Best posts made by Tat

@rook

I would venture to correct your statement to 'context-switching can be deadly in MUSHing'.

I make this case because I have RPed with lots of people who context-switch a lot and do just fine. It's very common for me to RP with a wiki window open to reference help files, especially if I'm GMing. I am /already/ doing this context-switching. I'm already reminding myself of something that happened in a past scene by pulling up the log, or checking out that character's phobias on their wiki page so I can be evil to them in a scene.

Adding tabs is not the context switching that causes me problems. That happens when I'm also watching a movie, or reading a book, or wrestling with work. The 'context' for me is 'I'm RPing', not the tools I'm using.

@faraday said in FS3:

In the mean time, the best I can suggest is to make a sort of log file script of the commands to set up squad A-9 and then use your client's "upload" feature to send it to the game. If you want multiple people to be able to do that, you can share the script on the wiki.

This is a cool idea, thanks.

I did use the saved NPCs fairly often, but the ability to just 'goon' and 'henchman' NPCs in Ares might serve the purpose they mostly did. I suspect that for recurring big bads, I'll create a character object to use.

Pretty much always it's word of mouth or 'I built it'. It's been a long, long time since I picked up a game based on an ad. These days if I'm going to a game, I'm probably going because I have friends there I want to play with.

I have a few threads that tend to run through my most successful characters. It took me probably... I don't know. Seven or eight years in this hobby to recognize them, and once I did, my success at creating new characters who were successful right off the bat instead of painful for me to get into skyrocketed.

So I sort of consider having a 'type' to be a benefit rather than a detriment. I've learned to recognize my limitations and my strengths and it's made playing both more fun and easier for me. I freely admit that I recycle certain character traits and certain personalities, and I often get into a new character by thinking 'she's like X, but with Y's flirtatious attitude and Z's ambition thrown in'. It helps me get into the head of new characters quickly - which is a plus, because I'm someone who has always struggled with character building.

My types tend to be smart, capable, confident women (it is so very rare for me to play a guy), either snarky or flirtatious-as-a-means-of-hiding-something. They usually have a pretty good logical/tactical mind (though they may hide it) and some sort of driving passion, which is either something they are trying to accomplish/revenge/uncover/discover or something they are trying to hide/recover from/run from. Or both. Learning to build the passion in to a character has definitely helped me hit the ground running in terms of having a story to pursue from the get-go.

I play out of type very occasionally, but usually for a specific purpose and a limited time, because it's harder. And I'm lazy.

@saturna Hey hey, my character ALSO moved away for artistic type school things, moved to NYC for a bit, then moved back home. Bit older, though - but we could probably have brushed shoulders in NYC a bit.

We do have a list of high school classes building on the Hooks & Hopes page if people are eyeing ages.

My issue with Potato's spawns wasn't their organization (although they did take up an oddly large amount of white space), but the fact that you can't move between them via the keyboard easily and more importantly, they are really bad about activity notifications.

So I've just figured out how to get channels, at least, to behave mostly like SimpleMU spawns in BeipMU, and guys, this thing is pretty great.

You can set triggers to send toast notifications. You can manipulate the exact margins and line spacing separately for input and output windows. It has a discord channel with helpful people who also discuss updates.

Pretty sure this is my new client.

@faraday said in Learning Ruby for Ares:

If you wanted to eliminate the human factor there and track someone's gear, you'd need an inventory system. Most likely the basis of it would just be a simple list of gear items, which is simple enough. But then you'd also need to figure out how people get gear, what gear is available, what the gear does, how it relates to other systems (like combat) ... all of which is highly game-specific. It can be done, but I'm doubtful that it can be done generically.

Spirit Lake has an inventory system for magical items and potions (that folks are welcome to look at if interested), but it definitely gets messy real fast if you want the inventory to limit what people can DO with things (ie, in combat). Ours do, but only via a lot of extra code.

Our code could probably be adapted fairly easily for generic items if you literally want to store lists and descs, but that's about it.

Or, @Derp , if you're wanting to build something out more fully, I can show you how I did it and it might offer some inspiration (caveat: there are often better ways to do things than the way I do things, but it does at least work).

@lotherio said in Criticism: X-Men Divergence:

The only thing I could reason for requiring a guest bit to apply for a roster is to save DB clutter, but this isn't 1990 when total available/virtual space was MBs in some shell on someone's home box, which included space for web/graphics.

There's not a smooth way in Ares to require an application for a roster character without the email step. It's not this game trying to be obstructionist or anything - they're probably just using the tools they have. If you want to require an application for a roster (and you don't want to/don't know how to code a different solution), asking for an email for a response is the best you've got.

@arkandel said in Weird or unrealistic gaming... stuff:

@tat Also keep in mind balancing for a MUSH is much easier than doing so for a table-top RPG because you can always patch things retroactively, especially if it's automated.

If your 'real' metrics, unlike theorycrafting, show that +3 initiative is better than +3 defense you can adjust it on the fly. Maybe you'll refund some XP spends for those who invested based on the old system.

Once you print then ship rulebooks out it's a pain in the ass to create and distribute errata.

I play Magic: the Gathering which makes all of this even worse. You opened packs or traded for a mythic card that got banned? Well, sucks to be you!

I'm not entirely sure that's true. We're 3 years into this system now - at what point do we make giant changes and say that people who've invested in this system and RPed a lot of 'canon' stuff around it just suck up the changes?

We have made SOME changes - including actually some fairly big ones about how things roll, etc. But there are also changes that would be so fundamentally theme-changing or discount a lot of established RP that they'll absolutely wait on a sequel, if one happens. I'm not changing those things mid-stream, because the story and the characters are ultimately more important than the balanced numbers.

