The Principles of playing Sindome
How to have fun.

Roleplaying games are in essence a means of creating and living a story - rules and systems are there to arbitrate and add elements outside sheer consent to direct the flow of events.

So, how's your character's story going? Is it exciting? If they weren't your character, would you want to watch them on TV or read a comic book about them? No? You want to know why? I'll tell you.

Conflict. Conflict is the crux of any story, of any plot. And it emerges from opposing character motivations and the actions taken as a result. As a player recently put it on OOC chat, it's the difference between playing Dungeons & Dragons and playing Doughnuts & Dayjobs. Surely you all don't play SD to sit around in bars and essentially do the same shit you do (or should be doing) IRL?

So y'all need to sort out some goals. I don't mean "get a boring ass job as a bartender and move to Green." Getting an unremarkable job and moving to a safe level where nothing happens isn't going to make your character's life any more interesting. Pick some reasonable short term goals, pick some extravagant long term goals, pick one ultimate nigh-unattainable very long term goal - then pour everything your character has into attaining them and find ways to knock down anyone who tries to stop you.

Of course, you could complain "I don't have the UE, I don't have the money, I don't have this, I don't have that." And that's bullshit. You look at any 'famous' characters in-game, people who are known at least by reputation by nearly everyone who's ever played - and they're not the ones who sat around jerking their puds waiting for UE.

I'm talking about people like Allandra, Aikao, Murphy, Seven, Ivan, Rigby, Navarre, Trancer, Gerik, Killian, Volkyre, Lance, Johns, Moss... these are all people who from more or less day one put themselves out there, made shit happen and became key parts of the IC world. I'm betting even the newbies have heard of at least half of these guys - if only by name. All these people have stories to tell you of shit they did or had done to them in-game that you probably wouldn't even believe would happen outside movies and comics, much less in a game. Stuff you'd be interested to hear, even.

There are hundreds of other characters who lasted years and that most players will never hear of because all these players did was sit in their corner and worry about their UE or worry about dying or worry about upsetting people and remained crippled and obscure.

If you're having that much trouble getting a start towards being interesting or you're really chicken, go find an older/richer character (who has actual goals) to work for - sometimes a hero starts out as a lackey. Otherwise strike out, do shit. Stir the pot, piss in the cornflakes, shit in the oatmeal.

You need GM support? Maybe you and your friend want to get ski masks and pistols to stick up the Fallout Shop. Plan your shit out, get your gear together and leave an @note about it. Then we'll see what we can do. Way more likely to get puppets if you @note about it or xhelp in advance than if you xhelp at the last minute when I'm off taking a dump.

This is the stuff that drives the game and makes it exciting and fun. Being besties with everyone and omg trading charm bracelets gets old pretty quick, and also gets you nowhere pretty quick. By all means, have an ally, have two. Have an ally you don't really like but find useful and will sell up the river the second there's a profit in it. Have a secret ally you publicly treat as an enemy to throw people off. Have a scone with your tea.

Ah, crime.

Crime is pretty much one of the best ways to make money. But there are risks - TERRA, WJF, and of course your victim (if they survive).

So how do you cover your ass and make it profitable? I'm assuming that's why most of you are chicken about even jaywalking.

Crate-jacking is pretty simple. Wear a mask, stand around a spot where all crate carriers have to go by, and either point a gun at them until they drop the crate or wrest it out of their hands and take it to someone interested (you can find this ICly). This'll generate some of that conflict up there we're all so fond of, hm?

There's pickpocketing and stealing, there are skills associated and if you don't get caught, well hey - free stuff. Someone might come looking, but good luck �proving it.

Then there are muggings. You have the firepower, you point it at someone - they have a choice: they hand over their shit or they get waxed. Easy choice. Hell, you know someone with a lot of valuable gear/clothing/watch? Stalk 'em til they're carrying shit you can fence and blow 'em away. Make sure there's no SIC signal and if you're extra paranoid, wear a disguise. And don't forget to dispose of the body! There are a good few ways to do this.

And you don't need to do this only to players! While ganger NPCs are pretty badass and will gang up on you, and shop NPCs can typically take care of themselves fairly well, there *are* other NPCs out there meant specifically to have criminal acts inflicted upon them. Close observation and reading will, as always, reveal them.

What else? What if you have a gear and someone wants to buy it. You don't wanna sell it but you could use the cash... set up an exchange, and blow em away when they get there with the cash. Bad business if you usually sell shit, but if not... Fuck 'em. Free cash. Or vice versa.

Smuggling - there are a couple ways into and out of the city, and ways to bring things from outside of the city to inside the city. Things people can't get in the city easily. If you can be that guy/gal who can get people shit, you can get paid.

