@eddie I was going to go off on a bunch of your earlier points, but several others already got there with very similar things to what I was going to say. Plus… Woah… I just got to this post:

@eddie said in Star Wars Age of Alliances: Hadrix and Cujo:

Truth of the matter is…

And I’m pretty sure that your own story tells us everything we need to know about you. You “invested” time, effort, and in-game currency into something and didn’t get the attention of a player you were interested in, the attention that you felt was your due.

You realize that putting in time, effort, and money into another person without a business deal involved is called “being a friend,” right? And that you aren’t owed anything for it? Particularly not anything of a sexual nature? There is no ROI on being a friend to someone, you do what you do because they’re your friend, not because you’re going to get something out of it.

@sao This isn’t a direct reply to you, but you were the last one on the thread talking about this subject. For me, it’s the difference between “I don’t distrust you” and “I don’t trust you.” I’ll play on a game with Staff that I don’t distrust. I may not fully trust them, but I’m willing to offer them the chance to earn that trust. I will not play on a game where I don’t trust Staff. That is for the people who have already burned me or someone who I do trust.

And I agree that life is too short for the stress of “do I trust this person I’ve put in a position of power over my fun or not,” and this has only gotten more true as my life has gotten more full.

@Apos Agreed. Any time that someone asks me to define a term that should be common knowledge, I assume that they are just looking for clearly delineated rules that they can push the envelope on and then claim that they’re not breaking the actual rules.

Everyone should know what “creepy” means, and if they can’t avoid it, then they can’t play on any game I run.

Like a few of the previous posters, I couldn’t finish reading the log. It was disgusting. The use of the Luck point to gaslight a character “because it’s funny” was particularly heinous.

Apart from and beyond the horrific content, I also found the future-imperfect tense (or whatever ‘will’ and ‘would’ and the like are) posing grating.

Sorry, @Cobalt, that you had to deal with that, but also thank you for dealing with it so that it didn’t continue (even if it led to you closing your game down).

When you’ve got your brain-weasels going full-bore, and then someone reaches out about RP, and those nasty scratchy bitey things quiet down for a little bit.

@Pavel I get that you’re trying to take the most generous interpretation, and I was too – until I got to the talk about ROI. I completely understand being disappointed that a storyline didn’t work out how I wanted it to, how I planned for it to. I get that, it’s happened to me, and it’s sucked.

But, unless there was some specific agreement, no one should be talking about return on investment in interpersonal relations unless it’s some version of Prue Leith’s “It’s not worth the calories” where you’re deciding that the other person isn’t worth your time and so you’re disengaging yourself.

To expect a particular return on your investment from the other person, particularly where romantic RP/TS is involved… that’s way too close to “I bought her dinner and drinks, I deserve sex” for my comfort.

As for the other situation that @eddie mentioned – I really feel for them about that one. That sounds like an uncomfortable situation, and a boundary that they set properly and which was then crossed by another player. That’s not cool at all.

@Pyrephox said in On the utility of Logs, Receipts, and Proof:

There are patterns of abuse that can really on be seen AS A PATTERN, because each individual incident is small and easily dismissed.

This is why reporting even just “a creepy feeling” is so important. More than once, I have gotten reports from multiple players (and noticed myself) that a player was giving off a creepy vibe, testing those boundaries with people. When confronted, the creep revealed themselves via their responses and were removed – after they were removed, several additional people came forward to say that they had been targeted.

If you are being victimized by someone, chances are that you are not alone in this. If I (as Staff) get one report of someone being generally creepy, I’ll watch them more closely, but if I get four reports from people in three different playgroups? Yeah, that person’s probably gone, even if each of the reports is just “felt like they were pushing boundaries.” Unless it’s obvious, I’ll talk with the prospective creep, but it’s definitely going to be easier a) to be direct with them about the problem, and b) to obfuscate those reporting the problem, if I have multiple reports.

I was Seraphim73 over on MSB, but I decided to just go with my usual Internet persona over here.

