Some tips for everyone

If you want to be happy on the MOO, take these tips. Concider this a guide to Sindome logistics. As I think up more tips, I'll post them here.

[admin] Hey, anyone else out there want to post some tips as well? Try to make them general, things that we topside have issues with. Also note: Please do start looking at stats when you check histories again. It used to be common practice, but it's slipped lately, I myself am to blame as well.[/admin]

Tip #1:
The biggest key is to build a character who -is- small, and have plans to make him/her big. The largest problem with most players is they give these fresh out of chargen characters these -HUGELY- trumpped up life histories. When I'm doing history checks, I typically deny them.

You can't claim to be a CIA trained stealth assassin if your dodge and stealth are at below par and your martial arts are average and you are slow as a snail.

I bring this point up first because for Sindome, the history is fundamentally important to your game life. Without a history, you can't work, play fully, or develope a character. The tendancy for players is to create a trumped up story that is totally unrealistic, and ends up getting denied, or at times, laughed at by the admin. The current push is to in general tone out these types of over-blown histories for ones that are realistic and workable in terms of game mechanics. Basically, if you want an approved history, make it jive with your stats

This means that 'high class assassin' is out. But 'trained under high class assassin for a few months until high class assissin was himself assassinated' is in.

See the differance? You can not come out of chargen a combat god. Or a medical god. Or a nobel lauriate. But you can indicate that you plan to become these things over time through your roleplaying on the MOO.

Doesn't mean your life will -go- that way, you are not locked into becoming any one thing. But it does give your character directions to go in. This is extremely important to keep in mind when writing a history.

Oh, the great game where players rush out a schlock history because they need a history to work.

Sad. Sad. Sad. So totally misguided you are my children. But that is why I am here! To save you from your own folly!

Yes, it is true that one of the things a history enables you to do is get work. BUT THAT IS SIMPLY A SIDE EFFECT! The real reason for a history is to....*drum roll* DEFINE YOUR CHARACTERS MOTIVATIONS AND PAST!

Simple coded jobs like Shinohara and the like are low end jobs that will never really get you any money in the game at all any way. They are more a placebo for players because they complain all the time about no work or money. The real money, the REAL hardcore chyen is in work that you roleplay and generate yourself! Selling information, theft, begging, looting, working your way up the ranks in a corp, working your way up the ranks of a gang, working your way up the ranks of an illegal boxing ring!

And what defines which of those directions your character can take? That's right. Your history. It sets the basis and explaination for the why's and hows of the skills you pick during chargen. It is the IC representation of your characters stats.

Histories also guide and direct the motives and initial nature of the character. Note that. INITIAL. As you play, as you experiance the game, your character may radically change. If you have a happy go-lucky young woman, who had a great life in the burbs, decent folks too poor to send her to college, but they died and left her enough money to get here, to Withmore for her 'big chance at the corporate ladder'. She gets here, her eyes are full of stars, her head full of dreams.

She then steps through those lovely gates, gets a chip jammed in her head, and is instantly bombarded with requests for sex, offers of a safe, work at home job as a whore, asked if she's willing to sell her ovaries for clone stock, and greated with enough advertising to kill a cow. Then as she walks further along the way, to get some clothing at the thrift store to replace the duds she's got on now (worn from travel) she gets attacked and raped by a gang of teenagers.

Well. Look at that. She -DID- have a happy go lucky history, but the dome changed that right quick.

Understand? The history says a lot about the characters past, and about the character at the moment they enter the dome. As things happen, this may or may not change depending on how you want to play the character.

So, to recap: The history is far more than just 'a way to get a job'. It is the definition of your stats and the nature of your character up to the point of entry into the dome. As you play, things change. BUT the past of a character will always float about in how they act in some manner, be it in jaded referances at the foolish past, or as a fatal flaw in the character, or as simply reminiscances over a pint at the Drome.

So do not make a history 'just to get a job' or 'just to get it out of the way'.

Make a history to breathe life and love into the character.

for newbies and ultra sensitive players alike...

if a character is being a bitch to you... it's the character NOT the player that got up on the wrong side of the bed.

i mean... i know we are supposed to know this right?

just a random thought gnawing at the back of my brain that i think sometimes needs restating

Now this tip goes in line with staying in character, or rather, staying in -THEME-.

There is a distinct theme and flavour to cyberpunk. A gertain ju-neh-seh-kwah if you will. And a HUGE portion of that feeling, that aura is GREED. Money makes the Mix go round. Money makes the corps go round. Money makes everything work and spin in a bright pattern of beautiful commerce.

