Posts made by Warma Sheen

Went out to go to work and found someone had broken into my car. Took some stuff but not everything. I fucking hate being stolen from but all things considered, this was a kind thief. Left my work ID. Cleaned out my glove box, but left my registration and insurance. Took a bag of stuff I had in the back, but left my work shirts and most of my hats (but not all).

I find myself annoyed that I can't get raging pissed at whoever this person was. They saved me a lot of time and energy with some of the stuff they did not take and their consideration has me underwhelmingly thankful.

Assholes.

@arkandel said in The Basketball Thread:

There's really nothing wrong with Lonzo other than his shot, and even that is fixable. He's quite young, and at times he's shot well. You're thinking of his dad, but what is he supposed to do about that? We don't choose our relatives.

That's Lonzo's problem, unfortunately. And then that of anyone that chooses to sign him. Traditionally plenty of teams have passed on players because of the drama they bring with him. In this unique case, the drama comes from the player's family rather than the player himself, but it is still plenty of drama. The shit his dad stirred up in LA is far worth passing on Ball. Telling the media that the coach has lost the locker room? Psh... Lonzo Ball isn't worth it. He's proven to be an average starter. The drama is even worse coming from the dad because you can't do much about the dad. You can't bench him, fine him, nothing. But the dad can say what he wants when he wants - which wouldn't be so bad for most player's family, except LaVar's got all this media exposure (for some reason). And his diarrhea of the mouth carries.

I actually really wanted Lonzo to fail because I was tired of hearing his dad and seeing him everywhere, but every time I see Lonzo I actually feel really bad about those thoughts because he actually seems like a decent guy just who has a shit situation with an asshole dad.

Now that the other brothers have failed in Lithuania, hopefully the Ball family drama will go away and Lonzo can just be himself for a while and play basketball.

But yeah, I'd definitely pass on Ball until he gets much better, the drama has proven to be gone, or he comes out stronger publicly against the crap his father says (which he's currently been unwilling to do).

@faraday Agreed. But I don't think its just that we expect combat - from everything we see around us. I think the problem is in our ability to agree on how it plays out. That starts at even the earliest ages.

"Bang. I shot you. You're dead."

"Nuh uh. I had my force shield up."

"But my bullets go through force shields."

"No they don't. Maybe they go through a force field, but not a force shield."

And it isn't like there isn't social conflict either, I just think that there is a more finite difficulty with trying to adjudicate what happens in combat that people have more issues with. Social conflicts are just easier to navigate without using so many rules because of how open ended and fluid it is. There are multiple possibilities and so, so, so many interpretations about how someone feels about how someone else acts. So multiple results are acceptable (usually), which means less arguing over how things played out.

But physical conflict is fairly final. I hit you. And it hurts. A lot. You go down. Whether you want to or not. The end. In a lot of ways this makes coming up with combat rules easier than coming up with social conflict rules because there are far fewer outcomes. I've seen a few (and probably missed a lot more) threads about social conflict rules and what they should be and how they are handled on each person's individual basis. I rarely see a large consensus.

TD;DR: Emotions are more complicated than violence. Violence is easier to codify.

I like the general theme of things being in the darkness that most normal people just don't know about. They struggle against themselves and sometimes each other, and even on a good day the best mortal isn't much more than a pawn, the worst - a speed bump. But even the monsters in the closet have things to fear and aren't nearly as hot shit as they'd like to think. What will you do with your supernatural existence?

That's kind of how I see it. The thing about World of Darkness is that the theme IS all over the place. But that lets you take the stuff you like and ignore the stuff you don't. The problem with MU*s is that everyone takes and leaves different pieces and that's where we run into problems.

I was loving the character War Machine at the time I found the forum. Totally random. Not much else behind it.

@arkandel said in Plot session duration:

But why is no one interested in politics!

