@Ganymede Yeah. I'm aiming for a smaller crowd but if I go ahead I'll definitely a solid group of staffers to help with all the behind the scenes. First things first, though. Can't hire good staffers without a solid core theme/system/ideology, so I'm working that out first. Hell, this project might be six months out, the way I move.
@Ninjakitten Thank you! I re-wrote at one point and apparently missed that. Edited to kind of fix (added to the list of things I need to smooth out).
I'm hoping this is the correct place to post this. It's not really an advertisement but a request for input. Feel free to yell at me or move it if you need to.
So, I recently took a little break from MUing and now the itch is back and I'm feeling fresh-faced and inspired. At one point, I was working on a post-apocalyptic MU which never got off the ground due to some code complications. I've decided to have another go at it, with a slightly altered setting and some new game mechanics ideas. None of this is set in stone. I simply want to get a feel for whether or not there would be any interest in the game I am envisioning and perhaps get some input about things I should tweak.
Ok, first, a bit about theme
Basically, the game is set just months after a zombie outbreak. The world is still in turmoil. Very few people understand what is really going on. There's confusion and horror in the air. Survivors are just beginning to encounter one another. Settlements are unstable and temporary. Death is a constant threat and scavenged resources are the currency of the world.
What are my goals?
I want a zombie game that takes place just after the outbreak, so no one's certain of anyone's intentions and the zombies themselves are still a very big threat. Where no settlement is permanent and violence could erupt at any moment, with the zombies or between settlements. Where alliances can be made and just as easily broken, where members of a settlement don't always see eye to eye, where betrayal exists and there's a fuzzy line between heroism and cruelty.
I want a game that mixes casual RP with extreme danger, the requires forging alliances and also sometimes breaking them, where even the landscape of the grid changes over time depending on the players' actions.
The game would be World of Darkness, using GMC rules (but not so much the theme), with some minor modifications such as new merits fitting to the theme. All characters would be mortal, although I am contemplating allowing low level psychics (perhaps one dot allowed at Cg and working up from there). This is one of the points I'm still debating.
Ok, moving on to the technical bits.
Grid - The grid will be composed of 7 zones. Each of the four settlements will have their own grid space, as well as three neutral zones. The neutral zones consist of one PvE danger zone (a ST may choose to begin an impromptu PrP in this zone), one potential-PvP-ish danger zone (players may go head to head with each other - but be warned the effect this may have on the relationship between your respective settlements!), one casual neutral zone (where people may RP, interact, without fear of imminent danger or death - the place where friendship and alliances are made). These zones may be expanded but for now I'm keeping it small and simple.
Settlements - There are four settlements. As the game progresses, old settlements will be destroyed and new settlements will be formed. How, you ask? Each season (every three months), a settlement will be destroyed. Members of that settlement may choose to rebuild or disband. If rebuilding, they use their Resources (see below) and get to vote on what sort of location/settlement they would like. The list for which settlement will be destroyed which season is created pre-game (for the life of the game) so that there is no question of favoritism. Because of this, there will only ever be four settlements at one time. Starting settlements will be:
The Prison - Highly defendable but rather bleak. Bonus to Structure, penalty to Comfort (see Resources below).
The Town - It's almost like old times. Bonus to Comfort, penalty to Power.
Military Outpost - The last remnants of the military. Bonus to Power, penalty to Health.
The Farm - Laying low and hoping for the best. Bonus to Health, penalty to Structure.
Resources - There are a total of nine Resources. Each settlement will begin with one dot in each Resource except their bonus (they will receive two dots) and their penalty (they will receive 0 dots), so that all settlements begin with 10 dots dispersed. At the beginning of each month, ever member of a settlement by choose to spend their Resource merit dots towards Settlement Resources at the rate of 1 to 1 dots. Settlements may also gain Settlement Resources through approved PrPs. Settlement Resources include:
Building (materials) - Wood, metal, nails, etc. +1 to building new structures.
Building (tools) - Hammers, shovels, limited power tools (available to those who have Technology (power), etc. +1 to building new structures.
Food (supplies) - Scavenged, stolen, otherwise acquired food. Settlement uses 1 Food (supplies) Resource each month for every 5 members.
