Posts made by ThatOneDude

@Taika said in The Descent MUX:

People can play what they want. But! If the grid is 90% specialized combat monkeys...

Who will grow their food?
Who will be able to try and get electricity on?
Who will be able to purify water?
To get people to work together?

A fighter might be able to bully people, but a starving fighter won't win many fights. A thirsty man will do anything for a drink, if they get thirsty enough.

I don't want to have to implement stat systems, but down the road if needed?

But that ties back into a cooperative storytelling experience, one that will (hopefully) have more than enough to do to keep players from boredom induced pvp and dickwaving.

Edit: The first line is said with heavy sarcasm...

I'd play a vampire to eat all the humans then the questions above are moot >.>

I like what @Coin said, it makes a lot of sense in thinking how things would logically play out. People are known to be more trusting of the monster that looks like them aside from the one that looks a monster (well in most stories). If faced with a ravage group of draugr that attack "the settlement" at night and kill people, turning to the combat heavy vampire or the group of vampires that can better protect you seems like the only logical solution. More so since humans wouldn't really understand that one is really the other...

I've found if you do monster of the week events, over and fucking over and fucking over that sure... You're going to get the people that will do stupid shit just to make SOMETHING happen.

Think about real life in how people behave and act out when there is nothing to do. What's needed is engaging story where skills can be used. If PCs are up against a raging creature downtown there is little use for my specialty in origami dinosaur making, right? I can opt to turn around and walk away but then what's my story?

I know engaging stories can be had that utilize skill sets of PCs in game systems in Mu*'s. I've seen it and participated in it. It takes time and effort on the part of the ST and on the part of the players. At the same time good story usually pushes a PC in some way.

But I think I'm digressing from the point of the thread.

I love being a bad guy, on a Mu* I played on in the past myself and two of my friends were the "evil trio" that everyone gunned for. The risk in the conflict was alway fun for me and my friends and the terror we wielded IC just with the sheer number of PKs under our belts was a great tool to use in RP.

As people have stated here you need something to fight over or a reason for the conflict for it to all make sense. For us it was all political in that game. It was first edition WoD in a multisphere game and there was an all out war between two of the spheres. Things would escalate, PCs would die and then cooler heads would work to calm things down IC. It was a great time.

@Ganymede said in Changes to The Hog Pit:

@ThatOneDude said in Changes to The Hog Pit:

Wasn't this place created to talk freely about "things"? Starting with Mu*'s?

The mods made it very clear that this board isn't the same as WORA or SWOFA.

I fail to see how one cannot "talk freely" about "things," even after moving the Hog Pit to an area that people can elect to access.

Of course not.

Wasn't this place created to talk freely about "things"? Starting with Mu*'s? Seems like you can ban people you don't agree with or that harass people easy enough...

@Ide said in Meta vs PrP vs Planning vs Impromptu:

I've always felt that mu*'s would benefit from more clear setting of stakes at the start of a conflict (not necessarily a scene, just when the gloves come off). What am I risking here? What is my goal? So often the risk is "as little as possible" and the goal is "pound this person until they cannnot resist". Both of which are rather boring IMO.

Some people handle this informally but there are rules systems that have this baked in and it helps.

I like how they baked "Intent" into CofD rules for violence. Most STs I've seen don't use it, but its a great addition. The one ST that did really use it in game made things much more interesting.

CofD p.86 - 87: By stating her character’s intent, a player is setting out how much her character is willing to hurt, or even kill, someone else in order to get it. If a character’s intent has nothing to do with hurting people and she ends up killing someone, she loses a point of Willpower, in addition to probably suffering a breaking point.

@TNP said in RL Anger:

@Ninjakitten said in RL Anger:

@ThatOneDude

They make you wear a nametag because at some point someone presumably decided this was friendlier, same as they somehow decided calling customers by (first!) name made them feel valued. First-name exchanges between people who are essentially strangers always feel awkward and over-familiar to me and I avoid them as much as I can.

Oh, I hate being on a first name basis with employees. Maybe it's because I'm old and was raised when that was not the norm. In fact, it would have been considered disrespectful. Use my first name? No. You can call me Mister.

