It’s not easy to get Xanya in a foul or angry mood. But if you push her enough you might find her dark side coming out. When that happens Xanya would wish she had big weapons at hand to deal with her enemy.
This song Planet hell has a good start in it. you can here the music climbing up like something exciting is about to happen. At 58 seconds into the song Hell or in this case the big music is unleashed. That part always reminds me of a scene from the james bond movie Goldeneye. Which scene? well remember the start of the tank chase scene? Look at the video linked below. You’ll know what I mean.
Okay so I’ve not much in the way of good pickup lines, but I have enclosed for your amusement some rather lovely relationship-related FAILS on the parts of my characters:
“Yes, I have been in some wonderfully shitty relationships where kissing and other such intimacies did occur before things went ass-up, thank you very much, Tam,” Alhambra ‘retorts’ with another yawn. “And whoever the fuck says it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all I think is full of shit. Just sayin’. And yeah as much as I’d like havin’ me some kind of happy whutever, if wishes were fishes we’d all be fat. I don’t meet people. People meet me. An’ then they either trick me into thinking they’s the right one or they go and fuck off outta my life before I can find out if they in fact -was- the right one.” She makes a motion generally associated with male self-amusement. “An’ that would be why I don’t wanna go to muhfuckin’ hookup cruises.”
Then we’ve got Leucohyle, who couldn’t read an innuendo if it came with instructions:
Majors sips his drink and glances Leu over for a long moment. “Hmm well I do believe we have a deal now.” He muses to the woman. A sly smile creases his lips. “Care to come by for tea from time to time luv?”
Leucohyle looks up from her rapid-movement scrutiny of the Psi Blocker. “I I already come here for tea from time to time.”
“Is that so? You must certainly ask for me. I could use proper company from time to time.” Majors replies.
“Speaking of which, I I haven’t gotten my tea nor my scone yet. You you may want to see to that,” Leucohyle pipes, apparently doing a very poor job at reading the sly smile.
Then, well, there’s Joca. Joca really doesn’t ‘pick up’, per se, it’s an intricate combination of body language, pheromones, and Eurotrash that brings a particular demographic of boys to the proverbial yard. If I gave it away, she’d probably shank me in the night. But here are a few of her… best?
“I like Timmie. Come. I know good place for se drink.”
“Oh yes,” she finally purrs. “I know ‘ow to make se booty call.”
“You are familiar wis se revenge sex?”
She sets a hand on her hip. “Okay,” she says, darting her tongue over a gold-backed canine tooth, “Try me.”
Joca:
Nickleback, “Burn It To The Ground”
Leu:
Mindless Self Indulgence: “Stupid MF”
Alhambra:
L.L. Cool J: “Mama Said Knock You Out”
It’s everyone’s favorite huffer! Wait. That doesn’t sound right. Anyways, there’s nothing better for a flounce offscreen than a proper “We Are Not Amused” accent. Here’s hoping the below amuse you, readers.
Leucohyle exits the IND Temperantia, in a mild state of what can only be described as ‘kerfluffle’. She is speaking rapidly in that quasi-mad way that people with wireless PDA connections frequently exhibit. “I I am -telling- you there is is a a a -contagion- out there on this this -ship- and and it’s just sort of -floating- there and… what do you mean? No I I didn’t -board- what are you -mad- did you hear me I I said -contagion-.” Pause. “W-well good day to you as well!” The last line is delivered in a shrill, squeaky manner, and she sputters a few times before getting a hold of herself.
Blink. Blink. Bl-ink. Leucohyle’s sparse eyebrows knit across her circuit-traced forehead with a force that could move starships. There are a few more blinks. “Sir,” she says, primly. “I’ve no position, l-literal or or metaphorical, that would make use of any talents, mentioned or implied, th-that you may have. I repair complex-machineries-and-construct-multipurpose robots. I have no unfilled niches for ‘fighting’ ‘being inebriated’ and and or ‘expressing as many archaic Earth-Eurasian racially-based epithets as possible in one conversation’.” Sniff.
“Well. Why don’t you, whilst you are on your way, consider why, if I am so ineffective, why -I- am referred to as this station’s robotic genius, why -I- won the Expo, why -I- have a successful business. An Intelligence does not need to be self-aware, and anything that is self-aware should not be sold and forced to serve,” Leucohyle pipes, voice raising in both pitch and speed, and accent reaching ‘we are not amused’ levels. “My robots do -not- make mistakes. I do not solely produce pilots; if you were -paying attention-, I’ve only bloody built the one and it functions -very well-. But, underestimate me if you like, it makes no never mind to me. I will continue onwards without your approval. Good day, sir.”
Leucohyle raises one sparse eyebrow, seemingly unimpressed by the outburst. “If I were going to to call you primitive, -sir-,” she pipes, “I would have called you primitive directly. Although it seems that you’re putting forth quite a hearty demonstration of your evolutionary state or lack thereof.” She cants her head to Kaden, and then shrugs to Ladek. “If I build something for the purpose of serving -me-, and and make it sentient, then there is no guarantee that they will choose to serve -me-. To force, coerce, or otherwise cajole a sentient mind is a shame upon sentience itself.” Omicron keeps its eyes upon both men. “I find your speaking of me as though I am not directly here, as well as your usage of the words ‘no offense’ after an offensive comment to be ironic, in the sense that such a behaviour is, in and of itself, quantifiable as ‘socially awkward’. And and people tell me I’m missing -so much- by avoiding mind-altering substances. -Yes-, your latest charge seems to be faring quite well.” Pip. “That was -sarcasm-. Good day, gentlemen.”
Akamatsu:
Hollywood Undead, “Pour Me”
Zu:
Bullet for my Valentine “Temper Temper”
Xani’ulun:
Papa Roach “Getting Away With Murder”
Below my attempt to change Xanya’s description. Not sure if the new outfit look works in a Zero-G cocktail party though. Feel free to comment.
Before
A light tanned human woman with violet eyes and long pure white hair, braided in a thick French braid, almost hitting her lower back. She stands at around 6’2″ (190 cm) tall and weighs about 176.3 lbs (80 kg). Despite her athletic build, her figure still presents an hourglass shape and prominent chest. She also has a cybernetic right arm, with black cybernetic parts and white metal cover plates shaped to look like her old arm.
Currently she is wearing a white colored suit style jacket and pants each made to be worn by women. Underneath her pants she is wearing black high heel shoes. Underneath her jacket she is wearing a purple and black corset.
After
A light tanned human woman with violet eyes and long pure white hair, braided in Knot at the back of her head, two strand of hair frame the left and right of her face. She stands at around 6’2″ (190 cm) tall and weighs about 176.3 lbs (80 kg). Despite her athletic build, her figure still presents an hourglass shape and prominent chest. She also has a cybernetic right arm which is covered by synthetic skin, to help her hide the cybernetics of the arm.
Currently she is wearing a Long black leather jacket with metal shoulder pads and several belts to close the jacket. Underneath this she is wearing a black leather dress with a quarter long skirt. On her feet she is wearing black shoes with high heels.
The things Xanya is thankful for starts with simply being in this universe filled with spaceships, space stations and other stuff, which she can even create herself being an engineer.
She is also thankful for having a loving wife, who currently is probably worried sick wondering where Xanya is, since Xanya disappeared together with Comorro.
Third she is also thankful for the many friends she has made in this universe.
Qraco’xar doesn’t do thanksgiving. in fact I don’t think it’s known where he comes from. He is however thankful for still being alive.
For Kethren, there’s rather a lot. Being in a universe where his eyes could be fixed so amazingly well for one. Getting to design the first city on a new planet. Developing a method of building with vines and roots. The companionship of a ser. But mostly he’s thrilled to have such a wonderful (and green) girlfriend.
Okay, this should be… interesting. Mileage may vary. In their own words, what my characters are thankful for:
Alhambra:
“Well, I reckon I am thankful for havin’ a feller that ain’t off his shit, thankful for all my horsies, an’ my house, an’ my pals, an’ this beer, an’ my hometown, an’ my job… okay, jobs, an’ the Baile with alla its nice weather an’ wonderful critters, an’ uh, not presently havin’ any drama in my lap but don’t you take that as an invitation there, universe, ’cause so help me I will kick somebody’s teeth out the back of their head don’t think just ’cause I’m all fulla Doc Mira’s cooking that I can’t get off this couch, I tell you whut.”
Leucohyle:
“Oh, what, is is this some manner of ‘feel good’ cognitive exercise, is that what this is? Very well… I am presently thankful for, including but n-not limited to: air scrubbers, genetic enhancements, cybernetic technology, biotechnology, planets without bureaucratic nonsense, portable sanitising technology, self-cleaning fabrics, quick-spooling titanium circuit bridges, any entities sensible enough to be trustworthy, electro-muscular disruption, and robots. Also Father. When he is present and and reasonably sober.”
Joca:
“…hmmm… what I am thankful for…
All of my boys, but of course!
Delicious food.
Timmies.
Frozen Mai Tai.
Birth control!
Timmies.
Wanderful scientific medicines.
Showairs where se ‘ot water doesn’t stop coming out.
Timmies. Annd Aukami, and well all of se Kamiroid, sey are so -pretty-.
So many planets!
Forty-seven diffairent flavor of rum.
Ice cream.
Se clothes where you push button and it changes color.
Room service.
Music, so much music.
Timmies.
Virtual realitie programs.
My ship.
My friends.
Soap.
Beaches.
and Timmies. Eh? ‘ow many times did I mention? Psh. Well I love sem sat much, so what of it.”
Happy Thanksgiving, folks! Wishing all a safe, healthy, and drama-free holiday.
Al.
Aina is thankful for everyone in her life, because they accept her for who she is, and they don’t judge her because she’s a large green goat looking lady. Her home, all of her little critters, and most of all that amazing man that loves her and makes her glad that she went out in search of a new life.
Just curious, but will this in any way bypass the need for architects, starship engineers, and the like?
It should not. To get a starship class added to CSpace, for example, you’d still need to +craft the prototype. To get your city or world connected to the official game grid, you would need the appropriate building or planet objects.
Good to hear 🙂
This new system, will it still be checked? Or can players build whatever they want? I mean what if people start creating things without a RP reason for doing so?
To a certain extent, players will have free rein to build whatever they want – the MUSH equivalent of Minecraft, if they want to build an Uberfortress of DOOOOOM, so be it. But it only becomes part of the official grid with approval from the staff and submission of crafted counterparts representing new cities, buildings, starships, planets, universes and the like.
Clarification required on one part..
If your SP is converted to Quota.. how do you +craft the required components for items as they require SP?
Don’t convert all your SP into quota. That would be my first recommendation. But this also opens the door for someone who has NO architectural skills on their +sheet to design a city with @dig and @desc, and hire a player with those skills to actually craft the designs.
I got one question that might be all everybody’s mind. When can we expect to be able to use these commands?
Second question is:
What if someone wants to make a landing pad for ships to land? Is there a command for it too? or will that be in the second instalment of this guide?
And the third question I can think of right now.
What if someone wants to make a room that poeple can only get into if they use a password? Is there a command that will let you make such password protected exits?
1) The commands are available right now to anyone who has quota. To get quota, post a +str asking for X amount and I’ll deduct 50 SP per quota.
2) Build the landing pad. However, getting it added to the CSpace system is something that will require admin assistance – and then only after the grid itself is approved.
3) We’ll cover exit parenting and locking in another segment. However, feel free to peruse help @lock to get a head start.
Thanks for the answers Brody.
I checked the Help @lock and I must say it’s a bit confusing as to how to use it but I think I found a lock type I like to use in the Space station I’m hoping to build soon.
Maybe the next guide of this series will help me out to better understand this.
Yesterday on the public channel some interesting questions where posted. I thought of sharing them here for future reference. the below text is a direct copy from the text of saterday December 7th 2013.
Laughing Bear Alhambra says, “Hm. Can you still buy potential nodes for your world?”
Needs a Bigger Boat Brody says, “You’ll be able to request basic nodes – Mineral, etc. – for free via +str. The rest, rather than requesting, would simply be crafted in that location, by you. Effectively, it’s the same thing as buying with SP.”
Laughing Bear Alhambra says, “Oh neato!”
Laughing Bear Alhambra will have to go find her list of things… around here somewhere…
Needs a Bigger Boat Brody says, “Baile coffee fields would need one of the new Crop Potential Nodes, for example.”
Needs a Bigger Boat Brody says, “(Once I make that!)”
Narai says, “So Aluminum nodes are used up right away, huh?”
Needs a Bigger Boat Brody says, “Yeah, but the output multiple units.”
Needs a Bigger Boat Brody says, “*they”
Thats no moon, its a space station. Xanya says, “and the nodes that are curently on planets?”
Needs a Bigger Boat Brody would like, someday, to provide variance in the yields based on skill. But until that day…!
Laughing Bear Alhambra says, “and the ‘potential’ nodes don’t go away?”
Narai says, “Won’t it get annoying to keep putting down nodes though once used? Especially for those making prototypes and stuff, that aluminum doesn’t last long when you need a shit ton :P”
Needs a Bigger Boat Brody says, “Potential nodes don’t go away.”
I still have one question about these changes. just something I want to be 100% sure of.
These changes will only effect the resource nodes and not effect the materials required to craft something like a starship or a backpack or even a pda?
I am not currently planning a revamp of component requirements for those items.
I just thought of a 4th question concerning this new room build method. Will that be used for rooms inside ships as well? or will they still require the staff to be created?
You can build houses, ships, exterior areas – anything. But you will still need to submit crafted prototype items and get admin assistance to add starships/space stations/worlds to CSpace.
This sounds interesting. I like this project already.
It also makes me think if I want to import a character from an other Starwars based universe over to this one.
It involves a Togruta character that is Vice-CEO of a company that focuses on medical stuff.
While I’m thinking about what character I will implement in SWRotE, I will be looking out for other developments.
One question concerning the Creator badges. It says you can obtain them if you have created a number of Approved Objects. But what kind of objects fall under this?
Any objects that you create – these may range from docking registries on planets you build to objects made to represent things that you propose as new craftable items. I’ll be working on a guide about them soon.
Sounds good!
I will be reaching out to Brody to see if he has any old news files on RoE, specifically regarding theme – to try and keep it as close to what he had planned for when it fired up, as possible.
I am a firm believer in player-driven plots. While I am prepared to offer a semi-heavy RP schedule, and lots of plots, I am not opposed to player run stuff (including organizations, factions, etc..).
Some factions off the top of my head will be:
Galactic Empire
Rebel Alliance
Independents (those who don’t fit in anywhere)
Hutt Cartel/Crime Syndicate
Don’t want to spread things out too much either when it comes to who to RP with. So things like single capital ships for military per faction until they are crewed are a must.
Expect building to start soon!
That wink was meant for me wasn’t it? yes I know I got a character that is a ship builder and Since I have always wanted to build starwars style ship, I’m willing to help you out and make a character for the Corellia Engineering Corp. My preference would go out to a twi’lek or Togruta race, but we can discus that and more when we both are online.
Nope! 🙂 It was more of a hint that this is a good opportunity for someone (or a group) to become ship builders.
The only thing I would ask is that ships built (at least in the beginning) are actual Star Wars ships. Once we have an established group of ships available for use, perhaps we can look at some R&D of new ships (or R&D of advanced ships that are found later on in the Star Wars series – like the B-Wing, or some of the TIE-Wing starfighters!)
What races should be playable? Well Lets just forget about the human races to begin with… ..Just kidding lol.
Since the total list as I found it consists of 92 races I went out to pick a few I think we should consider to be playable:
Alderaanian
Corellian
Coruscanti
Ewok
Gungan
Human
Hutt
Kaminoan
Mon Calamari
Naboo (yes that’s how the race is called)
Togruta
Toydarian
Twi`lek
Wookiee
Well, races like Corellian, Alderanian, Hapan, etc… would all fall under ‘Human’, as they are all offshoots of the Human race – easier code wise that way as well. Having a dozen plus types of Humans is confusing. The only time a Human variant would be available if there is some super-special effect that is specific to that race.
That being said, I think I will leave out most of the pre-Episode IV races out. I think 15-20 races max to start, but will have to select the most popular. If the staff is willing to add more, then great. In the end I want to reduce as much work for them as humanly possible.
Sounds like a good plan Narai. Let me know if you want an opinion on anything.
The thought of things actually being bought with credits instead of Saga points sounds great I approve of that. I like the idea of credits gaining more usefulness again.
Not sure yet what to think about the ships thing thought.
The less SP needed to be used, the better. And I was always sad that OS/Chia leaned more towards SP than the use of credits (although they were used, just not a primary source of currency).
The ship thing, I envision, would work like this:
A vendor/ship builder has a list of ‘approved’ ships they can build. Each ship has a set description, stats and cost associated with it. (maybe a builder only focuses on KDY ships, another CEC, etc…).
Players will do gigs/jobs (so it will be heavy use of skills to generate currency) in exchange for ships/weapons.
When a player orders a ship, the transaction takes place. The ship object is built, described then handed over to the purchaser in exchange for the ship.
Here is what I am thinking:
1) Ships can be used as a 1 room home (placed in a spaceport, of course).
2) There will be dedicated RP rooms at each planet (Example: A room called ‘Low Orbit – Coruscant’). These will be for use for space RP/Combat (so if you have a ship object, you will be able to do stuff in these rooms, such as RP with ships and space combat).
3) There may, or may not be space rooms connecting planets, or various deep space rooms. Not sure.
As I stated, I dislike having ships where people hide in and no RP gets done. That being said, I am not opposed to allow for private housing on planets in designated areas (or offices, or businesses, etc…).
I want to minimize the need for SP, increase the use of a hard currency, and increase RP opportunities.
A similar system would be setup for weapons/armor as well.
The only vendors would be for things like commlinks, PDAs, etc…
That is where my head is at.
I’m a little puzzled by this discussion of credits vs. Saga Points as currency and the ensuing sadness about “SP dominance.” What you’re describing (gigs to earn money) is pretty much *exactly* what we have on OS. Is the problem, as y’all see it, that people can use SP to craft weapons (if they have the skills) or build ship prototypes (if they have the skills) or what?
I think what I am going for is less use of Dominion by players. Although perhaps I should just leave it and let them do whatever.
I think we are looking for a way to move away from SP, and use strictly IC currency. But no matter how we do it, there will be SP use. Would like there to be reasons for wanting to collect credits.
Still ideas in the works. 😛 Need to build more planets!
Something to keep in mind: Whether it’s IC credits or SP that people spend, you’re still going to run into the same problems of people stockpiling whatever the dominant “currency” is because there aren’t enough sinks to consume the surplus. There are no upkeep costs, nothing going obsolete due to excessive use, so when a player buys a PDA or a rifle or a space suit, they currently never have to do so again unless they somehow lose the item during an event.
We’ll be having a town hall-style discussion on Friday to go over topics such as this to explore some ideas in that direction, which may have some bearing on ROE!
I shall be there.
I do want to take a different approach to ships and how we use them for RP. Want to take a page from a Star Wars game I have played on for some time where it seems to work well.
That explains it well enough for me, Thanks Narai. I can’t think of anything against this ship idea.
One question from me about the list of playable races. I’m personally missing Togruta and/or Twi’leks. Will those be playable too or not?
Yes, forgot them.
Other then that I don’t think there are any that need to be added. Covered off the main ones, I think.
No Ewok, Jawa or Tusken Raiders either 😛
Sounds good to me. can’t wait to be able to make a character for RoE.I’ll think about which race I’ll play, a Twi’lek or a Togruta. I already have the bases of a Togruta character I play on text based browser game called Starwars Combine. But playing a Twi’lek sounds fun too.
If my name doesn’t give it away I’m a former player from long ago. I remember OS when it was jam-packed with veteran players, when new players were turning up–and sticking around–daily, and Ritter was the biggest news since people stuffing their heads into Nemoni cruisers.
I’m going to share what drew me to Otherspace to begin with, what pulled me in and didn’t let go for two years (and dented my GPA more than I’d care to admit), and finally the reasons I personally can’t seem to get back into the game.
Personally, what drew me to Otherspace was the original-but-not-too-original theme. Otherspace was a unique universe unto itself, but a universe that clearly drew inspiration from films and shows I could relate to and loved. It was new but not unfamiliar. Even in the late 90s/early 00s the theme was convoluted, but it was manageable largely because it had that hint of familiarity about it. That Star Wars/Trek/New Car smell.
What kept me enthralled was the rigidity of the theme. Otherspace was a space opera with narrative rules, and it more or less stuck to them. Characters were fantastic and oftentimes outlandish, but there were boundaries. A zangali was a giant lizard creature, odarites were greedy oversized roaches plying the space lanes, humans were hairless primates of the future. I got it. I got them.. It made sense to me.
I’m completely confused by today’s Otherspace. The familiarity is gone. The once convoluted theme is more soap opera than space opera. It’s understandable. The game’s been around for over a decade. A lot has happened. But it’s still damn confusing, even if you do insist it isn’t necessary to follow.
And the characters today. There’s no cohesion. Walk into a dive bar wedged between the spaceport and a gambling den and you’ll encounter anything from a medieval knight, a shapeshifting thingamajig, a mystical warrior replete with seemingly magical powers, etc. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what genre this is.
There’s no cohesion. There’s no ungstiri tough, no sivadian pride, no zangali throw-bar because characters can and are literally from anywhere and any time.
It works for other MU*s out there, and perhaps it will work for OS, but the reason I stuck around for as long as I did back in the old days was exactly because Otherspace had a tight, unique theme.
Just my .02, and I wish you all the best wherever the game goes.
It might challenge your RP flexibility to have all these options floating around, I agree. But it wouldn’t have to hinder your RP, if you chose to be involved.
I am puzzled, though, how you can speak to how confusing or non-cohesive it is today if you were around in the old days *but not now*. If you’re an active player and, through experience, can say these things, that’s fine. But if you’re just a jaded old player shaking a cane and saying “Back in MY day…,” well, I’m not so sure.
I have tried to return more than once, and I have spent some time on the grid since the early days.
