RPG Soapbox

Wasn't that because her mate, or desired mate, dumped her rather than any percieved threat from a pack?

Nah. I really enjoy playing with Erik and his company. That didn't translate into Alenka wanting him as a mate in the end. Katia was a far better choice for him and awesome to boot. I just had trouble getting into the character, when I came back from school sabbatical and it wasn't enough fun to justify the work.

Either way, that doesn't translate into other kin (not played by me) taking me aside and telling me they'd be warned to lie low and be cautious until safety was figured out, etc (I believe conversations were ic and out, but its also been weeks and I could be confusing this. I just remember discussing it with at least one other kin player). Its okay if you don't agree there was a threat, but I'm not making it up and it makes me a bit sad that you seem to be potentially implying that.

Ah hell, a score of posts while I slept. As Canary and Canary-friends poke holes through what was stated and make counter-arguements that are themselves full of holes, I had a long post prepped and written in retort.

But... I did say I was aiming to lower the amount of back and forth; and I'm very much aware when I'm up against folks who'll fight to their dying breath to avoid admission of wrong-doing or being remotely bias. So, I'll leave it with this:

You expressed confusion as to why there's this large portion of the game that resents you and the Purifying Flame. If you can't allow for the possibility that you're mistaken or wrong in anything, you'll always be in the dark and just blaming everyone else.

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As far as Hellbilly playing his Sidhe and being badgered to play his Sluagh, I can vouch for the validity of that. He had initially had them both desanctioned, but I, several players and STs, pushed him into reconsidering the desanction of both. The Sidhe actually was relevant to storylines and character progression and so we used the "don't be selfish and ruin other peoples' games" with that one. The Sluagh... well, we lacked any real reason and couldn't corner him with that one.

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The notion that Enchanted is now no longer running the show is almost enough for me to overlook her still being on the team and try it out. Almost. Meinberg, however, I remember from some ten years ago when we played together on Rookhausen. D&D players make excellent Changeling STs.


Any sort of shift from the Candyland style Changeling game that it was can't be bad, and it sounds optimistically good.


More said in your favor. Requiem of Dreams is still the premier Changeling game, and if the IV one is starting toward inspiration from them... then it might-could be playable.



Fire Enchanted .

The politicalness is interesting, as are the party lines being drawn. I like being forced to choose sides and being in opposition to each other.

Interestingly enough, though I've talked platy's ear off about it?

I like not getting my way. I like the conflict involved. It puts me at odds with people and means I have to fight to get what I want. It's not an easy ride. I don't simply get to walk in and claim things.

Has there been frustration on my part? Yes. That's due, largely, to scheduling issues. My location and schedule keep me on odd hours to the changeling team (most of them). Meinberg and I keep similar hours, but that may change soon.

However? I recognize I'm odd man out. I still manage to get stuff done. I'm not lacking for interesting things to do. I'm still a pull.

I think they're giving me a good balance between what I want to accomplish and what's reasonable to accomplish. At the same time? I'm completely happy with a no answer. I just prefer the chance to try for it IC before I get told NO YOU CAN'T HAVE THAT. The story is more important in the end.

Honest reviews for you AB on your game?
I said I'd try it for you

1. Your dedication has created more interest in the same than there has been in the last few years. The only time I heard the IV changeling game was so active before was when Hellbilly and RudeGirl stepped up and everyone was curious if HB could put his money where his mouth was.

2. The new level of communication on the forum is a decisive step in the right direction, and speaking to players about major setting changes shows the willingness to work with the playerbase.

Platypus/AB: You're very good at organizing the chat, and making decisions on setting and overall plot. However the scenes you run are a bit unfocused. This seems to be explained easily from OOC distraction. If it is possible, your STing would vastly benefit from a quiet place to run and an uninterrupted chunk of time.

Meinberg: His forum communication is welcome and so far he demonstrates a pretty good understanding of the game; however when I have seen him IC he has a tendency to "put words in other PC's mouths" in small ways. (Example: A character will post that they are looking at or looking towards his NPC and he will post that they are in a staring contest, intentionally or unintentionally escalating the situation) Not so much a complaint at the moment, but a caution. That's a bad habit that can end up biting an ST hard if done in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I have not seen the rest of the team on chat or forums save for Gimlet's post asking for a leave.

Overall: There is a lot of work to be done in the venue. There is a balance to be struck between old powerful and brand new PCs; and ones in the middle who have been hanging out in limbo for months or years. With a currently responsive ST team the future of the venue depends completely on the burnout factor.

Changeling

Pros:

*Staff: From what I've seen, the current staff are competent, fair-minded, and active. They go the extra mile to make the game fun for the players. They are also approachable and willing to talk to players.
*Sidhe: Although there's a few bad apples, the Sidhe on this chat actually act like Sidhe. Few of them are the caricatures of noble arrogance you sometimes see and even fewer are the radical egalitarians out to misprove everyone's stereotypes, even the one's which are canonically accurate. "Care Bear" Redcaps are often a subject of complaint but "Care Bear" Sidhe are just as annoying.
*Active: The game is active with a respectable player base.