Food (sources) - Gardens, livestock, etc. Provides nothing for it's current month but will provide Food (supplies) 3 for each dot the following month.
Technology (power) - Allows the use of lights and some electronics. Level of Technology (power) determines how much energy is created (each dot can sustain 5 people in comfort).
Technology (communication) - Allows for the use of communications devices. Requires Technology (power) of 1 and allows players to use radios, communicating with up to dots/players at a time (this can be used during scenes or for investigation but be careful - it's not telepathy and the squawk of a radio can give you away, not to mention they aren't always guaranteed to work).
Armory (weapons) - Weapons. Each dot allows for an additional weapon in the Armory that can be used by any member. Uncommon weapons may require a plot to obtain.
Armory (ammunition) - Allows the use of guns. Each dot will provide 20 rounds per month. Use them wisely.
Medical - Medicine, equipment. Reduced healing times, emergency health boosts.
Settlement Resource Stats - The amount of Settlement Resources a settlement has determines their stats in settlement conflicts (because both diplomacy and warfare are options). It goes something like this:
Attack (Power) - Armory (weapons) + Armory (ammunition)
Defense (Structure) - Building (materials) + Building (tools)
Health - Food (supplies) + Food (sources) + Medical
Policies - Basic stuff. I'm debating alts because I'm not sure if it'd cause conflict in the settlements or inspire RP and could use some advice there. XP, I'm thinking 1 experience a week, with the option of beats/aspirations (with a 1 experience per week cap), as well as ST bonuses, which I'll address below. 18 and up. Keep graphic sexual RP to private areas. Utilize a FTB policy when graphic violence may occur. I'm still typing these up but it's general common sense. I'll hit a couple of them, however:
Plot and Incentive XP - Participation will grant 1 beat. The STer will get 2 beats. After that, it's the Exceptional RP bonus. Players can recommend other players, or staff. Staff can recommend players. If approved, player or ST can acquire an extra beat for the scene. I'd like to also extend this to Exceptional Staffing, meaning a build/admin/job staffer who is polite and prompt can also get get a recommendation to use on one of their characters. Each recommendation would be approved to prevent abuse.
Harassment - None. 3 warnings at most. No warnings require for particularly grievous offenses (which are thankfully rare). This includes staff. IC douchebaggery is fine but none of us have time for that crap OOC.
I know there's a lot of tweaking that needs to be done. This is a general idea and I left a lot out. What I want to know is whether or not anyone is interested in such a game. That said, I'm always willing to listen to advice and constructive criticism as well, so don't be shy. Just remember, rough draft! Just brainstorming here. So, yay or nay?
Edit: I need to adjust things a bit. Comfort was originally going to apply as a bonus but I need to re-write that. I did edit for the settlement stats to make more sense otherwise.
Geek moment.
Returning to an MMO after being absent for a couple years (two expansions). Choosing a role I've never played. Becoming the best in the group after a week or two at it. I am the healiest healz evah.
Also, getting over my fear of random groups.
Not sure if this qualifies as 'RL' but it's not MU*ing so I posted it here. Because I'm proud of myself.
Having a long-standing resident e-mail my corporate bosses praising me for my work and for being prompt, pleasant, and professional and then my boss telling me to keep up the good work. In my field, I mostly hear complaints, so it feels pretty great to actually get some positive feedback and recognition.
@Lithium said:
Person A comes back, puts up a post about how they've been missing since whenever, they're killing the character off, or their character is just disappearing indefinitely.
People who do this suck. I had a case where a player of a character that my character played with fairly often up and disappeared for a couple months. I played it off by avoiding conversation about the character. When specifically asked, I played it off as they were still around, just busy, etc. The player comes back with a story about how they disappeared and all this horrible stuff had happened to them. So now I'm in a situation where my character looks like a complete dick because he wasn't worried about the other character being missing.
Long story short... if you take off unexpectedly and without any sort of attempt at communication for months, please do not come back and say all this angsty, horrible, dangerous drama-llama happened while you were away. It's not fair to the player that stuck around.
