GM Plots, Puppeting etc
The way things are approached, why?

Back when I had my first character everything was alive and well in the game. You had GM alt's around and inspiring RP, handing out simple jobs, encouraging interaction between NPC organizations, introducing players to established player allies/enemies..

All of this revolved around non-fatal yet violent RP. I got shot, stabbed, beat down and bled out. But I was usually revived so my character could learn from his mistakes and learn who to respect.

Things were interesting, I'd die now and then, but I was able to retain a good competitive RP with what I was doing. Things stayed fresh and I was never shut down completely and never felt that a situation wasn't worth pursuing no matter if I knew it was going to effect me in a negative or positive manner. The RP was just good.

This all went to hell in the past couple months when we've lost some of our better GMs to the Real life responsibilities.

Lately as I go through character after character, and arguement after arguement with our current set of active GMs, things have become stale, boring... easy to predict.

I feel as if the GMs have just looked at players as a tool to jump start larger plots, and are doing this by simply killing off characters who are tightly vested with other players, and even if they work at avoiding a situation or fight back with all of their ability that no matter what you're going to die because It was decided that you need to die for the plot to be worthwhile.

What ever happened to rewarding the player by recognizing the player going to extremes ICly to survive?

What happened to the dialouge between a puppeted NPC and a player before he gets beat down... Hell I can even go as far as to say what ever happened to getting beat down instead of outright killed?

I just feel there is alot of tunnel vision going on for the GMs lately. You have an idea, you carry it out and you have your way.

What ever happened to RPing on the fly? The players have to do it, the GMs should be doing it to.

Puppet an NPC go have a drink at the drome, disrespect someone, get involved in the conversations, make up some fake paydata, do something to make the RP seem real.

Having some random dumbass start trying to kill your character when you've done nothing to inspire the situation other than being alive as your character is just rehashed generic bullshit.

If you don't have the time to make these interactions seem apart of the world around the players, then don't do it. Wait till you have more time to invest.

Players are best outright killed by other players, and GM interactions are best carried out to entice players to go after other players, this is my honest opinion.

GMs set the theme, they shouldn't decide the cut and dry death of players unless the player is doing shit to completely undermind an NPC or Organization.

Get in there, start some shit. Just make it worth our time.

We need more Ruby's out there. That brought alot of people together and left an event that will be remembered by alot of players. People died, freindships ruined, IC lives altered it was a blast.

You get the GMs thinking on that scale again , going through the same shit players go through and I think this game will be 100x better than it's been in a while.

I have a ton more to say about this shit but I can't be asked until I hear whether I'm as alone in this opinion as some of the admin think.

I was asked to make this post by another person for the sake of encouraging other players to give their opinions on the state of the things in the moo as far as GM Plots/etc go.

Even if you don't agree with me, just say so, but let's try to get everyone whos active in the game to post about it, so this situation can either die and go away or move forward and be dealt with by the proper people.

Thanks.

Plots are very volatile, or atleast quite a few of the SD plots I've seen/been involved in are. �Characters usually aren't privvy to the whole scheme of things, which is the way it should be, but it only takes on wrong move for most plots to either be useless or in need of heavy modifications to still work. �Either way, I say kudos to those with the time and patience to hash out these plots.

I agree about the fact that it seems what a character does ICly isn't always taken into consideration with certain plots.  If a character goes to certain extremes and does certain things icly that is unique(or whatever word fits there better) then recognize that, whether it be with a mini-plot to defame/destroy that person or to let that person reap the benefits of their actions.

Bleh, I'll finish in a bit, bastards just gave me more work

(Edited by Ramsey at 6:04 pm on Aug. 21, 2008)

I just wanted to respond on a few points.

As far as Characters not knowing whats going on with a plot, and keeping it that way I totally agree.

But only in the sense that the GM has yet to come up with the fate of involved players because he is waiting to see how the players react to what he is doing.

