Staff Bits Linking Handles
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@Yam Absolutely. Blu and Road, I think, have a great reputation in that regard, as does Tat. Clockwork.
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@Yam For sure.
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@Yam I would play any damn thing @KarmaBum slapped her name on, like even if it was cardboard box: the mush
My two cents? If you don’t have a handle, you have something to hide, and my brows immediately raise. I feel that way about everyone, players or admin, but I give players way more grace because I know not everyone wants to slap their handle on right out of the gate and sometimes it’s nice to have a haven alt.
ETA: I would also play anything @tsar made so long as it’s Janitor: the MUSH. I’m still waiting @tsar
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@bear_necessities said in Staff Bits Linking Handles:
If you don’t have a handle, you have something to hide, and my brows immediately raise.
As the creator of the handle system, this kind of bothers me. The system was never intended to pressure people into identifying themselves across games. There has been enough stalking, creeping, and other shenanigans in the MU community (and the internet at large) that I don’t think anyone owes anyone else their OOC identity. Ever. Staff included.
That’s why even Ares games have a built-in alternative method for alt tracking that doesn’t require a player handle.
It’s meant to be a fun tool for those who choose to use it. I’m not a fan of it being held against those who don’t.
(Also in practical terms a creeper can just make a new handle, so I’m not sure what it gains you really.)
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I think people lean towards the concept of interacting with someone that has been… kind of vetted in some sense, at least within communities. For better or worse.
It’s true that you can make a new handle though. I think there might be intrinsic value in handles that people recognize.
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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’.
For me it’s more a positive than a negative exactly because people can just make new handles if they’re actually trying to hide. There are staffers where I’m excited to see when they launch a new project even if I may not have time to play it.
I found the Neon Protocol people having no handles odd, I’ll admit, because just to make your life easier when you’re both staffing and playing, why not (reader, it turns out their reasons Why Not were pretty bad)? But I found a handful of things about that game odd, so it was not a part of my life.
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@bear_necessities said in Staff Bits Linking Handles:
My two cents? If you don’t have a handle, you have something to hide, and my brows immediately raise. I feel that way about everyone, players or admin, but I give players way more grace because I know not everyone wants to slap their handle on right out of the gate and sometimes it’s nice to have a haven alt.
okay while i think what’s going on specifically on NP with staffers apparently being super weird about their own alts and pretend-interacting with them and stuff is very weird and offputting.
but i think the idea that someone is immediately sus for simply preferring privacy is — not it. the “what do you have to hide” argument about people’s right to privacy is consistently a bad one.
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@Roz I definitely feel like everyone deserves a right to privacy and was being too overbroad. I don’t expect people to link their handles, I have played games where I don’t link my handle, and I don’t think it’s something that should be required.
I HAVE seen multiple cases of bad actors hide without handles or change their handle to hide, so that eyebrow twitch is mostly just a ugh, what if this is secretly someone I know is a bad actor?? But that generally works itself out, handle or none.
As far as staff having a handle, I prefer to play on games where I know the admin. I do think staff alts should be tagged.
Hopefully that clears things up.
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@Faraday said in Staff Bits Linking Handles:
@bear_necessities said in Staff Bits Linking Handles:
If you don’t have a handle, you have something to hide, and my brows immediately raise.
As the creator of the handle system, this kind of bothers me. The system was never intended to pressure people into identifying themselves across games. There has been enough stalking, creeping, and other shenanigans in the MU community (and the internet at large) that I don’t think anyone owes anyone else their OOC identity. Ever. Staff included.
That’s why even Ares games have a built-in alternative method for alt tracking that doesn’t require a player handle.
It’s meant to be a fun tool for those who choose to use it. I’m not a fan of it being held against those who don’t.
(Also in practical terms a creeper can just make a new handle, so I’m not sure what it gains you really.)
I never have a handle!
I don’t have anything to hide. It’s just a combination of a) I’m lazy and I don’t really like metaconnections between games, and b) I enjoy being able to have a little bit of a “fresh start” in a new game, where I can settle into a character without people bringing up previous characters.
Opinions may differ, but I don’t believe I’m a problem player–some people might avoid me, for sure, but I’m happy to tell anyone who I was in conversation or whatever, if I remember, but I do like it to be information I choose to share with people as opposed to information that is just automatically linked to me.
