Apollo Astronaut Jim Lovell

Anyway, as for THE YOUTHS, I know a 20-something Lawyer who has recently joined places and is the most recent ‘youngest player on the game’. Another guy introduced his daughter and her boyfriend to a game and their ISP listed like 20 characters from their house when staff tried to +alt. So new blood does happen. Theres also r/MU*

A few of us have talked over the years about some sort of video essay to throw onto the YouTubes, that could be a potential way to introduce new players. An issue is MU takes extra hoops to jump through, which Ares solves to a degree, but purists are still frowny at it for whatever reason (its code. The reason is code).

@Third-Eye said in pvp vs pvp:

This is another one that doesn’t really read like Ghost’s MO to me, unless he’s decided to change his personality for like the fifth time.

Oh, but Ghost is a singular login for multiple users who want anonymity on these anonymous forums… or something…

@RedRocket said in AI PBs:

Okay, let me rephrase that so I am more clear. It is the person writing the prompt that is doing the fraud not the computer making the image.

This sounds like it was copy/pasted from a ChatGPT response. I am sure some people have trouble grasping this, but it really is quite simple. Allow me to explain.

…

The Aristocrats

@RedRocket said in AI PBs:

What an A.I. does is no different than what a human does.

Trying to appeal to our inner Trekkies won’t work. We gotta be out of capitalism and into post-scarity Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism for this argument to have a chance. Unfortunately, people keep pushing towards Dune, so Butlarian Jihad it is.

@RedRocket said in AI PBs:

If every wanna-be writer/director can make his own full length films at home, that’s the end of their monopoly.

I know several film students who have done this with 0 AI.

If everyone can be an artist, that’s the end of the “fine art” monopoly.

There is an argument to be made about fine art being nothing buy an utter bullshit money laundering scheme. AI won’t fix that, it will just make it worse.

Lowering the skill floor and democratizing media means more competition for the established players and that has investors freaking out.

Which is why you can help overthrow these ebil monopolies for four easy payments for the lifetime service, or if you prefer there is the option for a monthly subscription model.

Anyways, you can’t democratize art. It’s not a thing to vote on whether it exists, it simply is. Not to get opinionated as a failed Tuba-oomp-pah-ing Music Ed major, but real art takes suffering and emotion and soul and dedication and sometimes talent but it plays a non-zero factor. People spend years developing their crafts and applying their own personal flourishes to things.

None of which any AI can even vaguely comprehend, because if it could you wouldn’t be able to ever convince it to make a hard right turn into fascism as it repeatedly can be seen doing.

You want AI to let people just jump ahead with no effort (I assure you, figuring out how to write a prompt is extremely low effort here)… it’s like you want someone with 0 practice in the kitchen to win the Great British Bake-off by describing to a robot how they want a cake to look and taste. It’s fucking ludicrous.

@RedRocket said in pvp vs pvp:

Surprise me! Please!
I want the hobby I used to love to be worth playing again

Ares code is right there, and I’m told it’s fairly easy. Evennia is there and a bit more. I’m sure there are repositories out there to try the things. Be rhe change you want to see!

@tsar said in pvp vs pvp:

@Jennkryst said in pvp vs pvp:
I specifically tried to add spooky darkness to a character twice, but could not haz (this ended up being fine, I only mention it for clarity. Edgelord (Edgelady?) Cunning Linguist were attempted.

You could definitely die on Arx, it just wasn’t likely to be a PVP situation.

It was more in the application, I put a ‘I hear some people are secretly villainous, I see no indication this character is, but what if she is maybe?’ note hidden among other ideas, and they didnt take the bait… which is totally cool despite how much I gripe about it.

@RedRocket said in pvp vs pvp:

I’m not the one trying to run games and as I said, I don’t care if the game caters to me.

Only if they cater to numerous other people. Typically, it isn’t one problem player being a problem, it is a slew of them (aside from Jill, but she has quantity in a different way).

@RedRocket said in pvp vs pvp:

I have reached a point in my life where I’m just sick and tired of watching people fuck up things because they listen to bad actors with a proven track record of being only out for themselves.