In my day Otherspace was a fairly regulated space opera. Now it’s more of an open book to do anything and everything you want. And that’s fine if that’s what the players want. I’m outlining the reasons I personally came to Otherspace, stuck around, and now can’t seem to get sucked back in. And one of the biggest draws for me was the unique space opera universe Otherspace provided.
It may sound a bit paradoxical, but too many choices can be a bad thing.
I think it’s important to remember that OtherSpace wasn’t THAT regulated. We had glorified blurbs for each race in the original theme. It was player investment in some of the races – the Ungstiri, Demarians, Zangali among them – that led to so much of the framework. Ungstiri Tough was a concept I created, but players made it real. And Throw Bar was fabricated entirely by Urf, if I recall correctly.
The same could be done within the current framework, if people were invested enough to do so.
That said: We could open a new “exactly like it used to be universe” and I’m still not sure it would recapture the lightning in a bottle of that era. I was much more active with characters and stories then, and we had players who could be around a lot more often and who generated activity just by showing up with their pals.
I believe it’s much more about the people and their commitment than it is about the clear definition or rigidity of the theme.
I’m a relative new player compared to those that where around a decade ago. I’ve been here since November 2011 and I must say I have no reasons to say things are bad. But then again i always try to see the good in things when I can.
Sure otherspace nowadays is relatively quiet and since I live in a different time zone then most players, and have plenty of Real live stiff to focus time on. I can sadly not always be involved in rp.
Over the two years I had to miss more then a dozen events that where Arc related. Just because it was either way to late for me or I was just to tired to try and stay up until far past midnight. When I Was able to stay up and join in on events I usually ended up going to bed somewhere between 2 and 7 in the morning. I didn’t mind thought because being part of something that could potentially change the universe felt great.
I guess that’s why I like the fact that the war of the weavers has moved to the forums. If it didn’t, Changes where I had to miss most of it all over again, and with it making me feel like my character and her actions doesn’t matter to this world.
Being a part of events doesn’t only make me feel like my character can make a difference, but they also allow me to have a fixed time to RP with others. Of course it doesn’t have to be a admin event it can also be a player driven event. Point is, when people take the time and effort to organise something I try to be there with one of my 3 characters. Especially if I know I can make it. Since Real live can be a pain in the rear when it comes to scheduling ones time.
Most players probably have to focus there time on finding a job. and those that do have a job probably have to work twice as hard as they did a decade a go. We all know why that is so no need to go into it if you ask me.
Point is scheduling an event ingame is difficult. and when you are in game with people. The more people you have the longer an event takes. Even if you do three pose, you still end up waiting for 3 poses until you can pose again. and since no one types at the same speed, it can take a while before you can go again. and a decent event can take up anywhere from 2 hours up to maybe even 4+ hours.
I know it has it’s charm and if an event sounds like something people are interested in they probably will try and make it. I know I would.
I’m not sure if I am making sense any more. I typed most of this as it popped into my head.
One last thing. Don’t try to blame people for what went or goes wrong. try to find a way to get RP flowing again.
I know I got plenty of plans laying around to work with. But with my main character trapped in an other universe I can’t do most of that for now and it has been put in the freezer, waiting to be thawed out when the war of the weavers is over.
I wasn’t here when it ended but every six months or so I begin to miss Chiaroscuro. Looking back I realize everything I did in that game was utterly uninspired. I wasn’t smart enough or creative enough to leave my mark on Fastheld like I wish I could have been. My best bet was to cling to Markus and build up his plots as a secondary supportive cast player. When he quit I could have done the same with Dianna. Hannah was a much better roleplayer than I was.
Now I wish I had something like Chiaroscuro to play. Every once in awhile I look up mudstats and check around for a good MUSH or MUX to start playing. Sometimes I get pretty close. I wish Chiaroscuro was still open. I liked it best when it was just Fastheld and we could play nobles and attempt politics and build twinky sheets that we never used.
Since my MUSH days I’ve picked up programming and sometimes I think I should learn MUSHcode. I doubt it’s very complicated. My idea for a coded system would be one that simulated economy and trade on a more macro level. For a fantasy world you could use it to keep track of holdings and profits from those holdings. It would be more abstract and used to facilitate RP. For example you would be Duke or whatever and you owned farm land and vassals and all that and that was all represented in the system as tokens in an inventory or stats on a sheet. You could trade those tokens to other political rivals. You could make contracts and deals. There’d be ways to betray or spy on your enemies too. It would be kept track of within the coded system but it wouldn’t be the game itself like a game of Civilization – you’d need to roleplay it all out. The problem with Chiaroscuro and probably a lot of other fantasy and medieval games that feature politics is there’s largely no real conflict beyond soap opera drama. ICly those characters all had power and wealth and some of them even defined that wealth and power nicely but we had no real conflict because of it because we couldn’t keep track of it.
Anyway, that was my idea. Hope you’re doing well, Wes. Grats on the baby. Good luck with Otherspace moving forward.
I forgot to mention what reminded me of that coded politics system idea. It would be great for a game where you expected the players to spearhead plot development. If you don’t have time to run TinyPlots and arcs for the MUSH/MUX they would have an easy way to make their own fun. Yes, nearly every game provides the opportunity for the players to make their own plots and adventures but some people need more hand holding.
Sounds similar to the basic intent of the Dominion empire-building system, which worked with the crafting system, but never really got completely fleshed out. That said: We’ve had occasional people showing interest in starting up the Chiaroscuro universe again – never quite takes hold.
Rejoice, O Otherspace, for the Falking is upon you.
So, most of you know who I am, or maybe you don’t, I don’t know.
I was an original player on Otherspace and a regular, fairly central player from 1998 until 2004. After an extended time away from Otherspace, I returned in 2011, when Brody opened what was then known as Normalspace Variant 1, a restoration of the pre-Sanctuary OS universe, which had been my favorite era of the game and was enough to lure me out of retirement. But the truth is, my life now, with a job and three kids and a wife, is much busier than my life was in 1998-2004, so I found making time for the game to be tough. Still, I managed to become part of a smallish group of players RPing on the new (old) Tomin Kora, and for a while it was fun, when I found the time. The players I spent most of my time with, however, all became inactive or left for a variety of reasons (some had personal issues, some were involved in some unpleasantness that caused them to leave.) After that I found my interest lagging again. It takes work to build yourself a place to RP on the Mush… and I didn’t really have the time or energy to do it again. Still, I may return from time to time, and I always keep an eye on what’s happening. I could even see becoming active again for specific periods of time.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my time on OS over the years, and the fun that it was. And I could easily sit here and shake my cane and say, “In MY day…” But it wouldn’t matter. Because what dawned on me a long time ago is this: Otherspace is a mirror.
It’s a mirror that reflects, partly, what’s going on in Brody’s life. You could chart a lot of the ups and downs of the game (and even some of those mistakes Brody talked about above) against the ups and downs of his life while he’s been running the game. He is, and always will be, the main animating force behind Otherspace. Oh, I think he wishes he wasn’t… I think he’s been looking for years to make the game more self-sustainable without regular infusions of energy from him, personally. But even when the game had a very active, large and committed playerbase, Brody was the driving force, whether he wanted to be or not. So when his life is busy and his energy is required elsewhere, that’s going to be felt on the game. It just is. It’s not his FAULT; it’s not anybody’s fault… it’s just part of the nature of the game. MU**s only survive as long as there is an animating force behind them. Brody has always been that animating force, and while he’s tried… and is still trying… to empower players to keep things going without him, Otherspace is always, in part, going to be a reflection of, and an extension of, its creator.
It’s also, however, a mirror that reflects its current playerbase. There was an ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, who said you can never step into the same river twice. He meant the only constant thing in life is change. Try as I might, I can’t return to the Otherspace that I loved most, from twelve or thirteen years ago. Brody can re-create the worlds and oldbies like me can reappear on the grid and still it’ll never be the same game because there’s a different core group of players with different interests and a different style and a different RP culture. At any moment, OS is what its players make it… the players who are there right now are so much more important than the legacies left behind by characters like mine, our contributions to the lore and the history and all that… none of what happened in the past is ever going to be as important as what the players who are there right now want the game to be. Not much else matters… not the systems, not the staff, not even Brody himself, because the game has always empowered you to just go out there and RP. It takes work… you need to build your own RP communities within the Mush, and then work so that those communities don’t become too isolated… you need to think in terms of why things SHOULD happen, not why they shouldn’t, and you need to think of how barriers to interacting with other characters can be overcome, rather than treating them as insurmountable. Brody can be as active as he’s ever been, but the MUSH will still take the shape the players lay out for it.
I think there’s, as usual, a lot of truth to what Falk has to say.
I’ve wanted the game to run on its own without so much involvement. And, for a while – for good or ill – it actually did, back when much of the action was provided by Mika, Fulton, Squadron and a few others. This was during my Fallen Earth development period, when I had almost no time at all to devote to the game, and yet it persevered in my absence.
But I’m well aware that the game’s most energetic times seem to coincide with my ability to pour energy into it, whether it’s playing characters or simply getting out into the internet ether and spreading the gospel of OtherSpace.
I used to pitch the game in dozens of places every month. I scarcely even try to advertise it anywhere now.
But I may get back to doing that in the near future – assuming I get some energy and free time for it.
Who knows!
Okay! Holy cannolis, that’s a lot of stuff, and a lot of folks I don’t know. But that’s okay. Pull up a chair. (Oh lords and ladies, stop her, she’s doing that ‘Way Back When I Was a MUD Admin’ thing again! Runnn!)
Let me at first look at the list of things that have been ‘done wrong’. (Bonus points for acknowledgement, in this day and age.)
1) The Ritter Incident: Yes, this is famous. So famous that I’ve heard about it, and I didn’t start here until 2010. Main Character Syndrome, when the player takes action with clear disregard for how it affects other players, is quite the disease, and it can and will decimate a population. I could write an entire informative article on the symptoms, spread, and treatment of Main Character Syndrome (maybe I will!), but the fact of the matter is, if staff can recognize it for what it is, a lot of trouble and drama will be saved in the long run.
2) Shutting Down/Reconfiguring Games: Understandable. Sometimes ideas get thrown around as to how to ‘fix’ things, and sometimes a theme change, apocalypse, story change, player or map wipe, consolidation come up as possible solutions. Sometimes it works, sometimes it makes a mess.
3) Logging: Okay, personally, I don’t see a problem with this, as any MUD I’d ever played on has always logged character input. It would be lovely if people could be honest, but let’s face it; people are people, and people cheat. With our current player base, I am less concerned, but I feel that in the storm of he-said-she-said-they’ll-say-anything-to-get-away-with-things, it was a necessary step. Perhaps my years of running the disciplinary squad in an online RP environment have jaded me, but logs are the only defense against lies. I realize that opinions may vary, and it must have upset -someone- enough to give Brody a holler about it, but, really… have we not learned: NOTHING YOU SAY/DO ON THE INTERNET IS PRIVATE.
Okay. Where was I? Looking over the comments, I see some talk about the rigidity of theme. As with things that people -want- and not -need-, like sugary snacks, ice cream, and great big giant steaks, moderation is key. Not enough leeway will potentially dampen the interest of new players; TOO MUCH leeway will drop things onto the grid that may be problematic for -existing- players. Risk versus reward… will saying ‘no’ to this overpowered character concept lose me one player’s interest? Will saying ‘yes’ to it produce a grid-clearing ‘IT IS IN MY BIO therefore Brody has given me permission to have unblockable attacks/cold fusion beams/undefeatable defenses'(see also Main Character Syndrome: it’s contagious!) If someone is interested enough in -this game world-, they should be at least somewhat willing to create something that fits reasonably into it. (There are so many choices to begin with!!) Anyone who’s going to rip staff a new one in defense of instant approval of their character concept is probably going to be just as pleasant and cooperative as an ongoing player.
All right, I’m seeing some people I don’t know in the comments, so, hello, previous players. I feel like I understand what folks are expressing, and I can tell you that as one of the ‘bridge’ people who remained in the time when many ‘veterans’ left, there was a definite disconnect between the people who stayed and the people who were here in ye olde days and came back later. To the ‘old’ folks, the ‘new’ folks were ‘newbies,’ but really they -weren’t-; the ‘newbies’ had been here for quite a while, had remained/helped through the times of adversity, and were helping rebuild. I watched the ‘old’ folks talk at great length about the ‘great old days’, and tried to get them playing with the people they viewed as ‘new,’ to make some -new- awesome stories, but it rarely happened. Torn between two populations, I chose to stick with the players who stuck with Otherspace.
I am here because I feel that this is a pretty damned decent community with a wide-open world and infinite potential for story. Let’s get together, and remember, it’s not my story, it’s not your story, it’s not his story, it’s not her story…
It’s OUR story.
I’m glad to see someone taking the right approach to the theme, as far as it being wide open, with infinite potential. That’s a much more optimistic vision than calling it a confusing mess (which, if taken as a whole, isn’t inaccurate, but it’s absolutely unfair).
The game has the advantage of being a space opera literary sandbox with plenty of room to explore and grow.
Been a while since I’ve shown my face, or text, around here. Just happened to wander through and this post caught my eye. I myself, though a tremendous fan of Otherspace and all of the creative minds that contribute to it, have, at various times in the past, and now in the present, found myself unable to participate.
It is impossible for me to participate on a minimal level. If I am present at all, the temptation to be active will be too great. Currently, I am working seven days a week, twelve to fourteen hours a day. I have a wife, who I have little enough time to interact with, and a family with whom I am trying to repair my relationships.
The point of this soliloquy on my personal life is this: We’ve all grown up. Some of us can still manage to get our RPs in, but as someone above mentioned, many are either concentrating on finding a job, or keeping the one they have. We’re getting married, having kids, our lives are a far cry from those of the teenagers we (some of us, Brody, Falk)were in the late 90’s when Otherspace was born.
Now, your average person who would have been interested in MUSHing in 1998 has grown up in a completely different world. When Otherspace began, I had never heard of an MMO, if they indeed existed at that time. There were no smartphones. Most people still were satisfied with only one form of electronic entertainment at a time.
MUSHing was a niche activity sixteen years ago, and far more so today.
This DOES NOT mean that I believe that they should all shut their doors and roll over. That, I think, would be a tragedy. But I believe that blaming the staff of said games for a reduced active player base is ridiculous. We’re in a different era, and it’s tougher than ever before. I truly hope that Otherspace is still around when my children are old enough to enjoy it, if the literary bent of their parents passes down to them.
So we get to pick our own characters or pick an alt or make a new character concept for this story arc. But are we limited to one character or can we pick multiple to join the story arc?
That’s a great question. I’d say you can bring as many as you like to the story arc, but do your best to make sure they don’t interfere or assist each other. Alt conflict rules still apply!
Got an other question. How does this rp thread line up with the Bringing Up Baby RP Thread? I ask because I already posted in the cerulean twilight thread and now see the Bringing Up Baby RP Thread and wishing I had waited. Xanya would have loved to be present there to see the baby Yaralu’s first words and such.
To avoid overcomplicating things for anyone else, as they might want to refer to some of these happenings in-game, the events are (more or less) parallel. If you want Xanya involved, though, I’d recommend that you have her bow out of the Cerulean Twilight thread – maybe she’s on her way to the ship – and we can fudge the time element so that she shows up at Galleria in time for the baby to communicate.
Thanks for the advice. I’ll see about how I can make such pose.
Well, I’m not sure if this consideration is still going on, but two cents is two cents. My major argument against closing all NPC-run worlds is that PCs may still live on some of these; I know for certain that Pyracan in particular has a number of PCs housed on Eiru.
I think that the original rule above is sound, and will indeed save a lot of headaches on both sides of any possible conflicts. I would also think that -players- should be considerate of this fact. Any player who would not behave should have consequences and/or discipline administered on an individual basis, thereby preventing the misdeeds of the few from becoming the punishment of the many.
Water the garden. Pull the weeds.
I’ve had some behind-the-scenes discussions with a couple of players and staffers, disclosing that I was mostly just babbling out loud (as it were) to get the frustration off my chest. Long term, I don’t see shutting down the NPC-run worlds as a viable choice.
“Pretty much the entire Dominion structure. There’s no reasonable argument against allowing player-driven empires to grow organically, through RP and creative effort.”
There’s nothing wrong with this sentiment, given that most of my efforts have not been through Dominion. The only question becomes one of conflict resolution. If you want to say ’empires can not enter into conflicts’, then that is an acceptable answer, but otherwise you need a way to handle those matters. To balance out things between old players and new on that front, there is no good criteria to handle it that is fair to all parties involved.
SP for Badges? Well, you will need another way for players to earn SP, and some players may object, but it is not a strong personal objection for me, contingent upon understanding the entire package of changes that are desired. I am willing to consider any new setup could have undesirable interactions with this idea.
Cargo hauling: It never really contributed anything, and I do not know how many people ever used it more than once or twice to test it out.
Also, if you really want players to only worry about roleplaying, you should seriously consider allowing new characters to start with the full 500/500 cap sheet with SP to fill it out. That’s a form of competition between newbies and veterans. Some may argue that it takes out ‘progression’ and this is a motivating force for some players, but if we measure ‘progression’ by the stories that are told, then +sheet progression no longer makes as much sense.
I’m not against removing of some systems, I only ask that the full costs of such decisions are investigated and understood before anything happens.
It would be my intention to reward players upon approval with the full 500 SP for their +sheet, rather than the usual 250.
As for weighing the costs of these decisions: It’s hard to predict all the ramifications. For most players, honestly, it’s not going to make any real impact. +Sheets already are maxed out on most existing characters. Only a few players used crafting with any regularity. Only a few players were fanatical about accumulating badges.
If those things don’t exist for new players and their lack doesn’t deprive new players of anything veterans might have, then I think the cost of not having those systems is negligible.
The cost I have to calculate is whether existing players are so attached to any of these systems that their lack would drive them away. But, the simple fact is, if these systems are what keep them coming back, they’re coming back for the wrong reasons.
For most players it will not make much impact for +sheet purposes. Though 500 SP is not actually the full amount. The full amount for a full +sheet actually costs 4600, or 1000 if you just start the caps at 500/500.
What might work better if you want to eliminate the SP difference between players is removing SP costs from skills/traits entirely.
I did not say ‘remove caps’, I said remove the SP costs. All that would require is removing the SP checking/removing functions from the +raise code while still allowing the caps to be checked. Additionally, doing this would take away the abuse potential of unrestricted superior/inferior traits, which means those could be returned to their original status for their original intent, rather than something that needs to be applied for.
These things that you want to do will ultimately come down to trusting the playerbase to do the right thing in an overwhelming majority of cases. If that trust is there? Then the plan to do these things should be committed to as fully as possible. If it is not? Then there are significant questions as to whether these plans are a good idea.
Math: Always my greatest strength! I’d be interested in exploring with Coyote, et al, the idea of an SP-less skill system. I don’t really think we need a “sense of progression” for players in the game beyond that given through their character’s evolution within the framework of the ongoing story.
When it comes to trust, I’d really rather worry about trusting players to get on the grid, run events and participate in events run by others. I’m not too worried about grid-building excesses, because nothing becomes official until a staffer clears that grid for addition to the main grid.
I think we’ll still need props, such as weapons and armor, but given the relative rarity of combat on the MUSH and, again, the limited playerbase, I don’t think we need a wide spectrum of craftables. But invention-minded players should still have the opportunity to RP development of new weapons, robots, vehicles, etc.
I got some thoughts myself as I read through this post and the reply so far.
First of all is a little comment about the gigs and earning credits from them. It’s said that “…those just end up becoming little dragon hoards in your +inv.”
I’m a fan of dragons and thus also a fan of dragon hoards. And to be honest I’m probably one of the few players (if not the only player) that is planning to get alot of sp and credits, only to get the corresponding Wealth- and Saga Point Hoard Badges.
As for the economy simulation? I agree that without a large enough player base that might not be worth spending time on.
When the credits become more usefull to players to spend on items or even ships and such. Then credits might become more interesting and a little economy will end up being created by itself as players spend and earn those credits ingame.
As for the badges.
My first thoughts where this. “Nooooo, Don’t get ride of them or stop using them to payout monthly SP’s. I need those to get 1 million Saga points and thus obtain my Saga Point Hoard VI badge.”
It sounds crazy I know and probably confirms my earlier statement where I mentioned being a fan of dragon hoards. But that’s not the only reason I rather not see that go. One of my characters is a ship builder and that involves great costs both in Saga Points and Credits. Especially if your making a new design. I love making new designs, I tend to spend more time thinking about making designs then I probably should. Added problem of thinking so much about designs is that nothing gets out of my head and onto paper or even in game.
That being said, So long as there is a use for Saga Points
and credits, I don’t think we should get ride of the means to obtain those credits and SP’s.
As for the trading in Cspace.
I totally forgot about that. I have done it for a while myself, But I agree that it takes up time and I often I prefer. to use that time to rp if I can. I also have found myself somewhere far away in space and someone requesting RP with my character. I’d then have to travel somewhere and spend several minutes or up to an hour getting back. Time I could have spend role playing. That doesn’t take a way that Trading is still a nice thing to have. Time has been spend on it by the team to get it working and into the game. So I personally hate to see it go. Plus, for as long as it doesn’t bother people or is in the way of the crafting chain. why think of getting ride of it at all?
As I’m typing this I’m even thinking of spending some sp on one of my characters (or make a new character) to get them a ship and have them do trading runs to get credits.
Finally I agree with what Sergeytov said. If any system is nominated to be removed or changed. The effects of those changes should be investigated.
I get what you’re saying about wanting to design new things. However, as I said about empires, I say about designs for new things: There’s no good reason not to let a ship designer develop new ideas for ships organically. I’ve given players the power to build their own grids. You shouldn’t have to worry about playing a resource-gathering game or spending SP to do what you want.
As for badges, I could envision keeping them and maybe even adding to them, but without the SP rewards. Collecting the badges would be its own reward for those who like them.
I suppose part of this depends on the definition of ‘organically’, if that means ‘happens in roleplay/to assist roleplay’ and that’s the only requirement, we will either have to accept these things at face value, or create some concrete mechanism for ‘at what point does one earn a new ship design?’ There’s nothing wrong with either decision, but going with the first option means that there will have to be trust in the playerbase to regulate itself in terms of what happens organically.