Past Characters:
The Weave:
<character names not remembered>

A Moment in Tyme (over 15 years, so yeah, there are a lot of characters there):
Angron Kirthak, Child of the Light
Njal, Queen’s Guardman/Magistrate
Arbaal, noble’s guard
Harkan Kirthak, Child of the Light, later Queen’s Guard
Creon, Child of the Light
Agammon, Child of the Light
Mason, Warder Trainee
Daiyen, Aiel Spear
Keldane, Child of the Light
Termiane Koronel, Seanchan infiltrator
Gerrit Ajara, weapons trainer
Volkare Previn, Asha’man
Brienne, Aes Sedai
Liahm, Asha’man
Parol, Weaponmastery and War Staffer

Dragon’s Fang
Harkan Kirthak, Child of the Light
Termiane Koronel, Seanchan-turned-Rebel Warder

Cuendillar
Termiane Koronel, Mercenary Blademaster
Sang, Warder Trainee
Raizo, Darkfriend Warder

Knights of the Old Republic
Volkare Previn, Sith Trooper
Rha Dun, Jedi Knight
Kieran “Key” Fel, Republic pilot
Salm, Feeorin mercenary
Shivas Anin, Jedi Knight
Kharss, Chistori mercenary
Bantha, Sith and War Staffer

Vampire Masquerade
Andrei, Russian Brujah

One of the Battlestar Games (Cerberus?)
Justinian, Tactical Officer

Dark Times
Victor Slade, Stormtrooper officer
Brodie Jaimes, Wroonian Mercenary
Sigil(?), Staffer

Chicago MUSH
Franklin, beat cop

Steel and Stone
Kamron Mallister, knight
Sterling, common knight
Darek Boldt, squire
Tyroan Nayland, steward

Game of Kings
Darrin Taniford (before the insanity)
Theme/Combat Staffer before opening

The Fifth World
Nikomachos Sauveur of Cindravale, jouster and knight
Drake Danger, rocker
Victor Khournas, foot knight
Mars, HeadWiz

Generations of Darkness
CT-1231 “Dog”, Stormtrooper
Brodie Jaimes, Human Mercenary/Rebel
Victor Slade, Republic Senator turned Rebel
Shivas Anin, Jedi Knight

Star Wars: Omens
Kajj’ik Previn, Dark Acolyte
Alpha-69 “Smoke,” Alpha-class clone
Victor Slade, Republic Senator
Rockabilly, Combat Staffer

Realms Adventurous
Kamron de Dinton, worthy knight
Morlois de Willcot, unworthy knight

The 100 MUSH
Orion, Staffer
Grey, angry ex-Guard Cadet
Luther, veteran warrior

Arx
Gabriel Bisland, loyal duke (briefly)

BSU
Van, by-the-book Viper pilot
Gustavo, gentle giant Marine

Fires of Hope
Erskine Hylle, ex-CIS rebel
Devlin Cinn, Imperial deserter

The Eighth Sea
Leviathan, Staffer
Sebastien Achille, swashbuckler
Ebo, pirate revolutionary

CoMUX
Simon Green, OC SHIELD Agent
Frank Castle, The Punisher

Common Descent
Simon Green, OC SHIELD Agent
Frank Castle, The Punisher
Roy Harper, Arsenal
Barry Allen, The Flash

Spirit Lake
Diego Reyes, newly-hired Deputy
Etta Tuscano, sword-wielding glassblower

Gray Harbor
Kevin Walters, geeky journalist/conspiracy theorist
Marius Andersson, would-be Viking architecture student

Dove Cove
Simon, War College Professor

Keys
Diego Reyes, police officer

The Last Road
Finder, outrider and scout

Stargate:
Blake, Marine Staff Sergeant

The Savage Skies
Rome, Staff
Thomas “Flash” Bradshaw, American show-off pilot
Yao Sang, Chinese Shanghai Municipal Policeman
Jimmy Walker, American Marine
Stephane Idrissi, former French Foreign Legionnaire, “archaeologist”

The Network
Zack, Bruiser with a Heart of Gold

Crystal Springs
Oliver Webb, overachieving performer-geek
Marius Anderssen, geeky handyman

Excelsior
Steve Rogers, America’s Ass

Currently Playing:
The Network
Roadspike, combat staffer
Oscar, True Believer

Excelsior
Peter Parker, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man

@RedShoes said in Star Wars Age of Alliances: Hadrix and Cujo:

Being on Staff is not a promotion

Everyone knows how much bullshit this is. I mean, the whole post from Cujo is bullshit based on what’s been shared on this thread, but this part in particular.

Is being Staff a lot of work? Absolutely. Is it a promotion? I mean, I guess that depends on your definition of a promotion, but it certainly increases your social capital on the game. Claiming that being added to Staff isn’t a promotion is mealy-mouthed gaslighting bullshit.

I’m nearly done with this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VfxEeSevfE

about a bit character in Stranger Things Season 4 (caution, spoilers) and how to create – and then kill – a character that viewers engage with and want to know more about.

And I had to pause it because I was thinking, “Wow, this has a lot to do with how we create short- to medium-term NPCs, I should share it.” So here I am.

What are some of the other ways that you create NPCs who hook players/characters in?

@dvoraen Housecat life is the best life. That is all.