Huh... I'd consider it rude for the sales people I deal with not to call me by my name. .. But my job doesn't require me to wear a name tag...

Why do you think they make you wear a name tag? Most people do it to be polite I've learned as apposed to saying "Hey cashier lady/guy"

"cashier, give me change for a 20 please"

"Tom, could you give me change for a 20 please"

@Lithium said in What would a superhero game need to be/do to bring in a new player base?:

@fatefan Fate is better than pure consent imho, but, I prefer more crunch.

Now the good thing about Fate is you /can/ make it more crunchy with some alterations to the system. Fate is really easily modified, that's one of it's strengths.

The real trick is making it balance out cost wise. Powers need to be better than stunts, but there has to be a place for the pure but incredibly skilled human character as well if you're going with that wide ranging of a theme.

It can be done for sure.

Something interesting I read here:
http://www.therobotsvoice.com/2013/06/the_10_best_superhero_role_playing_games.php

Quote about Marval Sage:
"When I finally opened up the box and played this game for the first time, I was amazed. Here was a game that finally answered one of the most difficult questions to answer in all of comics, “why do Thor, Iron Man, Hercules, Wonder Man, the Vision, and heaven knows what other epically powerful superheroes even bother to hang out with Captain America?” SAGA‘s answer is quite simple. Those other heroes might have super powers to spare, but Cap has the cream and the clear…I mean…well he has those, but he’s also got “Edge.” The game’s task resolution mechanic takes into account how experienced a character is in a way that allows Cap to keep up and excel without requiring the game to give him superhuman physical strength and agility. Not any more strength and agility that any of us couldn’t acquire through the Super Soldier Steroids, anyway. It was an elegant solution. "

@surreality said in Alternate CoD/WoD Character Growth / XP Systems:

@acceleration Part of the issue with the fear-based conditions is that a few of them include things like 'deliberately fail a roll' or 'do something that hinders the group'. Often enough, the rest of the group, OOC, will jump your shit for simply playing to the limits of what your character knows (vs. what you know as the player) that might lead them to making the wrong choice or a mistake, no matter how IC that action is -- when you're stuck with one of those conditions, it can be tricksy at best to handle it in a way that is not going to get you practically crucified OOC.

This is so true, but maybe its time we make a conscious effort to put people in their place for that type of behavior. So often we have people jump on the bandwagon for a number of things to "shame" or "talk down" players but this type of situation is rarely addressed in game. It is a part of the game...

I think the issue here is when talking of caps the examples used are games that are built with a cap in mind. When we talk CofD and nWoD and WoD and others that don't have a cap built in it doesn't seem warranted. In my opinion as seen through out.

My point through all though is if there is plot/story/challenge then most of this other shit doesn't really matter to most players.

Captain Blowhard ( @Thenomain ) brings up a valid point above about using more skills, this is for real something that should happen. Nothing makes a low level player that is generalized look more badass than when he can get that "single" success that's needed on a variety of rolls that test his skills/abilities vs the POS PC built to drop a ton of raw dice on firearms that can't climb a rope, or escape in a foot chase.

With that nothing is more fun than being challenged in RP. That moment when you know you have to roll 5 dice to avoid certain doom like: Escape out of a window before being spotted by the monster creeping through the house. With CofD what's even better is getting a fail and making it dramatic for the story. So when I bomb that roll my PC then will have to take the hit and fall to the floor making a ton of noise... Now my PC needs to get up (one round) and figure out how to deal with the monster that knows where he is by the sound made (+1 beat sucka, thank God I'm not capped and can use it to beef up X skill later with the other beats).

@Lithium said in Rick Sanchez' Banning:

@Gingerlily There's a small but dedicated group of individuals who downvote/upvote their select group no matter what they say. Essentially anything reasonable gets downvoted while 'shitposts' (their words) get upvoted.

Just to be clear, this moved away from Mage / 2e nWoD / CofD games right? Where beats are awarded as part of the game system... Right? This now is a larger topic of theory on XP systems?

@Ganymede said in Alternate CoD/WoD Character Growth / XP Systems:

@Derp said in Alternate CoD/WoD Character Growth / XP Systems:

In an effort to keep the Mage thread actually, you know, on the point of Mage, I vote that we move the discussion about XP systems and whatnot over here.

