@eye8urcake said in DWOPP-spotting:

@Runescryer Even if it’s not that creepy fuckface, it sounds like it’s a creepy fuckface and either way, needs dealing with.

I think this is the more important point to focus on than actually finding DWOPP. Instead of trying to find out if a player is DWOPP, staff should be focused on verifying if a player has those tendencies and qualities, and taking action. It doesn’t matter if that person is DWOPP or not and they don’t have to fit the bill perfectly. There should be a line where when enough boxes are checked, they should be shown the exit.

DWOPP just fits the type of player that should not be welcomed in any game.

Past:

• SW1 - Howie Darklighter, Kell Draygo (Brief return at a much later date)
• SW Minos Clusters - Howie Darklighter
• SW Erebus Expanse - Forgot the bit name.
• SW Clone Wars - Howie Darklighter
• SW Brak Sector - Forgot the bit name.
• SW: A New Threat - Forgot the bit name.
• WC: Gemini Sector - Kell
• Serenity MUSH - Kell
• Steel & Stone - Kell and Erik
• BSG: Orion - Agrippa
• Game of Kings - Eldrick Lohstren (First one, before things went crazy)
• Fifth World - Erik
• Eternal Crusade - Elrick
• Creation’s Edge - Elrick
• Tales of the Round - Elrick, Steffan
• SW: Fires of Hope - Kell
• BSG: Unification - Kell, Aleksander
• Fifth Kingdom - Steffan
• Horror MU - Defender
• The Savage Skies - Keisuke
• Arx - Gaston
• The Network - Yongbin

Present:

• Concordia - Hanlin

@Yam Maybe it’s selfish of me but I personally just don’t worry about it when I RP. When I RP, it’s to relax and have fun. If the person I am RPing with is fun and his or her character connects with mine, that’s great and I want more. If their RP style, pose style, or writing doesn’t connect? That’s a shame but there are other people to RP with, I’m not going to think any less of them or worry that they are using AI. It’s not like I’m paying for a service and getting scammed by AI. It is what it is.

Ignorance is bliss for me.

@Ashkuri I welcome bad stuff happening to my characters but with a caveat.

It has to make sense to the story and to the character. Either something happening in the story that caused the bad stuff to my character or my character’s actions caused the bad stuff to happen. Also, preferably, the bad stuff either leads to character development or plot development, not just for the sake of bad stuff happening because nothing is going on and we’re bored. Meaning that as a player, I can have my character react to it over time.

@Lemon-Fox You shouldn’t be discouraged for trying to make the best out of a challenging situation. Despite the odds being stacked against you, you had fun with your friends for a good period of time and that’s important. Being revealed the truth will only make it easier for you make that hard decision to leave and dedicate your energy elsewhere. Life is just a series of experiences and this was one of them, sounds like you made newfriends in this hobby which is a huge plus so that is definitely something worth celebrating.

Seems like it was a major post backfire on Warma-Sheen’s part as it started as a complaint about the game itself.

@Faraday said in IC Consequences and OOC Acceptance:

Some players will roll with things - I love that. But I’ve had some players quit over what I considered natural (non character-ending) consequences of their PCs’ actions, and others throw gigantic fits over the smallest of setbacks.

PC death is my personal hot-button because it ends the story and makes you start over from scratch. That’s not fun for me, so I don’t play (or run) games like that.

@SpaceKhomeini said in IC Consequences and OOC Acceptance:

I usually operate under the assumption that the character I’m helming is largely an idiot and does idiot things that will result in idiotic self-owns.

Sometimes I forget that I haven’t communicated this loudly enough with everyone around me and they get kind of cagey when I do stupid shit IC.

The fact that this needs to be communicated at all is kind of emblematic of the core issue. Most players in my experience don’t want their character to come off looking bad (in their opinion) because they think it makes them look bad. There’s such an over-investment in IC success, glory, and coolness that if someone is actively trying to embrace natural consequences or have their character do something stupid, it’s looked upon with suspicion or disdain.