I love it. But... whenever I try to engage in politics in games it is usually treated almost as an afterthought. If I deal with mortal politics in a game with powers, the default response is usually 'okay, you can do that, but it would take X months for the bureaucracy machine to get there. Oh and you'd having to be working at making this happen the whole time so you won't have much time to work on anything else political. Okay, see you next year.'

In games where PCs hold all the positions, I think people dislike politics because it very quickly becomes less about IC manueverings and more about OOC preferences. Who likes who and is buddied up with who. Clique madness or whatever. In games where NPCs hold the highest positions it feels that actions are dismissed in favor of steering the PCs towards the direction of the current plots being run. There's not much change being influenced by PCs, especially if it goes against the current plot threads.

Because politics affects so much of the game, it is a sensitive thing for staffers to let go of. It can easily turn the game into a ghost town if it goes the wrong way, especially when you add in powers. So much mind control stuff out there. So I understand that. That is probably why staff isn't big on freely allowing PCs to dive into politics.

For players, you'd need a full group of mature players who can handle getting backstabbed, manipulated, thrown under the bus, or played as a pawn without causing ooc drama over it. And I would guess most people don't have high hopes for that, so that's why players stay away from politics.

Even knowing this, I can't stay away from playing at politics because I find that to be one of the most fun things to do. I run my head into the wall frequently but its better that than focus on things that don't nearly interest me as much. Every now and then I can get stuff done, but mostly I think that's cause staff has found it easier to give me some thing of little consequence than deal with coming up with reasons to steer me elsewhere.

@thenomain said in Plot session duration:

Is it? Even after my examples of situations where the situation can be sped up without relying on the kindness of strangers? Isn't it possible that we're approaching the issue from different angles? I feel like you're dismissing my post in order to be offended but eh, you do you.

I'm not offended. I'm surprised. I'm not used to you being so hyperbolic. I want to spend as much of the scene time using the system to play rather than to prep... and you ask why not throw out the system. Seems like it quickly moved past anything constructive.

Maybe it is just different approaches. You might be approaching it as a staffer. I've generally always run scenes as a player. So I can't always see player sheets or verify their stats. So trusting players is already a given in order to run scenes for other players. Trusting them to prep isn't much more than that. At least not in my weirdo crazy opinion.

@seraphim73 said in Plot session duration:

I also love handling prep-work before the scene. I've also started doing Flashbacks during scenes (the idea was stolen from the Leverage RPG). Each character gets a single flashback, which they can use at any time to have done something previously that has an impact on the scene currently.

That's awesome. I'll definitely have to figure out how I can use that in my scenes. I actually got the Leverage RPG Starter at Comic-Con before the full book was out (and got it signed by Aldis Hodge who randomly just happened to be walking by with his fam as I was looking at the starter), but it didn't have that gem in it. Something like that sounds like it can really bridge a lot of gaps in 'planning' since that doesn't always actually happen.

A lot of scenes just involve showing up to a +event at the proper time, killing enemy, then everyone fleeing ooc as fast as possible. Sometimes you're lucky if you can get players to even pose out, much less discuss what just happened.

@thenomain

That's an extreme leap, man. Feels like you're trolling me.

Asking people to do prep beforehand is not disengaging the game system. Neither is trusting people (blindly as it may be) that they've done the prep correctly.

I'm the last person that would disengage from the game system. I'm one of those (probably few) who prefer the long, drawn our scenes with Saga Edition that @Seraphim73 mentioned to FS3. Because I enjoy the systems as much as I do the themes and the RP.

The entire purpose behind the practice is to be able to spend as much scene time as possible engaging in the game system and the game theme together in RP. It is to actually be doing things instead of just rolling numbers and listing stats for an hour and a half - things that aren't even RPed.

Time is a very finite resource, especially for scenes on a MU*. That was the whole point behind the topic. I'm not suggesting to ditch the game system. Priorities. That's all.

@thenomain
I used my wiki subpage for long term spells. Super helpful. I recommend that for sure to help.