Of course, all this can be avoided by taking 30 seconds to drop a quick @mail saying that you won't be around a while and please assume blah. Or, if you are in a situation where RL is prone to happen and you have absolutely zero internet access, come up with a back-up plan. I've done this with people before. "If I ever disappear, you can assume blah."
@Coin said:
@Misadventure said:
What did these authors DO? Be social, correct the time stream, lead social change, fight in martial arts tournaments a la Epic Rap Battles of History?
Depends on the iteration of the game.
Its first iteration quickly devolved into weird time-traveling shenanigans with H.g. Wells and and William Blake (who were sort of together kind of maybe) fighting Daleks..?
But later on, those players fell away to write their own stories separately. And, more prominently in the relaunch (i.e. second iteration) there was quite a bit of emphasis on supernatural and weird shenanigans. During the first iteration, some of them had found out they were reincarnated authors, but as far as I can recall, during the second iteration, no one really knew. We still mostly used the authors's names for it--it was just a weird quirk, or "named after", or sometimes just ignored all together, like some sort of weird supernatural field of ignorance.
It was freeform--no stats to speak of--and usually the stories were just... played. Some people chose to just hang out and socialize and do "Bar RP" or whatever, while others chose weirder stories involving the supernatural and the actual nature of the game. Lovecraft and Tolkien were, for example, good friends, and Tolkien's player and I had a great time merging the themes in their works and creating a weird, insanity-inducing plot about a ... well, ring. And the plots tended to lead or direct towards the nature of the game--i.e. reincarnation, etc.
That actually sounds pretty fun.
I don't generally fudge rolls on online games. Why bother asking for a roll in the first place? And once you start doing it, it devalues every other roll because the player knows that if it's horrible, you'll just fudge it. What I /will/ do is work the story around the failure. Oh, you completely failed picking that lock, whoops. Maybe it's time to walk around the building and oh, look, an open window. That way the player is still inconvenienced (they now have to find that open window instead of just going through the door) but they can still attain their ultimate goals.
As far as PKing because of a roll... I have yet to run a plot where a character could die due to the results of a single roll.
Edit to avoid double-posting. Another thing I will do is, when I ask for a roll that I know will be difficult, I'll give players a choice of roll. Trying to figure out a enigmatic map? Roll Int + either Investigation or Occult (or whatever skills fit the situation best). That way, the player can choose their highest dice pool to roll.
@Groth said:
@Thenomain said:
I'm still trying to play Witcher 1. If the controls for Witcher 3 are better than Skyrim, then a lot has changed because the control and combat scheme for Witcher 1 is pretty bad. A lot about Witcher 1 has been bad for me, so I can't confirm or deny the desire to play in a game based on it.
Witcher 3 is vastly improved from Witcher 1 and 2. In the first two games the combat felt like novel experiments that didn't quite work out while in the third it all feels pretty fluent and awesome.
I thought the controls for Witcher 2 were a big improvement over 1, but some of the maps were horrible. Loc Muinne made me quit the game.
To whoever removes light bulbs from shared hallways and stairways because he/she is too cheap and/or lazy to go and buy a light bulb... you are an asshole.
Long time alcoholic. 3 days sober. Headaches, nausea, fever, shakes. Fun times. Why did I do this to myself? I would like to kick younger me's ass.
@Thenomain said:
Well that's not Valve's fault. While they could say, "No, you must use our platform's DRM or none", they chose not to. They know it doesn't make Microsoft or Apple any hard-core allies, and Steam walks that very happy line between corporation and nerd paradise. They no more want to force you over to Uplay than you do, and by selling Uplay-centric games you're still thinking, "Man, I wish this was Steam." They get a cut, they get your loyalty, they win and I suspect they want you to win too but no enterprise is perfect.
True enough. My negative experiences have been so minimal compared to my positive ones. And they've actually done well with a lot of older games, which I'd have to go through hoops to play now without their tweaks. Brilliant business concept. I love games.
Also, if anyone wants they can PM for my steam ID. I don't play a lot of co-op, but now and then. I'd also like to get back into Secret World and could use some buddies.