Thanks, @Derp.

@ThatDamnGuy

I'm not a fan of throttling spending by imposing timed limitations. I figure that if you have gained the XP, you have already gone through the time necessary to justify an instant raise. It's not our fault that 2e nWoD eliminated scaled spending; I argued strongly against flat-spending.

But I go back to other video games. For many games, there's some point where you simply cannot advance further. We all know and accept this. So, why is it so hard to accept XP caps?

As long as there's something for capped PCs to do, the game should be just fine, barring other problems. So, like you, I'd focus on the game experience. In my opinion, a cap will provide a different experience than a game with unlimited gain and spending, and that experience would be better.

Agreed, if the focus were put on the "story, RP, character arch, ect"

Aint no WoD game got time for that!

To be fair I know it can be done, I know it happens on a small level with some STs, I have an ST friend that has spoiled me to the point its hard to play in other plots. I like action, I like things to not be easy, I like to push my PC and the limits of the scene. I don't mind consequences that make sense and push story, but I found in some places thats not what they want. Consequences are made to squash everything the game is suppose to be for an ST and player which I guess needs to happen in some peoples minds.

I just know that for Mu*'s to be successful they need focus on the elements that make the game(s) great and provide a place for players to play.

What about something like this?

Venture City • A Superpunk Sourcebook for Fate Core
It’s not safe to venture into Venture City…

Take a trip to Venture City, a world of superpowers, villainous corporations, and ruthless gangs, set in a near-future where powers are for sale. From the corporate sponsored heroes to the supervillains in the news, and all the way down to the little guys who try to hide their powers, there are superheroes everywhere you see.

Bring them to your Fate Core table with Venture City, a 100-page supplement for Fate Core which includes both Venture City Stories and Venture City Powers, written by masterminds Brian Engard and Ed Turner.

Venture City requires Fate Core to play. Inside, you’ll find:

An exciting new take on Fate-style superpowers, including suggestions on power suites
A fully developed world full of rival factions, shady figures, and a variety of locations for the perfect showdown
A simple system that uses issues to drive plot and gameplay
A variety of pregenerated characters to drop into your campaigns
A sample adventure—Nothing Ventured—plus a series of adventure seeds to help build a variety of campaign lengths
Venture City.
Pick a side, pay your bill, and power up!

@Thenomain @WTFE I installed it with no issue on a mac and on a unbuntu server. Following the instructions was easy and after that its all python... But I saw where they have a ticketing system that looked like it could be integrated fairly easy.

@Thenomain Why don't you just switch to Evennia and be done with it already?

It does so much of what you all want already, or I should say it has the ability to do so much of what you guys want easily.

@tragedyjones said in Bump In The Night: A Chronicles of Darkness MUX:

@rebekahse said in Bump In The Night: A Chronicles of Darkness MUX:

@surreality

Coo. That actually kind of sounds like what I'm looking for, because at this point I still have no idea what one actually does on WoD games. You'd think I would, hanging out here, but the impression I've gotten is that it's mostly, "I'm a vampire, and also I work at the bait shop."

Vampire who runs a vape shop is my next concept.

Yeah, most vampire RP sucks...

The best time I ever had playing on a Mu* was on a system that behaved much like a table top in the amount of metaplot and events that ran. With that, staff allowed for and encouraged the players to interact with the grid/NPC systems to control, manipulate and even take over what other players had. It wasn't a perfect system but this was probably 6 years ago and my friends and I still laugh and joke about the stuff we did in that game.

@GangOfDolls said in Something similar to WoD, but not quite:

The Deal With Dark Spires:

It's been around for a long time (3+ years-ish) and like games who've been around for a long time its been coasting around on whatever former reputation it had and that at some point maybe, possibly Jim Butcher logged in and looked around (or someone who was impersonating Jim Butcher because maybe, who knows, on the internet you can claim to be anyone lol).

