It doesn't happen often, but when it does it's magical: That one in a million person with whom you just instantly click. Not necessarily in any sort of relationship - personal, intimate, whatever - but it's just a click like finding the ideal acting partner. The riffs flow, the scene is a series of 'yes and...' that builds into a perfect character building and expanding experience.
That's what I love.
@sonder Every time a man victim blames or acts as an apologist I have to wonder, "So. Who did you rape?"
Truly unlikable characters are probably best left, as @faraday says, in minor roles. That is minor in terms of appearance, not necessarily authority. That grouchy, irritable Vampire prince? Perfectly acceptable as a sort-of-NPC that shows up occasionally with the only real interaction with other people being out of necessity rather than desire. They can be interesting characters, especially as folks learn their foibles and delve into backstory to try and make working with them easier.
PCs that are in constant, sustained use being universally unlikable are likely to simply be ignored in favour of others that aren't such crappy people.
ETA: This also applies to incompetence. We all know that guy who is only in the role because he knows somebody who knows somebody. We all hate that guy. If your PC is regularly inept at things they try to do, other folks just won't bother including them. But if the Colonel in charge of your unit (for instance) is inept over and over, it provides story material when characters are forced to deal with that ineptness: Overcoming their CO's lack of ability, trying to prove he's inept, or whatever.
One must also be constantly aware that when you play X kind of character, one can fall too easily into the 'oh that's just what my character would do' defence when their action actively harms the fun or story other people are trying to tell. It takes an incredibly smart person to play stupid with any degree of authenticity that doesn't detract from the experience of those around them.
ETA2: So I guess characters with such intense 'flaws' are best used as tools rather than people. They drive aspects of the story, rather than having the story be about them.
IT IS NOT A BAD THING TO ASK PEOPLE TO TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM DANGEROUS SITUATIONS, FULL STOP.
IT IS WHEN LITERALLY ANY SITUATION COULD LEAD TO BEING RAPED IF YOU ARE A WOMAN AND A MAN IS STRONGER THAN YOU ARE.
@arkandel said in What drew you to MU*?:
And MU* are different, too, although for obvious reasons those changes are a bit less visible at a glance.
I think a big part of MU*dom being different is that we're all, most of us anyway, old now. We've been doing this for around or over a decade (in many cases much more than that). When you do the same sort of thing for that length of time, it can easily grow stale no matter how much Special Sauce you put into it to make it better. Especially when it's similar, not the same obviously, but similar groups doing the same basic stuff over and over.
And another thing... if I book a technician to come in between ten and two, that's because I'll be home and functional between ten and two. Don't turn up at seven in the morning.
@GangOfDolls said in SerenityMUSH - Discussion:
What kind of slow travel, wage slave, no bar RP game are you looking for?
A career in academia?
Oh hey. I have yet another one! I'm having a good week.
I teach history. How the fuck do you expect me to "keep politics out of the classroom" when political thinking and political goals are an integral part of studying history? And why is it only "politics" when it's the kind you disagree with?
@faraday Agreed. I have children, and work that demands my time outside of the classroom. Along with my own suite of mental fuckery. Those are my priorities, so I'm not going to make promises (which, really, are what concrete plans are) I can't be sure I can keep.
Made my D&D DM mutter "Well, fuck..." after beheading an enemy she'd been working towards making the big bad for this arc of our campaign.
@Florida-Man said in If you work hard, son, maybe someday you'll RP:
@faraday said in If you work hard, son, maybe someday you'll RP:
@Florida-Man said in If you work hard, son, maybe someday you'll RP:
I only log in to play, so I don't consider this expectation unreasonable.
Logging in only to play is certainly not unreasonable. That's your choice. Just as someone can join a baseball team, attend each game/practice faithfully, never speak to another soul on the team outside of game-related conversation, and then go home. There's nothing wrong with that, but expecting everyone else to do it too is unreasonable. Communities socialize. Like it or not, MUSHes are communities. It's not just about the game.
Well, if I come onto a game to play the game, and none of the people on it are interested in playing the game, that's a bad game. Zero stars. I don't want to be on that kind of "game." Especially if I have to go through this multi-hour application process to get a character on it.
There's a difference between "not playing" and "not playing right now."