There should never be some pre-ordained path where players futures are pretty much decided without actually playing the scenario out. If thats how we're doing things now then why even bother RPing? Give me a script and Ill copy paste it back at the GM, because that's all it is.

And on what Rastus said about the little things, this is absolutely what made SD so much fun for me whether it as a negative or positive experiance for my character.

The little things that grew around your character and inspired your character to shift alliances and friendships...

All these little things inserted to upset the balance of a developed social order.

They could have HUGE consequences across MANY players and required sometimes minimal effort.

You exploit the weaknesses of player interactions and insert some CHAOS into the mix then let the players tear each other apart and even form new alliances, new business deals, new avenues of RP that wouldnt have happened without it.

There were even be situations where tested friendships would prevail and the GMs efforts would fizzle out, this is a good thing as well.

Ah well that's enough for now =-p

That said, killing, without any rp or dialogue is weak, lame, and totally pisses everyone off that it happens to.  If your a GM that applies double.

I've had, and have heard of problems here and there as far as getting GMs puppeting "service" oriented npc's.  Docs, fixers, and the like.  I have not personally had problems with GM's as far as RP goes tho.

I'm currently involved in a amazing plot, that is moving slow, thats mainly because it's player ran from what I can tell, and the involved players have RL to deal with and can't always play at the same time.  I hope it's further suppored by GM's and it has been for the most part so far.  

I could go on and on about what I think GM's should do that their not doing.  I could also go on about good things gm's have done.  The bottom line is we're all people, when we interact with other people, we're going to like some things they do, and we're not going to like some things they do, and that's never going to change.

Quote: from Jotun on 6:09 am on Aug. 22, 2008[br]First off, if your characters are dying, STOP WHINING!!! �It's a cyberpunk game with many many risks. �Dying is a huge part of the game, and its my opinion that one of the problems with the game is certain oldbies that are too weak to part with their current characters. �That's another post entirely tho, and has little relavince here.

That said, killing, without any rp or dialogue is weak, lame, and totally pisses everyone off that it happens to. �If your a GM that applies double.

I've had, and have heard of problems here and there as far as getting GMs puppeting "service" oriented npc's. �Docs, fixers, and the like. �I have not personally had problems with GM's as far as RP goes tho.

I'm currently involved in a amazing plot, that is moving slow, thats mainly because it's player ran from what I can tell, and the involved players have RL to deal with and can't always play at the same time. �I hope it's further suppored by GM's and it has been for the most part so far. �

I could go on and on about what I think GM's should do that their not doing. �I could also go on about good things gm's have done. �The bottom line is we're all people, when we interact with other people, we're going to like some things they do, and we're not going to like some things they do, and that's never going to change.

Its not about dying, baka....

GMs are there to enhance the RP experiance with the theme and interactions with the NPCs of the world.

and to support bugs and player issues.

Dying can be a very good tool for enhancing RP but usually when the situation is fully explored and something drastic needs to happen.

This is a CP game and theirs cloning, that's no excuse for wiping people out without RP.

RPing is about the experiance, it's about the process from getting from one point to another.

It's not about the end result, or the bigger picture.  It's every little thing your character goes through, experiances, likes, hates, everything to get to that point.

And i'm seeing less and less acknowledgement to that in the GMs actions lately and that is the problem here.

That's my underlining point.

the CP, corps pulling strings, rival factions aganst eachother.  it ain't there.

Plots are a hard thing to develop tho.  I've had a huge, superfun, and interesting one ruined, partially by lack of gm support, partially by little stupid things that happened to ruin it.  It happens.

Plots should never have a determined outcome, I fully support that position.  And gm made plots shouldn't have the aim of killing PC's for the most part.  Killing other gm's or NPC would be nice sometimes tho!

More action, in the form of violence is probably necessary tho.  And the fact that theres no disputing factions that are of great concern is what hinders that.  My RP's going very well tho, I'm a bit glad it's outside that whole scenario  for now!