But for the 100 successes, I honestly say 'so what?' If the 100 successes would somehow ruin the experience for others, then at the very start I can tell them so and dis-invite them from the scene. 'Sorry, your character is too powerful for the scene I'm running.' I might even allow them to knock that number down to something that won't take away from everyone else's experience and enjoyment and still play, assuming the number isn't so far fetched that they are obviously lying. But if it is actually possible for them to get there, like an extended roll with many modifiers, it doesn't really matter to me whether the 100 is legitimate or not, just that the scene is fun for everyone else involved.

And that position is based on the fact that if someone has 4 different powers and 23 merits that let them get 100 success for some roll, I'd rather just go with what a person says than spend 40 minutes of planned scene time going over each and every aspect that allows them to get there. If we can go over it before the scene, whether in person or in a job, that would be ideal. I'm always down for that. Most players don't though. But that's not what I want to have anyone else deal with when they show up for a scene.

At one point, I tried scheduling a separate scene for prep, but consistently people would not show up then try to do prep in the actual scene with various reasons and excuses. So I gave that up quickly.

But at the end of the day - Its just a game. It isn't that important. Play what you want to play. Just my own personal view.

@sunnyj It definitely isn't the theme. I have had fantastic WoD games - new and old - away from MU*s. Tabletop, online, LARPs - all awesome, super fun. It is definitely, without a doubt, 100% the community. The only reason I went back to playing is because nothing else fits my schedule and priorities.

Also, it isn't the whole community. Its a few bad ones and then a larger group that reacts poorly, directly or indirectly, to those few bad ones. And I admit I probably sometimes fall into that latter category. But between them, those two groups affect pretty much every place there is and will be.

@betternow said in Plot session duration:

I don't run much any more but when I did, I emailed all the signed up participants with any background/setup info AND the scene set so they could be ready when it began and have devised why they're there and how they're posing in, etc. That first round of entrances was often a stumbling block with people trying to rationalize how or why they'd gotten there.

This.

I've never understood why players in a combat scene aren't expected to show up to a combat scene with prep stuff already prepped. Waiting until you get to the scene to decide what you're going to do just drags everybody down, especially when you usually have days of downtime BSing in the ooc lounge when that stuff could be taken care of.

My alternative is to handwave prep stuff. Honor system. If you say you have it, you have it. I'm not gonna nitpick over stuff your character has plenty of time to do. If you're somehow gonna cheat about it, not only do I not care, but I'm unlikely to be able to catch you anyway since I can't see your sheet. Roll it yourself, spend what you know you should spend. If you cheat, that's on you to be that petty.

@ganymede Normally getting farther in the playoffs is a big factor in MVP, but I think this year it was different. It was what they did against the Warriors that was the tie breaker - because I think it was pretty close. If not for the fact that they both played the Warriors in the playoffs there would be a lot more speculation and what ifs.

Your point about Lebron having better numbers and Harden having Chris Paul is an argument FOR Harden. Of course Lebron had better numbers, he had far less talented help. Houston spread its numbers around but even then Harden still had great numbers.

But when it came to playing the best team in the league, Harden (& Co.) got much closer to getting the job done. Harden led especially well, putting it to the Warriors - even without CP3 when they met in the playoffs. LeBron was outstanding, but he couldn't lead his team to even a single win (thanks to JR). And if not for Houston's game 7 3-point shooting nightmare, a CP3-less Harden-led team was poised to put the Warriors down and ultimately take the championship. LeBron was never close to that this year.

MVP is an ambiguous term. But I think that can be good. It offers more variety than simply 'best player'. I do think LeBron was the best player, just as he is every year. (But that title gets kinda boring year after year.) But his value to the Cavaliers was capped. I think they exceeded their potential because of him, but they were never getting past the Warriors. The Rockets, meanwhile, had a legitimate shot of taking down the champs, but only thanks to Harden (especially shown with CP3s injury in that series), making him more valuable to Houston than LeBron was to the Cavaliers. Their play against Golden State made the case for Harden.