GREED.

So, when you are playing, you should always ask yourself a few important questions. The first being:

What do I get out of this?
What are you gaining by helping some one? By lending them money? By selling them information, equipment, ect.

A favour in the future? Is it a freebie to get them hooked on you as a supplier of (insert illegal thing here)? Is it to get, of course, CHYEN!

Always, ALWAYS ask your self when you are helping/interacting with other players. -what- do -I- get out of this deal?

The second question one should always ask is:

What can you do for me?

Simple idea here. When you have an ally, friend, temporary business associate, always ask yourself what they can do for you. What good are they in your group? What help can they be to you? Are they skilled or free-loaders? Are they worth keeping about?

What can they do for you.

The third question is:

Is this relationship/deal/whatever still PROFITABLE!

If it isn't brining in cash flow, and it is costing you -MONEY-, WHY? Why deal with the situation, end it as cleanly and profitable as possible. End it with as little loss to life/cash/resources as possible. It is -ALL- about profit. Gear, info, connections, chyen, ect. If you are constantly on the loosing end, fuck, stop loosing!

The fourth question is:

Who's side am I on?

It is impossible to play everyone. You end up just shifting chyen from person to person, never really getting a head. In every transaction there has to be a looser. There has to be someone who comes out on -top-. And for FUCK sake it should be you. So you need to know -who- you like, -who- you hate, and most importantly, -who- you wanna take chyen from. Once you know these simple things, go after the buck like a bat out of hell. Hussle and shake, move and dance. Kill. Maim. Rob. Steal. Torture. Get that chyen.

the fifth question is:

What am I good at/for?

What can you do? You a decker? Deck. You a Razor-girl, hire out your services. You a hussler? Hussle.

What good is a Cyberdoc in a fight? NOTHING! Just like you don't want some muscled up joeboy hackin open your spine to insert than new speed boost.

Do what you do, and always make sure you don't do it for free. And when you do, you -BETTER- make sure you get -SOMETHING- out of it. Even if it is just a quick lay.

Read these damnit, they are some of the most important things to know in the GAME!

@rules
@newbie
help theme
help timeline

READ THEM! READ THEM!! READ THEM!!!

They are irrevellent.  Sure, they help your character to stay alive should you actually GET IN A FIGHT.  Or they help you get something should you actually try and STEAL it.  They help you do numerous things.  But all of these things are the EASY way out.

How fucking exciting can that be?  Not very.

It's boring as fuck to tell you the truth.  Not to mention you will almost certainly get busted for something eventually, shouldyou always seek the easy way to do it.  THINK, PEOPLE!  FUCING USE YOUR MINDS!  Outsmart people.  Make plans ICly to get money.  If you can't do something, hire someone who can.  Work things out the way they would be worked out in the real world.

Seriously, folks..  Don't be a dumbass.  And don't be lazy.  You have to go out and search for shit.  You have to do work yourself in order to make plans work.  You have to OOCly use your brain.  Not rely on your "Intelligence stat" to do the work for you.  Hell, the GMs and various other admin aren't gonna wipe your ass for you.  They do enough as it is.  Figure out how to make things work yourself and I GUARENTEE that you'll have the admin interested.  They're not gonna be motivated to help if they know you're an idiot.  So don't be one.

Oh, and I'm sorry if I've offended anyone.  But if I have:  Fucking deal with it.

Other than that, I love you all.  :D

Yea, fuck stats and skills...

Max strength, max combat skills, then RP smart assed conman... ignoring the fact you've just created a retarded thug.

Expect to get WJF employment with dodge, martial arts and zero law. Sure, they hand out super lethal handguns to -everyone- who can't even figure out which end to point at the enemy. (Poor Casey... ;))

Half the problem is that people create characters who can hold their own in a fight then write complete bollocks histories about their past as corporate CEO's, chiefs of police, hacker gods, etc, etc.

Fuck stats and skills, coz it's sure as hell too challenging to RP around them.

(and yes, I get what you're trying to say, you just screwed up how you're saying it... I hope)

They get all indignant, and even sometimes have the gall to bitch over xhelp about favoritism and admins hating them.

One of these days I'm gonna loose my cool and say something like, "Yeah? Maybe if you hadn't fallen out of the ugly tree, hit every ugly branch on the way down, slamed hard into the ugly grass, got bit by the ugly dog, beaten with the ugly stick, and rolled over by the ugly steamroller, you wouldn't be having these problems!"