(Edited by Jotun at 9:48 am on Aug. 22, 2008)

I like to think of it as dominoes. �We set them up, the player comes along and knocks them down, but.. they don't always fall the way we reckon they might, an interaction, a murder, a sidestep, and the line breaks and they stop falling.. or it branches off into another set of dominoes that we, or another player has setup.

That does not mean to say that if a player puts them self in a situation we won't kill them. �Let me use an example.

If a person walks into the Hall of Justice with a gun, what should happen? �Should we 'let them go' or should we play it out in a themely way in which the massive amount of Judges and Clerks milling about in the area all spin around and aim at the person. �The person is then Judged for carrying an illegal weapon and given clone death. �

Should anything else be expected? �I think everyone has gotten used to the game being easier, and less thought having to go into actions. �It used to be you had to plan going topside, even if you weren't a criminal. �Maybe pay someone to cause a diversion so you could avoid the judges and get your clone updated or deposit some money in the bank without getting fined for being a dirty mixer.

A lot of you have said that there are no organizations ICly that -do- anything. �I want to change that, but it's a long process. �It takes maintenance like anything else in the game.

We lay down laws ICly, both with the Judges and the Gangs and any other orginization and if they are broken, their must be consequences, otherwise you have people walking around in flagrant disobedience of the laws, and nothing happening. �

Yes, their should be a level of RP. �But who decides what that level is? �What is good for you might not be good for another character. �The bottom line in this situation is that we as GMs tend more to react to situations that players put themselves in, in cases like Judges. �

When is the last time anyone can remember a group of NPC Judges planned premeditatedly and went after a person specifically and with the intention on KILLING them. �Not a mixed group of PC/NPC, but just NPCs. �Without player provocation? �I can't remember a time. �Not saying it hasn't happened.. just saying it's not often.

Players put themselves in situations and based on the theme we as GMs react accordingly. �Walk around GOLD in a dirty blood covered protek trench? �Expect a visit from a Judge. �Carry a gun in the Mallplex? �Expect clone death. �Kill a Judge? �Expect to be hunted. �Kill an NLM personality, expect corp sec to kill your family and dip you in their ashes before they cut off your face!

You should expect us to say 'Great job RPing your character to their stats, great job RPing. �Wonder what will come out of this?'

What you should not expect is that you can get out of EVERY situation, simply by RPing. �Sometimes your going to catch a beat down, more likely your going to catch clone death. �Don't expect the GMs to say 'well hey he/she really tried in his/her role playing, lets cut them a break and not kill them when they put themselves in a situation that should result in their death or the loss of some gear.' �It's those compromises that have put us in the situation we are today. �Where we all feel as though the organizations and connections that should exist Icly, don't.

A lot of this is my fault. �When I became a GM I vowed to do things differently from the Gms before me that often times made me feel bad when I did something stupid. �The Gms that were uncompromising when it came to what was themely and what was not. �But now, I look back and realize that was just trial by fire. �It made me afraid to go to GOLD, it made me afraid to screw with certain NPCs. �So when I did go to Gold and I did mess with those NPCs, it was with the understanding that I could be killed, cryo'd, banished, betrayed, even permed, if I misspoke, misstepped, or simply didn't pick up on something that was going on. �And you know what? �That made my RP sooo much better. �Real fear. �Real anger. �Real hope and hatred and emotion. �Because their were real consequences to my actions and the 'quality' of my RP was looked at with a smile, but it didn't change anything. �It was the direction I took my RP that was the only thing that had any bearing on how the plots moved and how I was treated Icly.

From what most of you have said, that is the direction you want the game to go in. �That is what you feel as though you've been missing. �Everything is bland because your actions, no matter how good or how bad don't seem to have any effect on the outcome. �I would like that to change.

I am all about the small touches, the subtle interactions. �Because I have to be. �I am not capable of Iga-esqe plot lines that sprawl for months and leave you with a divine sense of fulfillment and sporadic confusion when it's all over.

