I’m going to expand on a thought I had in the Neon Protocol thread.

I think it absolutely should be considered best practice for staff bits to have an Ares handle linked. I honestly don’t care if your average player has one linked, but staff feels different to me because of the power dynamic. It feels intentionally shady and I don’t see any legitimate reasons for it. To me, this feels like an entirely separate discussion from whether or not staff should disclose their PCs.

Apping into a game is an investment of time and energy, especially if you don’t half-ass it. People should be able to decide whether or not they want to invest that time and energy and if they are willing to have an unavoidable relationship with that staffer due to the nature of how games are run.

Why do I feel like I am reading a homework assignment from doomer accelerationist kindergarten

@Yam Absolutely. Blu and Road, I think, have a great reputation in that regard, as does Tat. Clockwork.

@labsunlimited Can you imagine how cool he felt writing that, dick in his hand, Dread up on a TOR browser so he can feel like a badass hacker when it’s really just Reddit for losers

Those ostentatiously self-impressed individuals who labor under the profoundly misguided delusion that composing sentences in this extravagantly baroque and needlessly loquacious fashion endows them with an aura of elevated intellect.

@Faraday Point absolutely taken. This conversation has, in a rare instance that I can’t recall seeing on the internet in many years, changed my understanding and stance on this.

I’d honestly take three months of good RP over a game that drags on and on past its expiration date

While that ChatGPT Wikipedia guide is sort of okay, here are some really obvious tells that I’ve noticed.

“It’s not x. It’s y.”

“It’s x. And that matters.”

ChaGPT also likes the words “weight” and “pressure” a lot.

Here’s a style example:

It writes like this. Short sentences. And then starting a sentence with a conjunction. That’s why each paragraph has weight, and that matters.

@bnuuy That’s rich coming from a guy who makes multiple socks on a MU forum to upvote himself.

@NotSanni Ten bucks says this is the same guy who did this sad display a few weeks ago. This is totally alpha job-having behavior.

@Artemis I think you’re in good company, even if that’s not something people like to talk about.

@pixiedustflyer Spill the teeeeeeea

@Yam Absolutely. Blu and Road, I think, have a great reputation in that regard, as does Tat. Clockwork.

@Pavel Okay, so I didn’t invent her presence on that one whole cloth. Whew.

Going to have to check this out.

@Pavel There was one with Tricia Helfer and Kater Sackoff called Battlestar Galacticast. Unless I am gravely misremembering?

@MisterBoring

It’s been so long since I played a non-Ares game that I don’t think I can reply meaningfully. I leave that to folks who still play in that world.

@Ashkuri

I can see privacy reasons mattering more for players. Staff are different. They have control over the game and you can’t avoid having to interact with them and be subject to their decisions on their game. I honestly can’t see any good reason for staff to hide their identity, and to me, that’s a red flag and a reason to avoid a game entirely.

She and Tricia Helfer already did a watch and react podcast. I’m not sure why she’s doing another one.

I’m going to expand on a thought I had in the Neon Protocol thread.

I think it absolutely should be considered best practice for staff bits to have an Ares handle linked. I honestly don’t care if your average player has one linked, but staff feels different to me because of the power dynamic. It feels intentionally shady and I don’t see any legitimate reasons for it. To me, this feels like an entirely separate discussion from whether or not staff should disclose their PCs.

Apping into a game is an investment of time and energy, especially if you don’t half-ass it. People should be able to decide whether or not they want to invest that time and energy and if they are willing to have an unavoidable relationship with that staffer due to the nature of how games are run.

@bear_necessities

This was my gut feeling as well and why I didn’t app in there. I am too goddamned old for this.