The MMR vaccine (measles, mumps, and rubella) is free in Australia, for children. And it's a pittance for adults.
This isn't a socialised vs American healthcare issue that I have. It's a 'there is literally no excuse for not being vaccinated' issue. Measles is spreading throughout my state here in Australia, to the point where schools (when they reopen in a week) will be affected.
Children will get ill and die.
We, over here, roll our eyes whenever another massacre happens in the United States and the rigamarole that surrounds it. This is the same damned thing. I don't care if you don't like getting needles, or you don't believe in vaccination, or whatever. Get the fucking jab and save some lives, you selfish twats.
ETA: Naturally those that are immuno-compromised, or otherwise cannot take vaccinations on medical grounds, are exempt from my rage.
@Sunny said in Our Tendency Towards Absolutes:
@Tinuviel said in Our Tendency Towards Absolutes:
There is a difference, I think, between simply writing someone off and actively making their time worse. I write people off all the time in an "I did not enjoy my time with this person, so I will not spend any more time on this person" sort of way, but I don't go out of my way to get them shunned.
The former is fine, and I'd say responsible behaviour. The latter needs to be punished as harassment.
Okay, that makes more sense to me, thank you. I was coming from the perspective of writing off = the shunning thing you're talking about, but 'I will quietly not play with them' is different. Thank you! I feel a little bit better.
That's just my view on it, not necessarily the one everyone else is taking. Harassing someone is still harassing, no matter the cause, and that can be punished. Simply not wanting to participate with/around someone isn't a problem.
So if I were on @surreality's game, and requested that she not deal with me in any capacity, that would be fine. That is the solution, not the problem. If I then went around and started a whisper campaign, which I would argue counts as harassment even if what I'm saying is true, then I should be punished for that.
It may well be that there are dozens of whisper campaigns going around. That's the problem that needs solving, not simply refusing to deal with a specific person.
ETA: This has very little to do with respect, in my view. I can absolutely not respect someone and still not be a dick about it.
@Derp said in Difference between an NPC and a Staff PC?:
@Tinuviel said in Difference between an NPC and a Staff PC?:
@Derp said in Difference between an NPC and a Staff PC?:
We expect you to behave like an reasonable adult would in any other position of responsibility, and if you can't do that, then you don't belong there.
And what a reasonable adult would do is find someone else to do it for them, so that it still gets done. That's what a team is for.
In what universe do you get to pawn your work off on someone else because you've got personal beef with that bitch Brenda in accounting?
You leave your personal bullshit at the door, and focus on the work that needs done. That is what reasonable adults do all the time.
Except staffing isn't office work, it's customer service at a call centre. So you're not dealing with a colleague, you're dealing with an annoying customer. It's not for a short period of time it's repeatedly, and often for hours at a time.
It's not pawning off work, it's asking for help. And a reasonable supervisor would see the issue, and ensure that customer doesn't get on your headset again if at all possible.
It's not a big ask. If there's a team of staffers, then there are other people that can do the roleplay just as well as I can. And I, as a player, would much rather have someone else roleplay that NPC and enjoy it rather than put up with someone that is there because they're contractually obligated.
Frankly, given how quickly staff burn out these days, I would much rather someone have the support to say "I do not want to deal with this person" and still get that player the scene they want from someone else. Staff are not your employees from whom you can demand anything, staff are people helping you. Staff aren't your subordinates, they're your team. Work as a team, not a dictator passing down edicts.
@silverfox said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:
a job that will not cover your basic necessities
The fact that such things exist befuddles and infuriates me beyond measure.
@Ghost I'll refrain from making a joke about the lack of trust I have in voters...
Are there problems with hostility and stupidity in the MUing community? Yes, absolutely. Not in my personal experience, but if I were any more laid back about MUing I'd be doing it horizontally. This forum is an exceptionally poor metric with which to measure the MUing community. We are not, at all, representative of the average MUer. We're not even really representative of our MUing selves when we're here.
Remembering negatives is an intrinsic part of being alive. Remembering bad things keeps you safe from future bad things, while remembering happy things doesn't. So it's a part of our make up. Simply because we talk more about bad things than good things does not mean that there are more bad things than good.
I swear to god if you've just discovered how to post gifs...
