@Pavel I go back and forth on “it’s a just game,” just because so many times the phrase is used to diminish/ignore real issues, but I think you got it just right here.

If one’s choices are, “Hurt people who trust me,” or “Log off until I cool down,” really only one of those responses is right, and it’s right every time.

Sun thought I was upset at Polk’s bigotry. I had noticed it, but it wasn’t why I tried to talk to her about him. I told her expressly I was not interested in that side of the talk; that I had identified complex patterns of deceit and recklessness; that several other players (9 by the end) had given me proofs, some receipts. The end result was a ban for me and my partner. 8 other folks left the game within a week of that.

That’s why I have the signature I do. That’s why I laughed my ass off when Polk tried to throw in with me. Nah, bake on the pavement, wormie.

Sun, if you see this, even if you replace Polk, Wolfe, Mizha, all the troublemakers, the problem is your myopia, your inflexibility and your inability to believe you’re making a mistake until it’s you, not others, paying the price. Your “only complain about harassment/abuse/etc to me” rule was the greatest shield a serial abuser could hope for. You don’t trust us, and without trust nothing will get better.

"They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre

@MisterBoring That dog don’t hunt.

First, I made clear that a person’s capacity to speed-post or be syntax-perfect and typo free isn’t a qualifying factor in whom I choose to give my time. In fact I’d argue that one of the repulsive aspects of LLM in any type of RP is that the idea of wanting other writers to be like me is narcissistic and small-minded. The qualifier I care about is to be chosen as the one someone shares their time with, and hopefully have unique experiences come out of the pairing/grouping.

Second, I cannot believe anyone is “forced” to use ChatGPT (or other LLMs) for RP, only that they may opt to and if they are open about it I might suggest alternatives. So that stance in this hypothetical situation doesn’t hold up for me, either. It may be the tool they choose, and I may or may not be able to tell a LLM is being used, but I won’t tell anyone to get bent unless they are abusive to me or my dear ones.

This idea that our writing in MUSHing is competitive and constantly being qualified or disqualified is for the birds. Such petty, snarky, judgmental behavior is one of the many reasons I don’t bother with MUSH anymore. I RP to have fun with creative people, not pretend I’m King God English Professor Shakespeare or that my writing has more value than someone else’s. This is a hobby. It’s about fun. Anything else is set dressing at best and distraction at worst.

@Pyrephox “You can’t solve an OOC problem with an IC solution.”

From your lips to God’s ears. Perfectly crystallized.

@MisterBoring The integration of “AI” into every single piece of software is personally abhorrent and will be looked back on with regret, mark my words. Further, if the service is free, you are the product. PAYING to be the product stretches that into the absurd.

I think my last point to make here is the simplest; I have NEVER turned down someone for RP when they said something like, “Forgive my English, it’s not my native language,” or “My poses are slow, is that okay?” I show them humanity and care, I feel special they chose me to spend time with. I will never feel compelled morally or socially to treat software with humanity. Especially when it’s so environmentally and socially repugnant.

@Roz If nothing else this dude has seriously boosted the upvote economy for many here. I’m dolin’ out kudos to someone every couple posts.

@Roz And I’ll tack on that when little Jenny Watercolor makes a painting, it doesn’t poison the entire city of Brownsville permanently.

@Pavel Let’s name the phenomenon Dead Telnet Theory.

Until AI stops being tremendously and irreversibly environmentally destructive, and until it stops feeding money, growth and encouragement to the most evil people on the planet I see no need to make excuses for it. Maybe I’m a relative Luddite, but maybe that’s okay.

I say this in the way of an American Southerner; bless your heart.

@RightMeow It’s a big step to take, but the most important part is making a choice to steward yourself, whatever shape that takes. And no shame if you dip back in later, just enjoy the power of the moment you’re in, whenever that moment is happening.

@DapperPenguin Christ, that’s grim.

@hellfrog Someone’s gonna read that as an irresistible challenge.

@MisterBoring
“I know it’s crooked but it’s the only game in town.”

Some folks are legit institutionalized. Speaking of my personal journey, internalizing the reality that I don’t have to MUSH or RP changed my life for the better. I don’t have to pick the least painful version of always-painful options, I can just do other things for a while, maybe for good; things that bring joy without compromise.

@MisterBoring I was thinking the same thing, because all this rotten shit from AoA reminds me so much of what Lib truly is, but far more disturbingly, I’m reminded of the ways players gaslight themselves into staying there and trying to learn how to tolerate abuse and neglect, thus enabling more of both. One by one folks I warned and even gave a roadmap to how they’ll be eaten up if they stayed on Lib, would months or now years later come to me and say, “You were right.”

But it’s not that I’m right, it’s that successful abusers have a process and patterns. Once you learn to identify that, you can more confidently stand up for yourself and stop enabling the abuse, which usually includes the step of severing yourself from the place(s) where they abuse you.

Sometimes people choose to create their community and self-identify in abuse because it’s familiar and they feel in their element, to the point of becoming abusers themselves in the absence of outside abuse. Peace and love to those stuck in the cycle, but I truly hope they can summon the grit to face terror they feel towards having to change who they are, because who they let themselves remain until that happens is truly heartbreaking (and also possibly dangerous).

@Tez So you call yourself a role player? [smirk.jpg] Name all poses.

@Pyrephox The joyous despot…would make a good pub name.

Play Cozy Keep! Play Mycopunk with friends! Enjoy your life! ️

@Pavel Great note, and I’ll add www.areweanticheatyet.com has a running database of which anti cheat options have been made compatible with Linux while requiring no login. Cheers!

I am free from Windows completely. Gawd, has Linux come a long way since I used it over a decade ago. Everything worked out of the box, no custom script creation, didn’t even need terminal once, and my games work the same thanks to Proton. I’m still gobsmacked by how easy it was!

Now I actually did read up and that included changelogs, and I researched which distro rather painstakingly (Bazzite, Cachy and Drauger were on my short list). I also voluntarily used terminal a few times to save some steps. That said, Nobara (Fedora 42 rolling + KDE Plasma) has been totally painless on my all AMD rigs and my Intel laptop, preloaded with basically everything I use daily.

No more Microsoft spying, no more required sign in, no more forced changes to my settings, no more pay to play licenses, no more Cloud, no more need to wait with a claw hammer to alter every service update, no more nearly mandatory AI. Why spend time disabling and bypassing such artificial problems only to have to do it all over again each update? And as a bonus, so much free handy software on Linux! I even found great overclocking and resource monitoring software!

If you were thinking about changing, there’s never been a better time to make the switch!🥲️