Furthermore, there is still the outstanding question of how SP will be earned, especially if in order to build players will need SP still. Though one could solve that issue by just allocating a quota allowance every month to each character without charging SP to allow building, but not allow excessive building.
Well, I thought I made it clear – and if I didn’t, my bad – but when I say “organically” I mean “without an SP requirement of any kind.” Instead, it would be through the course of RP – posting logs, conducting taskrolls, etc. So an SP allowance/paycheck wouldn’t be required.
My turn to chime in….
I will be the first to admit that, as a player, I have benefited greatly on many levels from the vast amount of system Otherspace implemented in the last few years. From the Badges (what I really a fanatic about collecting them? I don’t think so, in the end it was more to fund my Empire-building), to Narai’s various adventures, the Bright Cluster and more. I can say that I benefited, but I’d like to think that others benefited from it as well (Danu is a perfect example, among others).
Would I be sad for a revamp? No.
Even if it hurt my long-term plans? Fine by me.
Privately, for the last year.. maybe year and a half.. I have said (to those who shall remain unnamed) that the OS system became too complex, and is a detrimental put-off to some (most) new players. Those that leave far outnumber those who stay. Coding system-wise, definite factor. And we have quite a few ‘veterans’ of 5+ years still around (a couple 10-15 years like myself).
I agree with the following:
1) Removing or heavily revamping coding systems to have a less detrimental effect on RP – this includes crafting, etc..
2) Lock down the character sheets – no more shifting around. Once you are out of Character Generation, you are locked in.
3) More focus on RP – I agree, fully, with development of the story and posting of logs to tell a story. While some things would have to be run in conjunction with staff approval (new empires, races, etc…), there is merit to it. I look at Star Wars MUSH as an old example of this. Coded systems were at a minimum (CharGen, space, combat and an econ system were really it). To develop items, you would have to put the time in ICly, have the required skills and money
4) Move away from Saga Points.. More focus on IC currency.
5) Active players get rewarded – quality over quantity though. Again, SW1 was a good example of this. If you were in any major military force, good luck getting any sort of promotion/command without activity. Regular plot runners are recognized in some way.
6) A rework of the theme, perhaps? Not at the Core, but I think the multiverse, the amount of history and races, etc.. is daunting for a lot of new players, especially in an original themed game. Where as jumping into a Trek or SW game, where you probably know abit about a lot of races, etc.. is easier to delve into, for example.
7) A serious rework of the Wiki, along with a regular person(s) to oversee it and maintain it. Wiki’s are a great resource, and OS’s is underutilized.
Fin. 🙂
1) Agreed.
2) If we go with Sergeytov’s suggestion of just fully funding a person with all the SP they need to flesh out their +sheet, right out of the gate, this works.
3) I don’t think we’ve taken a focus away from RP as much as we’ve added bells and whistles in an (admittedly unsuccessful) effort to lure people to somehow accidentally stumble into RP with each other. But what we know is this: RP breeds RP. If people are doing stuff, it tends to encourage other people to do stuff. If people aren’t, then the crickets chirp louder and louder.
4) Not entirely sure we need either SP or IC credits going forward. I might offer someone 100,000 credits to kill a Space Pope, but what are they going to do with that cash once they have it? In our OtherSpace economy: not much.
5) Agreed.
6) Maybe even at the core. Perhaps the weight of 16 years is just too much without ever tripping the reset button (as opposed to simply branching out to new universes and special variants of the old one).
7) Absolutely agreed. Of course, if we turn it into just a repository of lore and logs, that retooling becomes pretty straightforward.
Feeling a bit too hazy to respond too all of this right now, but #2 is one that I can muster some fairly coherant thought on.
Honestly? I don’t like the idea of the sheet being locked in. Now yes, I know that there’ve been cases where people seriously abused the flexibility of those things. However, I do feel that not locking it allows more room for character growth.
Keth for instance, was conceived as an architect. The only reason he took up the construction of armor is that Vessa, a dear friend of his, kept landing herself in the hospital after lending out her armor to someone else.
That’s a fair point. Of course, maybe “locked in” is the wrong way to look at it. In my case, I’d see it as: You have all the points you ever need when you leave character creation. The +sheet should probably remain flexible.
The ‘full bag of SP’ method? Excellent method. Allows flexibility and changes in priorities without causing headaches.
Let me address this…
By ‘locked in’ I mean you cannot reduce your skills or change them from one to another.
If you can, through logs, show character advancement, then great, you get a boost. Or SP is handed out to improve current skills.
I just hate the ability to change skills. It doesn’t reflect on what your characters abilities really are.
#2 is a bit troublesome, because it comes with a couple hidden pre-requisites in order to work in a beneficial way.
The biggest one is that the skill system must be finalized first, as in no more changes at all. To lock everyone in to a skillset and then change how skills work is a terrible idea. Even with the new dice mechanics, my understanding is that the skills system needs a lot of work done on it before it is ‘final’.
The second is that this prohibits a character from changing at all. If, over time, a character’s values change, so their skills are unable to keep up.
The abuses of ‘sudden skill changes’ were not caused by some players going nuts and becoming totally different overnight, as a rule, but rather a rational response to the +craft system and the lack of a sufficient playerbase to support that crafting. So remove the source of the skill change abuses and the abuse potential is greatly mitigated without robbing players of the ability to change over time or causing issues if the skill system ever changes in any way again.
Yeah. As I replied to Kilroy, best to just leave it at “here’s a bag of all the Saga Points you ever need for skills, use them as you will.”
If there are going to be changes to crafting, this should not be an issue.
But if SP is handed out for RP and etc.. use it to increase skills. Just don’t allow random changes, etc.. Is all I am saying.
This is an interesting idea for the reboot.
My question is however, what will happen to the universes as they are now? Will everything we know today disappear? and with it the things we created? Like Impiruil Bail, the bright Cluster and so on?
And if all of that will disapear what will happen to the characters we all have created and grown fond off (for the most part anyway).
I would grandfather in what people have developed for themselves. I can sympathize with the connection people make to their characters and their worlds. Previously, I’ve gone the route of ripping people loose of what they knew, or told them they were losing what they knew, and…I’m not fond of that outcome.
I would probably take the Ancient Expanse worlds and races out as options in chargen to avoid confusion for newbies, but I wouldn’t rule them out in a separate chargen area if players there go on a recruiting spree. But I wouldn’t run around nuking grids or characters.
Yay, we get to keep our carefully collected piles of stuff!
I’ve experienced big changes and/or theme reboots on other games in the past. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. The good thing about -not- ripping everything up, wiping, etc, is that it won’t be -painful- to try something new, and people wouldn’t feel like they -had- to ditch all of their work to force-upgrade to this new and improved thing.
I have to say my second favorite thing about Otherspace (yes, the first thing is y’all, break out the ‘awwwwww’. Okay now be quiet I’m talking) is the whole ‘rifted’ mechanic where you can take someone from else where and else when and just have them experience this crazy future world with all of its science and technology.
But, hey, it’s an idea, and ideas as a whole are worth tossing around for a while until they either fly or fall.
I approve of this.
I would, as always, go political for RP. 🙂
That is all. Approve of this as is. Would set the stage to either develop the Stellar Consortium, go to war with the Nall, etc.. Or a different route.. all while maintaining the ‘core’ Otherspace experience.
I’m on board with the idea of keeping the skills somewhat malleable to reflect changes in your character. Since there’s a cap, if your character changes as time goes on, you won’t be able to get ‘better’ at new things without getting ‘worse’ at an unused, rusting skill if the +sheet is locked.
Also from a far simpler POV, sometimes you put something on your +sheet that you think fits your character and that you’ll use a lot, and it turns out that whatever you picked (say, Investigation – Profiling because to you it sounds like being able to analyze people and tell when they’re lying) doesn’t actually do what you had in mind.
I have to agree with Sergeytov here, most of the skill juggling I’ve seen outside of “My character is no longer doing X” is “I need this widget but damn if I can’t find somebody who has the skillset to build it”. Without the huge crafting system, we take that out of the equation.
…all that other stuff is damned complicated so I’ll leave that to you number crunchers until I see something else I can shake my cane at.
-Al.
What about Sanctuary? Would that be brought back in it’s original capacity? As someone who has lost developed characters (Stargazer, Eryn, Moonshadow, to name a few of my favorites) in the past when things have changed I would like to not lose Jasra. So you additional comment Brody is welcome.
Um…Sanctuary is back, in the Ancient Expanse, under Rathenhope’s oversight. Has been. A good long while. Isn’t going anywhere.
OH… I should have remembered that. 😀
So I was thinking. (AAAH, NOOO!) But yes, I was thinking. I recall that Sunny and Voluria et al were looking forward to the ‘original’ grid getting put back in, and I’m not sure what happened to that, feel free to correct me of course, but how about (if it’s not troublesome), have that grid ready for them, and narrow the many multiverses down to:
Otherspace: Classic (for ye Golden Age)
Otherspace: Age of Rifts (our current happy mess)Narai, maybe your Star Wars thingy can be classified under this umbrella?
Otherspace: Star’s Rebirth (the new boots)
I think that’ll cover the bases, just leaving out Chia; but I really feel like we’re invested in space opera, and a chunk of swords-and-sorcery-soap-opera in the middle breaks up the flow. There are always rifted Fastheldians to play if somebody -really- gets the itch.
I think as long as we have one wiki or section of the wiki clearly delineated for the new ‘boot’, done before we open the doors, we can get a solid start. And hey, if a new person plays with us for a while, likes it, and wants to get into the multiversey goodness? There’s always a rift.
*pop*
You still run into the problem off having too many ‘universes’ for people to play in. Which I think is what the old Man (haha) is trying to eliminate.
Still worried that those are overcomplications for new players. What I foresee happening is that the Wiki will be vastly simplified to a reference source for the rebooted OS – although I won’t delete pages for Ancient Expanse, etc. We would treat the Ancient Expanse OS as, effectively, a player-run universe a la Narai’s ROE project.
And for the sake of keeping it simple, RoE will be on the back burner until further notice.
The Bright Cluster will be inactive.
I shall focus on RP in the rebooted OS.
Long live the Consortium.
I will be pushing political RP once it is up and running. 🙂 Loved the old days of Council meetings in both the Stellar and Solar Consortiums 🙂
I probably won’t make a politician. or at least not right away.
I might go with some form of engineer or scientist. Either fully or mixed with a bit of military personnel in it. Since you’ll never know when you might need to defend yourself or your work.
Good thing I got time to think about it thought.
The reboot shouldn’t affect anything for me, other than a new opportunity to RP.. And, I hope, new opportunities to run some events which, I will admit, I slacked on in the last 10 months since the fall of the Dominion.
Lots of new opportunities. And excited for the ‘renewed’ focus on a pre-multiverse setting.
I am -always- up for new opportunities to RP, and what I’ve seen of the new boot it has a ‘discovery and adventure’ flavor that has piqued my interest.
I am, however, -fully- intending upon continuing my various and sundry projects in Hiverspace, because, well, there are stories as of yet unfinished and tales still to be told.
Who doesn’t like a good story, after all?
(NOBODY WE CARE ABOUT, THAT’S WHO!)
I to am a bit excited about the new RP opportunities. And like Alhambra already said, the adventure and discovery aspect of it is appealing.
I to have things still still planned for Some of my characters in hyverspace, so I to won’t stop playing with those.
Glad to hear folks with a stake in the Ancient Expanse plan to keep the fun going there. As I’ve mentioned previously, I don’t embark on this new adventure with an eye toward shutting down the old grid. It’s all about finding the way to engage myself – and new and veteran players alike – in the adventure of OtherSpace.
Was about to say I’d seen that video awhile back. But no, was a different video. Possibly the same bot, though. Either way, a darned impressive trick. (Although what I’d really like to see is a rapid solving of Alexander’s Star. the cube has nothing on the evil that is that star)
Trickery aside though, I quite agree. When I can find the time, engaging in the much slower collaborative storytelling we have here is very satisfying. (and hey, maybe one of these days I’ll get Kilroy on grid long enough to make him more than the half baked concept that he largely is.)
one ooc question. How detailed do you want these proposals to be? Do they need to be ready to be implemented into the game right away? or is there an option to Work on the details later?
I agree! The potential depth and breadth of humanity’s exploration of space, their discovery of other people, plants, animals, species, worlds, aliens, etc, should provide more than sufficient fodder to generate engaging story.
As someone with five characters, three active, two of those human and one of those mostly human, I’m confident that I can speak from experience that humans as a race will work.
The time saved on character approval alone (no more lengthy ‘discussions’ about inadvisable and implausible custom critters!) will work well both for the players and the administration.
Anyone who wants to put up an enormous fuss about not being able to be X, Y, Z, -and- the kitchen sink, is a poor carpenter blaming his/her/its tools.
(Or just a tool! NO! BAD AL! Don’t be mean!)
I agree with Al that for now with the Reboot The human race can be sufficient enough to work with for people to make there characters.
I’m already getting several idea’s for a character myself that I might create.
All these Idea’s sound great to me. Allowing the players to do all that and get credit for what they have accomplished will attract plenty of people.
The fact that so much isn’t yet discovered or created means it will be so much closer to RL that even new players might have little to no problems stepping in. But that’s my point of view. Time will tell if that assumption correct.
One question rises thought. But this one might be more of a conformation for myself then an actual question.
You mentioned that nothing beyond the Sol system has been discovered or colonized. Does that mean that planets like Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and so on, are discovered? and how many of them are actually colonized?
Oke, an other question. To what degree has space travel come? Can we travel to all the planets in the Sol system? Or only to a few of them because others are to far away?
The answer to these questions might actually help me with thinking up a background for my character and give it a place in the OS reboot.
I can answer some of these. The Solar Consortium at this point consists of Earth, Mars, and Luna (the moon). The rest of the planets are known but at this point are mostly unexplored by manned expeditions.
Space travel is at a point very much like it is portrayed in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Take off from a planet surface is via a magnetic launch rail and then using engines to break the grip of gravity after the ship is accelerated off the rail. Landing is like the space shuttle lands. Re-entry, then glide in using wings and control surfaces. Some space craft are space only that travel from space station to space station or to low gravity areas like the moon. Anti-gravity in this era is a recent discovery, and thus is glitchy and not very reliable. Once out of the gravity of a planet the sublight engines of a ship can propel it at a decent speed but travel to Mars is still a bit of a trip, which is why the outer planets have yet to be truly explored.
A few questions arise after reading this post.
First: How can we tell that we have reached the 140 characters limit. when where typing?
Second: How will the new shorthands work? I’m a bit lost as to how such a long pose as given in the example could be shorted to O D R E P B and actually be read again by others?
It sounds to much like text messages where people write things like ttyl and expect others to know they mean: Talk To You Later. Not everyone will understand these kind of shorthands and I wouldn’t be surprised if some people will outright refuse to understand such shorthands.
Psssst. Yesterday was April 1 😉
*slams hand in face.* Darn it. I should have known. Good one Brody.
*** Here’s what happened before and after the above scene! ***
03:14 PM
Apollo Lounge – Cape Canaveral 10 May 2550
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Apollo Lounge serves as the watering hole for passengers, crews, and captains alike for all the vessels arriving and departing from Cape Canaveral. Designed as a tribute to the Apollo program that resulted in humankind leaving Earth and landing on another world for the first time it has a retro ambiance mixed with modern conveniences. Booths line the walls on either side while tables are set up in the open area in between. The booth chairs and the table chairs are designed to resemble the launch couches astronauts were strapped into during Apollo launches, while the tables are painted in the green color common on the interior surfaces of the command module. The walls share the same color scheme while the carpet is white with the Apollo program logo covering much of the center of the carpet. Each table is equipped with a keypad designed as a replica of the DSKY interface of the Apollo Guidance Computer with which patrons can place orders to be delivered to their table.
The bar itself along the far wall is the centerpiece of the business. The barstools are similiarly designed like the chairs at the tables, along a bar with a retro-styled countertop design. Behind it, all the various drinks are delivered through a modern selection and delivery system, connected with hoses styled like the oxygen hoses of the Apollo spacesuits to several selection stations. A replica of the command module’s instrument panel is against the wall, complete with screens representing windows which run a looped replay of launch, travel to the moon, orbit, return, and splashdown of Apollo 11 from the perspective of the astronauts on board.
Jensen is a regular fixture in this local watering hole, and true to form he has situated himself at the bar, a half drunk beer sitting next to him while he peruses a datapad. Every so often he glances up to the holoscreen as the local news rambles on.
Kinako can be seen walking carefully by this watering hole, once, twice, one more time, attempting to very quietly speak into her phone. Whoever on the other line is not being so considerate. Finally, she pads inside, standing just to the side of the door, and says, “Wo hui dengdai. Qing buyiao zai meiguo ren.” (This is, for the multilingual, Chinese, and roughly translates to “I will wait. Please stop being so American.”) After a cleansing breath, she observes the watering hole for a while, sits down at an empty table, and sets the phone down. It prattles on for a moment or two, and then slows. The woman simply continues breathing deeply, says “Wo zai zheli. Wo hui dengdai. (I am here. I will wait)” There is a brief inquisitive noise, followed by a somewhat loud burst of “MY FRIEND IS A DOCTOR” in mildly accented English, before Kinako turns several shades of embarassed and turns the phone completely off. “…I am very, very sorry,” she says, to anyone within earshot.
Jensen jerks his head up at the sound of shouting. “What the…” Jensen then scratches his chin a bit. “Doctor, eh.” Turning off his pad, he pockets it, drinks down his beer, and starts to make his way over to where Kinako has sat down.
Kinako sinks somewhat lower in her seat, looking absolutely like she wants to disappear. “Gomen nesai. I am very sorry. It is…” she gestures, helplessly, at the phone. “My friend is, ah, being very outgoing? Is is nothing of importance, and I have ended the call. Please pardon my rudeness and continue your previous activity.”
Jensen slides into a chair nearby. “Not to worry, not the first time someone’s upped the decibels in here.” he says, settling into the chair. “Though are you indeed a doctor?” he inquires.
Kinako inclines her head in a small, seated bow. “Yes, sir, I am, but I assure you I do not think it is important enough to announce loudly. My friend is… younger. Er. I apologize, I am being inappropriate. My name is Kinako. Omoiyari Kinako. am very sorry for disrupting your, ah, meal? Drink.” She pauses now and again, between words, as though she is searching for the right ones, and smiles apologetically.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I was just finishing up anyway. Name’s Jensen, General William Jensen.” he says. “What would your medical specialty be?”
Kinako clears her throat, and then bows again. “Thank you, General,” she says, very, very carefully. “Ahh… Physical medicine and… rehabilitation?” It seems as though she wants to spare a glance at her PDA for the right words but is afraid to turn it back on. “I believe those are the correct terms, my apologies. English is my third language.”
Jensen raises an eyebrow. “Indeed. Planning to set up a practice here?”
Kinako shakes her head. “Aah, no, no sir, I have come to, ah, see some parts of America with my boisterous friend? She is traveling from ah, elsewhere in Florida and has encountered traffic. So I will await her here for the time being. There is a gentleman somewhere, here, who wished to meet if I were ever in the area; however I have not been able to reach him.” She shrugs, smiling apologetically. “He seemed very busy when I met him. Perhaps he is just busy now. It is of no worry.”
Jensen nods. “I see. Well, I figure he’ll show up eventually.” he says, shifting in his seat a bit. “But if you do end up putting down roots around here, give me a call. You just might have a future patient.” he says, an eyebrow raising a bit.
Kinako tilts her head to the side, blinking in a mix of concern and puzzlement. “…are you not well? Is there a concern with local, er, doctors? Is it,” she struggles for some words, “Too much medication?”
“Oh, nothing like that. Let’s just say it’s complicated.” the general replies.
“It is somewhat odd, if you will pardon my saying so, General sir, that this place which seems to be, ah, very filled with science and technology is in need of,” Kinako says, and then smiles apologetically again, as though she is somehow ashamed, “Well, someone like me. You are the second person who has asked, now. There must be many complicated health problems here. Someone should perhaps analyze your water supplies?”
Jensen chuckles. “Well, in my case I’d say best to analyze the stresses of war on the human body.” he says simply, and rather softly.
Kinako frowns, then looks somewhat embarassed at herself for frowning, and then frowns again. There is no poker face here to speak of. “There is much regret in your statement,” she finally says. “Would you like some tea? I mean, I do not have any sort of authority to practice here but there are no, ah, statutes on talking.”
“I’d love some.” the general replies. “And you’re right on that, no one ever sued for talking. That’s what freedom of speech is all about.”
Kinako spends a reasonable amount of time looking at the table’s ordering interface, looking through the varied and colorful list of beverages with a cautious hand before finally finding -actual- tea, that is neither sweet tea nor twisted tea nor Long Island Iced. Green tea, hot, two. She sits back, watching the pad pensively before it confirms what she’s actually ordered. That finished, she turns her great gray doe eyes back to the general. “Yes, free speech is an admirable thing, that many have fought and even died for, yes?”
“Too many…” the general says, his face betraying a bit of sadness before he recovers. “But their sacrifice was not in vain, for we have those freedoms today. In fact, most of the world does now, except for a few holdouts like Texas.”
Kinako nods, complete with the thoughtful ‘mm-hmm’ that must be standard training for health care professionals everywhere. “The world, ah, it is on the large scale as it is on the small. Historically, countries, or parts of countries, suffer disharmony, and then there is war, and suffering. Peace only comes when all are tired and hurt, and the price becomes greater than the cause.”
Jensen nods. “Very true. I can only hope that once we break the light barrier, the world will be ready for what awaits us. I am confident that it will, if the radicals in those few holdouts of this world lose their power when their people see what greatness awaits them as part of the whole.”
**** ABOVE SCENE OCCURS HERE *****
Jensen looks back over to Kristine. “You’ll know when we know.” he says simply, then strides back over to Kinako, sliding back into the seat to finish his tea. “Welcome to America.” he says with a bit of a grin before taking a sip.