I believe it’s not only the player not wanting to come off looking bad, which is part of it, but there are some who already have a concrete roadmap planned out for their character. Their character progression is like Lockheed Martin’s stock, the only way is up. In their mind, they already have an expectation that after one event, their character’s coolness and popularity is at this level, then after another event, they will attain a higher level, etc.

This means, if they perform an action that they feel is perfectly fine and cool, and the GM in that scene throws an unexpected wrench which may sidetrack, delay, or even mar their roadmap, then their character is ruined. They’re out. They do not want to go through the effort to take this new, uncertain Path B, because it was not part of their original plan. They play for the ‘W’, they don’t play for the collaborative story telling.

I actually like NPCs that react with consequential actions because it makes the world that is being built feel more alive. If you have NPCs that are constant doormats, then, to me, the world feels very dull because NPCs are as important as the clouds in the sky or blades of grass in the background, just a dull color in the background. Now, on the flip side, if the NPCs are too strong, then it could become too challenge and players will feel a lack of fun, progression, or just suffocated on what they can do. That’s where the skill of the GMs come into play, which it sounds like plenty of IC warnings were given and that is all you can do. The players have to pick up on those signs or suffer the consequences. If they don’t like the consequences after ignoring the warnings, then the game is not for them. Not all games are for everyone and that is fine.

It comes down to what a particular player wants out of a game. Some want to feel like they are Gods of the game where they are in control of everything and steer the story their way. I personally want to just be part of the story, sometimes being a spectator watching what is being woven together by others move forward, sometimes throwing my hat into a plot to have an effect on not just the story but also my character, maybe sometimes throw in a wrench for a taste of the bad consequences. Bad consequences are not a bad thing (of course unless it’s death), because it can also lead to a chance of further character development or character’s internal shift. Which is interesting in of itself (Jamie with his hand lopped off) because it can spice up the story and character.

I believe the number depends heavily on how many active staff you have to help manage those players. Having a dedicated team of 8 staff can handle a much larger player base than a team of 3. Staff to player ratio would lead to less of a burnout on the staff side.

I would also like to add my two cents from my experiences and takeaways from the game as I play (as much as I can due to RL time constraints). I did not see any issue with the clarification of IC theme that was added, because from the previous lore that was available, having children did add potential dire results that can affect a region, or even the realm.

“However, the moment the first child was born to this second generation of Beyonders – the Lost Generation who have never experienced even a moment of life in their respective “real” worlds– new rifts tore open the sky, dozens of them, each responsible for a new threat.”

So having the staff put some sort of thematic control over birth of children in the game makes sense. Now, I don’t know when the staff decided on the official IC system, but the game is still in Beta and I would personally give the staff the benefit of the doubt that they are treating Beta as a real Beta. Now the Betas of video games nowadays that is basically a free advertisement to pre-order the game.

The various posts on this subject though is definitely an opportunity for me to learn how some people can be very uncomfortable with this decision since the bbpost update didn’t hit me as hard as it hit some of the other players or those who are keeping an eye on the game.

Events and scenes don’t always have to be huge affairs. It’s okay to limit the number of people or break a huge event into different areas or parts so it’s more manageable for not only the GM/ST but also the players. As someone who finds it harder to focus when scenes become 6+, half of my energy is spent on worrying that I may have accidentally missed someone in my pose. Also, I’m afraid of dragging down the pace having to respond to 7 other poses as well.

Which leads to my second item, pacing. Try to keep the scene moving, even if you have to be a bit direct. Some may disagree but if each round is taking one hour to run, then there is less opportunities for players to act or react because people get tired after a few hours.

@MisterBoring said in Brainstorming Game Ideas:

@Jupiter said in Brainstorming Game Ideas:

The idea that I keep circling around is a CK3/Vampire styled game in an original setting; where, instead of using +vote as XP-generation, it’d be activity based. XP is generated by spending blood and dice-rolling in Staff-run activities.

Players would try to acquire swarths of territory to fund their own rise and the rise of loyal vassals.

But, again, I don’t know how popular of an idea that would be; text-based gamers are notoriously anti-change.

