There is a game I am on where I signed up for an event. At the event, was a particular person.

This person, for want of a better word, has a bit of a fan club on this game. People talk about this person a lot; they seem to have a lot of close friends, and people respond super enthusiastically when they do things, log on etc. etc.

I do not begrudge this person any of this, and to be honest, they do not seem to do anything to encourage it. From my point of view they do not do anything to -warrant- it, either. But, I am prepared to accept that is very subjective.

In this event, which was just a one-shot adventure-type thing with some light combat, I ended up nearly walking out part way through because this person’s fan club was so busy gushing over this person and trying to interact with this person that my character was totally ignored.

This happened multiple times, where the rest of the group just played as though my character was not there. As an example, my character did X thing on their turn. I checked it with the GM, rolled for it, it was in my pose. Nobody referenced it in their pose, acknowledged it had happened, or anything like that.

In the next round, this person does a very similar thing (similar enough to the point of being redundant in the circumstances). The rest of the group are falling over themselves to (ic and ooc) tell this person how clever they are, how cool and badass their idea was. Even the GM referenced them doing this thing in their pose, ignoring that my character had already done it.

It’s not a major thing, but man is it irritating. I wasn’t going to mention it, but the talk of cliquey groups brought it all rushing back! I have been kind of light on the details as I don’t dislike any of these people or want them to feel bad. However, if the purpose of the scene is a self-congratulatory, feel-good session with your in-group, maybe don’t paste it as a public event and invite people you’re not really interested in including.

I have realised that from years of playing in WoD MUSHES, I am so conditioned to staff wanting to breathe down people’s necks about every little thing that I get incredibly anxious when I see other people RPing about something my character did—even something super innocent. It brings me out in hives that someone is about to send me a shitty job to tell me I am WRONG and BAD.

I think it is nice that games are a lot more chill these days, but I think it probably speaks volumes about the general state of WoD games that my most comfortable state is to be completely under the staff’s radar because staff on a WoD game paying close attention to what you’re doing is almost universally bad.

I normally do not struggle too much with the “brain weasels” but walking into an open scene only to have everyone in it check out within a few poses is a special kind of disheartening.

I am rationally certain that it is nothing to do with me and I just happened to walk into a scene that was already trailing off, but it is harder to convince the self destructive demon on my back.

I always find it a bit creepy when it is clear someone has someone else on watch and they start gushing over them on the channel when they log in, but haven’t even ; waved or said ‘hi’ yet.

It also kind of bums me out if I end up logging in day after day and get tumbleweeds, but there is very clearly a group that are friends and treat each other logging on like the second coming of Jesus or something.

Obviously there is nothing objectively wrong with these behaviours and people can say hi to who they want. But, it is a peeves thread and I am allowed to find the behaviour personally irritating, also!

So, in conclusion: Stay far, far away from this game is what I am taking away?

I have had a great time playing Arx in the past before and I definitely met and RP’d with a lot of lovely people there. I think the two (slightly related) things that I really struggled with on Arx were:

• There is often a lot of what I will call “tonal whiplash” where there is a terrible civil war, or some other disastrous thing going in in the background, but all the player events going on day to day are like a pet fashion show or a slam poetry contest. I understand why this happens and of course anyone who runs anything on a MUSH these days is an angel, but I sometimes just wish there was a bit more “bite” to some of the day to day RP. Which, I am sure someone will tell me it is there but…(see point 2)

• Lack of (genuine) variety in Roster characters. I remember a period (not recently, but I don’t know if it has changed) where there were like five roster characters who were a variation on “vaguely piratical sailor girl with a brusque attitude but a heart of gold” or “gruff bearded warrior with a large sword, a drinking problem and a dark history he never talks about”.

Which, again, I get isn’t anybody’s fault. It was a bit better when there was an option to make an OC, but I get this also led to its own raft of problems with some kind of egregious stuff sneaking by at times. Or maybe I am just too picky.

I think the staff do a good job and have a massive amount on their plate, but I found these things really had me struggling to get back into it when I have tried. I think if they could get a handle on the rosters at least, that would make the game more appealing to new players again, since the numbers seem to have dwindled a lot.

Just a couple of thoughts!

Pacha

It just struck me…

A thriving community springs up around the sole source of an increasingly rare resource, presided over by an influential female figure. However, behind the scenes, a less popular and well-known figure secretly controls access to this resource, and a power struggle ensues. The unknown figure begins implementing a series of embargoes, blocking access to the resource unless the leading female figure publically validates and acknowledges their control.