Kristine snorts. “Now why doesn’t that make me feel any better?” She picks up her glass and takes a longer drink from it this time.
Kinako swallows, looking acutely uncomfortable. She turns her tea mug around, once, twice, three times. “Was that… er, was that person you were speaking of… -Rodney- Downes?” The look in her doe eyes is that of someone who’s just accidentally dropped a box labeled ‘books’ that may now actually contain puppies.
Jensen ignores Kristine’s jab, turning his attention to Kinako. “Yes… do you know him?”
Kristine rolls her eyes at Jensen and goes back to staring death at whatever is scrawled in her notebook.
Kinako sighs, and carefully reaches into her small purse to retrieve a business card. It does, indeed, belong to the unfortunate Mr. Downes. “That is the gentleman who wished to meet if I were ever in the area, with regards to his own, ah, complicated medical conditions? I do not know him well at all, and did not assume any danger with visiting his workplace.” She presses her lips together, brows knitting in distress. “I… well. I regret that he has since died, but it does not seem to be of a medically preventable cause?”
“Apparently not.” the general says simply.
Kristine’s focus is entirely on her notes. A bomb could indeed go off in her immediate vicinity and she might not notice. Once in a while she frowns or grunts or begins frantically writing. She sips at her drink from time to time.
“Well,” Kinako finally says, looking more than a little green around the gills. “That is… unpleasant. I am afraid I do not have any, ah, tangible information. We spoke briefly at a technology ideas presentation, because my… boisterous friend was identifying me as a doctor to any American male she saw.” After a pause, she makes an apologetic expression. “Not that I do not appreciate the helpful spirit of my friend, but sometimes, ah, it is unwisely indiscriminate.”
Jensen chuckles. “I know the perils of friends who don’t know when to keep their mouths shut.” he says, finishing his tea with a few last sips. “The investigation into his death is still ongoing, I’m afraid I can’t speak on it too much.”
Eventually Kristine gathers her notebook and walks back out to the Promenade.
“Ah, well, you can certainly have the business card he gave me, and, I can provide a copy of my travel itinerary that you can make any sort of investigation on, I will not be offended,” Kinako says, hastily pushing the colorful LED-enhanced card across the table. “But I am afraid I knew him only, ah, in passing, I believe the phrase is?”
Jensen nods. “Indeed… the guy was co-founder of Spark, so he was well-travelled.” the general says. “Any information you can provide though would be very helpful.”
Kinako readily turns over not only the business card, but her travel itinerary (which is made somewhat difficulty by the several text and voice messages, likely from the enthusiastic friend). “…apologies, I will just cancel these notifications… Here it is, and here is an email sent after the convention but it does not include any personal correspondence and is instead an article on the various tourist attractions of this area?”
Jensen looks at his own pad as the data comes in. “Even small bits of info will help. Thank you.”
After a few moments of contemplative silence, Kinako offers, plaintively, “Should I, ah… not… how does it go, leave town?”
Jensen chuckles. “I doubt you’re involved, but I wouldn’t be in a rush to leave, there’s plenty to see and do here, might as well take the opportunity. I’ve got a few recommendations myself you might want to check out.”
Kinako gives another one of those seated bows. “Of course, General sir. I will tell my friend that I have been delayed, and will rejoin her once any of my possible connections have been cleared to this facility’s satisfaction. I would not wish to contribute to any sort of disharmony on my first visit. My itinerary includes the contact information of the hotel, and the planned stay was two weeks. You will kindly let me know if you believe I would need to stay longer? I am between work assignments but my family would deserve to know if my return to Kyoto will be delayed.”
“Certainly.” the general says, standing up and straightening his uniform. “Best be getting back to the office. It’s been a pleasure, Miss Kinako.”
Kinako also stands up, and bows politely. “I thank you for your patience and kind treatment, General sir. I will remain local until further instruction.”
I have… a lot of opinions about diceless narrative, (no, really, Al has opinions again? I thought we sprayed), I will try and be merciful in my verbosity.
No dice = BEST AT EVERYTHING RAAAR.
Not everyone will do this, of course… but the problem is, the people who won’t do it, won’t, and the people who will do it… absolutely will, and the parade is rained upon.
The refs can still say when a roll is or isn’t needed, if we’re feeling spontaneous or something needs to be done that isn’t in the skill system… just like any tabletop RP.
I think the current die system is ok; it’s enough to keep us honest and not so much that we don’t feel like we can do anything.
Al.
It’s a fair concern. But, keep in mind, we had a diceless narrative in 1998. It does not have to be BEST AT EVERYTHING RAAAR. And, with dice, you’re still going to get players who RP smug super-awesomeness and then fall flat on their faces if the ref hits them with a nasty negative modifier. Ultimately, it’s up to the refs and the players to work in collaboration.
In our third story arc, in 1999, I recall that we had the invasion of Sivad with a handful of player characters. We talked about it beforehand and came to a consensus that I wouldn’t kill any PCs – although I might wound them, or let them choose their own wounding – but the PCs would @emit NPC cannon fodder to die during the fight and help fuel the drama of the scene.
It *can* be done.
More thoughts on this: If we took an approach similar to Amber Diceless, we could head off the “BEST AT EVERYTHING RAAAAR!” dilemma by letting players bid to be the best at X skill using SP before the scene begins. We could also limit players to being the best at just one skill during that scene. So, everybody could be the best at SOMETHING RAAAR! – just not everything.
It could work!
In theory, there’s no harm in -trying- it; all we have to do is not roll.
Al.
I’ve thought about this. Then, I slept on it. Then, I thought about it some more. Then, I slept on it again. Then, I thought about it some more. I still have misgivings, and am expressing them here.
The actual canon killing of idle PCs will have an effect on three demographics:
1) People who can not be here: These are people who have been prevented, by lack of internet access, computer problems, health concerns, school, raising children, work responsibilities, familial responsibilities, etc, from coming to play. They may want to return someday, and instead of being welcomed back, they will discover that they have been killed off.
2) People who can be here, but for whatever reasons won’t: These people will likely hear about what’s happening, time-stamp their characters, and continue to not play.
3) People who are still here: We, the people who remain, will be given the consequences of the unavoidable deaths of people we’d really like to see again, or people we neither know nor care about. In addition, we will suffer the nagging discomfort that should something happen to us personally and we are unable to play regularly, we, too, will be discarded.
This is not my yard. I am not staff, I do not own this game. These are my personal misgivings, not demands. But, given the choice…
I’d rather you didn’t.
1) Being a father myself, I have some sympathy for this demographic. That said: If I cannot at the very least log on once every 90 days, I just don’t want to be involved. It may matter to *you*, as someone who plays with them, but it doesn’t matter nearly as much to them. Otherwise, seriously, all they have to do is log on once every three months. Even people in prison can log on once in a while.
2) This happens anyway.
3) I don’t see it as discarding. I see it as tying up loose ends and allowing people to let go and move on.
In regards to #3, this is in regards to people who up and disappear for long periods of time with no warning or saying that they have some issue that requires a long absence. We had a policy like this in the early days of OS and back then it was an even shorter time limit, at one time only 30 days. If a player does have to take a long break from the game all that is required is a heads up to us via +str saying so and an in-game reason for their absence can be written in. Long backwater station assignment for military types, research mission to the Congo, family leave, etc. There’s lots of ways to handle it but the written out by death is reserved for players who disappear without a trace and show no sign of returning. If a player gives us a heads up then they’ll have an IC reason to suddenly re-appear and get back into the mix.
Yes. It is definitely worth noting that if a player knows they’re going to be out of commission, they can effectively write their own explanation for departing – temporarily or permanently – in advance of the deadline.
I’d really just be targeting characters gathering dust with no explanation.
–> Brody:
–3) I don’t see it as discarding. I see it as tying up loose ends and allowing people to let go and move on.–
You may not see it as discarding, but some of the players do and will. It’s not the people left behind that are being discarded: it’s the players who may’ve been away without realising they’d be ICly destroyed if they didn’t stop in now and again (and any of the rest of us if something unexpected happened to keep us from OS). Idle-purging is one thing, but writing characters out of canon locks the doors on their players pretty effectively, and for good. Why do you believe it’s necessary to take that extra step?
–> Col:
— We had a policy like this in the early days of OS and back then it was an even shorter time limit, at one time only 30 days. If a player does have to take a long break from the game all that is required is a heads up to us via +str saying so and an in-game reason for their absence can be written in.–
Is this policy still in effect? I wasn’t aware of it, but I might have missed it.
–There’s lots of ways to handle it but the written out by death is reserved for players who disappear without a trace and show no sign of returning. If a player gives us a heads up then they’ll have an IC reason to suddenly re-appear and get back into the mix.–
How can a player who’s been written out get back into the mix if their character has been ICly killed? If they’re simply idle-purged, they can come back and re-create their character if they choose, come up with a reason they were ICly out of touch, and go from there. But if someone tries to log in and discovers that not only have they been idle-purged but they’ve been killed in their absence, they’re blocked from playing with a character they may have cared for, due perhaps to circumstances beyond their control, and they’re likely to be unhappy about the entire affair and choose not to make a new character at all.
Actually, I don’t plan to nuke any character objects. This won’t be a physical purge. Instead, it’s narrative – like a character leaving a TV show. And, along those same lines, I would leave open the option for a player to try to write their character back into the mix somehow. I won’t guarantee it’ll always work out, but I’m open to the possibility.
“I would leave open the option for a player to try to write their character back into the mix somehow. I won’t guarantee it’ll always work out, but I’m open to the possibility.”
Wonderful – Fabulous – Excellent.
The initial concept had a note of -finality- about it, which struck an uneasy, reverberating chord.
In essence, if I’m reading this right, it is just a more complex, narrative-based version of Limbo. If I’m reading this right, that is not as guillotine-dropping frightening as first impressions.
I only ask, and again, not a demand, just a request, that (and this can really apply to anyone planning plot for anything) we be mindful of character links: sometimes consequences affect more than the initial target, and “survivor’s guilt” is not (for most? mileage may vary) fun RP.
Many thanks for the open discussion,
Al.
A little unease about the potential for losing one’s character to the imaginings of Yours Truly can be a healthy thing. If it reminds people to log on once every 90 days to avoid becoming grist for my mill, that’s a good thing.
***MEANWHILE***
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~( OtherSpace )~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
01:39 PM
Promenade – Cape Canaveral 31 May 2550
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Promenade of Cape Canaveral is the hub of the spaceport and is the first thing visitors see upon entering the main building. Measuring 300 feet across it is a cavernous room with great attention paid to making it a comfortable area to spend time in. The center of the room is occupied by a large abstract art fountain from which water trickles down from several points to a large pool below. Around the fountain are planters with small shrubs and flowers placed between benches. Coins of various denominations and nations of origin are sprinkled in the pool. A nearby sign indicates these are collected daily and donated to local orphanages. Blue is the dominant color of the room with the fountain’s tiles and the carpet being shades thereof. Large windows that curve from the bottom up to the top of the domed room provide views of the area surrounding the spaceport. Ticket counters for various starlines are along the walls between the four main exits from the room along with the archway that leads to the Apollo Lounge.
Two corridors lead east and west from the promenade to the non-public areas of the terminal while the security gates leading to the arrival and departure gates are across from the entryway where security guards check tickets and screen passengers before they are permitted to board. Security checkpoints block access to the east and west corridors where security clearances are checked. The west checkpoint is manned by Vanguard personnel while the checkpoint to the east is manned by civilian security.
Jensen steps out of the west corridor, datapad in hand, at which he glances now and then as he walks along.
Kinako is seated on one of the benches by the fountain, with her purse in her lap and her hands clasped loosely over it. At first glance she appears to be a little bit zoned out, and how anyone can do anything remotely resembling meditation in the middle of a bustling spaceport is anyone’s guess. As Jensen passes, however, she comes back from whatever phase of ‘lost in thought’ she was in to offer him a seated bow. “Kon’nichiwa, General Jensen sir,” she greets.
Jensen stops as he hears a familiar voice. “Ah, the good doctor. How are you today, Miss Kinako?”
Kinako rises carefully, and straightens her suit jacket. “I am well, thank you very much for your inquiry, General sir. I am hoping you are in acceptable health as well. I was, ah, wondering, if perhaps it would not be too much trouble, if I could inquire as to the progress of the investigation? My planned vacation time is coming to an end soon and it would be prudent of course to ensure that I should return home before I make plans to do so. I mean no disrespect, or to place any pressure upon the establishment, of course.”
“It is proceeding. The evidence is still under analysis, so there’s not much more I can offer you at this point.” the General replies.
Kinako inclines her head. “Oh, that is absolutely acceptable; kindly do not think that I am displeased. I will simply make changes to my itinerary. It is completely understandable that something of this scope needs to be handled with care and thoroughness. You have nothing but my respect, General Jensen sir.”
Jensen nods. “I’m sure that the lab results will be available soon so we can get to the bottom of the matter.” he replies.
“That is absolutely fine,” Kinako reassures, and pauses to make sure that she has not forgotten anything on the bench. “Other than your work, how are you faring? I feel as if I have come to know some of the people here and it has… what is the appropriate word… become interesting to me? You may of course feel free to dismiss if I have become too familiar.”
“About as well as can be expected. Thankfully in my job the stresses of the military life are not as high as those in the lower ranks. Now it’s my job to stress /them/.” the general says with a chuckle. “Still, there is much to occupy me but I’ve seen a lot over the years. Not about to let it worry me now.”
Kinako nods in agreement, smiling shyly as she catches and identifies the tonal shift. “That is pleasant to hear. Ah… hm. Well, I was expecting to encounter Mister Harrison sir today but he does not appear to be available.”
“I’m sure we’ll bump into him. In fact I’m headed back to the research wing, would you care to tag along?” the general inquires.
Kinako blinks a few times, looking both pensive and curious. After a moment, she inclines her head with a smile. “Yes, it would honor me to accept your invitation to accompany you, General Jensen sir, if it will be no trouble.”
“No trouble at all, and maybe we’ll bump into Mr. Harrison.” the General replies, tucking his datapad into his pocket and motioning for Kinako to follow.
You can’t please anyone.
I tried to help the guy. I failed. I think he was dead set on bitching about it though. What really got me was the ‘I donated so I’m right’ mentality. Wrong attitude to have.
And you’re right in your article. At the end of the day, you have given the most, you call the shots. 😛
***CONTINUED***
“Well don’t that make me feel lower than a prairie dog hole.” Maurice shakes his head as Busby leaves.
Kinako cants her head at Maurice, looking highly puzzled for a brief moment before returning to her crisis preparation. After some lengthy apologies to the staff, several bows, and expressions of gratitude in at least three languages, she starts heaping tea into the huge tureens usually reserved for applying large amounts of coffee to pilots. “Ah, I know Mister Busby-sir indicated that I should not apologize on his behalf, but I would like to say that I appreciate that you did not allow the disharmonious argument to, ah, escalate?”
Maxwell starts putting up all those papers he took out while looking for his phone, peering at one for a moment before shaking his head and putting it away, too.
“Its nuffin Mama-san.” Maurice shrugs his shoulders. “We are a orney lot. Ya’d think the state bred nothin but rattlers now that the anthill has done been kicked over. Myself included. Maybe I wasn’t polite and civil like.”
Kinako continues looking puzzled. “Ah, I do not have any children,” she finally says. “My name is Kinako. Omoiyari Kinako. I ah, was not officially a doctor here but it appears that my services are presently needed. My apologies, but I do not completely understand what you are trying to say.” Her expression is equal parts apologetic and shy. “English is not my first language.” While the first batch of tea is steeping, she starts spreading the honey onto gauze pads (from the -last- emergency here, a storm a couple of weeks ago), adding some more dry tea, and then sealing each bandage in foil. “Mister Maxwell-sir? Is everything all right?”
Maxwell blinks a couple of times before looking over at Kinako “Eh? Oh, I’m fine. For now, anyway. Was just thinking that particular proof should’ve been abandoned before I started it.”
“Thats alright English aint exactly my first language either Ma’am.” Maurice tips his hat a tad in Kinako’s direction. “I’m Maurice Holton there Missus Kin-ako.” The Texan casts an amused grin over at Maxwell. “In my experience has told me to stop before ya hit the 101 proof.”
Kinako bows her head as she works. “It is nice to meet you, Mister Maurice Holton-sir. Thank you again for your kindness.” There is a moment’s ponderance, and she requests some ginger from the kitchen. “I am entirely uncertain as to what this ‘proof’ is that you are referring to, but I feel as if the two of you are speaking of different… contexts? Is that the correct word?”
Maxwell chuckles “Very much so. Our Texan companion here is talking about the alcohol content of things, as measured by how explosive it is. Interesting how that stuck around over the centuries… Anyway, it differs from what I referred to, in that the paper I had glanecd at contained a half finished proof that a rectangle and a hexagon have the same total measure of interior angles.”
“Yeah well it aint all that funny once ya explain it away like that.” Maurice adds.
Kinako smiles politely. It is abundantly clear that the humor in the statement is expertly eluding her, either due to the language barrier, general naivete, or the fact that she’s caught up creating some manner of naturopath arsenal against whatever the ‘rebel’ scientist has unleashed onto the station.
Maxwell shrugs “Sorry. Language barriers and humor have a rather nasty way of clashing like that.”
“Well in any case it seems like we got a pretty damn good hoot going on here.” Maurice gives a faint shake of his head. “Got a roughneck, an asian lady, guy doodlin shapes and a few minutes ago a surfer dude.”
“Are you not familiar with Mister Busby-sir? He is the, ah, CEO of the Spark company here on the base,” Kinako says, continuing to churn out poultices while brewing what seems to be some kind of industrial-strength ginger honey tea. “He speaks in an assortment of colloquial terms. Also calls everyone ‘man’. He is peculiar, but seems to be technologically proficient and ah, a successful business man.” There is a short pause. “What is a ‘hoot’ in this context?”
Maxwell smirks “The doodles are just a hobby.”
“A gag, a joke.” Maurice replies. “And I can not say I know too much about that particular feller. I reckon Spark rings a name though.” The Texan nods over at Maxwell. “Differnt strokes for differnt folks and all that.”
Kinako grates some more ginger. “Mister Maxwell-sir, did you not say that you worked with… some manner of science? Physics? Mister Busby-sir did mention he was looking for a physicist. Presumably to help with some other problem. There seem to be a lot of them here. Problems, not necessarily physicists.” After a while, she takes a break, serves herself some -considerably- dark and fragrant tea, and comes out from behind the counter to sit. “So, ah, what is it that you do for a living, Mister Maurice-sir?”
Maxwell nods, stifling a bit of a yawn “Yeah, it’s physics I deal in. Hafta remember to corner him next time I get a chance.”
Maurice jerks a thumb over at the command capsule and its screens. “I am the stupid bastard that hops into the contraptions the physicists and smartypants think up.” He gives a broad west Texas grin at that.
Kinako nods attentively; a professional, practiced gesture. “Ahh,” she says. “Well, I sincerely hope that we can manage to, ah, get out of this peril, so that you might both pursue your chosen professions. I am sure the scientists here will be able to innovate proper treatment. It is fortuitous that we were locked down in time; I can only hope that woman infected herself here, and it did not spread to the outside. What she did was shameful, and it would be best if it were undone, and also if she were ah, robbed of her martyrdom.”
Maxwell yawns and nods “Yeah… we’re just innocent bystanders. Where’s the justice in taking revenge on us? Heck, we weren’t even standing by near wher the offending incident occured…”
“Well, all this going on.. I am starting to think I should have tried my chances in Houston. Not likely going to much faith in a Texas pilot around here for a while.” Maurice shrugs. “And ya’ll should know.. when a person gets revenge on the mind they get all sorts of crazy. No makin sense from a mad cow.”
Kinako shrugs. “If I were to judge you for being from Texas, I would be no better than the woman who decided to punish us all for the dishonor of a man none of us are associated with. Also the man in question was already killed, so honestly her claims of revenge are indeed as worthy as the ah, expressions of an angry cow. It is selfish and shameful to assume that one innocent life is somehow worth thousands of equally innocent lives.” Her tone remains level, but her expression is weary, and she sips at her tea again. “You should attempt to prove yourself on the basis of your own merits, and not where you are from. If you do not make it a concern, it will not be a concern.”
Maxwell yawns a bit and downs the rest of that beer he’s had for awhile. “Welp… I’m gonna find a nice corner to crash in, I think. P’raps that booth in the corner. Looks nice. G’nite folks.”
“I can try there Ma’am.” Maurice rubs his eyes absently. “God help us if this becomes a shooting war.” He grumbles mostly to himself. “Think I still might be in the reserves. Ya never really know in Texas. We aren’t big on paperwork.” The Texan nods towards Maxwell. “You take care ya hear? And git as much shut eye as you can, who knows what tomorrow is gonna bring. Little Green Men from Mars?”
Kinako rubs the back of her hand against her cheek. “If there are aliens approaching, I sincerely hope that they arrive soon and that they have a cure for this loathsome airborne virus. I should rest. We do not have much time, if she was telling the truth, I have three days before falling ill. Sooner, I should think, if I unwisely exhaust myself. Please, Mister Maurice-sir, get as much rest as you can, and eat well. Try to drink the tea at breakfast and at lunch time, at least. The tannins and other compounds will help your immune system. I am, what is the term? Banking on that she was expecting antibiotics and other conventional medicines and will not have devised counter-agents for simpler remedies. Rest well, please.” She sets down her mug, apologizes once again to the bar staff, and rises to bow a farewell and to look for somewhere appropriate to rest.
…as Sadie walks over she smiles brightly to her. “Hello there pretty. how are you doing?” Xanya says …
Above is a quote from the following logg: http://www.jointhesaga.com/oswiki/index.php?title=Welcome_Danu
The only thing I changed was turning She into Xanya.
http://youtu.be/_q6chUtSef4
The above link send you to a Youtube movie of the song “Planet Hell” By Nightwish. The below link sends you to a page with the lyrics of that song.