I plan to take everything I've heard here into account, and you can bet the Gms are discussing it behind the scenes. �I would just like to thank everyone for putting their arguments forth in a way that didn't make me angry when I read them. �That really helped me at least, to see past my own pride or whatever and really listen to what you had to say.

(Edited by Slither at 2:01 pm on Aug. 22, 2008)

(Edited by Slither at 2:03 pm on Aug. 22, 2008)

Quote: from Lucifer on 3:34 am on Aug. 23, 2008[br]On a slightly less serious but still very serious note... I vote Wren gets a Justice title. :P

I love liquour.

AHhhhhahhahahahahahaahahah hahahahahahahahahahaahahah ahahahahahahahahahahahahah ahahahahahahahahahahahahah ahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahha...

That is all I have to say about that.

Quote: from DigitalTyranny on 12:36 pm on Aug. 21, 2008[br]
Back when I had my first character everything was alive and well in the game. You had GM alt's around and inspiring RP, handing out simple jobs, encouraging interaction between NPC organizations, introducing players to established player allies/enemies...

All of this revolved around non-fatal yet violent RP. I got shot, stabbed, beat down and bled out. But I was usually revived so my character could learn from his mistakes and learn who to respect.

Things were interesting, I'd die now and then, but I was able to retain a good competitive RP with what I was doing. Things stayed fresh and I was never shut down completely and never felt that a situation wasn't worth pursuing no matter if I knew it was going to effect me in a negative or positive manner. The RP was just good.

This all went to hell in the past couple months when we've lost some of our better GMs to the Real life responsibilities.

Lately as I go through character after character, and arguement after arguement with our current set of active GMs, things have become stale, boring... easy to predict.

I'm not going to attack you, and if that's what this sounds like I'm sorry. But I've seen you handed big piles of RP, with chances to do -exactly- what you're saying doesn't happen and you alway opt out and "light" your character. It's not the GM's fault that you do this when there is a bunch of RP to be had and plots to fulfill. You single handedly killed a plot which could have been -awesome-. Again, this isn't an attack, so don't get offended.

Quote: from DigitalTyranny on 12:36 pm on Aug. 21, 2008[br]
I feel as if the GMs have just looked at players as a tool to jump start larger plots, and are doing this by simply killing off characters who are tightly vested with other players, and even if they work at avoiding a situation or fight back with all of their ability that no matter what you're going to die because It was decided that you need to die for the plot to be worthwhile.

Again, you're the one who goes light, not the admins. I've died more times then i care to remember, but by some twist of fate I'm still around.

Quote: from DigitalTyranny on 12:36 pm on Aug. 21, 2008[br]
What ever happened to rewarding the player by recognizing the player going to extremes ICly to survive?

What happened to the dialouge between a puppeted NPC and a player before he gets beat down... Hell I can even go as far as to say what ever happened to getting beat down instead of outright killed?

Even if you -are- killed you should have a clone to use. "Death is nothing but a speed bump in the road of life." Get over it. We -all- die. I don't think there's a person here who hasn't died a dozen times at one point or another. That being said, dying without RP is lame, I'm not going to argue that. But, perhaps the reason people don't RP before death anymore is because doing so means unless there are some extenuating circumstance the persons going to just run away. Perhaps the finger shouldn't be pointed at the admins alone, but us as players as well.

Quote: from DigitalTyranny on 12:36 pm on Aug. 21, 2008[br]
I just feel there is alot of tunnel vision going on for the GMs lately. You have an idea, you carry it out and you have your way.

What ever happened to RPing on the fly? The players have to do it, the GMs should be doing it to.

Puppet an NPC go have a drink at the drome, disrespect someone, get involved in the conversations, make up some fake paydata, do something to make the RP seem real.

Having some random dumbass start trying to kill your character when you've done nothing to inspire the situation other than being alive as your character is just rehashed generic bullshit.

I've heard from more then one admin that they're held to the highest standards by not just Johnny but other admins as well. If there's a random NPC coming out of the shadows and killing you there -is- a reason.