As a person who has never played on this particular game my perception is very similar to what @surreality has described. Obviously, people are going to complain from their perspective and slant things to try to get other people to see it their way. In fact, a lot of times when people complain here it has the opposite effect and it only makes people curious to go try the game themselves and hope for a different result. Because everyone here knows that people can and will exaggerate the injustices done to them when they don't get things to go their way on a game. But the responses from staffers who come and try to defend their actions are usually what put the nails in the coffin, especially when done harshly. It is hard to want to play on a game when you don't trust the staff to be fair and level-headed and all your time and creativity can fall victim to someone's bad day.

Separate from that, I've never really understood games like this - while also recognizing some people love it - where the game is based on source material, but you're not allowed to affect the known storyline in any way. It always just feels like I'm making extras in that world. "Here's the story of people who weren't important enough and weren't capable or influential enough to have any effect or even be mentioned in the real story we all love! Aren't you tired of the story of great heroes, masterful villains and cunning scoundrels? Come bask in the apathy of mediocrity instead!" Its basically a collection of stories that were cut for not being good enough or relevant to make it to publication or production.

Again, I know some people love it. I know there are plenty of stories to be told in between everything else going on. I've just never understood the desire for those stories, personally.

@tinuviel Depends how far down the rabbit hole you want to go...

I just wanted everyone to remember that people only vote moral, upstanding, law-abiding citizens to office. Anything else is just unthinkably unrealistic. I think, on this, we can all agree.

The game being in Alpha makes things a little different for me, actually. Maybe I missed that before. With that consideration you gotta give a lot more slack. People are lucky that they even have a chance to app. And with the work being put in, I agree that they sound like their going over and above already.

Although it also sounds like a recipe for quick staff burnout if people are pushing them to do even more than they are already doing... So be warned.

@sunnyj There's definitely two sides of it. I totally agree with you that someone reading the background and working with you individually is better. I know this is true on every level.

But that's hard to reconcile with the reality of the experience of reading up on the game and the setting and doing the research, making the character... then stalling out, doing nothing for however long, each day feeling more and more like they'll never get to you and you just don't know when the wait will be over (or when to check in so they can talk to you about your background and character, etc.). You start to lose interest in the character and the game and all the giddy excitement of starting a new character or game starts to fade away...

Patience is super important for this process, for sure. And it seems like they are doing the best they can with what they have. I don't think anyone is doubting that. So hopefully all the good reports from people that have made it through can bridge that gap to help sustain those that are wasting away in the chargen no-man's land.

I can't believe the Cavaliers lost that series... Nailbiter. Heart-breaker.

@thenomain said in nWorld of Darkness 1E v 2E:

I think the lack of trust in this hobby, and the abuse of trust in this hobby, keeps too much fun from happening.

Cause or effect? Which came first - the chicken or the egg? I've only been around MU*ing for about 15 years or so so I don't know how it started. By the time I started the lack of trust was already a thing in a lot of places. But I think this is a symptom, not a cause of the problem.

I have been on plenty of games where trust has not been an issue - for the most part. And there have been funtimes. The problem is that it only takes a few small bad trust experiences to ruin months or years of a run on a good game. You hit that one bump and a long, good ride suddenly comes crashing to a premature, disappointing end. Most every character I've played has ended that way.

And in every instance it has been unwillingness of the people involved to resolve any issues in a mature way, a lack of being able to speak to each other without hurling insults or taking offense at every slight that has been the cause of failures, usually bolstered by the indomitable shield of internet anonymity.

The way I see it, not trusting someone will use an underage character appropriately in their story is not the problem. Shutting it down with no communication or attempt to come to an understanding is. But since this community is filled with 'insult first, ask questions never' types, I believe this will always, always be a thing in this hobby.

@thatguythere I watched the Rockets and Cavs as though I would have been watching the Finals. I think it was the two best teams in the league and so I enjoyed the series as such. It was the only basketball I watched a full game of all year. I doubt it is a unique perspective, but that is the state of the league, sadly.