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/nightwish/planethell.html
It’s not easy to get Xanya in a foul or angry mood. But if you push her enough you might find her dark side coming out. When that happens Xanya would wish she had big weapons at hand to deal with her enemy.
This song Planet hell has a good start in it. you can here the music climbing up like something exciting is about to happen. At 58 seconds into the song Hell or in this case the big music is unleashed. That part always reminds me of a scene from the james bond movie Goldeneye. Which scene? well remember the start of the tank chase scene? Look at the video linked below. You’ll know what I mean.
http://youtu.be/4fxjUrlyQR0
Okay so I’ve not much in the way of good pickup lines, but I have enclosed for your amusement some rather lovely relationship-related FAILS on the parts of my characters:
“Yes, I have been in some wonderfully shitty relationships where kissing and other such intimacies did occur before things went ass-up, thank you very much, Tam,” Alhambra ‘retorts’ with another yawn. “And whoever the fuck says it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all I think is full of shit. Just sayin’. And yeah as much as I’d like havin’ me some kind of happy whutever, if wishes were fishes we’d all be fat. I don’t meet people. People meet me. An’ then they either trick me into thinking they’s the right one or they go and fuck off outta my life before I can find out if they in fact -was- the right one.” She makes a motion generally associated with male self-amusement. “An’ that would be why I don’t wanna go to muhfuckin’ hookup cruises.”
Then we’ve got Leucohyle, who couldn’t read an innuendo if it came with instructions:
Majors sips his drink and glances Leu over for a long moment. “Hmm well I do believe we have a deal now.” He muses to the woman. A sly smile creases his lips. “Care to come by for tea from time to time luv?”
Leucohyle looks up from her rapid-movement scrutiny of the Psi Blocker. “I I already come here for tea from time to time.”
“Is that so? You must certainly ask for me. I could use proper company from time to time.” Majors replies.
“Speaking of which, I I haven’t gotten my tea nor my scone yet. You you may want to see to that,” Leucohyle pipes, apparently doing a very poor job at reading the sly smile.
Then, well, there’s Joca. Joca really doesn’t ‘pick up’, per se, it’s an intricate combination of body language, pheromones, and Eurotrash that brings a particular demographic of boys to the proverbial yard. If I gave it away, she’d probably shank me in the night. But here are a few of her… best?
“I like Timmie. Come. I know good place for se drink.”
“Oh yes,” she finally purrs. “I know ‘ow to make se booty call.”
“You are familiar wis se revenge sex?”
She sets a hand on her hip. “Okay,” she says, darting her tongue over a gold-backed canine tooth, “Try me.”
Joca:
Nickleback, “Burn It To The Ground”
Leu:
Mindless Self Indulgence: “Stupid MF”
Alhambra:
L.L. Cool J: “Mama Said Knock You Out”
It’s everyone’s favorite huffer! Wait. That doesn’t sound right. Anyways, there’s nothing better for a flounce offscreen than a proper “We Are Not Amused” accent. Here’s hoping the below amuse you, readers.
Leucohyle exits the IND Temperantia, in a mild state of what can only be described as ‘kerfluffle’. She is speaking rapidly in that quasi-mad way that people with wireless PDA connections frequently exhibit. “I I am -telling- you there is is a a a -contagion- out there on this this -ship- and and it’s just sort of -floating- there and… what do you mean? No I I didn’t -board- what are you -mad- did you hear me I I said -contagion-.” Pause. “W-well good day to you as well!” The last line is delivered in a shrill, squeaky manner, and she sputters a few times before getting a hold of herself.
Blink. Blink. Bl-ink. Leucohyle’s sparse eyebrows knit across her circuit-traced forehead with a force that could move starships. There are a few more blinks. “Sir,” she says, primly. “I’ve no position, l-literal or or metaphorical, that would make use of any talents, mentioned or implied, th-that you may have. I repair complex-machineries-and-construct-multipurpose robots. I have no unfilled niches for ‘fighting’ ‘being inebriated’ and and or ‘expressing as many archaic Earth-Eurasian racially-based epithets as possible in one conversation’.” Sniff.
“Well. Why don’t you, whilst you are on your way, consider why, if I am so ineffective, why -I- am referred to as this station’s robotic genius, why -I- won the Expo, why -I- have a successful business. An Intelligence does not need to be self-aware, and anything that is self-aware should not be sold and forced to serve,” Leucohyle pipes, voice raising in both pitch and speed, and accent reaching ‘we are not amused’ levels. “My robots do -not- make mistakes. I do not solely produce pilots; if you were -paying attention-, I’ve only bloody built the one and it functions -very well-. But, underestimate me if you like, it makes no never mind to me. I will continue onwards without your approval. Good day, sir.”
Leucohyle raises one sparse eyebrow, seemingly unimpressed by the outburst. “If I were going to to call you primitive, -sir-,” she pipes, “I would have called you primitive directly. Although it seems that you’re putting forth quite a hearty demonstration of your evolutionary state or lack thereof.” She cants her head to Kaden, and then shrugs to Ladek. “If I build something for the purpose of serving -me-, and and make it sentient, then there is no guarantee that they will choose to serve -me-. To force, coerce, or otherwise cajole a sentient mind is a shame upon sentience itself.” Omicron keeps its eyes upon both men. “I find your speaking of me as though I am not directly here, as well as your usage of the words ‘no offense’ after an offensive comment to be ironic, in the sense that such a behaviour is, in and of itself, quantifiable as ‘socially awkward’. And and people tell me I’m missing -so much- by avoiding mind-altering substances. -Yes-, your latest charge seems to be faring quite well.” Pip. “That was -sarcasm-. Good day, gentlemen.”
Akamatsu:
Hollywood Undead, “Pour Me”
Zu:
Bullet for my Valentine “Temper Temper”
Xani’ulun:
Papa Roach “Getting Away With Murder”
Below my attempt to change Xanya’s description. Not sure if the new outfit look works in a Zero-G cocktail party though. Feel free to comment.
Before
A light tanned human woman with violet eyes and long pure white hair, braided in a thick French braid, almost hitting her lower back. She stands at around 6’2″ (190 cm) tall and weighs about 176.3 lbs (80 kg). Despite her athletic build, her figure still presents an hourglass shape and prominent chest. She also has a cybernetic right arm, with black cybernetic parts and white metal cover plates shaped to look like her old arm.
Currently she is wearing a white colored suit style jacket and pants each made to be worn by women. Underneath her pants she is wearing black high heel shoes. Underneath her jacket she is wearing a purple and black corset.
Image link: http://www.jointhesaga.com/oswiki/images/9/92/Xanya.jpg
After
A light tanned human woman with violet eyes and long pure white hair, braided in Knot at the back of her head, two strand of hair frame the left and right of her face. She stands at around 6’2″ (190 cm) tall and weighs about 176.3 lbs (80 kg). Despite her athletic build, her figure still presents an hourglass shape and prominent chest. She also has a cybernetic right arm which is covered by synthetic skin, to help her hide the cybernetics of the arm.
Currently she is wearing a Long black leather jacket with metal shoulder pads and several belts to close the jacket. Underneath this she is wearing a black leather dress with a quarter long skirt. On her feet she is wearing black shoes with high heels.
Image link 1: http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8rh2kayDA1qzhkcp.png
Image link 2: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3pHHuHZ59XU/UAnE4gdj1EI/AAAAAAAAS3c/WgU67Afr_kA/s1600/cosplay_CrystalGraziano_LadySephiroth-FF7_02.jpg
The things Xanya is thankful for starts with simply being in this universe filled with spaceships, space stations and other stuff, which she can even create herself being an engineer.
She is also thankful for having a loving wife, who currently is probably worried sick wondering where Xanya is, since Xanya disappeared together with Comorro.
Third she is also thankful for the many friends she has made in this universe.
Qraco’xar doesn’t do thanksgiving. in fact I don’t think it’s known where he comes from. He is however thankful for still being alive.
For Kethren, there’s rather a lot. Being in a universe where his eyes could be fixed so amazingly well for one. Getting to design the first city on a new planet. Developing a method of building with vines and roots. The companionship of a ser. But mostly he’s thrilled to have such a wonderful (and green) girlfriend.
Okay, this should be… interesting. Mileage may vary. In their own words, what my characters are thankful for:
Alhambra:
“Well, I reckon I am thankful for havin’ a feller that ain’t off his shit, thankful for all my horsies, an’ my house, an’ my pals, an’ this beer, an’ my hometown, an’ my job… okay, jobs, an’ the Baile with alla its nice weather an’ wonderful critters, an’ uh, not presently havin’ any drama in my lap but don’t you take that as an invitation there, universe, ’cause so help me I will kick somebody’s teeth out the back of their head don’t think just ’cause I’m all fulla Doc Mira’s cooking that I can’t get off this couch, I tell you whut.”
Leucohyle:
“Oh, what, is is this some manner of ‘feel good’ cognitive exercise, is that what this is? Very well… I am presently thankful for, including but n-not limited to: air scrubbers, genetic enhancements, cybernetic technology, biotechnology, planets without bureaucratic nonsense, portable sanitising technology, self-cleaning fabrics, quick-spooling titanium circuit bridges, any entities sensible enough to be trustworthy, electro-muscular disruption, and robots. Also Father. When he is present and and reasonably sober.”
Joca:
“…hmmm… what I am thankful for…
All of my boys, but of course!
Delicious food.
Timmies.
Frozen Mai Tai.
Birth control!
Timmies.
Wanderful scientific medicines.
Showairs where se ‘ot water doesn’t stop coming out.
Timmies. Annd Aukami, and well all of se Kamiroid, sey are so -pretty-.
So many planets!
Forty-seven diffairent flavor of rum.
Ice cream.
Se clothes where you push button and it changes color.
Room service.
Music, so much music.
Timmies.
Virtual realitie programs.
My ship.
My friends.
Soap.
Beaches.
and Timmies. Eh? ‘ow many times did I mention? Psh. Well I love sem sat much, so what of it.”
Happy Thanksgiving, folks! Wishing all a safe, healthy, and drama-free holiday.
Al.
Aina is thankful for everyone in her life, because they accept her for who she is, and they don’t judge her because she’s a large green goat looking lady. Her home, all of her little critters, and most of all that amazing man that loves her and makes her glad that she went out in search of a new life.
Just curious, but will this in any way bypass the need for architects, starship engineers, and the like?
It should not. To get a starship class added to CSpace, for example, you’d still need to +craft the prototype. To get your city or world connected to the official game grid, you would need the appropriate building or planet objects.
Good to hear 🙂
This new system, will it still be checked? Or can players build whatever they want? I mean what if people start creating things without a RP reason for doing so?
To a certain extent, players will have free rein to build whatever they want – the MUSH equivalent of Minecraft, if they want to build an Uberfortress of DOOOOOM, so be it. But it only becomes part of the official grid with approval from the staff and submission of crafted counterparts representing new cities, buildings, starships, planets, universes and the like.
Clarification required on one part..
If your SP is converted to Quota.. how do you +craft the required components for items as they require SP?
Don’t convert all your SP into quota. That would be my first recommendation. But this also opens the door for someone who has NO architectural skills on their +sheet to design a city with @dig and @desc, and hire a player with those skills to actually craft the designs.
I got one question that might be all everybody’s mind. When can we expect to be able to use these commands?
Second question is:
What if someone wants to make a landing pad for ships to land? Is there a command for it too? or will that be in the second instalment of this guide?
And the third question I can think of right now.
What if someone wants to make a room that poeple can only get into if they use a password? Is there a command that will let you make such password protected exits?
1) The commands are available right now to anyone who has quota. To get quota, post a +str asking for X amount and I’ll deduct 50 SP per quota.
2) Build the landing pad. However, getting it added to the CSpace system is something that will require admin assistance – and then only after the grid itself is approved.
3) We’ll cover exit parenting and locking in another segment. However, feel free to peruse help @lock to get a head start.
Thanks for the answers Brody.
I checked the Help @lock and I must say it’s a bit confusing as to how to use it but I think I found a lock type I like to use in the Space station I’m hoping to build soon.
Maybe the next guide of this series will help me out to better understand this.
Yesterday on the public channel some interesting questions where posted. I thought of sharing them here for future reference. the below text is a direct copy from the text of saterday December 7th 2013.
Laughing Bear Alhambra says, “Hm. Can you still buy potential nodes for your world?”
Needs a Bigger Boat Brody says, “You’ll be able to request basic nodes – Mineral, etc. – for free via +str. The rest, rather than requesting, would simply be crafted in that location, by you. Effectively, it’s the same thing as buying with SP.”
Laughing Bear Alhambra says, “Oh neato!”
Laughing Bear Alhambra will have to go find her list of things… around here somewhere…
Needs a Bigger Boat Brody says, “Baile coffee fields would need one of the new Crop Potential Nodes, for example.”
Needs a Bigger Boat Brody says, “(Once I make that!)”
Narai says, “So Aluminum nodes are used up right away, huh?”
Needs a Bigger Boat Brody says, “Yeah, but the output multiple units.”
Needs a Bigger Boat Brody says, “*they”
Thats no moon, its a space station. Xanya says, “and the nodes that are curently on planets?”
Needs a Bigger Boat Brody would like, someday, to provide variance in the yields based on skill. But until that day…!
Laughing Bear Alhambra says, “and the ‘potential’ nodes don’t go away?”
Narai says, “Won’t it get annoying to keep putting down nodes though once used? Especially for those making prototypes and stuff, that aluminum doesn’t last long when you need a shit ton :P”
Needs a Bigger Boat Brody says, “Potential nodes don’t go away.”
I still have one question about these changes. just something I want to be 100% sure of.
These changes will only effect the resource nodes and not effect the materials required to craft something like a starship or a backpack or even a pda?
I am not currently planning a revamp of component requirements for those items.
I just thought of a 4th question concerning this new room build method. Will that be used for rooms inside ships as well? or will they still require the staff to be created?
You can build houses, ships, exterior areas – anything. But you will still need to submit crafted prototype items and get admin assistance to add starships/space stations/worlds to CSpace.
This sounds interesting. I like this project already.
It also makes me think if I want to import a character from an other Starwars based universe over to this one.
It involves a Togruta character that is Vice-CEO of a company that focuses on medical stuff.
While I’m thinking about what character I will implement in SWRotE, I will be looking out for other developments.
One question concerning the Creator badges. It says you can obtain them if you have created a number of Approved Objects. But what kind of objects fall under this?
Any objects that you create – these may range from docking registries on planets you build to objects made to represent things that you propose as new craftable items. I’ll be working on a guide about them soon.
Sounds good!
I will be reaching out to Brody to see if he has any old news files on RoE, specifically regarding theme – to try and keep it as close to what he had planned for when it fired up, as possible.
I am a firm believer in player-driven plots. While I am prepared to offer a semi-heavy RP schedule, and lots of plots, I am not opposed to player run stuff (including organizations, factions, etc..).
Some factions off the top of my head will be:
Galactic Empire
Rebel Alliance
Independents (those who don’t fit in anywhere)
Hutt Cartel/Crime Syndicate
Don’t want to spread things out too much either when it comes to who to RP with. So things like single capital ships for military per faction until they are crewed are a must.
Expect building to start soon!
That wink was meant for me wasn’t it? yes I know I got a character that is a ship builder and Since I have always wanted to build starwars style ship, I’m willing to help you out and make a character for the Corellia Engineering Corp. My preference would go out to a twi’lek or Togruta race, but we can discus that and more when we both are online.
Nope! 🙂 It was more of a hint that this is a good opportunity for someone (or a group) to become ship builders.
The only thing I would ask is that ships built (at least in the beginning) are actual Star Wars ships. Once we have an established group of ships available for use, perhaps we can look at some R&D of new ships (or R&D of advanced ships that are found later on in the Star Wars series – like the B-Wing, or some of the TIE-Wing starfighters!)
What races should be playable? Well Lets just forget about the human races to begin with… ..Just kidding lol.
Since the total list as I found it consists of 92 races I went out to pick a few I think we should consider to be playable:
Alderaanian
Corellian
Coruscanti
Ewok
Gungan
Human
Hutt
Kaminoan
Mon Calamari
Naboo (yes that’s how the race is called)
Togruta
Toydarian
Twi`lek
Wookiee
The real list is of course much bigger but I think we should consider these first.
I got these races from this website: http://www.swcombine.com/rules/?Races
But you can also look at this wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Wars_species
Well, races like Corellian, Alderanian, Hapan, etc… would all fall under ‘Human’, as they are all offshoots of the Human race – easier code wise that way as well. Having a dozen plus types of Humans is confusing. The only time a Human variant would be available if there is some super-special effect that is specific to that race.
That being said, I think I will leave out most of the pre-Episode IV races out. I think 15-20 races max to start, but will have to select the most popular. If the staff is willing to add more, then great. In the end I want to reduce as much work for them as humanly possible.
Sounds like a good plan Narai. Let me know if you want an opinion on anything.
The thought of things actually being bought with credits instead of Saga points sounds great I approve of that. I like the idea of credits gaining more usefulness again.
Not sure yet what to think about the ships thing thought.
The less SP needed to be used, the better. And I was always sad that OS/Chia leaned more towards SP than the use of credits (although they were used, just not a primary source of currency).
The ship thing, I envision, would work like this:
A vendor/ship builder has a list of ‘approved’ ships they can build. Each ship has a set description, stats and cost associated with it. (maybe a builder only focuses on KDY ships, another CEC, etc…).
Players will do gigs/jobs (so it will be heavy use of skills to generate currency) in exchange for ships/weapons.
When a player orders a ship, the transaction takes place. The ship object is built, described then handed over to the purchaser in exchange for the ship.
Here is what I am thinking:
1) Ships can be used as a 1 room home (placed in a spaceport, of course).
2) There will be dedicated RP rooms at each planet (Example: A room called ‘Low Orbit – Coruscant’). These will be for use for space RP/Combat (so if you have a ship object, you will be able to do stuff in these rooms, such as RP with ships and space combat).
3) There may, or may not be space rooms connecting planets, or various deep space rooms. Not sure.
As I stated, I dislike having ships where people hide in and no RP gets done. That being said, I am not opposed to allow for private housing on planets in designated areas (or offices, or businesses, etc…).
I want to minimize the need for SP, increase the use of a hard currency, and increase RP opportunities.
A similar system would be setup for weapons/armor as well.
The only vendors would be for things like commlinks, PDAs, etc…
That is where my head is at.
I’m a little puzzled by this discussion of credits vs. Saga Points as currency and the ensuing sadness about “SP dominance.” What you’re describing (gigs to earn money) is pretty much *exactly* what we have on OS. Is the problem, as y’all see it, that people can use SP to craft weapons (if they have the skills) or build ship prototypes (if they have the skills) or what?
I think what I am going for is less use of Dominion by players. Although perhaps I should just leave it and let them do whatever.
I think we are looking for a way to move away from SP, and use strictly IC currency. But no matter how we do it, there will be SP use. Would like there to be reasons for wanting to collect credits.
Still ideas in the works. 😛 Need to build more planets!
Something to keep in mind: Whether it’s IC credits or SP that people spend, you’re still going to run into the same problems of people stockpiling whatever the dominant “currency” is because there aren’t enough sinks to consume the surplus. There are no upkeep costs, nothing going obsolete due to excessive use, so when a player buys a PDA or a rifle or a space suit, they currently never have to do so again unless they somehow lose the item during an event.
We’ll be having a town hall-style discussion on Friday to go over topics such as this to explore some ideas in that direction, which may have some bearing on ROE!
I shall be there.
I do want to take a different approach to ships and how we use them for RP. Want to take a page from a Star Wars game I have played on for some time where it seems to work well.
That explains it well enough for me, Thanks Narai. I can’t think of anything against this ship idea.
One question from me about the list of playable races. I’m personally missing Togruta and/or Twi’leks. Will those be playable too or not?
Yes, forgot them.
Other then that I don’t think there are any that need to be added. Covered off the main ones, I think.
No Ewok, Jawa or Tusken Raiders either 😛
Sounds good to me. can’t wait to be able to make a character for RoE.I’ll think about which race I’ll play, a Twi’lek or a Togruta. I already have the bases of a Togruta character I play on text based browser game called Starwars Combine. But playing a Twi’lek sounds fun too.
If my name doesn’t give it away I’m a former player from long ago. I remember OS when it was jam-packed with veteran players, when new players were turning up–and sticking around–daily, and Ritter was the biggest news since people stuffing their heads into Nemoni cruisers.
I’m going to share what drew me to Otherspace to begin with, what pulled me in and didn’t let go for two years (and dented my GPA more than I’d care to admit), and finally the reasons I personally can’t seem to get back into the game.
Personally, what drew me to Otherspace was the original-but-not-too-original theme. Otherspace was a unique universe unto itself, but a universe that clearly drew inspiration from films and shows I could relate to and loved. It was new but not unfamiliar. Even in the late 90s/early 00s the theme was convoluted, but it was manageable largely because it had that hint of familiarity about it. That Star Wars/Trek/New Car smell.
What kept me enthralled was the rigidity of the theme. Otherspace was a space opera with narrative rules, and it more or less stuck to them. Characters were fantastic and oftentimes outlandish, but there were boundaries. A zangali was a giant lizard creature, odarites were greedy oversized roaches plying the space lanes, humans were hairless primates of the future. I got it. I got them.. It made sense to me.
I’m completely confused by today’s Otherspace. The familiarity is gone. The once convoluted theme is more soap opera than space opera. It’s understandable. The game’s been around for over a decade. A lot has happened. But it’s still damn confusing, even if you do insist it isn’t necessary to follow.
And the characters today. There’s no cohesion. Walk into a dive bar wedged between the spaceport and a gambling den and you’ll encounter anything from a medieval knight, a shapeshifting thingamajig, a mystical warrior replete with seemingly magical powers, etc. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what genre this is.
There’s no cohesion. There’s no ungstiri tough, no sivadian pride, no zangali throw-bar because characters can and are literally from anywhere and any time.
It works for other MU*s out there, and perhaps it will work for OS, but the reason I stuck around for as long as I did back in the old days was exactly because Otherspace had a tight, unique theme.
Just my .02, and I wish you all the best wherever the game goes.