@Thenomain said:
Call it a love letter to Gabe Newell. It starts: You broke my heart leaving Half Life 2 on a cliff-hanger, again, releasing four, five, six games instead of another Half Life, but I cannot quit you. I forgive you for everything for making a platform that people want to use, instead of one that the companies want people to use. You used the marketing of the superior to make us love you, and we do. Thank you. XXXOOO.
Except those games that require Uplay. There is no forgiving that.
@Insomnia said:
Steam has a Lunar New Years sale going on until Feb 12th. There's a story and you click on a choice and it takes you to that type of games. There is a Pirates vs Ninjas section.
I chose pirates.
Edit to avoid double-posting: I also purchased my 100th game. I'm not sure how I feel about that.
Stabbing at the sister property last week. Police raid at my property today. I'm questioning my decision to move to a new city for better pay.
@Cutey-Cat said:
So I played a WoD game for like... a week.
I was Brad or Bradley on Reno. I legitimately don't remember which @name it was.
So if you saw me in that week, hi, friend.
Anyway, I don't really have a comment on the rest o the thread but it's good to see that it hasn't been sullied by posts for a while. Leave your garbage somewhere else.
I remember a Bradley. I was West, for a month or two.
@Thenomain That's kind of what I was talking about, although I suppose I wasn't clear enough in my post. I've seen a lot of projects on other sites, people starting up new games that look promising, and was thinking about a thread to spread those around. Not so much the big names that everyone's heard of.
@Insomnia I personally like the updates. I've found a couple of cool games through this thread, and I try to post when I see a super good deal. I love games.
EDIT to avoid double-posting. It could be kind of fun to have a thread dedicated to new games, not just games that are on sale or free, but games that haven't been released yet that look promising. I've seen a few projects other places that make me eager for their release, so could be cool to trade, find those new games other people might not have heard of.
@Arkandel said:
Other than sources on which to find a PB, a few questions from me:
How important is the part where you find a PB for your character? As in, if it takes you X minutes to figure out what's allowed, write the BG, etc... what percentage of that do you spend searching for the right one?
Does it matter to you what other people choose? For example if someone has picked the same PB as you, if it's a beefcake/hot model or a regular joe... and do you think the choice means something about their character or even player?
Do you find it odd these days if someone does things differently? Say... has no PB. Or chooses artwork over a real picture (for a realistic MU*, obviously it'd be different for a superhero MU* for example if you're playing a comic book character and used a drawing).
Not very. I generally create the character first. Then either someone recommends a good PB for the character as I describe them, or I skim through Google to find pictures of someone looking like my character/in situations my character would be into. I also know jack shit about celebrities and musicians. As a result, my PBs range from obscure and unique to recognizable.
I have nothing against multiple characters with the same PB. People generally choose different pictures, anyway. To me, it's like an actor playing multiple roles in different movies. They're not all the same character, but they look like the same actor on screen. I don't judge on PB choice, but I'll admit I sometimes judge on picture selection, such as if there are multiple half-naked pictures, if there are twenty pictures or multiple gifs, or if there are a dozen pictures of the same PB but they look /completely/ different in each picture, even though their character does not actively change appearance. Ahem. Then again, I'll judge wikis, too - if they're lackluster, if the person creating them can string a sentence together, if they appear entitled or narcissistic. Back to the subject at hand...
'Alternate styled' (or no) PB doesn't bother me. I actually read descs and, to be honest, most of the time I forget what a character's PB looks like anyway and simply rely on the mental image in my head (which the desc and RP inspire). To me, a wiki's just for fun, just something to help other players get an idea of your character, and whether or not they might be interesting, but ultimately it's RP that forms that mental image for me.
EDIT: I just wanted to add that, interestingly enough, my choice of PBs have led to chat that led to RP, as well as (when re-using a PB) re-uniting me with past RP partners I enjoyed and missed. So there's that, too.
@Luna said:
I've often felt unwanted. The worst thing though is 'I love RPing with you, but so and so hates you and will get super dramatic about it so I can't' Ph cool. Bad behavior rewarded. Awesome.
This is when you walk away. The moment a person lets someone else dictate who they may or may not RP with is the moment when I'm out. That speaks of crazy on an OOC level.