My first contact with the game was a while back when a player was sexually harassing several female players OOC. When staff was confronted by the overwhelming evidence to this fact, staff wrung its hands, quibbled, victim blamed, and refused to address for it a long time because the player doing the harassing claimed to have some kind of head injury and that any and all of his bad behavior couldn't be separated out from having a literally broken brain. So, y'know, sorry players who are being made to feel like shit by this player but he says he has a brain boo boo so I guess we're just gonna let him keep on doing this ¯_(ツ)_/¯.

Eventually he either was asked to leave or left of his own volition as a sort of split the baby resolution (I don't remember anymore) to the escalating drama but he's back now and I'm told back to his old tricks. I left shortly thereafter because I was just kinda bored with the game and a lot of other players were leaving because of this and other reasons and it seemed like at the time, the game was going through its last gasps. I guess it was able to pull up out of its stall but I don't think the game can be considered 'improved'.

This is a problem for a couple reasons but included in this is the current game is full of social justice warriors in the OOC room that like to sit around and make lists of all the terrible things happening to every marginalized group in the world but refuse to acknowledge that someone who has a documented problem has been allowed back in. That, and even though there's a fixation with being the type of game culture that doesn't stand for racism -- they sure do approve enough kind of racist concepts into the game as my last tour of the wiki seems to suggest.

My point is: It's the kind of feel good "social activism" that doesn't require them to really address any of the salient problems that actually exist in the game or within its players. Sorta like being overly concerned with your neighbor's lawn decorations from inside your burning house.

Magic users are way overpowered last time I checked but the fixes to these problems are often over reactions or under reactions or this doesn't make sense reactions. The headstaffer Magdalen isn't around a lot these days I guess but when they are, it's mostly to declare weird fiats that basically over correct known problems (like above) and create a new kind of suck or new fiats that create new balance issues. The wheel: they like to re-invent it.

Blackstaff has been a staff member for kind of a while I think but has never, I'm told, interacted with the game population. It's not even clear what they do if they do anything at all as a staff member but staffing generally implies that you interact with the game you staff on but I guess that's not a... a thing?

There is plot, which is good but plot is basically you and 29 other PCs all packed into a plot scene. 29 is an embellishment but seriously not that much of an embellishment. The last time I visited in consideration of maybe returning to the game there was some kind of plot scene happening. There were by my count 14 PCs in the scene and one staff member. Why? I have no idea why but I can't think of any good reason to ever run a 14 person plot scene including combat, unless you have 12 hours at a go to do nothing else with and you're unemployed because this is apparently a regular feature of all plot on the game lately. Early vanilla WOW dungeon crawls take less time than these plot scenes. So basically this is plot if you're unemployed and snorting Adderall; otherwise there is no plot you can participate in with any sort of consistency unless you enjoy scenes that include you and 17 of your closest IC friends.

So yeah, TL;DR:

Dark spires was about as good as any urban fantasy game can be for the genre and the medium (warts and all) but that came and went and now it's just a checked out staff, terribly run plot, and notably nightmare players mixed in with a few people who just haven't gotten exhausted of all this bullshit and left shitshow.

This is my problem with most games. People sit around and talk about shit that doesn't matter or pisses everyone off and no one plays... I want to log into a mu* and play, am I not the normal "player"?

@faraday said in Population Code:

@Thenomain said in Population Code:

This term has entered my RP vocabulary: "Are we RPing time/weather?" Almost every game I've RP'd on since the banishment of the dreaded "Nightzone" flag has had people either RPing game time or clarifying the conditions in their initial pose.

Whereas that term isn't in my vocabulary because I can count on one hand the number of times people were heeding the IC time/weather in their scenes. And I can't really blame them.

Bob and I want to RP, and our chars have little in common ICly other than they both like Pyramid (BSG basketball-ish sport). Ooops, can't play Pyramid because +weather says it's raining outside. So much for that idea.

Another day, we want to meet up, except +time says it's Monday at 2pm and we'd both be ICly working at our separate jobs that have no reason to intersect. Oh well. Guess I'll just watch TV instead.

I understand the converse argument is that these are fun obstacles to challenge your creativity or whatever, but here's the thing... I have enough challenges in my life. I really don't need code throwing obstacles in my way. It's annoying, so I ignore it.

What if you just +weather/set or +time/set for the room...?