Hi, I'm Logic. I've been playing Sindome for about 6-7 years and I've been on staff for the last 2.
As a full-time staff member, I work to maintain and update our staff wiki, support Mench with webmaster tasks, and (my favorite part) lore-craft with Slither and Mono. More rarely for now, I also assist with SGM tasks and sometimes help write/co-write scripted scenes to support other GM plots. Once I finish school, the plan is to learn Javascript so I can assist with coding (I tried to start some months ago, but the workload was too much with school).
How did you first discover Sindome and what drew you to the cyberpunk genre?
Full disclosure? I feel like an underdog. I don't know if I identify with cyberpunk because of that or if cyberpunk informed views of myself, but either way I identify with underdogs. Underdogs are what make a lot of my favorite cyberpunk stories great. And that's kind of the point, I figure, right? What main character isn't an underdog in a cyberpunk story? Even in SD, the "best" PC will never be more than corporate middle management. I also love exploring the human condition, reflecting on what it means to be human, man meets machine, urban decay and dystopian worlds. I feel like the grittiest, dirtiest, most morally ambiguous stories and characters are born from the kind of atmosphere that cyberpunk worlds provide. I like studies in perception too. In Withmore, who is hero and who is villain depends on where you stand (a concept I picked up from Ursula le Guin's "The Dispossessed"). But yea, either way, I ride this line in my real life that I feel lies between starving intellectual and filthy degenerate. Cyberpunk fucks with that in a way that I identify with.
As for finding Sindome itself? I went searching for cyberpunk muds…maybe on mudconnector? I don't remember exactly. I remember I went looking for the genre in text-based games and stumbled over a few before finding SD.
What made you want to join the staff team, and how did you find yourself becoming webmaster?
I joined the staff team for 2 reasons:
1. I wanted to be a loremaster.
2. I wanted to learn how to play the game better.
I frequently had plot ideas as a player that would have been impossible without GM assistance (or that I had no idea how to mechanically achieve), but I went out of my way to avoid asking for plots from or suggesting plots to GMs - even through NPC puppets. I also had little mentorship from other players because I had a habit of making enemies with the same players I thought could mentor me (because I put character development and certain loyalties over learning how to be a boss). When I finally got to a point where I wanted to ask people for help, it was irl embarrassing in my head because I was a long-lived character and I didn't want other characters to have this perception that I didn't know wtf I was doing. I overthink things, as you can maybe see.
I realize now that I was so hung up on not looking silly or taking up staff time that I crippled myself. Or at least took the hard mode route to learn. I still like to be self sufficient as a player, but I'm not against contacting NPCs or asking other PCs for advice or to help push plot anymore. As a staff member, this has probably been the most important thing I learned to improve my ability as player.
As for becoming a webmaster? I had plans to go back to school toward the end of my own SGM tour, and so I was on the fence about staying on staff or returning to the player base. I wanted to keep helping out, but I knew I wouldn't have time to commit to SGM or GM things. I shifted to support functions at Mench's advice, and I was voted on as a junior webmaster. Neon pushed to start a staff-side wiki while I was a SGM, and I also started learning wiki script toward the end of my first three months.
Do you have a favorite sector, and if so, why?
Red, no question. Red is where everything happens. Red is where heroes and villains are born. Red is where the fight to survive rides on nerve and cleverness and ability. Where plots, wherever they're made, unravel or weave their way into lore forever. Sindome can survive without players on Gold or Green, but it dies without the mix.
My longest lived character was a career mixer, lived and breathed the mix and supported it in various ways. I identify most of my SD experience with the mix, and the plots made with that character's enemies and allies over those years helped write a story I'm not sure I'll ever top in SD. I loved (almost) every second of it and it was a privilege to have RPed with everyone that contributed to that story.
Which corporation do you find most interesting from a lore perspective?
I have a favorite, but it isn't a playable corp. I'll talk a bit about the big 4 though. Each corp has some pretty cool lore (which I don't even think I can share in these questions).
NLM: Has the most notable, loudest, exciting, and outwardly interesting characters. Some of them have deep lore that ties to other major figures.
VS: VS is easy to build plots around and so a lot of cool stories have come out of that corp.