I mean, no, there's no cost associated - but something like Magic is also (presumably) doing a lot of their playtesting BEFORE they print materials. We had a pretty meaty Alpha period where we did the same, but we're a handful of people over here - there's only so much playtesting we can do before we go live.

I think the challenges (and solutions) are probably just different. And I imagine that if I end up doing a Magic System 2.0, it'll still have things I'd adjust if I were Doing It All Over Again.

Putting in a shit ton of time and work on a plot and watching players get super excited about it and run with every little detail you throw at them.

@Three-Eyed-Crow said in Web-based MU poll:

One of the things I like about my MU client actually is the sense of separation, weirdly enough. I generally play with Firefox open and a bunch of tabs going but I can also...not. I can just cut myself off a bit, like I do when I'm playing any other sort of video game, and open nothing but the client. It's kind of nice and feels less busy.

I'm not sure if this is what @Monogram is talking about and I can certainly just use my browser for less BS at any given time. This is one of those things that's the fault of the user rather than the fault of the thing itself. But it is one of those ephemeral things that makes me rather like having a separate piece of software that I play on, even if I recognize that clients are alienating to newbs.

ETA: That said, I'm still excited about the idea of a game that's entirely web-based. It feels like the way forward and absolutely would cut down the barrier for entry that's keeping new players out of the hobby. I'm just trying to put my finger on why I like my MU client, in addition to all the centralization for real-time RP stuff I think telnet games do quite well.

This is pretty much where I am. I am SUPER excited to leave telnet games and their limitations and their frustrations behind. That doesn't necessarily mean I'd love RPing in a browser all the time. I have too much going on and I'd inevitably lose things.

But there are lots and lots of web apps that also have their own stand-alone client. Being web-based doesn't HAVE to mean everything lives in a browser. Think Slack, or Spotify, or Pandora. You can use their web client, or you can download their dedicated application and run it that way. That's what would be the ideal end-game to me.

The primary benefit of moving to something web-based, in my opinion, is the ease with which you can start playing AND, hopefully, the ease with which you can build a game. Forum games are insanely popular because all you need to run one is an idea and the ability to write some text. It'd be great if we could get even close to that easy for a basic M* game.

@faraday (kind of belatedly)

I think part of the problem is that 'hobbies' can be such a very broad range that if you want to be REALLY GOOD at your hobby (lots of people do), it's kind of hard to show that.

Also, honestly? I think there's this trend these days where people think that their free-time fiddling with x y or z hobby makes them totally as good as the person doing it for a living. I'm a great writer, I could publish if I wanted to! I could totally sell my knitting on etsy if I had the time! I could start my own bakery and make a fortune if I wanted!

Etc etc.

In other words, I think the failing is as much in people's actual point of view as it is in the system.

@Autumn said in RL Anger:

"What's that? You want to pay for something online? No problem at all! We'll instantly debit your card so you won't have to endure the sight of that money on your balance a moment longer than necessary."

"Oh, you're getting a refund? Sorry, it'll be 3-5 business days before your funds are available. Maybe more! But usually 3-5. Have a nice day!"

UG.

I bought a new, not-at-all cheap fridge in May. After buying it, we discovered that our measurements were off by .25 inches, so we cancelled it and they 'initiated refund'.

I got the refund in AUGUST.

THREE MONTHS for a refund.

@faraday said in Alternative Formats to MU:

So if you do scene/start Mess Hall=public then it starts up a scene using the Mess Hall desc.

Whoa. I totally didn't realize it did this.

BRB, rethinking grid options now.

@tinuviel said in What's out there now and what has been attempted? A codebase discussion.:

I'd say that it's less that we absolutely will not, more that we absolutely don't see the need. Speaking for myself, at the very least.

As the person reporting issues with SimpleMU, it's actually because I don't have a good option. There's no modern client on PCs that handles spawns nicely, to my knowledge (and good lord if there is one, please point me to it).

Please, get me away from this thing. I'd love to upgrade. I'd love to go telnet-free.

I admit that I do still want a client, though. I really like having a separate program for my RP so it doesn't get lost in the clutter. But for a good enough system, I'd deal.

@faraday said in MU Flowchart:

@Ashen-Shugar @Thenomain ++1

If I have my way, I'm never touching another line of MUSHCode ever again.

This is a super awesome goal. I've often wanted to do bodily harm to whoever decided that code should be one blob of indecipherable text that would break if you have mismatching punctuation.

1.4. Are there tiaras involved in this contest? Sashes, maybe?

@rnmissionrun said in Alternative Formats to MU:

I think it's important to keep in mind that neither Ares nor Evennia are bringing anything to the table that we haven't had for the past 25 years (except for the ability to code MU*s in Python and Ruby). Servers such as MOO, ColdMUD, DGD, and MUCK are every bit as capable (and are even superior in many respects) as their more modern counterparts but have largely been ignored because MUSH was easier and 'good enough'. Evennia and Ares are not going to reverse that trend, any more than ColdMUD and MUCK did.

This is coming from someone who has spent the last four months working on an Evennia based project

Besides the built-in web-integration (possible in other servers, but only if you know how to code it yourself), the big, giant, enormous benefit of Evennia and Ares is that they are written in languages for which many, many tutorials, help communities, and books exist.

I taught myself MOO code maybe a decade ago. The documentation is atrocious and it's hard to learn without a mentor. It's also hard to find mentors.

I prefer it to coding in MUSH for many, many reasons, but I'm still super enthused about seeing MU games moving to code platforms that I can learn without having to cross my fingers and archive.org decades-old help pages.

@Derp

Not forever. We're starting to hit our disk space limit - I think we're sitting at about 85%. But definitely for a good long while, and upping it isn't that big a deal.

But we've also been going for almost a year and have accumulated a LOT of stuff - and I keep a small test server on the same droplet.