptions that are one hell of a thing.

Welp, that certainly nails why I'm the only person in my family who isn't running around with their hair on fire in any given emergency...

@gryphter This reminds me of something I've said a few dozen times over the years. Namely:

"Of course I'm typing one-handed. I am a clove-smoking artist cliche. Where else am I supposed to put the damn cigarette?"

I know I should run when someone provides suggestions. (Well, that or found someone with an appropriate warped sense of humor for whatever's about to happen next, depending on the suggestions, of course.)

Waking from a migraine-killing nap to an adorably ridiculous cat going all magnificent murderflouf on my hair.

She looked so completely baffled when I raised my head to look at her to figure out what in the hells she was doing.

"You can never unsee it" is good cautionary advice, for real.