it does line up with my own anecdotal experience to a degree, though I do need to qualify that with, it’s pretty split along political lines in my family and their homeschooling communities. because of course it is.

@somasatori said in Tough Calls:

To me, it seemed like this particular person was really focused on playing a comic relief character as his whole shtick.

“comic relief” stemming from a grossly inaccurate caricature of a severe impairment. they were basically asking for staffer permission/endorsement to mock a person with disabilities. the yikes factor is pretty high on this one for me.

@somasatori said in Tough Calls:

ah yes, brain damage. what a laugh riot

I gotta be honest, that alone would probably be enough for me to tell someone to take a while to reflect and grow somewhere else before trying to play a game I ran again.

I knew someone personally before and after a traumatic head injury and how it changed their entire life is still one of the most tragic and depressing things I’ve ever seen.

@Jumpscare said in Tough Calls:

PEOPHIN
It feels like the only true option I’ve been given is “make a new character”. When I keep asking about being less disruptive, I’m not getting a definitive answer on what exactly that means, so I am confused, admittingly.

I would prefer to play a dumb (likely brain damaged) and loud character who rushes headfirst into things, who is obnoxious and meant from a OOC perspective to be taken as a joke, while still having serious moments as it happens in rp. Is there a way for that to be okay?

@Cobalt said in Empty Night - A Dresdenverse Game:

How difficult would it be to get into the game without having read them?

Dresdenverse is generic urban fantasy with a very light veil that is self-enforcing. there are some very specific setting things that are important to know (vampires come in a bunch of different varieties, magic users are policed by a ruling council, etc) but glancing at the website they seem to cover the basics pretty well.

since the game does away with the characters and most of the plots from the books I’d say you could jump right in.

@hellfrog said in Warma-Sheen:

this guy has more than once joined a game just to cheat, right out of the gate, with a side of negging the game runner from the fake alt for absolutely no reason. ‘your game sux, no one has reached out or been nice to me except Me’

not to mention some of his absolutely rancid takes here and back on MSB, most of which was consistently dismissing victims of harassment and insulting people trying to support them.

sincerely sorry to the people who came to his defense over the Empire thing, I don’t think it makes anything y’all were saying in general less valid, but the dude is a tool and didn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt.

@MisterBoring said in Warma-Sheen:

(Referring to the character list where Saulot claims to have been the same PC on TR as Warma.)

the Reach was open for a long time and names got recycled a lot, so…not to speak out for someone I know nothing about and doesn’t sound worth defending anyway, but I’m gonna guess no.

ask me about the nightmare experience that was apping in as a “Connor” there once and enduring a week of harassment from people who thought the last one was coming back, lol.

@Pavel

I reFUSE. it’s made from nuts!!! come on

@Jihgfed said in Intro to MU*ing Event:

And it looks like we have more votes for “mooing” than against, so there we go, now I’ll be able to feel a little less silly saying it onstage (though still silly). Thanks!

I feel like such a yokel for it but I’d always said “Muh.”

it made sense to me! there was only one “oo” codebase, but now I’m questioning everything. do y’all say “moods” and “mooshes”?!

@Faraday said in Banning Bad, Actually?:

Various folks in the thread have made statements that indicate they don’t leave grace to ensure it’s more than an isolated incident. That even a single remark they deemed “rude” was enough to warrant a ban. I’m too tired to go and find the exact quotes, but it was pretty clear to me.

I’ll admit that this is true, depending on the issue. I’m actually with you more than I’ve made room to say, there are situations that I would have more grace for, but on the other hand others I definitely have less, and (omg shocking, I know) strangers acting like they are disproportionately entitled to my or other people’s free time is just one of those things.

there’s a line where just leaving a player hanging with no explanation becomes just as obnoxious, of course, but. it’s not measured in days, for me. there’s just not any imaginary fun time thing that’s that important.

I’m not going to sit here and argue with you about it, like I just said. if you didn’t think he was in the wrong, okay.

@Ominous said in Banning Bad, Actually?:

I just didn’t think Warma Sheen was being a shit in the text provided.

you’re in the minority there for a reason that I’m not going to spend pages and pages spelling out for you. how much of a shit we’d all probably disagree on but it’s generally just bad form to get upset (“made me feel a certain kind of way” does not translate to anxiety, it translates to frustration, as he explained himself. it’s just a passive aggressive way of saying “it pissed me off”) about tiny delays.

if you don’t get why that’s bothersome, you’re irritating more people than you’re probably aware of.

