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@Yam said in Staff Bits Linking Handles:
Out of curiosity I’m wondering if folk have ever had the opposite reaction of ‘ah him that motherfucker what a tool’, like maybe ‘ah him i love his themes/style/atmosphere i will check it out’.
Everything Darwin and @Wuff. They’re the two that immediately jump to mind, but there’s probably others.
@MisterBoring said in Staff Bits Linking Handles:
@InkGolem said in Staff Bits Linking Handles:
I think it absolutely should be considered best practice for staff bits to have an Ares handle linked.
I agree. How would you see this translate into non-Ares games?
Require staff list their characters in a +finger note, minimum… for extra chaos (as a joke), link to a BMD playlist featuring every character they have ever played.
I’m ambivalent on this.
On one side, I like to know whose house I’m visiting. On the other, people have plenty valid reasons for not leaving a trail of crumbs for stalkers and abusers to follow.
On Keys, we have no policy on the subject. It’s never been an issue that I’m aware of. But then, my handle is registered for anyone to see. Maybe it’s more the game runner than the rest of staff that needs to be recognisable. They are, after all, the person with the power to pull the plug.
The elephant in the room is how Neon Protocol straight up looks like a scenario in AI dungeon. I was immediately repelled by it.
@Roadspike said in Staff Bits Linking Handles:
Sure, it can be nice to go “off duty” and pretend to not be a staffer for a while playing a “hidden alt,” but it’s also disingenuous, because you are a staffer, and you’re seeing things through staffer eyes the whole time, and can bring in the weight of staff whenever you want (either through yourself or one of your fellow staffers).
While I definitely agree, there also needs to be a bit of non-staff player responsibility here too to give staffers who are not active on their staff bit a chance to actually play and relax. In my experience we’ve gotten better at that, on the whole, in the past few years but that hasn’t always been the case—hence, at least partially, the desire to have “plain clothes” alts.
on rp being full of really good and really bad times, i’m waiting for the day i’m a calm enough person that the hobby i love feels like a completely healthy indulgence. I get so much out of it, there’s genuinely nothing to replace it, but it can also be so grating on my emotional well-being. I tend to feel pretty alone in this, or like I shouldn’t talk about it because nobody else feels things intensely like i do surely. lol anyway, i just thought about that reading some above comments.
There are definitely good reasons for not linking an AresMUSH handle to your account–there are creepers and assholes and rumormongers aplenty in our little hobby.
So I agree that no one is beholden to creating a last handle that goes beyond games, someone else’s safety is more important than my comfort.
But I will admit that I feel a great deal more comfortable when I recognize the handle of staff on a game and I know who I’m dealing with. It allows me to start out in a place of trust (or to avoid the game entirely if it’s someone I’ve had a bad run-in with in the past). If they have a handle that I don’t recognize, I will start out in a place of neither trust nor distrust. There should always be room for new folks to come into the hobby and start up a game, but for me at least, it always makes me feel a little better to recognize a handle that I know and trust on the staff list.
I also think that staff should always have their player bits linked to their staff bit. As others have pointed out, there’s a power imbalance there, and unless it’s recognized and called out, it can get treacherous. Sure, it can be nice to go “off duty” and pretend to not be a staffer for a while playing a “hidden alt,” but it’s also disingenuous, because you are a staffer, and you’re seeing things through staffer eyes the whole time, and can bring in the weight of staff whenever you want (either through yourself or one of your fellow staffers).
Player linking bits I think is a whole topic in and of itself with different ramifications than staff bits. Staff bits have an implied power aspect and control difference.
I don’t even think it’s done for ill will, but it can still be jarring. If you think person X is this cool person that you have been playing with, spawning ideas with, cracking jokes with, and maybe sharing RL information with – and then you find out they are someone else. It’s a trust issue. It doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world, but it can disillusion a person. If that happens, sadly every thing done on either alt becomes suspect. Then it starts the brain worm of what else weren’t they upfront about. These kind of small choices have large and lasting impressions.
As a player, you absolutely have a right to complete privacy for your comfort, protection, or preference. As an admin on a game, you have a bit less. You don’t have to disclose your personal information ever, however, you do have to disclose you are the CEO of the game that others are playing. Like stated before it’s the implied trust part of it.
That’s at least my thoughts, doesn’t mean it’s right, but it’s my opinion.
@Pavel said in MU Peeves Thread:
@RightMeow Would starting your own game be the equivalent of having a baby to save the toxic relationship?
Because I’ve considered it rather seriously for more than a few moments of late.
what kind