Is this the story of Liberation MUSH, or the opening act of Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome?

Peeve of the day is people relentlessly humblebragging on channels about how important they are at their job.

Should I create my own MU for that?

It doesn’t really seem shady to me? On reading it, it just seems to say that they have the right to use anything you create or put on the game or wiki. It’s non-exclusive, so you aren’t losing any right, just giving them one, and it’s non commercial, so they can’t use it to make money or for business purposes.

To me, obvious uses of it would seem to cover situations like:

• You volunteer as build staff. Some time later you fall out with the game’s administration and leave. You cannot demand they delete all those rooms you made, as you have given them a license to use that writing.

• Your character becomes the vampire prince. Two weeks later you vanish from the game and are never heard from again. The staff is allowed to turn your PC into an NPC until they eventually replace them. You have given them a license to do this.

• You volunteer to create a number of wiki pages and help the staff with wiki organisation. You later become uncontactable. The staff is allowed to alter your design, use the template elsewhere on the site, or replace what you did with something altogether different.

So, it is a bit overly formal, but there are definitely plenty of legitimate use cases for having such a clause.

Interesting further info, for those following along:

https://imgur.com/a/O2BUQdA

It doesn’t really seem shady to me? On reading it, it just seems to say that they have the right to use anything you create or put on the game or wiki. It’s non-exclusive, so you aren’t losing any right, just giving them one, and it’s non commercial, so they can’t use it to make money or for business purposes.

To me, obvious uses of it would seem to cover situations like:

• You volunteer as build staff. Some time later you fall out with the game’s administration and leave. You cannot demand they delete all those rooms you made, as you have given them a license to use that writing.

• Your character becomes the vampire prince. Two weeks later you vanish from the game and are never heard from again. The staff is allowed to turn your PC into an NPC until they eventually replace them. You have given them a license to do this.

• You volunteer to create a number of wiki pages and help the staff with wiki organisation. You later become uncontactable. The staff is allowed to alter your design, use the template elsewhere on the site, or replace what you did with something altogether different.

So, it is a bit overly formal, but there are definitely plenty of legitimate use cases for having such a clause.

The London one is open now if anyone wants to check it out.

https://towersmux.net/

Its an old song now, but each time I have felt down this week I have popped it on and it helps me steel myself against the sort of…grinding horror of it all.

https://youtu.be/KYG7-d_Q9zU?si=Rgwyy6EsSwyPE8wd

Sending much love from overseas. Feel your feels…but then organise and resist.

I mean, the fact that they thought, “I want to make a MU!” and three of the top picks on their Rolodex to help them were Polk, Chookitypok and Gailin from Arx is pretty damning.

Whoever this supposedly “fine” head staffer is, it seems like they are fine hiring some pretty questionable staff, as long as the leopards aren’t (yet) eating their face.

So, in conclusion: Stay far, far away from this game is what I am taking away?

Peeve of the day is people relentlessly humblebragging on channels about how important they are at their job.

Should I create my own MU for that?

I think it is really difficult on a game like that. Like…I glanced at it because I like sex as much as the next person, but (happily!) a lot of the canonically LGBT characters I might have wanted to play were already taken.

Under their rules, I think I could take a canonically straight character and gay them up, but that feels weird - especially on a sex-focused game.

Like, if I played the gay Scott Summers and Jean Grey showed up wanting snoo-snoo, I think I would kind of feel duty-bound, especially since they are such an iconic pairing.

Obviously, I would not be, and their rules make that clear, but I think the weight of social expectations would certainly be there, and I would feel like I was taking something away from that other player. Maybe that is a weird hangup only I have.

I am sure it is worse for anyone who would want to play a trans character because I can’t even think of one (granted, I am not a huge comics person).

I do not think it is sufficient to say, “You could play a shapeshifter character, who can be any gender,” because unless the character is also trans, it is not equivalent.

It seems like a really difficult knot that could be easily untangled by allowing OCs.

Agreed! While I get that sometimes someone constantly posing how hot their character is (especially if it is in a very shallow and uninteresting way) can be annoying, it is also very annoying to constantly have an aspect of your character’s backstory or a trait/merit/advantage you spent XP or points or the equivalent on get ‘no sold’ by every PC you run into.

I normally do not struggle too much with the “brain weasels” but walking into an open scene only to have everyone in it check out within a few poses is a special kind of disheartening.

I am rationally certain that it is nothing to do with me and I just happened to walk into a scene that was already trailing off, but it is harder to convince the self destructive demon on my back.