Worried you don't have the muscle to do this shit? Form a gang. GM support is available - the Snakes were originally a player gang. The guy who started it put in the effort, got players involved, generated RP and so eventually it got 'formalized' into a permanent gang with NPCs and all. And in this way they leave an immortal mark on the game.

You could too, if you have the balls.

A lot of people say cyberpunk is style over substance. And in a sense it is. But balls will serve you a lot better than a slick pair of mirror shades - indeed, the 'shades are only an accessory for your balls.

Just remember, don't conduct biz for free (except for your closest homie(s)) or people will come to expect it. Then you have no biz, you're a fucking charity and like a charity, you're broke.

Someone else doing it for free, or undercutting your prices? Threaten or kill them and take their biz. Problem solved.

Remember, the only thing in this world that gives orders is balls.

(Edited by Guardian at 1:47 pm on July 16, 2012)

I've had some fun playing around and RPing, but the issue becomes that you have an idea, but there's a dozen people standing between it and you and all of them could wipe you off the face of this game with a wave of their hand.

Now I have some ideas that I want to do on my toon. The problem: I have no means of obtaining the requisite contacts/skills/money(I know you addressed this but bear with me) for quite a while, so I log on, assign my 1 ue and log off. Why? Because I get so annoyed when the only people on are people who are so condescending because they have an older toon.

Yeah I've read some things on here that combat is allegedly more about how you do it than your skills...except that I've met a few people that that is a moot point.

If we're supposed to be able to be so capable on our own then maybe we should have a better starting guide so you don't do like I did and wander around for however many days not knowing wtf to do or how the hell to make a character that was, idk, actually good at SOMETHING(insert big stupid grin here lol). If I had known what some of the details were I would have picked 2 stats and 1 skill and dumped all points in them. As it sits now the growth is so pathetically slow that it's a time sink instead of a grind.

I know we're not supposed to think in a meta game mindset with this MOO...but you show me three people capable of that and I'll show you three people sitting on enough stats/skills that they don't care about/need to care about them any more.

This world is fun, but there aren't enough players for the content/RP to be %99 player driven. Also there's a lot of assholes, you may call it RP but I still stick by the term griefing. If we're all supposed to be out for ourselves all the time then all that's going to happen is someone is going to get butthurt and leave...and for the most part it looks like that's the new players. Stagnation is death.

The person who started later than you and took the time to RP, make allies willing to watch his or her back or joined a gang, built a rep, got the cyberware or whatever else will still have the advantage.

Fun fact: I'm a GM. I can see all the shit that goes down, and you haven't been fucked with randomly by any oldbies. In fact, you've encountered I believe a total of two oldbies and one of them fucked with you - and it wasn't random at all. In fact, if a player hadn't done it, an NPC would have. You'd do best to ponder why it happened and how to avoid it in the future than lamenting one death. You will die many times - that's why the cloning system exists.

Indeed, back before I was a GM my first character died to three oldbies - at once, about a month in. I had fucked their plans hard enough as a complete newb that they, for all their money, stats and skills found it necessary to stomp one new guy. And I went on to fuck with more people's shit - and somewhere down the line, a newer player put together a crew to fuck my character's shit.

Whether player or NPC or group of NPCs, there will always be someone who can stomp a mudhole in your character.

You don't think newbies can be successful? Look at Maksim - a few months in he was making powerful friends and getting involved in all sorts of shit. Same goes for Sabaoine - despite her taking heavier hits to her character and resources over and over than anyone else I've ever seen in a record-breaking short period. If you look on the Grid, you will find a post from newbie a few weeks old who fucked nearly everyone and made off with their money and gear. Others coming down the pipe will also see results if they play their cards right.

But they will suffer defeats, and when they manage to come out on top they will feel the pounding of adrenaline in their temples.

The game isn't going to play on your terms - you're the one who has to adapt to cyberpunk, adapt to noir. Get your mindset out of the MMO hole and you will have a lot more fun. You have to remember that the RP isn't incidental window dressing, it's the raison d'etre of the game and the goal. You are not going into the evil wizard's lair to kill some goblins and get the magic sword here, you're tricking dude A into planting evidence that dude B who has been fucking with you killed dude C's girl so dude C rips dude B's head off. You're paying off a posse to meet the guy who ripped off your shipment of dope in a dark alleyway to tear off his dick and make him eat it.

If you're weaned on D&D or MMOs, then it's understandable that you have trouble wrapping your head around the concept or even accepting it - but if you manage to you will have the best, most involved RP you're ever likely to get. And as long as you continue to take things personally you're going to be disgruntled.