It might challenge your RP flexibility to have all these options floating around, I agree. But it wouldn’t have to hinder your RP, if you chose to be involved.
I am puzzled, though, how you can speak to how confusing or non-cohesive it is today if you were around in the old days *but not now*. If you’re an active player and, through experience, can say these things, that’s fine. But if you’re just a jaded old player shaking a cane and saying “Back in MY day…,” well, I’m not so sure.
I have tried to return more than once, and I have spent some time on the grid since the early days.
In my day Otherspace was a fairly regulated space opera. Now it’s more of an open book to do anything and everything you want. And that’s fine if that’s what the players want. I’m outlining the reasons I personally came to Otherspace, stuck around, and now can’t seem to get sucked back in. And one of the biggest draws for me was the unique space opera universe Otherspace provided.
It may sound a bit paradoxical, but too many choices can be a bad thing.
I think it’s important to remember that OtherSpace wasn’t THAT regulated. We had glorified blurbs for each race in the original theme. It was player investment in some of the races – the Ungstiri, Demarians, Zangali among them – that led to so much of the framework. Ungstiri Tough was a concept I created, but players made it real. And Throw Bar was fabricated entirely by Urf, if I recall correctly.
The same could be done within the current framework, if people were invested enough to do so.
That said: We could open a new “exactly like it used to be universe” and I’m still not sure it would recapture the lightning in a bottle of that era. I was much more active with characters and stories then, and we had players who could be around a lot more often and who generated activity just by showing up with their pals.
I believe it’s much more about the people and their commitment than it is about the clear definition or rigidity of the theme.
I’m a relative new player compared to those that where around a decade ago. I’ve been here since November 2011 and I must say I have no reasons to say things are bad. But then again i always try to see the good in things when I can.
Sure otherspace nowadays is relatively quiet and since I live in a different time zone then most players, and have plenty of Real live stiff to focus time on. I can sadly not always be involved in rp.
Over the two years I had to miss more then a dozen events that where Arc related. Just because it was either way to late for me or I was just to tired to try and stay up until far past midnight. When I Was able to stay up and join in on events I usually ended up going to bed somewhere between 2 and 7 in the morning. I didn’t mind thought because being part of something that could potentially change the universe felt great.
I guess that’s why I like the fact that the war of the weavers has moved to the forums. If it didn’t, Changes where I had to miss most of it all over again, and with it making me feel like my character and her actions doesn’t matter to this world.
Being a part of events doesn’t only make me feel like my character can make a difference, but they also allow me to have a fixed time to RP with others. Of course it doesn’t have to be a admin event it can also be a player driven event. Point is, when people take the time and effort to organise something I try to be there with one of my 3 characters. Especially if I know I can make it. Since Real live can be a pain in the rear when it comes to scheduling ones time.
Most players probably have to focus there time on finding a job. and those that do have a job probably have to work twice as hard as they did a decade a go. We all know why that is so no need to go into it if you ask me.
Point is scheduling an event ingame is difficult. and when you are in game with people. The more people you have the longer an event takes. Even if you do three pose, you still end up waiting for 3 poses until you can pose again. and since no one types at the same speed, it can take a while before you can go again. and a decent event can take up anywhere from 2 hours up to maybe even 4+ hours.
I know it has it’s charm and if an event sounds like something people are interested in they probably will try and make it. I know I would.
I’m not sure if I am making sense any more. I typed most of this as it popped into my head.
One last thing. Don’t try to blame people for what went or goes wrong. try to find a way to get RP flowing again.
I know I got plenty of plans laying around to work with. But with my main character trapped in an other universe I can’t do most of that for now and it has been put in the freezer, waiting to be thawed out when the war of the weavers is over.
I wasn’t here when it ended but every six months or so I begin to miss Chiaroscuro. Looking back I realize everything I did in that game was utterly uninspired. I wasn’t smart enough or creative enough to leave my mark on Fastheld like I wish I could have been. My best bet was to cling to Markus and build up his plots as a secondary supportive cast player. When he quit I could have done the same with Dianna. Hannah was a much better roleplayer than I was.
Now I wish I had something like Chiaroscuro to play. Every once in awhile I look up mudstats and check around for a good MUSH or MUX to start playing. Sometimes I get pretty close. I wish Chiaroscuro was still open. I liked it best when it was just Fastheld and we could play nobles and attempt politics and build twinky sheets that we never used.
Since my MUSH days I’ve picked up programming and sometimes I think I should learn MUSHcode. I doubt it’s very complicated. My idea for a coded system would be one that simulated economy and trade on a more macro level. For a fantasy world you could use it to keep track of holdings and profits from those holdings. It would be more abstract and used to facilitate RP. For example you would be Duke or whatever and you owned farm land and vassals and all that and that was all represented in the system as tokens in an inventory or stats on a sheet. You could trade those tokens to other political rivals. You could make contracts and deals. There’d be ways to betray or spy on your enemies too. It would be kept track of within the coded system but it wouldn’t be the game itself like a game of Civilization – you’d need to roleplay it all out. The problem with Chiaroscuro and probably a lot of other fantasy and medieval games that feature politics is there’s largely no real conflict beyond soap opera drama. ICly those characters all had power and wealth and some of them even defined that wealth and power nicely but we had no real conflict because of it because we couldn’t keep track of it.
Anyway, that was my idea. Hope you’re doing well, Wes. Grats on the baby. Good luck with Otherspace moving forward.
I forgot to mention what reminded me of that coded politics system idea. It would be great for a game where you expected the players to spearhead plot development. If you don’t have time to run TinyPlots and arcs for the MUSH/MUX they would have an easy way to make their own fun. Yes, nearly every game provides the opportunity for the players to make their own plots and adventures but some people need more hand holding.
Sounds similar to the basic intent of the Dominion empire-building system, which worked with the crafting system, but never really got completely fleshed out. That said: We’ve had occasional people showing interest in starting up the Chiaroscuro universe again – never quite takes hold.
Rejoice, O Otherspace, for the Falking is upon you.
So, most of you know who I am, or maybe you don’t, I don’t know.
I was an original player on Otherspace and a regular, fairly central player from 1998 until 2004. After an extended time away from Otherspace, I returned in 2011, when Brody opened what was then known as Normalspace Variant 1, a restoration of the pre-Sanctuary OS universe, which had been my favorite era of the game and was enough to lure me out of retirement. But the truth is, my life now, with a job and three kids and a wife, is much busier than my life was in 1998-2004, so I found making time for the game to be tough. Still, I managed to become part of a smallish group of players RPing on the new (old) Tomin Kora, and for a while it was fun, when I found the time. The players I spent most of my time with, however, all became inactive or left for a variety of reasons (some had personal issues, some were involved in some unpleasantness that caused them to leave.) After that I found my interest lagging again. It takes work to build yourself a place to RP on the Mush… and I didn’t really have the time or energy to do it again. Still, I may return from time to time, and I always keep an eye on what’s happening. I could even see becoming active again for specific periods of time.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my time on OS over the years, and the fun that it was. And I could easily sit here and shake my cane and say, “In MY day…” But it wouldn’t matter. Because what dawned on me a long time ago is this: Otherspace is a mirror.
It’s a mirror that reflects, partly, what’s going on in Brody’s life. You could chart a lot of the ups and downs of the game (and even some of those mistakes Brody talked about above) against the ups and downs of his life while he’s been running the game. He is, and always will be, the main animating force behind Otherspace. Oh, I think he wishes he wasn’t… I think he’s been looking for years to make the game more self-sustainable without regular infusions of energy from him, personally. But even when the game had a very active, large and committed playerbase, Brody was the driving force, whether he wanted to be or not. So when his life is busy and his energy is required elsewhere, that’s going to be felt on the game. It just is. It’s not his FAULT; it’s not anybody’s fault… it’s just part of the nature of the game. MU**s only survive as long as there is an animating force behind them. Brody has always been that animating force, and while he’s tried… and is still trying… to empower players to keep things going without him, Otherspace is always, in part, going to be a reflection of, and an extension of, its creator.
It’s also, however, a mirror that reflects its current playerbase. There was an ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, who said you can never step into the same river twice. He meant the only constant thing in life is change. Try as I might, I can’t return to the Otherspace that I loved most, from twelve or thirteen years ago. Brody can re-create the worlds and oldbies like me can reappear on the grid and still it’ll never be the same game because there’s a different core group of players with different interests and a different style and a different RP culture. At any moment, OS is what its players make it… the players who are there right now are so much more important than the legacies left behind by characters like mine, our contributions to the lore and the history and all that… none of what happened in the past is ever going to be as important as what the players who are there right now want the game to be. Not much else matters… not the systems, not the staff, not even Brody himself, because the game has always empowered you to just go out there and RP. It takes work… you need to build your own RP communities within the Mush, and then work so that those communities don’t become too isolated… you need to think in terms of why things SHOULD happen, not why they shouldn’t, and you need to think of how barriers to interacting with other characters can be overcome, rather than treating them as insurmountable. Brody can be as active as he’s ever been, but the MUSH will still take the shape the players lay out for it.
I think there’s, as usual, a lot of truth to what Falk has to say.
I’ve wanted the game to run on its own without so much involvement. And, for a while – for good or ill – it actually did, back when much of the action was provided by Mika, Fulton, Squadron and a few others. This was during my Fallen Earth development period, when I had almost no time at all to devote to the game, and yet it persevered in my absence.
But I’m well aware that the game’s most energetic times seem to coincide with my ability to pour energy into it, whether it’s playing characters or simply getting out into the internet ether and spreading the gospel of OtherSpace.
I used to pitch the game in dozens of places every month. I scarcely even try to advertise it anywhere now.
But I may get back to doing that in the near future – assuming I get some energy and free time for it.
Who knows!
Okay! Holy cannolis, that’s a lot of stuff, and a lot of folks I don’t know. But that’s okay. Pull up a chair. (Oh lords and ladies, stop her, she’s doing that ‘Way Back When I Was a MUD Admin’ thing again! Runnn!)
Let me at first look at the list of things that have been ‘done wrong’. (Bonus points for acknowledgement, in this day and age.)
1) The Ritter Incident: Yes, this is famous. So famous that I’ve heard about it, and I didn’t start here until 2010. Main Character Syndrome, when the player takes action with clear disregard for how it affects other players, is quite the disease, and it can and will decimate a population. I could write an entire informative article on the symptoms, spread, and treatment of Main Character Syndrome (maybe I will!), but the fact of the matter is, if staff can recognize it for what it is, a lot of trouble and drama will be saved in the long run.
2) Shutting Down/Reconfiguring Games: Understandable. Sometimes ideas get thrown around as to how to ‘fix’ things, and sometimes a theme change, apocalypse, story change, player or map wipe, consolidation come up as possible solutions. Sometimes it works, sometimes it makes a mess.
3) Logging: Okay, personally, I don’t see a problem with this, as any MUD I’d ever played on has always logged character input. It would be lovely if people could be honest, but let’s face it; people are people, and people cheat. With our current player base, I am less concerned, but I feel that in the storm of he-said-she-said-they’ll-say-anything-to-get-away-with-things, it was a necessary step. Perhaps my years of running the disciplinary squad in an online RP environment have jaded me, but logs are the only defense against lies. I realize that opinions may vary, and it must have upset -someone- enough to give Brody a holler about it, but, really… have we not learned: NOTHING YOU SAY/DO ON THE INTERNET IS PRIVATE.
Okay. Where was I? Looking over the comments, I see some talk about the rigidity of theme. As with things that people -want- and not -need-, like sugary snacks, ice cream, and great big giant steaks, moderation is key. Not enough leeway will potentially dampen the interest of new players; TOO MUCH leeway will drop things onto the grid that may be problematic for -existing- players. Risk versus reward… will saying ‘no’ to this overpowered character concept lose me one player’s interest? Will saying ‘yes’ to it produce a grid-clearing ‘IT IS IN MY BIO therefore Brody has given me permission to have unblockable attacks/cold fusion beams/undefeatable defenses'(see also Main Character Syndrome: it’s contagious!) If someone is interested enough in -this game world-, they should be at least somewhat willing to create something that fits reasonably into it. (There are so many choices to begin with!!) Anyone who’s going to rip staff a new one in defense of instant approval of their character concept is probably going to be just as pleasant and cooperative as an ongoing player.
All right, I’m seeing some people I don’t know in the comments, so, hello, previous players. I feel like I understand what folks are expressing, and I can tell you that as one of the ‘bridge’ people who remained in the time when many ‘veterans’ left, there was a definite disconnect between the people who stayed and the people who were here in ye olde days and came back later. To the ‘old’ folks, the ‘new’ folks were ‘newbies,’ but really they -weren’t-; the ‘newbies’ had been here for quite a while, had remained/helped through the times of adversity, and were helping rebuild. I watched the ‘old’ folks talk at great length about the ‘great old days’, and tried to get them playing with the people they viewed as ‘new,’ to make some -new- awesome stories, but it rarely happened. Torn between two populations, I chose to stick with the players who stuck with Otherspace.
I am here because I feel that this is a pretty damned decent community with a wide-open world and infinite potential for story. Let’s get together, and remember, it’s not my story, it’s not your story, it’s not his story, it’s not her story…
It’s OUR story.
I’m glad to see someone taking the right approach to the theme, as far as it being wide open, with infinite potential. That’s a much more optimistic vision than calling it a confusing mess (which, if taken as a whole, isn’t inaccurate, but it’s absolutely unfair).
The game has the advantage of being a space opera literary sandbox with plenty of room to explore and grow.
Been a while since I’ve shown my face, or text, around here. Just happened to wander through and this post caught my eye. I myself, though a tremendous fan of Otherspace and all of the creative minds that contribute to it, have, at various times in the past, and now in the present, found myself unable to participate.
It is impossible for me to participate on a minimal level. If I am present at all, the temptation to be active will be too great. Currently, I am working seven days a week, twelve to fourteen hours a day. I have a wife, who I have little enough time to interact with, and a family with whom I am trying to repair my relationships.
The point of this soliloquy on my personal life is this: We’ve all grown up. Some of us can still manage to get our RPs in, but as someone above mentioned, many are either concentrating on finding a job, or keeping the one they have. We’re getting married, having kids, our lives are a far cry from those of the teenagers we (some of us, Brody, Falk)were in the late 90’s when Otherspace was born.
Now, your average person who would have been interested in MUSHing in 1998 has grown up in a completely different world. When Otherspace began, I had never heard of an MMO, if they indeed existed at that time. There were no smartphones. Most people still were satisfied with only one form of electronic entertainment at a time.
MUSHing was a niche activity sixteen years ago, and far more so today.
This DOES NOT mean that I believe that they should all shut their doors and roll over. That, I think, would be a tragedy. But I believe that blaming the staff of said games for a reduced active player base is ridiculous. We’re in a different era, and it’s tougher than ever before. I truly hope that Otherspace is still around when my children are old enough to enjoy it, if the literary bent of their parents passes down to them.
So we get to pick our own characters or pick an alt or make a new character concept for this story arc. But are we limited to one character or can we pick multiple to join the story arc?
That’s a great question. I’d say you can bring as many as you like to the story arc, but do your best to make sure they don’t interfere or assist each other. Alt conflict rules still apply!
Got an other question. How does this rp thread line up with the Bringing Up Baby RP Thread? I ask because I already posted in the cerulean twilight thread and now see the Bringing Up Baby RP Thread and wishing I had waited. Xanya would have loved to be present there to see the baby Yaralu’s first words and such.
To avoid overcomplicating things for anyone else, as they might want to refer to some of these happenings in-game, the events are (more or less) parallel. If you want Xanya involved, though, I’d recommend that you have her bow out of the Cerulean Twilight thread – maybe she’s on her way to the ship – and we can fudge the time element so that she shows up at Galleria in time for the baby to communicate.
Thanks for the advice. I’ll see about how I can make such pose.
Well, I’m not sure if this consideration is still going on, but two cents is two cents. My major argument against closing all NPC-run worlds is that PCs may still live on some of these; I know for certain that Pyracan in particular has a number of PCs housed on Eiru.
I think that the original rule above is sound, and will indeed save a lot of headaches on both sides of any possible conflicts. I would also think that -players- should be considerate of this fact. Any player who would not behave should have consequences and/or discipline administered on an individual basis, thereby preventing the misdeeds of the few from becoming the punishment of the many.
Water the garden. Pull the weeds.
I’ve had some behind-the-scenes discussions with a couple of players and staffers, disclosing that I was mostly just babbling out loud (as it were) to get the frustration off my chest. Long term, I don’t see shutting down the NPC-run worlds as a viable choice.
“Pretty much the entire Dominion structure. There’s no reasonable argument against allowing player-driven empires to grow organically, through RP and creative effort.”
There’s nothing wrong with this sentiment, given that most of my efforts have not been through Dominion. The only question becomes one of conflict resolution. If you want to say ’empires can not enter into conflicts’, then that is an acceptable answer, but otherwise you need a way to handle those matters. To balance out things between old players and new on that front, there is no good criteria to handle it that is fair to all parties involved.
SP for Badges? Well, you will need another way for players to earn SP, and some players may object, but it is not a strong personal objection for me, contingent upon understanding the entire package of changes that are desired. I am willing to consider any new setup could have undesirable interactions with this idea.
Cargo hauling: It never really contributed anything, and I do not know how many people ever used it more than once or twice to test it out.
Also, if you really want players to only worry about roleplaying, you should seriously consider allowing new characters to start with the full 500/500 cap sheet with SP to fill it out. That’s a form of competition between newbies and veterans. Some may argue that it takes out ‘progression’ and this is a motivating force for some players, but if we measure ‘progression’ by the stories that are told, then +sheet progression no longer makes as much sense.
I’m not against removing of some systems, I only ask that the full costs of such decisions are investigated and understood before anything happens.
It would be my intention to reward players upon approval with the full 500 SP for their +sheet, rather than the usual 250.
As for weighing the costs of these decisions: It’s hard to predict all the ramifications. For most players, honestly, it’s not going to make any real impact. +Sheets already are maxed out on most existing characters. Only a few players used crafting with any regularity. Only a few players were fanatical about accumulating badges.
If those things don’t exist for new players and their lack doesn’t deprive new players of anything veterans might have, then I think the cost of not having those systems is negligible.
The cost I have to calculate is whether existing players are so attached to any of these systems that their lack would drive them away. But, the simple fact is, if these systems are what keep them coming back, they’re coming back for the wrong reasons.
For most players it will not make much impact for +sheet purposes. Though 500 SP is not actually the full amount. The full amount for a full +sheet actually costs 4600, or 1000 if you just start the caps at 500/500.
What might work better if you want to eliminate the SP difference between players is removing SP costs from skills/traits entirely.
I did not say ‘remove caps’, I said remove the SP costs. All that would require is removing the SP checking/removing functions from the +raise code while still allowing the caps to be checked. Additionally, doing this would take away the abuse potential of unrestricted superior/inferior traits, which means those could be returned to their original status for their original intent, rather than something that needs to be applied for.
These things that you want to do will ultimately come down to trusting the playerbase to do the right thing in an overwhelming majority of cases. If that trust is there? Then the plan to do these things should be committed to as fully as possible. If it is not? Then there are significant questions as to whether these plans are a good idea.
Math: Always my greatest strength! I’d be interested in exploring with Coyote, et al, the idea of an SP-less skill system. I don’t really think we need a “sense of progression” for players in the game beyond that given through their character’s evolution within the framework of the ongoing story.
When it comes to trust, I’d really rather worry about trusting players to get on the grid, run events and participate in events run by others. I’m not too worried about grid-building excesses, because nothing becomes official until a staffer clears that grid for addition to the main grid.
I think we’ll still need props, such as weapons and armor, but given the relative rarity of combat on the MUSH and, again, the limited playerbase, I don’t think we need a wide spectrum of craftables. But invention-minded players should still have the opportunity to RP development of new weapons, robots, vehicles, etc.
I got some thoughts myself as I read through this post and the reply so far.
First of all is a little comment about the gigs and earning credits from them. It’s said that “…those just end up becoming little dragon hoards in your +inv.”
I’m a fan of dragons and thus also a fan of dragon hoards. And to be honest I’m probably one of the few players (if not the only player) that is planning to get alot of sp and credits, only to get the corresponding Wealth- and Saga Point Hoard Badges.
As for the economy simulation? I agree that without a large enough player base that might not be worth spending time on.
When the credits become more usefull to players to spend on items or even ships and such. Then credits might become more interesting and a little economy will end up being created by itself as players spend and earn those credits ingame.
As for the badges.
My first thoughts where this. “Nooooo, Don’t get ride of them or stop using them to payout monthly SP’s. I need those to get 1 million Saga points and thus obtain my Saga Point Hoard VI badge.”
It sounds crazy I know and probably confirms my earlier statement where I mentioned being a fan of dragon hoards. But that’s not the only reason I rather not see that go. One of my characters is a ship builder and that involves great costs both in Saga Points and Credits. Especially if your making a new design. I love making new designs, I tend to spend more time thinking about making designs then I probably should. Added problem of thinking so much about designs is that nothing gets out of my head and onto paper or even in game.
That being said, So long as there is a use for Saga Points
and credits, I don’t think we should get ride of the means to obtain those credits and SP’s.
As for the trading in Cspace.
I totally forgot about that. I have done it for a while myself, But I agree that it takes up time and I often I prefer. to use that time to rp if I can. I also have found myself somewhere far away in space and someone requesting RP with my character. I’d then have to travel somewhere and spend several minutes or up to an hour getting back. Time I could have spend role playing. That doesn’t take a way that Trading is still a nice thing to have. Time has been spend on it by the team to get it working and into the game. So I personally hate to see it go. Plus, for as long as it doesn’t bother people or is in the way of the crafting chain. why think of getting ride of it at all?
As I’m typing this I’m even thinking of spending some sp on one of my characters (or make a new character) to get them a ship and have them do trading runs to get credits.
Finally I agree with what Sergeytov said. If any system is nominated to be removed or changed. The effects of those changes should be investigated.