@Pacha said in Empire Discussion Thread:

So for me, banning people who don’t necessarily need to be is kind of a negative thing, because it is then a player (and perhaps their friends) that I don’t have.

that’s kind of the crux of it, imo: whether or not they need to be kind is up to you to decide, you’re the one at the gate, right?

if you create a space where people who decide it’s not necessary to be kind aren’t welcome, all you’re losing are people who don’t think it’s necessary to be kind.

personally, these are just games. we’re all here to have fun, people should be going out of their way to be kind to each other because that adds to and enhances the fun. that takes effort, absolutely, but that only means it should be encouraged.

as to whether or not you need to worry so much about having big numbers to be successful, I can honestly say the most fun I have ever had in the hobby, hands down, were two games that had about 15-20 active people at a time but very respectful, engaged, and kind staff who made it very clear that they expected the same in return.

@Pacha said in Empire Discussion Thread:

Obviously, it is Ada’s game and they are paying to keep the lights on, so they can do as they like. But if they are going to ban everyone who ever makes a slightly backhanded remark, they may end up banning a lot of people.

@helvetica and @Trashcan said it very well.

I do respect the way you and @Faraday approach it, it’s very kind to do that lifting for someone who may or may not just be having a bad day, but you’re giving a stranger the benefit of the doubt in a situation where the adult thing to do would and should be taking the time to wait out your disregulation rather than lash out at someone you barely know on their game where, again, you are only a guest and playing because they have dedicated the time, effort, and money to providing that space.

if someone decides to ban lots of very rude strangers, I mean. so what? this is honestly the only medium I have ever played where bans are considered this shocking “nuclear option.” they are actually pretty common on tons of other platforms, and it doesn’t prevent them from being diverse and active spaces, because it’s about creating and maintaining the game culture and they understand that people come and go regardless.

@Pacha said in Empire Discussion Thread:

However, Ada does also come across as a little thin-skinned here. It does feel like she has jumped to the nuclear option very quickly. If that is her definition of brow-beating, she should prepare to feel that way a lot with the average MU crowd, honestly.

gonna disagree pretty firmly. I do not at all think that behavior is typical of the “average” crowd. I have MU*'d for a vast chunk of my life, and while I have certainly met a LOT of people who were pushy, disrespectful, or just straight up walking talking asshole, I have met tons of people who weren’t just fun, but considerate of RL and respectful enough not to cross a line like that – or at least never more than once; everyone starts somewhere, learning is a lifelong process, etc etc.

what you would call thin skinned, I would just say is having a strong boundary against shitty behavior, and it’s going to set a pretty clear precedent for what is and is not an acceptable way to approach Ada. I honestly would prefer more staff to have a very clear and hard line like that, because the only places I ever played where childish assholes were the average were where the staff were too inconsistent and let that kind of incredibly fucking irritating immaturity fly.

it’s their table, you’re a guest, act like it. it’s not hard.

@Warma-Sheen

just for the record, that kind of context paints the interaction differently and would’ve been important to have, but my impression isn’t entirely changed. in your op, you said:

@Warma-Sheen said in Empire Discussion Thread:

That’s the log in entirety. Nothing left out. That was it, completely. So be careful if you’re there. Don’t ask questions about policies or procedures. And definitely don’t communicate if you receive mixed messages and are confused.

And no, there were no other incidents that preceded this. It was just this from start to finish. One and done.

so yes, it did initially come off like just out of the blue you got very upset and impatient over small delay, which is not reasonable.

having your expectations set to a different standard and then watching them not be met with no explanation can be frustrating, I’ll give you that, but it was still only a difference of a few days, and this was the first time it had happened? so the way you approached it hit me as very unpleasant especially given that it was, like you said, your very first conversation about the issue.

try not to miss the forest for the trees, like. life happens you don’t have context for, this is something Ada was providing out of pocket at no expense to you, a little friendliness and patience goes a long way.

@Faraday

it wasn’t just canceling the jobs, it was that entire exchange. as Ada called it, getting browbeaten like that over something incredibly minor, to me, reads like a big red flag for what was only going to be an escalating series of headaches and selfish behavior down the road, and showing a player like that the door early really doesn’t seem like a bad move to me.

if you want a GM at your beck and call, just to be frank, there are professional paid online tabletop services that offer that you can go and find very easily. they’re advertised everywhere.

@Faraday

canceling a bunch of other jobs out of frustration because one hadn’t been responded to in less than a week just feels like really entitled behavior in 2025, and definitely doesn’t feel like a polite follow up to me, but ymmv.

@Warma-Sheen said in Empire Discussion Thread:

I cancelled a bunch of others cause having a bunch of actions open that we’re being addressed was really making me feel a kind of way.

you complained that job 18 had been open longest and she points out that it hadn’t even been 5 days? that is looney toons, dude.