To which I say again, be the change you want to see. If you are certain that if you build it, people will play… then build it.

@Faraday said in pvp vs pvp:

Social combat between PCs is still PVP in my book.

I mean, sure. It depends on the definition of PVP, of course. I would wager the majority counts it as something that risks loss of the character entirely (death) or messing with +sheet stuff (in an era of sanctity of merits, not as terrible as previously experienced). Even ignoring Social, you can have MENTAL PVP tasks, where you try to out-chess or design better clothes or whatever…

… depending on your definition. Further discussion can go into a fresh Role vs Roll thread, or reviving the last one (plz remember Necromancy gif). Or does this thread still count? I dunno, brain no think good.

@RedRocket said in pvp vs pvp:

It’s like making a game set in the marvel cinematic universe but no one is allowed to play as the heroes or villains, they can only play normal people doing normal things.

YES, LET ME PLAY THE SPACE GOO!

@RedRocket said in pvp vs pvp:

They promised us a game of heroes fighting villains and delivered heroes trolling for sex scenes.

Bold of you to assume that the space goo was not intedned to be like 75% for trolling for sex scenes. Still fighting, sure, but ‘they only want smut’ did nothing to help here.

@MisterBoring said in pvp vs pvp:

Hell, one of the most popular MUSHes I can think of in recent years is Arx, and as far as I can tell (Arx players help me if I’m getting it wrong) it’s a Lords & Ladies game that was set in a high fantasy world, and while there was some darkness and nasty bits, they weren’t the regular thing in the game.

I specifically tried to add spooky darkness to a character twice, but could not haz (this ended up being fine, I only mention it for clarity. Edgelord (Edgelady?) Cunning Linguist were attempted.

@Faraday said in pvp vs pvp:

Why are you assuming that a lack of PVP means a game with no conflict?

PVP need not be physical combat, but it feels like games shy away from social combat (everyone take a shot, role/roll discourse is back!)

@RedRocket said in pvp vs pvp:

@Pax
[attempt at etymology]

If you want to use Ænglisc as a defense, fine, but now you must your whole message in the language or not at all.

@RedRocket said in pvp vs pvp:

You would put down your horse because it had a lame leg and couldn’t plow a field anymore.

Bold of you to assume I would kill this horse.

@RedRocket said in pvp vs pvp:

I’m very clearly not advocating for the murder of the people who run boring games.

Bold of you to assume we dont advocate for the murder of people who run boring games. [Legal disclaimer, I am told I have to assure you this is a joke.]

@RedRocket said in pvp vs pvp:

[A bunch of] whiny bitch[ing]

Same game/different paint is all about the paint! Different +roll mechanics? Very handwobble. Exact same system but without Sex Pests? Highly appealing!

… Incidentally, sex pests are why social combat gets so much hate. The sex pests think they can nat 20 a seduction roll, and everyone else forgets that means lots of exposed squishy parts exposed for dusemboweling or the like. Have fun with it, I say.

Anyway, problem with widespread PVP is it leads to paranoia builds which is peak boring. Everybody gotta build a certain way lest they get telenuked.

Limited PVP has its place. Rules to keep things civil enough that it isnt just wanton murder and death for people who aren’t into that sort of thing. Alas, history shows bad actors will try to push beyond those limits to ruin fun for everyone… they dont only want to murder the PVP_OK characters, they also just have to kill the stripper with a heart of gold who just wants to go dancing every night.

Everyone is forgetting that this forum would not exist, save for an AI PB who went ‘beep boop, repsect muh authoritah’ and then banned everyone who went ‘lol, no’.

… wait, does AI PB not mean Robotic Purring Barrister?

@Solstice LUXURY FACE BONES

The real problem with WoD Austrailia is that WoD is supposed to be real world bads turned up to 11, and Austriailia is already a giant ‘kill all humans’ zone, so when you turn that up to 11…

@Pavel said in MU Peeves Thread:

Sydney

Ahr naur

@Ashkuri said in MU Peeves Thread:

I feel like this sums up several many MUSH interactions I’ve had with people over the years

I feel attacked and my only logical response is to do another forum coup.