Quote: from Guardian on 1:33 pm on July 16, 2012[br]A lot of people say cyberpunk is style over substance. And in a sense it is. But balls will serve you a lot better than a slick pair of mirror shades - indeed, the 'shades are only an accessory for your balls.

This thread has taught me one thing... we need one of those CSI Miami 4-pane meme things with a pair of balls saying something witty about cyberpunk RP and putting on a pair of shades.... YEEAAAAAAH!

Edit: Holy shit, I've completely missed that one post from Guardian. Brb, gonna read it before making myself look like a complete assclown.

(Edited by Uno at 4:44 pm on July 18, 2012)

SO I read your post, and I'm not disagreeing with anything you put in there, I'm just not understanding why fucking everyone over is such a huge requirement. Why do I have to fuck over a partner in crime? Why do I have to see a person across the road and cross the street to fuck them up? Is this game so griefing centralized that I have to play like everyone's gums are on fire and I have the only "fire hose" on town to piss on their teeth?

It also doesn't help I have a RL 9-5 job(err, actually 6am-2:30 but w/e) so I don't have HOURS to drop on building RP acquaintances and doing all that shit.

(Edited by Uno at 4:58 pm on July 18, 2012)

That should show how much attention I pay to this game, I've been so busy trying to sleep for work and haven't paid my rent. Good bye stuff -_-

(Edited by Uno at 5:11 pm on July 18, 2012)

Can any of you remember this?

http://blacklikemoi.com/2012/02/86-year-old-man-gets-carjacked-in-detroit-and-no-one-stops-to-help/#

This is the real world, where sure, some people still give a shit, but for the most part that link sums up the human condition.  Modern day Detroit right there.  Sindome, is further still down the line. Read the text about little girls with needles in your arms and nobody caring next time you're trudging through RED.  Technology has advanced in some crazy/predictable ways yet we as a people maintain our greed and desire and selfishness.  I can't offer who said it to me, but I quote, "Technology has evolved beyond the human soul."

Its gritty and grimy and if you forget its all about the RP, you're gonna have a bad time.

I've done my fair share of bitching and moaning.  And, at the time, I truly felt slanted.  I played as Volkyre then.  That guy had plenty of enemies.  Some were fantastic in their execution, others were so infuriating I can still call up the rage.  But looking back, fuck it was all awesome.  

Attack Aikao on Fuller.  He pulls out sub-machine gun.  Arm blown off.  Fake arm bought.  Character self-loathes now having been anti-cyberware.

Battling it out with Seven with swords, he far older but a worthy catch, I am quickly losing - then the wildcard hits - snap goes his sword.  Victory and so much adrenaline.

Walking into the sewers with two allies who suddenly turn in the dark and try to take me down.  Flee flee flee for my life! Fuck which way?! Fuck why didn't I lead?! YES! I'm out! Run run run to the doc! Escape!  Now to fuck them up for this.

Patrolling with partner who has bounty on his head.  Get separated in a firefight.  Hide and wait.  He's permed.  Crawl through sewers to his body.  Tear out his eye, collect bounty.  "Thanks for the payday partner."

Go after notorious criminal D.  Step out of cruiser.  Get shot in face.  Clone.  Fuck.

Almost every character that Volkyre ever went up against had him beat out stat-wise.  I didn't let that stop me from enjoying myself.
You're going to have frustrations.  Its going to seem unfair.  That's life - which SD to a degree is intended to mirror.  It does a very fine job.  The Bitch Board is aptly named for you to vent those frustrations.

Vent, but don't let simple things like stats get in your way.  Honestly, who gets pissed at the dice?

I've had similar discussions, admins telling me my charecter's too bleah and will never get anywhere. not those words exactly, but to sum it up for the most part.

my argument was that if my character goes around pissing everyone off, nobody would want to be around him anymore. that or he'd be on the run, from everybody, all the time. and of course, no stats or skills worthy to defend himself.

but really, they're right. looking back I see the noteworthy logs worth saving were indeed those based around conflict, or sometimes, the aftermath.

so now I tend to agree, you should go out and start shit. if you're really worried about your character, update your clone before setting out on the day's mission. it takes less than a day of running crates to get clone money.

not comfortable with creating conflict? go a little at a time. you don't want so much shit going on that you can't keep track of it all, or can't commit to it due to scheduling conflicts with real life.

and I agree with what was said earlier here, about how the game doesn't play on your terms..  in fact, these past couple of weeks, a motion my character set  some time ago, drummed up some RP potential that I mistakenly thought I could steer towards a pre-planned end result by taking various actions and ended up screwing myself over on the RP potential. next time I plan to just run with it as I should have been doing all along since inception.

so I guess I need to go start some shit now. what I've had to say will mean nothing if I don't live and play by it. see y'all game-side.