Quote: from DigitalTyranny on 12:36 pm on Aug. 21, 2008[br]
If you don't have the time to make these interactions seem apart of the world around the players, then don't do it. Wait till you have more time to invest.

Players are best outright killed by other players, and GM interactions are best carried out to entice players to go after other players, this is my honest opinion.

GMs set the theme, they shouldn't decide the cut and dry death of players unless the player is doing shit to completely undermind an NPC or Organization.

Get in there, start some shit. Just make it worth our time.

Is it only worth your time if you win? I mean honestly, after RPing with you one more then one occasion, I'd rather not do it again. When things go your way you're happy as can be, but the second it looks like you're in trouble you get out of it and start another character and therefore -kill- all RP that could have happened by that entire plot.

Quote: from DigitalTyranny on 12:36 pm on Aug. 21, 2008[br]
We need more Ruby's out there. That brought alot of people together and left an event that will be remembered by alot of players. People died, freindships ruined, IC lives altered it was a blast.

You get the GMs thinking on that scale again , going through the same shit players go through and I think this game will be 100x better than it's been in a while.

Quote: from DigitalTyranny on 12:36 pm on Aug. 21, 2008[br]
I was asked to make this post by another person for the sake of encouraging other players to give their opinions on the state of the things in the moo as far as GM Plots/etc go.

Even if you don't agree with me, just say so, but let's try to get everyone whos active in the game to post about it, so this situation can either die and go away or move forward and be dealt with by the proper people.

Quote: from DigitalTyranny on 6:11 am on Aug. 22, 2008[br]
I lost my xhelp and GM support for a week or two and was forced to do everything on my own.. Income.. RP, everything..

It was actually much more rewarding than GM plotting has been in a very long time.

So... -why- are you complaining? Just curious... Did any of these posts have any meaning?

Quote: from DigitalTyranny on 6:18 am on Aug. 22, 2008[br]
Until the GMs started deciding to intervene just to kill my characters off.

I'm just going to take a stab at this... Right before the admins started picking on you again... Did you do something to someone or a group to piss them off?

Quote: from DigitalTyranny on 6:18 am on Aug. 22, 2008[br]
GMs are there to enhance the RP experiance with the theme and interactions with the NPCs of the world.

Yeah, that is what they're here for. But, like I said earlier, we can't point the finger at them entirely. A lot of this is the fault of me and you and other players.

Quote: from DigitalTyranny on 6:18 am on Aug. 22, 2008[br]
This is a CP game and theirs cloning, that's no excuse for wiping people out without RP.

RPing is about the experiance, it's about the process from getting from one point to another.

It's not about the end result, or the bigger picture.  It's every little thing your character goes through, experiances, likes, hates, everything to get to that point.

And i'm seeing less and less acknowledgement to that in the GMs actions lately and that is the problem here.

So... you're mad because... the GM's are killing you after you do something that would justify killing you? Trust me, if the admins killed you... you deserved it.

I think we all need to understand that these guys do have jobs and lives, so when there isn't one around to be a puppet at every moment we just have to deal with it.

Second of all, yes the GM's do have more control over what happens in the game then we do, but we ultimately have the choice of what happens. If you don't like where something is going, don't leave your cube, avoid the hangouts of people you just pissed off, it's real easy.

I'm not trying to attack -anyone- in this post, so if it sounds like it then to bad, don't be so sensitive. You point this at the GM's and Admins like they control what you do and say, but they don't.

That being said I do remember when having an enemy didn't mean you'd be killed. They'd fuck up your business, take your girl, do whatever they could to make you -wish- you were dead. More then once I've had enemies, but we'd sit down and have beers and talk. We need more of that and that's on only one group of people: The Players.

I have to agree with Reefer: Fuck the GM's, do it yourself. I remember sitting down with a GM and asking him, "What can I do to stir up some trouble?" He told me what to do and I did it. So what went wrong? Where did the RP stop?  It all was going so well, I mean this was -big- all kinds of people were involved, things were happening, people were going -nuts-. Where did it die? One player, who I'm not going to mention or even allude to, killed it all because  the motion of RP wasn't going in their direction. Entire RP plot was destroyed, by no fault of the GM's.