@Gashlycrumb said in Star Trek Games:

secret creepy fascist organisation of time-travelling murder hobos

Section 31 is only fun when it is a dude who thinks it’s real, but it isn’t. Or a try-hard who thinks it’s really cool, Starfleet definitely needs a second, soopar seekrit intelligence arm, and just constantly fails because everyone else makes fun of this dumb thought.

… ahem.

So the ‘when’ is as important as the ‘where’. If you set it after Romulus blows up, and Romulans are kind of migratory, then options open a bit. If you set it after Picard, literally everyone in Starfleet has PTSD for Picard S3 reasons. Picard also feels like it plays things fast and loose with Stardates, so ???

Not terribly important.

(I do realize for the Romulus Nova to be a plot point, the game would be set a decade after the TNG/DS9 crossover bubble, which is more important than Picard fast/loose timey wimey)

Fun dates/basic timeline

2365 - Q Who, Borg meet cute
2369 - Deep Space 9 S1
2370 - TNG finale during December, leads directly into…
2371 - Voyager MIA
2375 - Odo asks Kyra if she would still love him after he becomes an ocean of goo
2379 - Star Trek: Nemesis
2380 - Lower Decks S1
2385 - Martian Shipyards go boom
2387 - Romulus Supernova

Anyway, Deep Space 69 (pun intended, what with all the TS) can be a joint mission base for exploring… somewhere. It could be Romulans just found out about the Supernova, and DS:69 is stationed in a system where another K-type Dwarf Star looked like it was going to Supernova in the past, but abruptly stabilized, and we are here to find out why/if that can save Romulus. Or it could be a hub where people are looking for nearby worlds that could serve as a colony for relocation, with multiple plots around making sure things won’t violate the Prime Directive, sticking it near a modern day Shackleton Expanse, or maybe even near the edge of Klingon space, which gives them a reason to be involved.

Or both! Alternatively, something else. Whomst can say?

Obviously have your different class ships for different missions. Alts are cool, just don’t let one person be the chief engineer on every ship. Maybe even say they can’t have a second engineer unless they have command and science alts, also? Now we’re in the weeds and need more feedback from other players.

The return of Strange New Worlds means we are primed for Trek, go go go go go!

@Aria said in MU Peeves Thread:

@Pavel said in MU Peeves Thread:

I’ve had to turn the auto-convert feature off in Word for when I do my – (that is two hyphens, often converted to a dash of some kind, be it en or em. I never learned the difference.) because it was getting pulled up by the anti-AI checker on my submitted work and it’s easier to just… not deal with that.

Em Dash (—):

Roughly the width of a capital letter M. It’s used to create a break in a sentence, similar to how you’d use parentheses or colons.

En Dash (–):

Roughly the width of a capital letter N. It’s used to connect two words or show a range of numbers.

That’s literally it.

Monospace fonts mean they are indistinguishable, wheeeee.

@Pavel said in Star Trek Games:

staff run the game and set the tone

So we agree that…

@Jennkryst said in Star Trek Games:

This isn’t Trek-specific, it’s literally every MUSH ever.

I’m not saying it’s never been a problem, I’m throwing out ideas to try and prevent it from becoming one, while also pointing at shows to go ‘see? Its viable!’ Ask lower rank people what their IC career goals are, that’s how 1 pips get assigned to bridge duty.

@Faraday said in Star Trek Games:

I know Star Trek isn’t RL, but just for reference/scope, a US aircraft carrier would have ~3000 enlisted crew and ~200 officers.

Memory Alpha lists THE D as having 1,000 people aboard, including family members and so on. Voyager had… a variable number, but lists 141 as the usual compliment. As always, you can scale down because the computer can follow verbal commands, but we also see problems that could easily be handled by a fully coordinated crew just wreck a ship with people only on the bridge.

While 1st/2nd/3rd class crewmen and NCOs exist (can you tell I can’t remember proper titles or rank structure?), you have significantly less need to balloon the crew compliment with people who haven’t gone to the Academy yet… doubly so in Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism where the poors don’t have to sign up for a chance to crawl out of the bottom rung of capitalist hell.