Cons:

*Sunnydale Syndrome: There have been entirely too many plots in the past where the barony is in grave danger. There have also been far too many plots where children were in mortal danger. When this sort of thing is overdone, it loses its effect.
*Instability: Every time a new HST takes over, it seems like half the setting is destroyed or abandoned, the old baron dies or is revealed to be evil, and new NPCs and Freeholds abound. Every ST has to make the venue his or her own but its possible to do so with less extreme measures.

Overall Assessment:

When all is said and done, this is still my favorite of the chats where I have a Changeling PC. It has its moments of frustration but, ultimately, it's a solid game.

I'm honestly unsure about how I should take this. On the one hand it's at least somewhat complimentary in that there was a large upsurge of attention and activity when I got on board the CtD team. On the other hand, a large portion of those people were watching merely to celebrate my failure.

Did I fail? Yes and no.

I did correct a few issues, and I did provide entertaining scenes for the Players. Not to mention helping to remove one of the absolute worst CtD STs IV has ever seen. So, in that aspect, I did a good job.

On the other hand, I failed miserably at longevity and coherency. Real life issues like needing a job and a place to live; an impending divorce; and a slide into clinical depression made it almost impossible for me to maintain an active interest in online gaming. The behind the scenes cockblocking and politics of the IV ST team also worked against me. My mouth, my beligerance, and my unwillingness to soft peddle my critiques and complaints won me no friends- and I don't blame people for returning the percieved personal dislike. It's human nature.

Ultimately I'd like to think that I was about 50/50 on my success/fauilre ratio. I certainly could have done better, but I also could have done much, much worse. And, really... in the end? I was a good transitional ST. I held the fort down and entertained the majority of the venue until other, more stable STs could come along and get the job done.

I honestly don't regret being a CtD ST for IV. It wasn't all bad, and it was certainly a learning experience and while AB and I have personal issues that prevent us from being as friendly as we once were, I can honestly say that outside the RoD team, IV's game would be hard pressed to be in better hands.

Take it as a compliment for effort. I didn't play much then (or now, for obvious reasons that I ST most nights I am online) so I didn't know what went down with you leaving. In fact I try to not get involved with other chat's drama as much as humanly possible; but I will say this:

Previous to right now; the only time I actually enjoyed playing on IV since it's first iteration (yes, I actually played on IV's first iteration. Damn I'm old.) was when you and RG were on the team because the game actually felt like it had structure and fairness, something that many of the other CtD ST teams lacked in their games.

I can't say much about what came after because I honestly admit I wasn't paying attention.

I absolutely disagree that Enchanted was/is worse. I dislike Enchanted for reasons I see no need to go into, but she is not as bad as Bovine (who almost destroyed the venue out of pure petulance that his Players knew the game better than he did) or Kikea (who ran the venue as Changeling the Oversexed).




Well, thanks for that. Given that the most common accusation I got was bias, it's nice to see that the single most respected CtD ST out there believes that I was fair and unbaised. It bothers me that I got less done there than I wanted, but my mental health was at an all time low in that timeframe, so I honestly believe that we're all lucky I got as much done as I did. (Not a cop out, I accept complete responsibility for my personal failures and my team's failures, but there's a reason for everything, and mine was failing mental health.)

*Edited for context -D

I absolutely disagree that Enchanted was/is worse. I dislike Enchanted for reasons I see no need to go into, but she is not as bad as Bovine (who almost destroyed the venue out of pure petulance that his Players knew the game better than he did) or Kikea (who ran the venue as Changeling the Oversexed).[/quote]

We'll have to agree to disagree there.

I might-could pull about a dozen pages from this thread with a score of accompanying screenshots, but I'll limit it to some of her highlights.

*Refusing to run for or do sheetwork for people she doesn't like.

*Going into sheets and deducting dots randomly without notating the changes.

Honestly, her being on the team is not only the sole reason I don't play IV Changeling... it's the primary reason I don't play at IV at all anymore. We're just lucky that she quit running altogether before the game became a smoking crater entirely (though she's now placeholding an ST position. But I've made my opinion of STs who refuse to run very clear by this point.)

*Edited to remove accusations without proof. -D

Michael: I'm going to discuss all changeling related posts in other post. I'm going to post something in the hopes that you'll try to listen and think it over. Its not meant to be snark.



Right here is one of the problems I've had with you in the past and while (this does not excuse the snark, as I should have been more mature) I've often responded with annoyance. When other people do the same things that you and most everyone else does, its somehow -different- when... its not.