But usually I just say something like, "Dude, try a breath mint or something."

Still pretty amusing when it happens though.

-Kevlar

And I'm not even going to bother getting into the disarming issue.

(Edited by Aikao at 1:55 pm on May 6, 2003)

Generally we have the same idea about stats. �What I meant by them being OOC info was merely that they are not something that is generally shared with everyone else within the game. �No one else knows the exact nature of your character's stats. �Sure they know you might be fast, or smart or something, but that's just because of your reputation! �

I understand why you say they are IC information. �They basically run the game. �And sometimes (unfortunately) they have more of a weight on things than regular RP does.

You said you should fit your stats to your RP.  I suppose I agree with this, with one exception.  There has to be a REASON, and a somewhat explainable process in which you improve with something.  Did you have plastic surgery?  Practice your bartering skills in the markets?  Practice your katana skills in full-concentration?  Meditate or read books to improve your understanding of computers, or just the way the world works?  There's got a be a reason to up your stats and skills, even if you're RPing by your lonesome.  And yes, I do practice this, regardless of how silly you or anyone else may think it is.  I personally believe its necessary for this to happen.  People don't just get better looking without any apparent reason.  People don't aim guns better by just sitting around by injecting a UE serum into their arm.  They learn.  And there;s a story behind it.  Every UE I have assigned has had a reason to be there.  

As for why Ike beat that someone with higher stats?.. �I still think there was a bit more behind that than people are telling me, and I don't really enjoy it when I can't be promised the truth. �But as are most things, that's a confusing combination of IC and OOC information that is best not to be discussed.

Regardless of what others may think, I still consider myself an honorable person, and an honorable player.

(Edited by Aikao at 5:38 am on May 7, 2003)

Yea... coz we won't mention the names of the people who used to log on 3 times a day, at certain times for like 10 seconds just to make sure they leeched the maximum possible points from the system -every- single day...

We throw people like that in the cell, along with the people who go around testing the code and looking for bugs instead of roleplaying, thoes who think it's funny to jump off buildings, walk in front of cars, and kill sleeping homeless people, and thoes who like to bitch over xhelp instead of dealing with the IC hand they've been delt. We can't prevent them from gaining more UE, but we can prevent them from playing the game. Admittedly these senarios -generally- only happen with newbies, who we then try our best to council.

And UE is not the requirement to become the most powerful person in the game. This has been proven time and time again. I'de give you some GREAT examples of people with tons of UE who have no sway at all, and people with relatively lowly stats who have been very very influencial people, but I can't use IC names here.

-Kevlar

I am always amazed at how many pots love to call the kettle black. This topic has officially been 'BUMPED'.

TIP NUMBER 7

Use @stats as a guideline, not as a crutch.

There is a lot of merit to the above discussions on stats and skills. One of the most important things that you as a player have to understand is that it is OUT OF CHARACTER to roleplay a slick con man if your CHARACTER is STUPID.

Or to roleplay a SEXY character, or even a SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE character if you are UGLY, SMELLY, and CREEPY.

Look at your stats now and then, and refresh yourself as to what they are telling you. If you are stupid, DO NOT GO OUT AND SOLVE COMPLEX IN GAME RIDDLES.

Is this hard? HELL YES! Especially if you love riddles, and love solving things, and are an intelligent person. It is very hard to 'dumb down' your character at times. But it is also very rewarding. It is FUN to play stupid, naive, or crazy if that is what your character is.

So, to repeat the general tip here:

Look at your stats, and role play within the limitations of those stats at all times.

(hehe...bumped...)

Not to muddy the waters, but I wanted to add my own addendum to Tip #7:

TIP NUMBER 7A

Increase your Stats based on your IC actions.

I think it's important to think about what your character has done, and increase stats based on this.  Did you spend your time sneaking behind people and making farting noises?  Increase Stealth.  Did you do a bit of trading?  Increase that then.  Spend your time trying to convince people how good looking/bad ass/etc. you are?  Increase Charisma.

This way, your stats really end up being a reflection of who your character IS, not who you (the player) WANT your character to be.

You may end up with a different character than you planned, but it is much more organic and (in my opinion) much more fulfilling.

(Edited by n8n at 11:29 am on Feb. 24, 2005)

For that matter, many of those characters who have given you trouble have not necessarily had better skills than you or more time played.

There are ways to confront these situations when you're the underdog. One-on-one combat and combat in general is far from your only option(s).

