Best posts made by Thenomain

@The-Tree-of-Woe said:

Pledges, in part. I don't like free candy, for various reasons.

Eh, it's pretty minor free candy. Changeling's system is designed for very small advantages adding up. Played right, this is a risk, though, as the people you're getting free candy from create a bond, and that bond can be exploited. Mage players can get free candy, too, unless you call "having to roll and ignoring all other thematic aspects of the system" something other than free candy. It sure is cheaper than it should be.

Mage has more than its share of unfairly gaming the system, and as a hobby we have gotten used to the phrase, "the rules don't say I can't", when only half the game is about rules. You're preaching to the choir, but until everyone stops allowing it, everyone will keep doing it.

A big part of Changeling is snorting people's emotions like magic coke

I don't see how this pisses on anything. It takes away nothing from the other person. You don't even have to manipulate a thing to get your fix, you just have to experience it.

Did you ever think of the implications of fucking with people's desires, sorrows, or anger?

Every goddamn day I logged in, but I don't think you read the same book that I did. In Changeling, there is only one thematic abuse you must agree to, and that's the one that made you into a Changeling. You don't need to manipulate anyone else, or any more that we do to each other day to day just by being social creatures.

In Mage, you agree to lie to the world, every day, without remorse, and fight over scraps of political power behind the scenes. That's hubris. That's pretty fucking barbaric.

Another part of what bugged me was how many people with emotional abuse issues completely missed the trick on this.

It's not a trick. It's spelled out in black and white. It could be they (sub-)consciously don't want to admit to it, or it could be that it's just a game and they expect people with triggers to be self-aware enough to stand up and speak out about them.

Nah, just kidding. I expect people with triggers about things to be as adult as those who like to manipulate people over the same things.

Part of it is my own tendency toward bitterness. Thinking back? Most of my bile is reserved for Liam's player. I never said I wasn't a hypocrite, or that I didn't hold grudges.

Oh, well, Liam could be an utter prick, though I got along with him far better than I did the Lokis or the Spiders. I simply didn't trust anyone entirely first go.

@Miss-Demeanor said:

Ummmmmm... didn't you play in the sphere with two Disciplines that don't just influence mental/emotional states but actually FORCE someone to think/feel a specific way? How is it okay for Vampires to completely control a person's mental/emotional state but its not okay for Changeling's to influence them?

He did say that 1) he was different then and 2) wasn't proud of himself. I think that pretty much covers that.

A lot of people don't like the Child Abuse overtone that is the Durance, but I myself like that the game can be about overcoming this, if you want to acknowledge it at all. I don't think the game of Chagneling itself pisses on anyone who doesn't want to get involved, so all harm is self-inflicted.

interesting post-script: Back when my gaming group was still playing RPGs, one member refused to play (original) Mage because it pretty much said to him that God did not exist. I think we could have made some minor changes to make that work, but that was his objection, so we didn't play it.

See, I think not only do we have a bad habit forgetting that the other players we're dealing with are human beings, but sometimes we forget that we always have the ability of reminding them that we're human beings. We agree on a certain theme and setting and rules, but we agree as players, not as characters.

Earlier this week I went to my first In-n-Out Burger. I quite enjoyed it. Coming from the city that brought you White Castle and Wendy's, it was a nice change.

@ganymede said in Dark Ages Vampire -- Terra Mariana:

@thenomain said in Dark Ages Vampire -- Terra Mariana:

Incidentally, does this mean that the CoD "Doors" system is being abandoned?

No.

Then what is it about the Doors system that is being hotly contested, here? I get the feeling that there is an argument going on in this thread that is only half-informed.

@The-Tree-of-Woe said:

That choice -- need vs. conscience -- is a feature, not a bug.

... What? Changelings don't need to manipulate anyone to get their fix. It's a moral choice. It's no different, no different, than the choice to use Intimidation or Seduction to get your way. Changeling may get power points and someone's cell phone number as a bonus, but that is—as you say—a feature, not a bug.

I really think you don't know how Changeling works, nor have you made your case that Changeling is a bad game to have on a Mu*. The only case you've made is that someone touched you wrong, once, and they played a Changeling at the time. How we treat each other as players can be horrible. It can. It is, however, an entirely different issue.

I mean, hell, do Vampires (nWoD, not nWoD2) have to roll for a Humanity Sin whenever they use Dominate? Let me check.

...

Nope. They don't even need to do so just to feed, depending on how they feed. Changelings must be special in this because ...? I've got nothing.