My thought on this would be that a lot of people still in the hobby are very PVP-shy, even when the narrative should result in two PCs fighting to a terminal conclusion. I think you could do this and have fun with it, but you need to accept that you’re probably not going to have more players than the average multiplayer game of CK3 anyway.

The more time you have spent in this hobby, the more you realize how cooperative everything is and needs to be to create a successful and fun story. This includes PvP which makes it incredibly challenging, one not everyone is either capable of or willing to put the effort into. I’m not saying that as a slight but it takes a lot of communication, trust, and mental energy. PvP in RP, unlike in other games, isn’t about a player winning or losing. To win, all players involved have to enjoy the experience and accept the results.

@Third-Eye said in Brainstorming Game Ideas:

@Ashkuri said in Brainstorming Game Ideas:

IMO you can’t build for “what people want.” You can’t even build for what your friends might like, because even the closest of us don’t always like the same things. You can only build what you personally love, and that personal enthusiasm makes the work less “hell.”

The only thing that will motivate someone to create and put the hard work into starting a game long-term is to build what YOU want, to some degree with no eye toward whether it might be popular or not. That doesn’t mean ignoring advice, though frankly sometimes it does.

This I fully agree with. My view on game creation and game creators is that they should be creating the game for themselves, that is the root. They are writing their own, grand story with a large vision for that story. The creator then hires trusted individuals, staff, to help create that story with them either through more world building, coding, or management.

Then, players are invited to help with the writing and make their story become more alive. This invitation, is a privilege, not a right. It’s like inviting a guest into your home for a party you are hosting. Players should be people who you want helping you build your story and your world.

@MisterBoring Apologies, but because of rising inflation, I have gone completely paperless. You can refer to my geocities site for all the necessary information for my chargen application. Thank you.

Years ago, I used to be all about using MUSH Client and doing stuff in game. But after playing on a few Ares games, I was fully converted over to web based. A lot more flexibility with web based and the visual presentation was a lot easier to work with.

@MisterBoring Horror MU was like this when I played it, PCs will die or be maimed. Bad things will happen. Was quite a bit of fun.

@hellfrog said in Other People:

that’s probably not fun for EVERYONE but it does work.

That part is probably one of the key issues is that fun is not the same for everyone. Part of the collaboration of having fun together is also to identify what is fun for you and also the other person. The more that Venn diagram overlaps, the higher the chance of fun happening, though it still requires efforts from both parties. That’s why communication is incredibly important, even if it can be hard.

@RightMeow The chance I had to RP with you in the past was a lot of fun. What I’ve come to learn is that the paths we choose are usually not right or wrong, since none of us have a crystal ball that can predict the future. If you feel it is the right path, then embrace it fully because you never know where it will take you. You also don’t know if it may eventually lead you back to MUs again in the future.

I know at one point I thought I had stepped away and I did for a bit of time, but surprisingly I found my way back. So I definitely wish you the best on where you choose to go and I’m sure if you choose to return, there will be people who welcome you back.

@Dreampipe said in Other People:

@Roz 5’9" character over 30 years old. Playing on the hardest difficulty.

30 is the new 20.

@Lemon-Fox If your friend/RP group on AoA have fun together and they also know that the staff are predators/psychos, it’s easier for you guys to find a new game to play on that doesn’t have toxic waste of a staff base. New Ares games are popping up, there are still existing ones that have been running for a while.

If you move with your friends, it may be easier to ease into a new game since you already have people to play with instead of having to put feelers out for newfriends which could take time. It may take a little bit of shopping around before finding a new comfy place to settle down with but I would say that it’s worth it.

@Ashkuri I welcome bad stuff happening to my characters but with a caveat.

It has to make sense to the story and to the character. Either something happening in the story that caused the bad stuff to my character or my character’s actions caused the bad stuff to happen. Also, preferably, the bad stuff either leads to character development or plot development, not just for the sake of bad stuff happening because nothing is going on and we’re bored. Meaning that as a player, I can have my character react to it over time.