My underlying point, the GM's can't be there everytime you want something done. Sometimes we have to be resourceful, figure shit out -without- their help and get more players involved. I bet any player could do -anything- any admin could do but it just might take a little extra work. And that's why you leave them notes, saying "I tried to talk to them to do this, could you drop me a line and lemme know when would be alright?" I've done that and nine times out of then an admin will be on at some point in the next 24 hours and they'll help you...

But enough rambling from me, this is a post from the one and only Romi! She'd have posted it herself, but she isn't registered right now and there was no admin around when she replied.

Quote: from TeHRoMi on 12:36 pm on Aug. 30, 2008[br]
I just wanna add my thoughts about how we can improve some of the issues here rather than get involved in the debate about who's doing/not doing what:
 
I might be the only one who thinks this.. but it's kinda fun when a character gets frustrated by IC events (it creates conflict and thus RP) but not when a player gets frustrated by the game mechanics.  
 
For example, a clone kill can be fun when it stirs RP but a perm kill can be frustrating because it means the (usually unexpected) end of any plots or character development.. and having to start all over again, which unfortunately isn't always great for RP because (in my opinion) the best RP sessions happen when characters have motives and stuff to use against each other.
 
I think that the current system rewards players for logging in (you get XP for being logged in) rather than rewarding players for RP (ie, a system where one player nominates another players RP for XP because they had good interaction with each other) - I also think that a system like the latter mentioned would reward people who get involved with others more, rather than people who just log on and idle for ages.
 
Do we have active PC's that are able to recruit people into the factions? Maybe the leaders can be people that are good at taking initiative and running plots. I see a lot of newbie chars needing jobs and these'd not just a way to make chy, but to have a reason to be involved with people and take sides.
 
~Romi (sorry.. accounts registration seems to be broken)

(Edited by Salvatore at 4:27 am on Aug. 30, 2008)

(Edited by Salvatore at 5:00 am on Aug. 30, 2008)

I re-read this thread looking for the thread about NPC scavenger code. Since the topic here started about puppeting, may I suggest using scavenger code on NPCs other than the gangers?

This will made trade between levels, inside and outside the city, easier and less time consuming for players and GMs. Is that what the GMs want? I have no idea. Maybe you want to be there for every interaction between the corporate and desert group representatives and PCs.

With regards to puppeting, what system is in place to keep track of NPC-PC interactions? Trades? Business arrangements? Vendettas? We all see the "talk to NPCs like PCs - they remember" things on @who...but how many times have players had to recap conversations they had with NPCs for you? Pretty frequently, right? Just thinking that while it might take up a lot of server space, a running log of things that are said to PCs or that they say might be useful. At least for any involved in RP on a daily basis.

Also if you make aware long and short term goals via @notes you're doing nothing but aiding in the GM side content generation for your character.

Pats: I see FS and Recoil logged in a lot. And Shenron is invis but will usually come to the rescue if you xhelp.

But my question is: What are you guys working on right now? What do you need from us players to help you GM better?

I can get that if you're coding, maybe you don't want xhelp getting in the middle of something at a critical moment...but don't you all work from an external file and then only put it into the MOO once it's together?

I can get that if you're playing your bit you might not want to do GM stuff. But should you have that choice?

I also can get the logic behind letting a GM have a super long/infinite idle w/o d/c time...but again, I gotta ask, have you looked at both sides of that?

Put more directly, what is to stop a GM from sitting @invis just because they want to watch players without the obligation of helping them?

Especially when ever other phrase that comes out of them is pretty much a fuck you to the GM/admin's.

I can only think of two people in the "dog house". It is well deserved.

Are you guys really pissed that I tried to do things IC and OOC to get the players back in the game?

GMs - Who are you building this game for? What is its purpose to you? I'm really interested in a philosophical sense in the vision behind the direction the game is taking.

