21 hours in and whoa there is a very involved discussion going on. So I'm going to answer the original question instead.

@il-volpe asked:

What exactly is one, in your learned opinion?

The events of the greater world which go far in defining that world and much that happens within it. Some people might call that "setting", but the setting is simply where the events take place.

For instance, in one world, "winter is coming" is a meta-plot. It is an event that will be happening, but it's an event so large that it influences even small events within it, such as the event of, "better chop some more wood, then, and by wood I mean kill all Starks."

In another world, it might be "God is in a coma". The movie is not at all about God being in a coma, but the movie happens because of that over-arching condition of the world.

@Tempest

And?

@Tempest said in Turn Off Gifs?:

I don't think I ever claimed to be trolling.

And yet...

Most of the gifs on the forum get posted in the Hog Pit. Stay out of it if your feelings are so delicate they can't survive a few reaction gifs.

I do. And yet...

@faraday said in Eliminating social stats:

@Thenomain said in Eliminating social stats:

This is where positive or informative metaposing comes in. Those who hate metaposing often don't realize that offering up insight to your character's brain, their intent and thoughts and foibles, is mostly a good thing.

Uh... I don't disagree, but isn't that kinda the same thing I said in my prior post that Seraphim was offering a counter-example to? Or am I missing your point?

My point is twofold:
a) I agree.
b) You think I read every post in a thread? What? You guys are chatty as fuck.

@Ominous said in Eliminating social stats:

@Ganymede That is a valid and understandable position. What if everyone got one character that was solely their own, but the rest were available to be played by anyone?

I call these NPCs. I will pose bartenders, cops, random street people, all reacting to the events in the room. Often it's appreciated, but sometimes people find this to be invasive. (My usual response to that is: You are yelling loudly right outside a bar; what do you think is going to happen?)

--

@faraday said in Eliminating social stats:

@Seraphim73 said in Eliminating social stats:

Certainly, you can type things like @faraday suggested, and I have, frequently. But there's something of an art (in my opinion) to showing the little cues like avoiding eye contact, a faint stutter or hesitation, that sort of thing, that suggest that a character is lying without blatantly saying so.

Those make better poses, admittedly. But also... then you're actually relying on the player to pick up on those subtle cues, instead of giving the player information that you think their character would realize.

This is where positive or informative metaposing comes in. Those who hate metaposing often don't realize that offering up insight to your character's brain, their intent and thoughts and foibles, is mostly a good thing.

It's when you use it to sass-talk other players that it's horrible.

@Aria said in Good TV:

@Thenomain -- Hey, hey, hey. I can watch Babylon5 reruns AND Flyers hockey, thank you.

NerdCred=-1

@Gingerlily

So, geek fantasy (writing) and normal fantasy (sport). Gotcha.

@Gingerlily said in Good TV:

@Thenomain

He blogged about football!

... How long before we remove his nerd cred?

@surreality said in Turn Off Gifs?:

Because shaming is a super classy way to get your way, right?

Your mom is super classy!

(... yeah, I'm still working on it.)

@Gingerlily said in Good TV:

I was just mocking Martin for fun.

Wait...Martin has fun? I guess that explains why the next book is not out yet.

@Gingerlily said in Good TV:

I loved reading the series too but those next books are totally never coming. Or only coming 5 years after no one is left to care.

The people who loved the books before the TV series will be there to care. I don't stop loving something just because it's no longer hyper-popular.

I need to hunt down the Pushing Daisies comics. It wouldn't be the same as the dulcet narration or surreal filming style, but it was a good show that was killed by the writer's strike and uncreative executives.

Okayokayokay. My point was that you shouldn't over-think this too much. Think, yes, but act.

@surreality said in World Building: What are the essentials?:

As a player, what information do you want and need about a game world to effectively play the game (ex: be able to formulate a character you feel fits the world and knows what the characters should know about it)?

• The basic genre.
• Some particulars about how the genre is portrayed.
• Some information about the setting the game is set in.
• More detailed information about the main location the game is played in.
• Leading information to help me draw my own conclusions about the rest.
• All in less than 20 pages of printed text. If you want to give people more, fine, but I feel that I should be ready to go if I read the first/summary paragraph of each wiki page.

As a player, what kind of information do you find gets in your way more than it helps you accomplish this?

If it's done well, then extras are benefits, not drawbacks. 'Nuff said.

1. Have people willing to answer all these questions on and active as much as possible.

2. Do not mock the questions people have; you can’t think of everything and almost all the time questions are asked by people who are looking for help.

I think these two things are critical, because there is not going to be any complete information, and a lot of people are not used to having agency within a certain role. Saying, “hey, as long as blah you should be fine” is one of the most helpful things I’ve heard people say about setting.

Or theme, if we’re also talking about that.

@Rook said in Has anyone ever tried to resurrect a dead game with a group of dedicated players?:

If you really wanted to "get back to the roots", then don't provide anything. Encourage players to do it. Give them whatever tools that they need/want to run plots.

It's a good idea.

I have a game framework planned for this, but I keep having the very realistic doubt that nobody would play. To get back to the roots, you need to already have people interested in logging in to socialize and engage. That’s even true for modern games, since staff no longer has the time to create content on the fly.

Yeah, I’m just feeling pessimistic about today, today.

@Arkandel said in Mage: the Ascension Online:

What I'm uncertain of is whether the emphasis is on RP or grinding/fighting.

That’s a good question. @Streetwitch? No judgements, but do you want to clarify your play goals?

edit: For the lazy like me, this is from the main website:

Even though combat and magic are coded into the world, this is a social MUD.

As I’m not familiar with MUD culture, I don’t know what to make of this. Any words about what you mean by this would be welcome.

@Apos said in Mage: the Ascension Online:

@Thenomain said in Mage: the Ascension Online:

To explain the Debbie Downer post from @ixokai, Mage does not seem to lend itself to turn-based combat, considering that one of the core precepts of Mage (any version) is that of using magic in creative and unexpected ways, while the description for 'MtAsc Online' is almost that of a Mud.

Both their post and their webpage describes it as a MUD. I don't there's any 'almost that of', unless I'm missing something.

Then "is that of a MUD". Conclusion is not changed through correction of this detail. Point stands.

@Arkandel said in High Fantasy:

@Runescryer Staff are the problem in the situations you describe. People are the symptom.

You say that like staff aren't people, staffer.

@Sparks said in Mage: the Ascension Online:

This is definitely a pretty cool use of Evennia!

To explain the Debbie Downer post from @ixokai, Mage does not seem to lend itself to turn-based combat, considering that one of the core precepts of Mage (any version) is that of using magic in creative and unexpected ways, while the description for 'MtAsc Online' is almost that of a Mud.

I am not going to say this won't work, because fuck it why not see what it's like. I will say that @Streetwitch has placed the bar in a curious location and I want to see how he/she will parkour her/his way over to it.

If Troika can manage it with Vampire, it's entirely possible. I absolutely want to see what comes of this.

Can we please move this discussion to the Politics board.

Thank you.

@Runescryer said in High Fantasy:

Having a game with too many players because you've compromised too much can also be a bad thing. Just saying

I think it's the "compromised too much" part, but as I was one of the triumvirate that started Dark Metal, I can honestly say that there is no such thing as compromising too much if you know that you're basically making it purely for fun. It was only when staff started taking CrackMUX too seriously (that is: seriously at all) that it started falling apart. They betrayed what made the game what it was, and with it destroyed the game.

... But I know what you mean. Popularity can become a curse.