I get what you’re saying about wanting to design new things. However, as I said about empires, I say about designs for new things: There’s no good reason not to let a ship designer develop new ideas for ships organically. I’ve given players the power to build their own grids. You shouldn’t have to worry about playing a resource-gathering game or spending SP to do what you want.
As for badges, I could envision keeping them and maybe even adding to them, but without the SP rewards. Collecting the badges would be its own reward for those who like them.
I suppose part of this depends on the definition of ‘organically’, if that means ‘happens in roleplay/to assist roleplay’ and that’s the only requirement, we will either have to accept these things at face value, or create some concrete mechanism for ‘at what point does one earn a new ship design?’ There’s nothing wrong with either decision, but going with the first option means that there will have to be trust in the playerbase to regulate itself in terms of what happens organically.
Furthermore, there is still the outstanding question of how SP will be earned, especially if in order to build players will need SP still. Though one could solve that issue by just allocating a quota allowance every month to each character without charging SP to allow building, but not allow excessive building.
Well, I thought I made it clear – and if I didn’t, my bad – but when I say “organically” I mean “without an SP requirement of any kind.” Instead, it would be through the course of RP – posting logs, conducting taskrolls, etc. So an SP allowance/paycheck wouldn’t be required.
My turn to chime in….
I will be the first to admit that, as a player, I have benefited greatly on many levels from the vast amount of system Otherspace implemented in the last few years. From the Badges (what I really a fanatic about collecting them? I don’t think so, in the end it was more to fund my Empire-building), to Narai’s various adventures, the Bright Cluster and more. I can say that I benefited, but I’d like to think that others benefited from it as well (Danu is a perfect example, among others).
Would I be sad for a revamp? No.
Even if it hurt my long-term plans? Fine by me.
Privately, for the last year.. maybe year and a half.. I have said (to those who shall remain unnamed) that the OS system became too complex, and is a detrimental put-off to some (most) new players. Those that leave far outnumber those who stay. Coding system-wise, definite factor. And we have quite a few ‘veterans’ of 5+ years still around (a couple 10-15 years like myself).
I agree with the following:
1) Removing or heavily revamping coding systems to have a less detrimental effect on RP – this includes crafting, etc..
2) Lock down the character sheets – no more shifting around. Once you are out of Character Generation, you are locked in.
3) More focus on RP – I agree, fully, with development of the story and posting of logs to tell a story. While some things would have to be run in conjunction with staff approval (new empires, races, etc…), there is merit to it. I look at Star Wars MUSH as an old example of this. Coded systems were at a minimum (CharGen, space, combat and an econ system were really it). To develop items, you would have to put the time in ICly, have the required skills and money
4) Move away from Saga Points.. More focus on IC currency.
5) Active players get rewarded – quality over quantity though. Again, SW1 was a good example of this. If you were in any major military force, good luck getting any sort of promotion/command without activity. Regular plot runners are recognized in some way.
6) A rework of the theme, perhaps? Not at the Core, but I think the multiverse, the amount of history and races, etc.. is daunting for a lot of new players, especially in an original themed game. Where as jumping into a Trek or SW game, where you probably know abit about a lot of races, etc.. is easier to delve into, for example.
7) A serious rework of the Wiki, along with a regular person(s) to oversee it and maintain it. Wiki’s are a great resource, and OS’s is underutilized.
Fin. 🙂
1) Agreed.
2) If we go with Sergeytov’s suggestion of just fully funding a person with all the SP they need to flesh out their +sheet, right out of the gate, this works.
3) I don’t think we’ve taken a focus away from RP as much as we’ve added bells and whistles in an (admittedly unsuccessful) effort to lure people to somehow accidentally stumble into RP with each other. But what we know is this: RP breeds RP. If people are doing stuff, it tends to encourage other people to do stuff. If people aren’t, then the crickets chirp louder and louder.
4) Not entirely sure we need either SP or IC credits going forward. I might offer someone 100,000 credits to kill a Space Pope, but what are they going to do with that cash once they have it? In our OtherSpace economy: not much.
5) Agreed.
6) Maybe even at the core. Perhaps the weight of 16 years is just too much without ever tripping the reset button (as opposed to simply branching out to new universes and special variants of the old one).
7) Absolutely agreed. Of course, if we turn it into just a repository of lore and logs, that retooling becomes pretty straightforward.
Feeling a bit too hazy to respond too all of this right now, but #2 is one that I can muster some fairly coherant thought on.
Honestly? I don’t like the idea of the sheet being locked in. Now yes, I know that there’ve been cases where people seriously abused the flexibility of those things. However, I do feel that not locking it allows more room for character growth.
Keth for instance, was conceived as an architect. The only reason he took up the construction of armor is that Vessa, a dear friend of his, kept landing herself in the hospital after lending out her armor to someone else.
That’s a fair point. Of course, maybe “locked in” is the wrong way to look at it. In my case, I’d see it as: You have all the points you ever need when you leave character creation. The +sheet should probably remain flexible.
The ‘full bag of SP’ method? Excellent method. Allows flexibility and changes in priorities without causing headaches.
Let me address this…
By ‘locked in’ I mean you cannot reduce your skills or change them from one to another.
If you can, through logs, show character advancement, then great, you get a boost. Or SP is handed out to improve current skills.
I just hate the ability to change skills. It doesn’t reflect on what your characters abilities really are.
#2 is a bit troublesome, because it comes with a couple hidden pre-requisites in order to work in a beneficial way.
The biggest one is that the skill system must be finalized first, as in no more changes at all. To lock everyone in to a skillset and then change how skills work is a terrible idea. Even with the new dice mechanics, my understanding is that the skills system needs a lot of work done on it before it is ‘final’.
The second is that this prohibits a character from changing at all. If, over time, a character’s values change, so their skills are unable to keep up.
The abuses of ‘sudden skill changes’ were not caused by some players going nuts and becoming totally different overnight, as a rule, but rather a rational response to the +craft system and the lack of a sufficient playerbase to support that crafting. So remove the source of the skill change abuses and the abuse potential is greatly mitigated without robbing players of the ability to change over time or causing issues if the skill system ever changes in any way again.
Yeah. As I replied to Kilroy, best to just leave it at “here’s a bag of all the Saga Points you ever need for skills, use them as you will.”
If there are going to be changes to crafting, this should not be an issue.
But if SP is handed out for RP and etc.. use it to increase skills. Just don’t allow random changes, etc.. Is all I am saying.
This is an interesting idea for the reboot.
My question is however, what will happen to the universes as they are now? Will everything we know today disappear? and with it the things we created? Like Impiruil Bail, the bright Cluster and so on?
And if all of that will disapear what will happen to the characters we all have created and grown fond off (for the most part anyway).
I would grandfather in what people have developed for themselves. I can sympathize with the connection people make to their characters and their worlds. Previously, I’ve gone the route of ripping people loose of what they knew, or told them they were losing what they knew, and…I’m not fond of that outcome.
I would probably take the Ancient Expanse worlds and races out as options in chargen to avoid confusion for newbies, but I wouldn’t rule them out in a separate chargen area if players there go on a recruiting spree. But I wouldn’t run around nuking grids or characters.
Yay, we get to keep our carefully collected piles of stuff!
I’ve experienced big changes and/or theme reboots on other games in the past. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. The good thing about -not- ripping everything up, wiping, etc, is that it won’t be -painful- to try something new, and people wouldn’t feel like they -had- to ditch all of their work to force-upgrade to this new and improved thing.
I have to say my second favorite thing about Otherspace (yes, the first thing is y’all, break out the ‘awwwwww’. Okay now be quiet I’m talking) is the whole ‘rifted’ mechanic where you can take someone from else where and else when and just have them experience this crazy future world with all of its science and technology.
But, hey, it’s an idea, and ideas as a whole are worth tossing around for a while until they either fly or fall.
I approve of this.
I would, as always, go political for RP. 🙂
That is all. Approve of this as is. Would set the stage to either develop the Stellar Consortium, go to war with the Nall, etc.. Or a different route.. all while maintaining the ‘core’ Otherspace experience.
I’m on board with the idea of keeping the skills somewhat malleable to reflect changes in your character. Since there’s a cap, if your character changes as time goes on, you won’t be able to get ‘better’ at new things without getting ‘worse’ at an unused, rusting skill if the +sheet is locked.
Also from a far simpler POV, sometimes you put something on your +sheet that you think fits your character and that you’ll use a lot, and it turns out that whatever you picked (say, Investigation – Profiling because to you it sounds like being able to analyze people and tell when they’re lying) doesn’t actually do what you had in mind.
I have to agree with Sergeytov here, most of the skill juggling I’ve seen outside of “My character is no longer doing X” is “I need this widget but damn if I can’t find somebody who has the skillset to build it”. Without the huge crafting system, we take that out of the equation.
…all that other stuff is damned complicated so I’ll leave that to you number crunchers until I see something else I can shake my cane at.
-Al.
What about Sanctuary? Would that be brought back in it’s original capacity? As someone who has lost developed characters (Stargazer, Eryn, Moonshadow, to name a few of my favorites) in the past when things have changed I would like to not lose Jasra. So you additional comment Brody is welcome.
Um…Sanctuary is back, in the Ancient Expanse, under Rathenhope’s oversight. Has been. A good long while. Isn’t going anywhere.
OH… I should have remembered that. 😀
So I was thinking. (AAAH, NOOO!) But yes, I was thinking. I recall that Sunny and Voluria et al were looking forward to the ‘original’ grid getting put back in, and I’m not sure what happened to that, feel free to correct me of course, but how about (if it’s not troublesome), have that grid ready for them, and narrow the many multiverses down to:
Otherspace: Classic (for ye Golden Age)
Otherspace: Age of Rifts (our current happy mess)Narai, maybe your Star Wars thingy can be classified under this umbrella?
Otherspace: Star’s Rebirth (the new boots)
I think that’ll cover the bases, just leaving out Chia; but I really feel like we’re invested in space opera, and a chunk of swords-and-sorcery-soap-opera in the middle breaks up the flow. There are always rifted Fastheldians to play if somebody -really- gets the itch.
I think as long as we have one wiki or section of the wiki clearly delineated for the new ‘boot’, done before we open the doors, we can get a solid start. And hey, if a new person plays with us for a while, likes it, and wants to get into the multiversey goodness? There’s always a rift.
*pop*
You still run into the problem off having too many ‘universes’ for people to play in. Which I think is what the old Man (haha) is trying to eliminate.
Still worried that those are overcomplications for new players. What I foresee happening is that the Wiki will be vastly simplified to a reference source for the rebooted OS – although I won’t delete pages for Ancient Expanse, etc. We would treat the Ancient Expanse OS as, effectively, a player-run universe a la Narai’s ROE project.
And for the sake of keeping it simple, RoE will be on the back burner until further notice.
The Bright Cluster will be inactive.
I shall focus on RP in the rebooted OS.
Long live the Consortium.
I will be pushing political RP once it is up and running. 🙂 Loved the old days of Council meetings in both the Stellar and Solar Consortiums 🙂
I probably won’t make a politician. or at least not right away.
I might go with some form of engineer or scientist. Either fully or mixed with a bit of military personnel in it. Since you’ll never know when you might need to defend yourself or your work.
Good thing I got time to think about it thought.
The reboot shouldn’t affect anything for me, other than a new opportunity to RP.. And, I hope, new opportunities to run some events which, I will admit, I slacked on in the last 10 months since the fall of the Dominion.
Lots of new opportunities. And excited for the ‘renewed’ focus on a pre-multiverse setting.
I am -always- up for new opportunities to RP, and what I’ve seen of the new boot it has a ‘discovery and adventure’ flavor that has piqued my interest.
I am, however, -fully- intending upon continuing my various and sundry projects in Hiverspace, because, well, there are stories as of yet unfinished and tales still to be told.
Who doesn’t like a good story, after all?
(NOBODY WE CARE ABOUT, THAT’S WHO!)
I to am a bit excited about the new RP opportunities. And like Alhambra already said, the adventure and discovery aspect of it is appealing.
I to have things still still planned for Some of my characters in hyverspace, so I to won’t stop playing with those.
Glad to hear folks with a stake in the Ancient Expanse plan to keep the fun going there. As I’ve mentioned previously, I don’t embark on this new adventure with an eye toward shutting down the old grid. It’s all about finding the way to engage myself – and new and veteran players alike – in the adventure of OtherSpace.
Was about to say I’d seen that video awhile back. But no, was a different video. Possibly the same bot, though. Either way, a darned impressive trick. (Although what I’d really like to see is a rapid solving of Alexander’s Star. the cube has nothing on the evil that is that star)
Trickery aside though, I quite agree. When I can find the time, engaging in the much slower collaborative storytelling we have here is very satisfying. (and hey, maybe one of these days I’ll get Kilroy on grid long enough to make him more than the half baked concept that he largely is.)
one ooc question. How detailed do you want these proposals to be? Do they need to be ready to be implemented into the game right away? or is there an option to Work on the details later?
I agree! The potential depth and breadth of humanity’s exploration of space, their discovery of other people, plants, animals, species, worlds, aliens, etc, should provide more than sufficient fodder to generate engaging story.
As someone with five characters, three active, two of those human and one of those mostly human, I’m confident that I can speak from experience that humans as a race will work.
The time saved on character approval alone (no more lengthy ‘discussions’ about inadvisable and implausible custom critters!) will work well both for the players and the administration.
Anyone who wants to put up an enormous fuss about not being able to be X, Y, Z, -and- the kitchen sink, is a poor carpenter blaming his/her/its tools.
(Or just a tool! NO! BAD AL! Don’t be mean!)
I agree with Al that for now with the Reboot The human race can be sufficient enough to work with for people to make there characters.
I’m already getting several idea’s for a character myself that I might create.
All these Idea’s sound great to me. Allowing the players to do all that and get credit for what they have accomplished will attract plenty of people.
The fact that so much isn’t yet discovered or created means it will be so much closer to RL that even new players might have little to no problems stepping in. But that’s my point of view. Time will tell if that assumption correct.
One question rises thought. But this one might be more of a conformation for myself then an actual question.
You mentioned that nothing beyond the Sol system has been discovered or colonized. Does that mean that planets like Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and so on, are discovered? and how many of them are actually colonized?
Oke, an other question. To what degree has space travel come? Can we travel to all the planets in the Sol system? Or only to a few of them because others are to far away?
The answer to these questions might actually help me with thinking up a background for my character and give it a place in the OS reboot.
I can answer some of these. The Solar Consortium at this point consists of Earth, Mars, and Luna (the moon). The rest of the planets are known but at this point are mostly unexplored by manned expeditions.
Space travel is at a point very much like it is portrayed in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Take off from a planet surface is via a magnetic launch rail and then using engines to break the grip of gravity after the ship is accelerated off the rail. Landing is like the space shuttle lands. Re-entry, then glide in using wings and control surfaces. Some space craft are space only that travel from space station to space station or to low gravity areas like the moon. Anti-gravity in this era is a recent discovery, and thus is glitchy and not very reliable. Once out of the gravity of a planet the sublight engines of a ship can propel it at a decent speed but travel to Mars is still a bit of a trip, which is why the outer planets have yet to be truly explored.
A few questions arise after reading this post.
First: How can we tell that we have reached the 140 characters limit. when where typing?
Second: How will the new shorthands work? I’m a bit lost as to how such a long pose as given in the example could be shorted to O D R E P B and actually be read again by others?
It sounds to much like text messages where people write things like ttyl and expect others to know they mean: Talk To You Later. Not everyone will understand these kind of shorthands and I wouldn’t be surprised if some people will outright refuse to understand such shorthands.
Psssst. Yesterday was April 1 😉
*slams hand in face.* Darn it. I should have known. Good one Brody.
*** Here’s what happened before and after the above scene! ***
03:14 PM
Apollo Lounge – Cape Canaveral 10 May 2550
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Apollo Lounge serves as the watering hole for passengers, crews, and captains alike for all the vessels arriving and departing from Cape Canaveral. Designed as a tribute to the Apollo program that resulted in humankind leaving Earth and landing on another world for the first time it has a retro ambiance mixed with modern conveniences. Booths line the walls on either side while tables are set up in the open area in between. The booth chairs and the table chairs are designed to resemble the launch couches astronauts were strapped into during Apollo launches, while the tables are painted in the green color common on the interior surfaces of the command module. The walls share the same color scheme while the carpet is white with the Apollo program logo covering much of the center of the carpet. Each table is equipped with a keypad designed as a replica of the DSKY interface of the Apollo Guidance Computer with which patrons can place orders to be delivered to their table.
The bar itself along the far wall is the centerpiece of the business. The barstools are similiarly designed like the chairs at the tables, along a bar with a retro-styled countertop design. Behind it, all the various drinks are delivered through a modern selection and delivery system, connected with hoses styled like the oxygen hoses of the Apollo spacesuits to several selection stations. A replica of the command module’s instrument panel is against the wall, complete with screens representing windows which run a looped replay of launch, travel to the moon, orbit, return, and splashdown of Apollo 11 from the perspective of the astronauts on board.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jensen is a regular fixture in this local watering hole, and true to form he has situated himself at the bar, a half drunk beer sitting next to him while he peruses a datapad. Every so often he glances up to the holoscreen as the local news rambles on.
Kinako can be seen walking carefully by this watering hole, once, twice, one more time, attempting to very quietly speak into her phone. Whoever on the other line is not being so considerate. Finally, she pads inside, standing just to the side of the door, and says, “Wo hui dengdai. Qing buyiao zai meiguo ren.” (This is, for the multilingual, Chinese, and roughly translates to “I will wait. Please stop being so American.”) After a cleansing breath, she observes the watering hole for a while, sits down at an empty table, and sets the phone down. It prattles on for a moment or two, and then slows. The woman simply continues breathing deeply, says “Wo zai zheli. Wo hui dengdai. (I am here. I will wait)” There is a brief inquisitive noise, followed by a somewhat loud burst of “MY FRIEND IS A DOCTOR” in mildly accented English, before Kinako turns several shades of embarassed and turns the phone completely off. “…I am very, very sorry,” she says, to anyone within earshot.
Jensen jerks his head up at the sound of shouting. “What the…” Jensen then scratches his chin a bit. “Doctor, eh.” Turning off his pad, he pockets it, drinks down his beer, and starts to make his way over to where Kinako has sat down.
Kinako sinks somewhat lower in her seat, looking absolutely like she wants to disappear. “Gomen nesai. I am very sorry. It is…” she gestures, helplessly, at the phone. “My friend is, ah, being very outgoing? Is is nothing of importance, and I have ended the call. Please pardon my rudeness and continue your previous activity.”
Jensen slides into a chair nearby. “Not to worry, not the first time someone’s upped the decibels in here.” he says, settling into the chair. “Though are you indeed a doctor?” he inquires.
Kinako inclines her head in a small, seated bow. “Yes, sir, I am, but I assure you I do not think it is important enough to announce loudly. My friend is… younger. Er. I apologize, I am being inappropriate. My name is Kinako. Omoiyari Kinako. am very sorry for disrupting your, ah, meal? Drink.” She pauses now and again, between words, as though she is searching for the right ones, and smiles apologetically.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I was just finishing up anyway. Name’s Jensen, General William Jensen.” he says. “What would your medical specialty be?”
Kinako clears her throat, and then bows again. “Thank you, General,” she says, very, very carefully. “Ahh… Physical medicine and… rehabilitation?” It seems as though she wants to spare a glance at her PDA for the right words but is afraid to turn it back on. “I believe those are the correct terms, my apologies. English is my third language.”
Jensen raises an eyebrow. “Indeed. Planning to set up a practice here?”
Kinako shakes her head. “Aah, no, no sir, I have come to, ah, see some parts of America with my boisterous friend? She is traveling from ah, elsewhere in Florida and has encountered traffic. So I will await her here for the time being. There is a gentleman somewhere, here, who wished to meet if I were ever in the area; however I have not been able to reach him.” She shrugs, smiling apologetically. “He seemed very busy when I met him. Perhaps he is just busy now. It is of no worry.”
Jensen nods. “I see. Well, I figure he’ll show up eventually.” he says, shifting in his seat a bit. “But if you do end up putting down roots around here, give me a call. You just might have a future patient.” he says, an eyebrow raising a bit.
Kinako tilts her head to the side, blinking in a mix of concern and puzzlement. “…are you not well? Is there a concern with local, er, doctors? Is it,” she struggles for some words, “Too much medication?”
“Oh, nothing like that. Let’s just say it’s complicated.” the general replies.
“It is somewhat odd, if you will pardon my saying so, General sir, that this place which seems to be, ah, very filled with science and technology is in need of,” Kinako says, and then smiles apologetically again, as though she is somehow ashamed, “Well, someone like me. You are the second person who has asked, now. There must be many complicated health problems here. Someone should perhaps analyze your water supplies?”
Jensen chuckles. “Well, in my case I’d say best to analyze the stresses of war on the human body.” he says simply, and rather softly.
Kinako frowns, then looks somewhat embarassed at herself for frowning, and then frowns again. There is no poker face here to speak of. “There is much regret in your statement,” she finally says. “Would you like some tea? I mean, I do not have any sort of authority to practice here but there are no, ah, statutes on talking.”
“I’d love some.” the general replies. “And you’re right on that, no one ever sued for talking. That’s what freedom of speech is all about.”
Kinako spends a reasonable amount of time looking at the table’s ordering interface, looking through the varied and colorful list of beverages with a cautious hand before finally finding -actual- tea, that is neither sweet tea nor twisted tea nor Long Island Iced. Green tea, hot, two. She sits back, watching the pad pensively before it confirms what she’s actually ordered. That finished, she turns her great gray doe eyes back to the general. “Yes, free speech is an admirable thing, that many have fought and even died for, yes?”
“Too many…” the general says, his face betraying a bit of sadness before he recovers. “But their sacrifice was not in vain, for we have those freedoms today. In fact, most of the world does now, except for a few holdouts like Texas.”
Kinako nods, complete with the thoughtful ‘mm-hmm’ that must be standard training for health care professionals everywhere. “The world, ah, it is on the large scale as it is on the small. Historically, countries, or parts of countries, suffer disharmony, and then there is war, and suffering. Peace only comes when all are tired and hurt, and the price becomes greater than the cause.”