For Voyager’s crew, Memory Alpha lists 60 people with the rank of Crewman, as opposed to an officers rank (this includes Maquis with provisional ranks). So depending on crew size, you could have half or even more being officers. I dunno. I only counted ‘crewman’ on my fingers, I didn’t check civillians or figure out how many if each rank were around. Mlstly because the list includes people whose names are only ever seen on an LCARS.

Also! As a starbase was mentioned, you can consider different ships, different crews of department heads if you go that route, but still give the lower rank folks time to shine, if people want to play them. It all circles back to ‘staff makes plot, or endorses PRPs so other people can ST things for whomever.’

@Pavel said in Star Trek Games:

If you’re playing Crewman A. Nonymous you better not be anywhere besides a jeffreys tube and not getting in the way of the person we especially chose to play Lieutenant Commander Action “Buzz” Heroguy.

Gentle reminder Harry Kim spent 7 years in the Delta Quadrant with a single pip, and while he may have manned the engineering console on the bridge, he was never a department head. He’s an ensign. There were five people on the ship with a lower rank - Nelix, Kes, Seven of Nine, Naomi Wildman, and Miral Paris (and technically the Maquis, but they got whole uniforms and pips to reflect their Maquis ranks, it’s fine).

And he still got up to some wacky shenanigans.

@Faraday said in Star Trek Games:

Stuff has to happen. There have to be stakes.

This isn’t Trek-specific, it’s literally every MUSH ever.

Some players can be those three people on Voyager who never volunteer for any away missions and just do the social rp. Or be a Dabo Girl on DS9. It’s fine.

@Faraday said in Star Trek Games:

Like, say I’m a junior Engineering crewman. What is my RP about?

Hobbies. You’re in a classical quartet or jazz band that puts on shows at the bar… or do a Doctoro Picardo and recreate old opera houses to do… opera. Go fill up the biofilters on the fuck simulator holodeck with your inceedibly inappropriate hologram girlfriend. Build a racing shuttle. Write holonovels. Save humanity by completing a Q test. Do weird yoga. Invent silly sports. Have sex with a ghost. Visit Risa. Have sex with a ghost on Risa in a holodeck. Do unofficial war crimes.

Maybe you’re on duty. Every time an alert happens, system diagnostics are run, go go go! Even when there isnt an alert, you still need to run regular diagnostics to make sure that the ~~ LCARS is properly filled with rocks so there is debris when it dramatically overloads~~ self-sealing steam bolts are properly bolted in place. Go crawl through the Jefferies Tubes to replace the bio-conduit before it catches the flu from alien cheese. Realize it’s the wrong tube when you meet Jeffrey Combs. Get sent on an away mission.

There is a whole chart, for roll d20 to [science] the [device] for [techbobabble].

There are a lot of options out there.

Edit: Yellow in TNG is also where temporal enforcement lives, so be a time cop when you get too many tachyons, or whatever the current wibbly-wobbly technobabble of the week uses.

@Raistlin I wouldn’t make reports mandatory, maybe treat them like Arx Journals? Or scenes can start in media res with a log voice over giving a brief setup (although technically, the log overview means it isnt in media res, but nya, nya I say!)

Questions are mostly ‘Spaaaaaaace Code?!?’ and ‘What rules?’ Star Trek Adventures is the latest and doesn’t have XP progression, more milestone, as Modephius do, so catchup is easy, ‘anyone with X or lower major milestones, gain a major, anyone with more, gain a minor milestone instead’. Admittedly, I haven’t looked at the 2nd edition yet.

@MisterBoring said in Star Trek Games:

really solid story about the primary crew of a starship

Probably a factor. Sure, the Modephius rules include ‘we dont need the doctor for this mission but dont want the player to feel left out… lets roll up a temporary PC called Chief O’Brien to come along’, but a MU will have probably have a person playing that character. (This could be a neat way to fill out a roster, though, so keep roster game in mind. Can also give people having an opportunity to play guest of the week NPCs).

Tangentially important to point out the entire point of Lower Decks is that we don’t focus on the primary crew, and it has given us some of the finest Trek in decades.

Social Combat when?