But it's somewhat moot when you're saying that 'stats/skills trump RP every time' when you're reaping the fruits of your own RP, not falling prey to the machinations of older characters who have struck out against you.

I think the expectation of stepping on toes as a younger player against more numerous, more connected and more powerful foes and not preparing for consequences, then being dismayed when you get them, is a little unrealistic.

Death occurs much more suddenly and over much less with some regularity, even to older characters. I can't claim to be 100% of aware of what happens for you in-game but the situations your character has died in that I've been aware of, it's struck me as pretty lenient. Death occurs over somebody talking smack to the wrong person on the wrong street.

I can guarantee you that if you were playing with a year on your character in UE with the same mindset and approach to the game you would be dismayed to find yourself in the same boat.

Also keep in mind that no 'oldbies' (though I'm fairly certain that you've misconceived how old some of your aggressors are) are out to bully you or ruin your game. You don't get killed as an OOC punishment. When you get killed, it's because of RP that lead up to it. Death comes easy in Sindome and most losses are fast replaced. When your character isn't killed, you shouldn't be taking that as an OOC slight.

You've just been given an RP lifeline. You've just been given something to fight for. You have a goal. Your character has something to strive towards. Whether that's fighting for their life or seeking revenge, there you have it - you're in the thick of all that is this game.

Sometimes you can log onto the MUD and search all over your resident district and struggle to find something to do. This is more of a problem for certain characters than others - some characters are more passive. This is fine. But it's possible to spend a while in one of these slow periods.

But not a character whose just died. They've just been extended an invitation, a golden ticket to jump into the game and strike right into the meat of things.

I'm sorry that you're feeling disheartened. But really, you shouldn't be. You've succeeded in creating a stir. You should be reaping the benefits of it, not calling foul because things went badly for your character.

And this is the annoying part, because my character DOESN'T TRY to step on toes. My character has tried quite a bit to placate toes they have stepped on. What ever mindset you THINK I bring to the game you have totally wrong. The more I read of what you say regarding my characters the more I feel like you have no idea what they -REALLY- do.

Getting killed to me is not a way to jump right back into the meat of things. Barely surviving is.

This doesn't invalidate what I'm saying, by the way. Furthermore, saying I have no idea what's going on in your head doesn't mean that I can't tell the approach you've taken is working out for you badly (your posting about how it's working badly for you here). I can see the effects their actions have had on the game world. I could be completely wrong about where I think your character is coming from or their motivations, their goals, but that doesn't seem to be an argument against what you were replying to.

What I'd like you to consider is, as I've said above, that your character's dilemma is your OOC profit.

I don't think your notions about the larger stat pool always winning are entirely fair considering the facts and I don't agree with them. But to address those; you don't have to look very far to see a new character who is striving forwards, succeeding and making waves in the game-world. Likewise, characters can make waves with their misfortunes and the enemies they can rally against themselves. One player comes to mind who in-fact practically specializes in this, repeatedly getting shafted in-game because their brand of characters are extremely successful at being those we 'love to hate'. Neither one of these styles of player is worse than the other, they're both very good types of player to have in this game. Neither style has an entry UE cap and more storied PCs will find ways to overcome a gulf of UE, chyen or sheer numbers.

---

As an aside, re: your last post, I think if you look at most MU*s you'll see three types of players - those who have no luck with PCs, those who have no luck with NPCs and those who have no luck with environmental hazards. Your experience doesn't necessarily reflect a larger picture at play.

Trust me, if an NPC is given a reason to kill your character and they're the type of personality to do so, they will. NPCs don't have as much time to meticulously build a case against you like PCs might, so that's also something to consider. PCs have a lot more information than their @notes to take into account when deciding how to react to you.

Really digging these tips, even though I'm not new.

Lots of games are a power fantasy. Sindome isn't. It's mostly about getting your ass beat and then working to overcome that.

Roll with the chaos or against it, never just accept it.

What does that mean, baka dipped you? "Oh well, I'll get that fucker next time. Time to go make up the losses with INCOME METHOD" or "cmsg OYE DERE'S DIPS ON SINNER STRET!" not, "Well fuck, I got dipped guess that's gonna happen again and again and I'll never make any money. Better bitch about this oocly and just feel bad about it."

When you roll with or against the chaos or the seemingly random violence, theft, murder, contract killing, never just accepting it, it becomes easier to take risks, the struggle becomes more easily accepted. Because you start having agency in the plots around you. And because just passively accepting negative consequences, is both not really in chararacter, and fucking boring...

Fight, struggle, find out who robbed you and get revenge.