PRI: PRI struggles with an IC identity that does not lend itself to easy plot ideation, but it has the ability to merge (as it has) with companies that don't thematically fit for VS or NLM, so it has the ability to become a catch all for non-entertainment, non-medical industry. PRI controls a harder power than I imagine it gets credit for (control of the city's supply chain, not the weather). I believe they could single-handedly run the city if they wanted to, but that power isn't very easy to make plots out of. As a result, their lore/history is maybe not as robust as other corps.
SK: My absolute favorite NPCs came out of this company and my very first character had a backstory tied to it. I'll check with the team to see if I can share it later. It would certainly fall under War Stories by now. Anyway, I'm waiting for the day SK is opened to players. I'd probably drop anything I'm doing to get on there. If you can't tell, this one's my favorite.
What's one piece of Sindome lore or world building that you think deserves more attention?
The Loa. Did you know there are 15 Loa NPCs? Most have incomplete lore and only a few have seen regular use. My current lore project is building these NPCs into actionable personalities with goals, mannerisms, and powers. We're also doing some revamping to existing Loa that typically see more frequent use.
What do you think makes Sindome unique compared to other text-based games?
My text-based gaming experience is pretty thin. I discovered muds in 2001 and played a single mud to the exclusion of others for the better part of twenty years. I do sometimes go searching for muds, but I rarely stick to others for more than a few hours before giving up. Sindome is the second text-based game I've played with any repetition. It's also the only moo and only RP enforced game I've played at length, so to me, there's a lot that's unique to it. If I had to pick one thing though, it's the IC/OOC divide. I know it's a point of contention with some players, but it's one of my favorite game features. I think it allows for a level of immersion I've never seen in other multiplayer games, text-based or otherwise.
We know you're a webmaster, but do you puppet? If so, who's your favorite NPC to play?
I do puppet from time to time, and I plan to get into it again more when I have less going on irl. My favorite puppets are...
1. Any Snake ganger
2. Juicy Vee
3. Doc Chow
4. Erzulie (I haven't RPed with her yet, but her lore was recently revamped and I'm excited to)
If you could add, change, and remove a feature to Sindome, what would it be?
1.Change the entire economy into a dynamic system with fluctuating prices based on scarcity (hard caps), utility, desirability (based on meta usage), and availability (how close an item is to the cap).
2.Add income and RP options that connect Withmore City to the Badlands more commonly so the latter has room for RP without constant GM assistance. I feel like this would be a cool thing for PRI and/or syndicates to facilitate. Like armed convoys bringing goods into the city.
3.Remove xhelps to do crime on Gold - or at least make it optional, but make it nearly impossible to get away without being identified if it's a loud crime (yes, including you, ponchos). Like there's a dice roll and you have an 85% chance of being identified regardless of what measures you take to hide your identity. If optional, then you don't run a weighted roll to be identified. Instead you deal with GM interaction the way you do now.
How do you think players can best contribute to the game's atmosphere?
1. By not being people pleasers in character. Don't be friends with everyone you meet. Be an asshole now an then. Conflict is hard to generate when everyone is nice to each other. It's also boring.
2. On the flipside, don't perm every person you meet that generates conflict. Save it for serious shit. Like really really serious shit. You can't RP with someone that's forever dead, and you certainly can't force them to work for you.
3. Look for conflict RP with rivals that do the same thing you do. Plots don't have to be corp vs mix. Normal, everyday competition is a solid plot hook in a hyper capitalist world.
If Withmore City was real, what would you want to experience first?
Blue Lantern and a clone, in that order.
What would you want someone's first impression of Sindome to be?
I'd like them to have the impression that the world is rich and alive. Greeters that incorporate room descs into their poses and spoofs so the new player gets a glimpse of the world in real time are cool. It brings the world to life. It also shows that we want to be considering ambpop at all times.
A taste of biz at the lowest level, and possibly a little conflict from it to give the impression that there are things to do and the potential for consequence (good or bad) in all of those things.
If you had to choose one piece of cyberware from the game for yourself, what would it be?
Synaptic stimulus so I can skateboard better. Or a cyberspine. My back hurts from skateboarding.
What kind of music do you like?
It varies, but lately (like the last two years) I've been hardcore on a 'bad bitch' playlist. Artists include Doja Cat, Lilyisthatyou, Sophie Hunter, Doechii, Jessie Murph, Nessa Barrett, Qveen Herby, bludnymph, KiNG MALA, Snow Wife, Billie Eilish, Kennedy Ryon, and others.