Changeling as it is written and as the book encourages you to play it is in line with World of Darkness. I'm sorry that you're having emotional problems with this, but that's all you. The book doesn't hide this. If you want to harp on the book not being clear enough about its abusive theme, I gave it to you with the Child Abuse angle, but that's been hammered so many times so often and, again, you must opt in to this.

Have you considered either re-thinking your thoughts or, maybe, not posting as if you are making trusims? I know what you didn't say, by the way, but you didn't say some things pretty loud up there.

@The-Tree-of-Woe said:

I won't be sorry, Thenomain. Merely pained by how awful it will make everything it touches.

I advise, with all sincerity, that this one can be let go.

(edit: taking my own advice. i'm tagging out!)

HEY BITCHES LETS TALK ABOUT THINGS WE HATE!

... How about the word “bitches”? I want to hate it, then things like this happen:

And I can’t stay mad.

@the-sands

Yeah, even mentioning it makes it come off as antagonistic.

I was going to say "fuck you" about it, but decided that it might come off as caring anymore.

I ask questions to learn. You're assuming I'm saying it's the wrong approach. You would be wrong.

So, yeah, enough of that please.

FYI, this is a known issue with the version of the server code they're using. Sometimes the game will SIGSEGV and when the new game instance comes up it does not or possibly cannot kill the dead thread.

The easiest way I've discovered to identify which is which is to look for the game process that has been up the longest and forcefully kill it. The game itself has been running all that time on the newer thread, and everything will mostly be as it should.

@derp

An internal screen is harder to accidentally break. The external screen is a normal screen. Also that thing is a brick, a typical early working prototype. Props to Samsung for making this technology work, but I bet we are a good two to three years away from a viable fold-phone.

@ganymede said in Dark Ages Vampire -- Terra Mariana:

There are a myriad of other ways to trick, manipulate, mindfuck, and socially outmaneuver people that don't involve social combat.

The thing about social combat (or social systems; I think calling it all "combat" is undermining what it can or should do) is that it allows people who are not themselves social devas to have their characters manipulate on a scale implausible in real life. This is true of physical, mental, and supernatural abilities, so it doesn't surprise me that anyone would focus on the social as an unusual exception.

I'm aware that you're nearing or at the point of saying "this is how we decided to do it, so this is how it's going to go", but the above did come to mind. I am fine with "because this is how we're going to do it" as an answer.

Ix was good people. We need more like him and he will be missed.

I designed a LARP once, where people had <x> uses of various skills.

It had many social skills, of which these were two:

1. The target character believes that you (character) believe that you are telling the truth. This is different than "the target believes you" because if you say the sky is purple then this is asking the target character to believe something that is absolutely stupid to believe, but if you say the sky is purple and the target believes that you believe it, then there's something to build upon.
2. You can ask the player how the character would generally react to a certain statement or question, before making the statement or question. That is, let me read your character and then change what I do based on the new information.

It was incredibly basic, but I realize now that it goes to what @Sparks is saying: You can't make other people do something, but you can still gain information or hide information in a way that doesn't overwrite player's ability to respond.

The only way physical combat completely removes player agency is character death and other very major situations. You can threaten all you want, but it's up to the player to decide how the character responds.

I like systems like that.

--

edit:

I also like systems like Apocalypse World, which is so good at differentiating character and player that choosing how your character gets boned by being forced to do something is actually incredibly fun.

I don't want to say there's only one way to approach social interaction with stats.

@tinuviel said in Tech N Stuff:

@surreality Nah, man. I'm looking for a wall-mounted Microsoft Surface device. We could call it... the Window.

You mean this one?:

https://money.cnn.com/2012/06/19/technology/microsoft-surface-table-pixelsense/index.htm

@sockmonkey said in Game Design: Avoiding Min-Maxing:

Should there be +census for attribute and skills so players get a sense of what the actually playerbase spread is?

This is best for non-newbies. This is a good tool for people once they get a sense of a game, tho, and can be used to help newbies via their experience.

(Which is the #1 Best Way To Help Newbies.)

My key just broke in my front door lock and I had to break into my own place.

While I hate leaving even a single window unlocked, I am so glad I left a window unlocked.

@saosmash said in Game Design: Avoiding Min-Maxing:

Every time we have one of these conversations, these are exactly the attitudes that confirm why I tried WoD twice and now never shall again.

Sometimes it's hard living down sharing a space with other fans, isn't it.

@arkandel said in Good TV:

@paris He should get used to it. Regular superhero comics are basically becoming promotional material for the movies, or limited runs and reboots trying to create interest in new films.

I think this is awesome, because we have more mainstream outlets for these stories. I imagine it will also create space in the comics industry for more comics. I don't know if the comics are getting more sales because of it, but I hope they are.