I did a pretty extensive workup for the Wheel of Time for standard FS3 on Ares a while back for a game that never made it to open. It’s never going to be perfect, because FS3 isn’t designed for magic systems, and channelers were -definitely- more powerful than non-channelers (as it should be in canon), but it was absolutely workable with players willing to accept a few compromises and pretty fun in my testing. I would be happy to share it with interested parties for tweaking to their satisfaction.

@Coin I wasn’t going to go that far, but since you went there, I will say that I think if the game is designed around it and everyone is onboard, and it’s specifically designed to avoid “I roll to get in your pants,” then I think social skills have a great place in a MU* (I would have a hell of a fun time with an FS3 Regency MU* with a social combat system instead of a physical combat system, for instance).

But if the game isn’t designed with all that in mind, I think it’s best to keep it to rolling vs NPCs only.

If there’s a system with actual merits/benefits/stats for physical appearance, I think that it is totally legitimate to include it in an RP Hook, description, and even short-desc, as well as to pose it in scenes. Because otherwise, it feels like folks rarely acknowledge the points put into those merits/benefits/stats (because so many played-bys are so very pretty to start with).

But in a system without points being spent on physical attractiveness, I agree with the side-eye directed at those who use it as an RP Hook. If you’re not spending points on it, then it’s just like folks on games without social systems always being perfect liars or the Biggest or the Smallest – don’t make a big deal about it, because it’s basically just a player fantasy.

@Gashlycrumb said in MU Peeves Thread:

And anybody can look up a geographical location associated with an IP but I might be creeped out if a gamerunner or forum admin or whatever was to tell me where I live.

The fact that someone could find this information wouldn’t be the upsetting part of this to me, it would be the fact that someone put the effort in (even if it’s minimal) to find this information out.

Most long-time MU*ers know that we have the illusion of privacy, but that doesn’t make it any more polite when someone rips down the veil of that illusion. Someone taking the time and (even minimal) effort to connect someone’s IP to where they live and then tell them is definitely unnecessary and creep-adjacent at least (maybe unless it’s part of an ongoing investigation into their online identity and past actions? maybe?).

I started doing Historical European Martial Arts two weeks ago (finally), with a local group that just formed. I’ve been doing it most days since then, and I ache, but it’s a really good ache. I have more energy than I have in years, and I feel great. Plus I get to swing a sword around.

@mietze said in MU Peeves Thread:

It’s good to touch base to make sure its something that works for both which can be hard for randos so you may have to ask would you prefer the vampire alt or the werelobster?

When I’m of this mind, I like to go, “Want to go line-dancing or something with my vampire alt or get into a brawl with werecrabs with my werelobster alt? Or any ideas you might have for either.”

Because then I’m not setting off the instinctive “Ugh, they don’t know what they want besides me to entertain them” reaction that I totally get and often have, but I’m also offering some flexibility.

@somasatori Now you’ve got me thinking about how to do Dune with FS3…

@sao This isn’t a direct reply to you, but you were the last one on the thread talking about this subject. For me, it’s the difference between “I don’t distrust you” and “I don’t trust you.” I’ll play on a game with Staff that I don’t distrust. I may not fully trust them, but I’m willing to offer them the chance to earn that trust. I will not play on a game where I don’t trust Staff. That is for the people who have already burned me or someone who I do trust.

And I agree that life is too short for the stress of “do I trust this person I’ve put in a position of power over my fun or not,” and this has only gotten more true as my life has gotten more full.

@MisterBoring Whether or not that’s better, I don’t know if it’s practicable. And there are folks that really like that down time between episodes (I like some, just I would prefer that it be a couple of weeks compared to a month or three, again, I know people who prefer the downtime to the episodes, so YMMV).

I think that the only way you could possible get anywhere near even just a couple of weeks between episodes is to have two Storyteller Staffs, because there’s going to be some cooldown time and some administrative ramp-up time on either end of an episode. Even then, I think it would entirely depend on the setting/theme of the game whether the shortest possible downtime is the best option, a medium length, or a long downtime. I think that if you have intense episodes without much time for the players or characters to catch their breath, you’re going to want a medium-long amount of downtime; if you have episodes that meander and have time to catch your breath in the midst, then I think you would want shorter amounts of downtime.

I could see, say, a WWII game that has people at the front (or on alert at the airbase or whatever), needing a month or so between campaigns, to let the characters (and players) breathe and find their new status quo. But I could see a murder mystery game needing much less time between cases (because you’re probably going to get a little bit of investigation time and some breathing room in there, and it isn’t likely to be as life or death all the time as a combat game.