Jensen nods. “Very true. I can only hope that once we break the light barrier, the world will be ready for what awaits us. I am confident that it will, if the radicals in those few holdouts of this world lose their power when their people see what greatness awaits them as part of the whole.”
**** ABOVE SCENE OCCURS HERE *****
Jensen looks back over to Kristine. “You’ll know when we know.” he says simply, then strides back over to Kinako, sliding back into the seat to finish his tea. “Welcome to America.” he says with a bit of a grin before taking a sip.
Kristine snorts. “Now why doesn’t that make me feel any better?” She picks up her glass and takes a longer drink from it this time.
Kinako swallows, looking acutely uncomfortable. She turns her tea mug around, once, twice, three times. “Was that… er, was that person you were speaking of… -Rodney- Downes?” The look in her doe eyes is that of someone who’s just accidentally dropped a box labeled ‘books’ that may now actually contain puppies.
Jensen ignores Kristine’s jab, turning his attention to Kinako. “Yes… do you know him?”
Kristine rolls her eyes at Jensen and goes back to staring death at whatever is scrawled in her notebook.
Kinako sighs, and carefully reaches into her small purse to retrieve a business card. It does, indeed, belong to the unfortunate Mr. Downes. “That is the gentleman who wished to meet if I were ever in the area, with regards to his own, ah, complicated medical conditions? I do not know him well at all, and did not assume any danger with visiting his workplace.” She presses her lips together, brows knitting in distress. “I… well. I regret that he has since died, but it does not seem to be of a medically preventable cause?”
“Apparently not.” the general says simply.
Kristine’s focus is entirely on her notes. A bomb could indeed go off in her immediate vicinity and she might not notice. Once in a while she frowns or grunts or begins frantically writing. She sips at her drink from time to time.
“Well,” Kinako finally says, looking more than a little green around the gills. “That is… unpleasant. I am afraid I do not have any, ah, tangible information. We spoke briefly at a technology ideas presentation, because my… boisterous friend was identifying me as a doctor to any American male she saw.” After a pause, she makes an apologetic expression. “Not that I do not appreciate the helpful spirit of my friend, but sometimes, ah, it is unwisely indiscriminate.”
Jensen chuckles. “I know the perils of friends who don’t know when to keep their mouths shut.” he says, finishing his tea with a few last sips. “The investigation into his death is still ongoing, I’m afraid I can’t speak on it too much.”
Eventually Kristine gathers her notebook and walks back out to the Promenade.
“Ah, well, you can certainly have the business card he gave me, and, I can provide a copy of my travel itinerary that you can make any sort of investigation on, I will not be offended,” Kinako says, hastily pushing the colorful LED-enhanced card across the table. “But I am afraid I knew him only, ah, in passing, I believe the phrase is?”
Jensen nods. “Indeed… the guy was co-founder of Spark, so he was well-travelled.” the general says. “Any information you can provide though would be very helpful.”
Kinako readily turns over not only the business card, but her travel itinerary (which is made somewhat difficulty by the several text and voice messages, likely from the enthusiastic friend). “…apologies, I will just cancel these notifications… Here it is, and here is an email sent after the convention but it does not include any personal correspondence and is instead an article on the various tourist attractions of this area?”
Jensen looks at his own pad as the data comes in. “Even small bits of info will help. Thank you.”
After a few moments of contemplative silence, Kinako offers, plaintively, “Should I, ah… not… how does it go, leave town?”
Jensen chuckles. “I doubt you’re involved, but I wouldn’t be in a rush to leave, there’s plenty to see and do here, might as well take the opportunity. I’ve got a few recommendations myself you might want to check out.”
Kinako gives another one of those seated bows. “Of course, General sir. I will tell my friend that I have been delayed, and will rejoin her once any of my possible connections have been cleared to this facility’s satisfaction. I would not wish to contribute to any sort of disharmony on my first visit. My itinerary includes the contact information of the hotel, and the planned stay was two weeks. You will kindly let me know if you believe I would need to stay longer? I am between work assignments but my family would deserve to know if my return to Kyoto will be delayed.”
“Certainly.” the general says, standing up and straightening his uniform. “Best be getting back to the office. It’s been a pleasure, Miss Kinako.”
Kinako also stands up, and bows politely. “I thank you for your patience and kind treatment, General sir. I will remain local until further instruction.”
I have… a lot of opinions about diceless narrative, (no, really, Al has opinions again? I thought we sprayed), I will try and be merciful in my verbosity.
No dice = BEST AT EVERYTHING RAAAR.
Not everyone will do this, of course… but the problem is, the people who won’t do it, won’t, and the people who will do it… absolutely will, and the parade is rained upon.
The refs can still say when a roll is or isn’t needed, if we’re feeling spontaneous or something needs to be done that isn’t in the skill system… just like any tabletop RP.
I think the current die system is ok; it’s enough to keep us honest and not so much that we don’t feel like we can do anything.
Al.
It’s a fair concern. But, keep in mind, we had a diceless narrative in 1998. It does not have to be BEST AT EVERYTHING RAAAR. And, with dice, you’re still going to get players who RP smug super-awesomeness and then fall flat on their faces if the ref hits them with a nasty negative modifier. Ultimately, it’s up to the refs and the players to work in collaboration.
In our third story arc, in 1999, I recall that we had the invasion of Sivad with a handful of player characters. We talked about it beforehand and came to a consensus that I wouldn’t kill any PCs – although I might wound them, or let them choose their own wounding – but the PCs would @emit NPC cannon fodder to die during the fight and help fuel the drama of the scene.
It *can* be done.
More thoughts on this: If we took an approach similar to Amber Diceless, we could head off the “BEST AT EVERYTHING RAAAAR!” dilemma by letting players bid to be the best at X skill using SP before the scene begins. We could also limit players to being the best at just one skill during that scene. So, everybody could be the best at SOMETHING RAAAR! – just not everything.
It could work!
In theory, there’s no harm in -trying- it; all we have to do is not roll.
Al.
I’ve thought about this. Then, I slept on it. Then, I thought about it some more. Then, I slept on it again. Then, I thought about it some more. I still have misgivings, and am expressing them here.
The actual canon killing of idle PCs will have an effect on three demographics:
1) People who can not be here: These are people who have been prevented, by lack of internet access, computer problems, health concerns, school, raising children, work responsibilities, familial responsibilities, etc, from coming to play. They may want to return someday, and instead of being welcomed back, they will discover that they have been killed off.
2) People who can be here, but for whatever reasons won’t: These people will likely hear about what’s happening, time-stamp their characters, and continue to not play.
3) People who are still here: We, the people who remain, will be given the consequences of the unavoidable deaths of people we’d really like to see again, or people we neither know nor care about. In addition, we will suffer the nagging discomfort that should something happen to us personally and we are unable to play regularly, we, too, will be discarded.
This is not my yard. I am not staff, I do not own this game. These are my personal misgivings, not demands. But, given the choice…
I’d rather you didn’t.
1) Being a father myself, I have some sympathy for this demographic. That said: If I cannot at the very least log on once every 90 days, I just don’t want to be involved. It may matter to *you*, as someone who plays with them, but it doesn’t matter nearly as much to them. Otherwise, seriously, all they have to do is log on once every three months. Even people in prison can log on once in a while.
2) This happens anyway.
3) I don’t see it as discarding. I see it as tying up loose ends and allowing people to let go and move on.
In regards to #3, this is in regards to people who up and disappear for long periods of time with no warning or saying that they have some issue that requires a long absence. We had a policy like this in the early days of OS and back then it was an even shorter time limit, at one time only 30 days. If a player does have to take a long break from the game all that is required is a heads up to us via +str saying so and an in-game reason for their absence can be written in. Long backwater station assignment for military types, research mission to the Congo, family leave, etc. There’s lots of ways to handle it but the written out by death is reserved for players who disappear without a trace and show no sign of returning. If a player gives us a heads up then they’ll have an IC reason to suddenly re-appear and get back into the mix.
Yes. It is definitely worth noting that if a player knows they’re going to be out of commission, they can effectively write their own explanation for departing – temporarily or permanently – in advance of the deadline.
I’d really just be targeting characters gathering dust with no explanation.
–> Brody:
–3) I don’t see it as discarding. I see it as tying up loose ends and allowing people to let go and move on.–
You may not see it as discarding, but some of the players do and will. It’s not the people left behind that are being discarded: it’s the players who may’ve been away without realising they’d be ICly destroyed if they didn’t stop in now and again (and any of the rest of us if something unexpected happened to keep us from OS). Idle-purging is one thing, but writing characters out of canon locks the doors on their players pretty effectively, and for good. Why do you believe it’s necessary to take that extra step?
–> Col:
— We had a policy like this in the early days of OS and back then it was an even shorter time limit, at one time only 30 days. If a player does have to take a long break from the game all that is required is a heads up to us via +str saying so and an in-game reason for their absence can be written in.–
Is this policy still in effect? I wasn’t aware of it, but I might have missed it.
–There’s lots of ways to handle it but the written out by death is reserved for players who disappear without a trace and show no sign of returning. If a player gives us a heads up then they’ll have an IC reason to suddenly re-appear and get back into the mix.–
How can a player who’s been written out get back into the mix if their character has been ICly killed? If they’re simply idle-purged, they can come back and re-create their character if they choose, come up with a reason they were ICly out of touch, and go from there. But if someone tries to log in and discovers that not only have they been idle-purged but they’ve been killed in their absence, they’re blocked from playing with a character they may have cared for, due perhaps to circumstances beyond their control, and they’re likely to be unhappy about the entire affair and choose not to make a new character at all.
Actually, I don’t plan to nuke any character objects. This won’t be a physical purge. Instead, it’s narrative – like a character leaving a TV show. And, along those same lines, I would leave open the option for a player to try to write their character back into the mix somehow. I won’t guarantee it’ll always work out, but I’m open to the possibility.
“I would leave open the option for a player to try to write their character back into the mix somehow. I won’t guarantee it’ll always work out, but I’m open to the possibility.”
Wonderful – Fabulous – Excellent.
The initial concept had a note of -finality- about it, which struck an uneasy, reverberating chord.
In essence, if I’m reading this right, it is just a more complex, narrative-based version of Limbo. If I’m reading this right, that is not as guillotine-dropping frightening as first impressions.
I only ask, and again, not a demand, just a request, that (and this can really apply to anyone planning plot for anything) we be mindful of character links: sometimes consequences affect more than the initial target, and “survivor’s guilt” is not (for most? mileage may vary) fun RP.
Many thanks for the open discussion,
Al.
A little unease about the potential for losing one’s character to the imaginings of Yours Truly can be a healthy thing. If it reminds people to log on once every 90 days to avoid becoming grist for my mill, that’s a good thing.
***MEANWHILE***
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~( OtherSpace )~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
01:39 PM
Promenade – Cape Canaveral 31 May 2550
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Promenade of Cape Canaveral is the hub of the spaceport and is the first thing visitors see upon entering the main building. Measuring 300 feet across it is a cavernous room with great attention paid to making it a comfortable area to spend time in. The center of the room is occupied by a large abstract art fountain from which water trickles down from several points to a large pool below. Around the fountain are planters with small shrubs and flowers placed between benches. Coins of various denominations and nations of origin are sprinkled in the pool. A nearby sign indicates these are collected daily and donated to local orphanages. Blue is the dominant color of the room with the fountain’s tiles and the carpet being shades thereof. Large windows that curve from the bottom up to the top of the domed room provide views of the area surrounding the spaceport. Ticket counters for various starlines are along the walls between the four main exits from the room along with the archway that leads to the Apollo Lounge.
Two corridors lead east and west from the promenade to the non-public areas of the terminal while the security gates leading to the arrival and departure gates are across from the entryway where security guards check tickets and screen passengers before they are permitted to board. Security checkpoints block access to the east and west corridors where security clearances are checked. The west checkpoint is manned by Vanguard personnel while the checkpoint to the east is manned by civilian security.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jensen steps out of the west corridor, datapad in hand, at which he glances now and then as he walks along.
Kinako is seated on one of the benches by the fountain, with her purse in her lap and her hands clasped loosely over it. At first glance she appears to be a little bit zoned out, and how anyone can do anything remotely resembling meditation in the middle of a bustling spaceport is anyone’s guess. As Jensen passes, however, she comes back from whatever phase of ‘lost in thought’ she was in to offer him a seated bow. “Kon’nichiwa, General Jensen sir,” she greets.
Jensen stops as he hears a familiar voice. “Ah, the good doctor. How are you today, Miss Kinako?”
Kinako rises carefully, and straightens her suit jacket. “I am well, thank you very much for your inquiry, General sir. I am hoping you are in acceptable health as well. I was, ah, wondering, if perhaps it would not be too much trouble, if I could inquire as to the progress of the investigation? My planned vacation time is coming to an end soon and it would be prudent of course to ensure that I should return home before I make plans to do so. I mean no disrespect, or to place any pressure upon the establishment, of course.”
“It is proceeding. The evidence is still under analysis, so there’s not much more I can offer you at this point.” the General replies.
Kinako inclines her head. “Oh, that is absolutely acceptable; kindly do not think that I am displeased. I will simply make changes to my itinerary. It is completely understandable that something of this scope needs to be handled with care and thoroughness. You have nothing but my respect, General Jensen sir.”
Jensen nods. “I’m sure that the lab results will be available soon so we can get to the bottom of the matter.” he replies.
“That is absolutely fine,” Kinako reassures, and pauses to make sure that she has not forgotten anything on the bench. “Other than your work, how are you faring? I feel as if I have come to know some of the people here and it has… what is the appropriate word… become interesting to me? You may of course feel free to dismiss if I have become too familiar.”
“About as well as can be expected. Thankfully in my job the stresses of the military life are not as high as those in the lower ranks. Now it’s my job to stress /them/.” the general says with a chuckle. “Still, there is much to occupy me but I’ve seen a lot over the years. Not about to let it worry me now.”
Kinako nods in agreement, smiling shyly as she catches and identifies the tonal shift. “That is pleasant to hear. Ah… hm. Well, I was expecting to encounter Mister Harrison sir today but he does not appear to be available.”
“I’m sure we’ll bump into him. In fact I’m headed back to the research wing, would you care to tag along?” the general inquires.
Kinako blinks a few times, looking both pensive and curious. After a moment, she inclines her head with a smile. “Yes, it would honor me to accept your invitation to accompany you, General Jensen sir, if it will be no trouble.”
“No trouble at all, and maybe we’ll bump into Mr. Harrison.” the General replies, tucking his datapad into his pocket and motioning for Kinako to follow.
You can’t please anyone.
I tried to help the guy. I failed. I think he was dead set on bitching about it though. What really got me was the ‘I donated so I’m right’ mentality. Wrong attitude to have.
And you’re right in your article. At the end of the day, you have given the most, you call the shots. 😛
***CONTINUED***
“Well don’t that make me feel lower than a prairie dog hole.” Maurice shakes his head as Busby leaves.
Kinako cants her head at Maurice, looking highly puzzled for a brief moment before returning to her crisis preparation. After some lengthy apologies to the staff, several bows, and expressions of gratitude in at least three languages, she starts heaping tea into the huge tureens usually reserved for applying large amounts of coffee to pilots. “Ah, I know Mister Busby-sir indicated that I should not apologize on his behalf, but I would like to say that I appreciate that you did not allow the disharmonious argument to, ah, escalate?”
Maxwell starts putting up all those papers he took out while looking for his phone, peering at one for a moment before shaking his head and putting it away, too.
“Its nuffin Mama-san.” Maurice shrugs his shoulders. “We are a orney lot. Ya’d think the state bred nothin but rattlers now that the anthill has done been kicked over. Myself included. Maybe I wasn’t polite and civil like.”
Kinako continues looking puzzled. “Ah, I do not have any children,” she finally says. “My name is Kinako. Omoiyari Kinako. I ah, was not officially a doctor here but it appears that my services are presently needed. My apologies, but I do not completely understand what you are trying to say.” Her expression is equal parts apologetic and shy. “English is not my first language.” While the first batch of tea is steeping, she starts spreading the honey onto gauze pads (from the -last- emergency here, a storm a couple of weeks ago), adding some more dry tea, and then sealing each bandage in foil. “Mister Maxwell-sir? Is everything all right?”
Maxwell blinks a couple of times before looking over at Kinako “Eh? Oh, I’m fine. For now, anyway. Was just thinking that particular proof should’ve been abandoned before I started it.”
“Thats alright English aint exactly my first language either Ma’am.” Maurice tips his hat a tad in Kinako’s direction. “I’m Maurice Holton there Missus Kin-ako.” The Texan casts an amused grin over at Maxwell. “In my experience has told me to stop before ya hit the 101 proof.”
Kinako bows her head as she works. “It is nice to meet you, Mister Maurice Holton-sir. Thank you again for your kindness.” There is a moment’s ponderance, and she requests some ginger from the kitchen. “I am entirely uncertain as to what this ‘proof’ is that you are referring to, but I feel as if the two of you are speaking of different… contexts? Is that the correct word?”
Maxwell chuckles “Very much so. Our Texan companion here is talking about the alcohol content of things, as measured by how explosive it is. Interesting how that stuck around over the centuries… Anyway, it differs from what I referred to, in that the paper I had glanecd at contained a half finished proof that a rectangle and a hexagon have the same total measure of interior angles.”
“Yeah well it aint all that funny once ya explain it away like that.” Maurice adds.
Kinako smiles politely. It is abundantly clear that the humor in the statement is expertly eluding her, either due to the language barrier, general naivete, or the fact that she’s caught up creating some manner of naturopath arsenal against whatever the ‘rebel’ scientist has unleashed onto the station.
Maxwell shrugs “Sorry. Language barriers and humor have a rather nasty way of clashing like that.”
“Well in any case it seems like we got a pretty damn good hoot going on here.” Maurice gives a faint shake of his head. “Got a roughneck, an asian lady, guy doodlin shapes and a few minutes ago a surfer dude.”
“Are you not familiar with Mister Busby-sir? He is the, ah, CEO of the Spark company here on the base,” Kinako says, continuing to churn out poultices while brewing what seems to be some kind of industrial-strength ginger honey tea. “He speaks in an assortment of colloquial terms. Also calls everyone ‘man’. He is peculiar, but seems to be technologically proficient and ah, a successful business man.” There is a short pause. “What is a ‘hoot’ in this context?”
Maxwell smirks “The doodles are just a hobby.”
“A gag, a joke.” Maurice replies. “And I can not say I know too much about that particular feller. I reckon Spark rings a name though.” The Texan nods over at Maxwell. “Differnt strokes for differnt folks and all that.”
Kinako grates some more ginger. “Mister Maxwell-sir, did you not say that you worked with… some manner of science? Physics? Mister Busby-sir did mention he was looking for a physicist. Presumably to help with some other problem. There seem to be a lot of them here. Problems, not necessarily physicists.” After a while, she takes a break, serves herself some -considerably- dark and fragrant tea, and comes out from behind the counter to sit. “So, ah, what is it that you do for a living, Mister Maurice-sir?”
Maxwell nods, stifling a bit of a yawn “Yeah, it’s physics I deal in. Hafta remember to corner him next time I get a chance.”
Maurice jerks a thumb over at the command capsule and its screens. “I am the stupid bastard that hops into the contraptions the physicists and smartypants think up.” He gives a broad west Texas grin at that.
Kinako nods attentively; a professional, practiced gesture. “Ahh,” she says. “Well, I sincerely hope that we can manage to, ah, get out of this peril, so that you might both pursue your chosen professions. I am sure the scientists here will be able to innovate proper treatment. It is fortuitous that we were locked down in time; I can only hope that woman infected herself here, and it did not spread to the outside. What she did was shameful, and it would be best if it were undone, and also if she were ah, robbed of her martyrdom.”
Maxwell yawns and nods “Yeah… we’re just innocent bystanders. Where’s the justice in taking revenge on us? Heck, we weren’t even standing by near wher the offending incident occured…”
“Well, all this going on.. I am starting to think I should have tried my chances in Houston. Not likely going to much faith in a Texas pilot around here for a while.” Maurice shrugs. “And ya’ll should know.. when a person gets revenge on the mind they get all sorts of crazy. No makin sense from a mad cow.”
Kinako shrugs. “If I were to judge you for being from Texas, I would be no better than the woman who decided to punish us all for the dishonor of a man none of us are associated with. Also the man in question was already killed, so honestly her claims of revenge are indeed as worthy as the ah, expressions of an angry cow. It is selfish and shameful to assume that one innocent life is somehow worth thousands of equally innocent lives.” Her tone remains level, but her expression is weary, and she sips at her tea again. “You should attempt to prove yourself on the basis of your own merits, and not where you are from. If you do not make it a concern, it will not be a concern.”
Maxwell yawns a bit and downs the rest of that beer he’s had for awhile. “Welp… I’m gonna find a nice corner to crash in, I think. P’raps that booth in the corner. Looks nice. G’nite folks.”
“I can try there Ma’am.” Maurice rubs his eyes absently. “God help us if this becomes a shooting war.” He grumbles mostly to himself. “Think I still might be in the reserves. Ya never really know in Texas. We aren’t big on paperwork.” The Texan nods towards Maxwell. “You take care ya hear? And git as much shut eye as you can, who knows what tomorrow is gonna bring. Little Green Men from Mars?”
Kinako rubs the back of her hand against her cheek. “If there are aliens approaching, I sincerely hope that they arrive soon and that they have a cure for this loathsome airborne virus. I should rest. We do not have much time, if she was telling the truth, I have three days before falling ill. Sooner, I should think, if I unwisely exhaust myself. Please, Mister Maurice-sir, get as much rest as you can, and eat well. Try to drink the tea at breakfast and at lunch time, at least. The tannins and other compounds will help your immune system. I am, what is the term? Banking on that she was expecting antibiotics and other conventional medicines and will not have devised counter-agents for simpler remedies. Rest well, please.” She sets down her mug, apologizes once again to the bar staff, and rises to bow a farewell and to look for somewhere appropriate to rest.
Test comment.