But I'd still like to hear from you guys first, since you're the visionaries/movers/shakers/game masters, and I don't want to step on too many toes, or give the impression that I'm telling the GMs to fuck off...I'm trying to do exactly the opposite of that.

Standing by.

As for my ideas, digging them out of the closet and dusting them off...they're not plot ideas, they're more than that, and I may be overstepping my bounds. But they're ideas to be discussed.

1) Have a list of primary trades which we need occupied for 'the Spice to Flow' ICly. A cybernetic doc, a ripper doc, a healer doc. A fixer. A street sam, a TERRA agent, a Judge. A courier. A chemist (or, in reality, a team of them). A desert walker. A reporter/media personality. A religious nut.

Then part of the GMs new role is to ensure that there is ALWAYS a character out there who is The That Thing. If nobody is chargen-ing a Judge, then either pick an existing character with a bent for the law, and groom them through plots and RP and maybe some OOC hinting. Or as a last resort, stand up an NPC. Then when someone rolls through chargen with a judge character, they have to 'best' the existing That Thing.

The problem this idea is trying to solve is the gaps left when somebody leaves or dies off or decides to change trades...they make plots hard to cook up logistically. Stuff like that.

2) Stuff is going a lot better with getting us into the lists of MudConnector. But there's nothing for the people who come here for the first time to really dig into. We just don't have the playerbase to hang out ICly in the courtyard and wait for newbs.
I hate the canned 'missions' thing, but there needs to be something to keep the newest people occupied and interested. Maybe a canned character they can jump into, or even better, a sampler option. Like a chocolate sampler.
How badass would it be if Joe Newbie signs in the first day and is handed the option to be either a canned female or a canned male Mixer, then is let to go wandering in the Dome. But at the end of the day he/she gets told that her character the Next Day will be generated as a corpie. They sign in the next day and try it as a corpie, genned up in Viriisoma or something. The next day a judge, the next day a reporter. Then once they are starting to get the hang of it, they create their own character in full detail, and are already Hooked on Sindome, and know a bit of their way around the Dome. The canned characters can get integrated into little plots by the existing SD characters, and will be easily identifiable by their Generic Character Names.
Experienced SDers should be able to bypass the sampler in chargen.

I had some more but will add them later if this gets some encouragement.

I play one of those described types and I like the plot ideas, I'm not sure about the new character thing, but anything that keeps new people interested I'm willing to back. I am always willing to have in or out of character discussion on any plots. Asumming it doesn't go against any long standing rules.

Quote: from Lena on 10:03 am on Nov. 11, 2010[br]
...or a set of NPCs part of one all-seeing all-knowing resource to be drawn off of by players...

I have no understanding of the Grid besides using it so first off excuse me for whatever.. but that sentence really clicked with me. Every single thing a NPC *sees*, could be converted to juicy data on the grid. The thing is it.. it would still have to be moderated; determining value of data, adding skill-checks, removing pointless worthless data etc.

So, how about you make every NPC a target on the Grid that hackers can attack. Ok no, not every NPC should be on there. Add NPC's for current plots, add NPC's for key opportunities that could create plots. Modify the skill level needed based on the value of data that NPC *sees*. Once an NPC is hacked he disappears for a while and all the data he had stored is now gone. If a GM used an NPC, after the session, he could modify the value and upload to the grid since he just did it instead of of having another GM read through it. I have some other thoughts, but i'll just leave it at a rough idea. If this was what you ment Lena, sorry, I just wanted to expand on your idea.

Also, if you wanted to make it worth while for deckers. You could add something that doesn't require a plot. Make some scripts for them. Not sure if it's virtual or not but stuff like this:

"An unknown user, sends you a message. 1m l00k3n 4 s0m1 2 g37 $um 1nf0. *tells you target*"----Mission accomplished, 2000chy was transfered to your bank account.

Give hacking the same freedom that some other skills have, no required GM actions for a profit.