I'm fairly sure that you've responded to most every post on this thread that has mentioned Hellbilly. I made very clear I was not trying to attack him for something (as I'm doing it) and you were quick to post, for example. Admitting bias/wrong doing or even the appearance of such is not your strong point in these posts. You typically aren't super quick to drop the discussion, much like.. Canary's friends.

Here's the thing: I don't think that's a bad thing, I think its -normal-. When my friends are involved, I'm quick to post or at least want to. Sometimes I have legit info (as you did), sometimes its the knee jerk instinct of 'ouch, hey. ._. '. I don't think its a bad thing to want to support/defend your friend. What I'm hoping you'll here is that its no different when other people do it and you disagree with them. Disagreement is fine and most often, there's something to both sides.

Not asking you to agree about IV, PF, whatever, just hoping you'll maybe ponder this.

Jamie:

I have to cop to this one. My living situation allows me to afford to go to school and keep three dogs, so I can't complain too much. However, it has been pretty chaotic and/or interfered with scenes for sure (I don't do well with people taking at me + combat for some reason). It is improving and I will try to set aside more clearly defined blocks of time as its more fun for all if I can focus.

Owain:

I agree and do not play on doing the barony blowing up again, though larger events will trickle down towards the barony and will need some action to be taken. I have also tried to avoid the killing everyone off/changing everything to leave what can be left alone (the Drakes, etc) alone. Info/setting stuff that can be safely worked back in is being considered on a case by case basis. For example, past nunnehi interaction (run by rg and hb) is something I might slip back in again.

HB: I don't think taking time for dealing with some really heavy things counts a failure whatsoever. I have to say there were some nice things about working with you, even if I haven't stopped to mention them before. I appreciated your having my back, especially when it came to dealing with abusive players. So, thanks for that and the compliment.

Michael: I have stayed out of the you and Enchanted bit until now. I don't think I'm in the best position to comment, would be accused of bias (probably) and am not sure it'd be helpful. With that in mind, I am addressing just one piece of your post.



This one leaves out a lot context (which you've agreed is important). You, at that point, could be somewhat abrasive. I think you'd admit to this. You also disliked Enchanted and some of that came across at times, which I think/hope you'd admit to. (I'm not arguing whether this was right or wrong, I'm just stating that it was not some secret to her or the team.) Given that a) you didn't like her b) there was conflict and c) it wasn't getting better, I'm not sure its fair to call this horrible. If I'm not in a position to fairly deal with someone's scenes, st stuff or issues fairly, its -much- better that someone else deal with it. The piece that muddies it is venue wide scenes (this part of the complaint, I get!). Otherwise it was very appropriate for her to step aside.

It's never appropriate for an ST of a venue, to refuse to flat out run scenes and/or do sheetwork for someone that is within their venue regardless of what they think of the person or problems that are happening between them and that person. The ST's duty is to run for everyone, do sheetwork for everyone, period. If they can't put aside their personal problems, then they shouldn't be ST'ing. The ST needs to be able to put aside such biases and just do their job. Even if the person is "abrasive", it just means the ST needs to take a different approach. If they only run for the people that they get along with, then that itself is a example of favoritism. They need to either grow a spine, and just run storylines and do sheetwork, like they were hired to, for everyone. Or else they should step aside because they haven't got what it takes to be a ST.

Personal conflicts happen. There was a player I had on NB that was not nice to my asst, abrasive and could be a real jerk. I did not feel it was fair to deal with that player, so I did his things myself. It prevented a conflict from getting worse, kept my asst from being harassed and kept me from losing a valuable asst. If its a number of people, I would agree with you. If it is one particular person that openly dislikes them, well, no, I don't.

My dealing with him instead did several things: a) it kept the conflict from getting worse by and large, b) it ensured that there were no complaints of bias with his xp or scenes (even if the st did it without bias, you can bet it would come in a player complaint. Its also easy to be biased if we're angry), c) it made life (overall) much nicer for the player and st as it was just as easy for me to deal with him and went far better for everyone.

I'm also not sure you've been st'ing long enough. heh. I've dealt with some pretty unpleasant players (not directing this at Michael), either. I don't feel that in my unpaid volunteer position that I'm required to deal with people that are dislike me and are abrasive, especially if my fellow st deals with that person better. I am required to be professional, not abuse them and do what I can to ensure fairness. If that means allowing someone more appropriate to make the decision? Go me. If people did this more often, we might have less issues with bias, not more.

You're welcome. Intellectual honesty is important. Being honest with yourself is just as important. Unlike a lot of the former and current staff of IV, the issues I have with you are personal, and not professional. Being that I pride myself in being painfully, brutally honest about myself and others, it would be unreasonable of me to not compliment you on your ST'ing. You've done an above par- often times superb- job of every Venue I've seen you in.

The only complaint I have about anything I've seen you ST is your current theme for CtD, and that's more of a misgiving based on canon vs personal vision. (I'll go into more detail on that if you're interested.)