Long and Bumpy Roads
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again...

All too often we see a PC decide they want to become an X then they start trying. Then something happens that blocks their path to X or sets them back. It could be loss of resources or allies. It could be an NPC telling them they aren't good enough. Then, 9/10 times, the PC quits. They decide that this ONE event means that this path is forever blocked to them.

There are cases where that might be true. But in many cases that path is forever lost because the PC walked off and gave up and that is all. If a goal is important then push at it. Sindome is not a game where smooth clear paths to your dreams are laid out before you. It's a game where you have to claw and fight your way.

Stop giving up so easily!

(Edited by Mobius at 10:28 am on 4/4/2020)

Sometimes you have a character concept planned around a job that's usually in some form of demand or contention. Prestigious positions, like Cyberdocs, Judges, Corporate upper middle management, etc.

When making these goals for yourself, keep in mind that if it takes you 3, 6, 9 or months to reach, that it's very likely that someone else on that same path is going to get there before you do. Don't quit or reroll your character. Jump past your hurdles, be they IC friendships, lack of resources, contacts, influece/power, etc and keep gunning for it.

It's entirely themely and even in some ways expected for there to be drama and strife surrounding these roles. Don't simply wait it out, get bored or listless because things aren't going your way or hop to another character or vacation. Actively plot against the people who are standing in your way if you think your character is qualified in that role. You'll often be surprised to find out how many enemies, rivals, friends and allies you'll make along the way over that plotline of "I must trash person in position XYZ."

Finally, speaking of qualifications. You should probably either have some good game experience to know if you're capable of doing the job you're after. If you're uncertain or unsure of where you stand compared to where you need to be, submit a @Request-Puppet and ask a professional NPC in that role for some analysis of where you stand. Staff will be able to review your sheet and give you a much better indicator if you are -actually- qualified for that role you're after or not. Some things are deceptively difficult to do, or might rely on training combinations you weren't aware of previously.

Best of luck nailing down that job you want, chumbuckets!

And to tell you how, when I was a GM, we would create RP for someone, give them the puppets, pave the way for them to get all set up just the way they were seeking, only to see them give up on it and walk away, or totally fail to follow through, because of something happening which they perceived as crippling.

This happened SO OFTEN that... well, just imagine. How would you expect GMs to react to effort getting thrown away. And it's so senseless because all you have to do is hang in there and persevere.

The harder the knocks you take on the way to success, the better your story.

Also success is not a destination. A story is a series of successes, interspersed with challenges. There is no happily-ever-after in Sindome, only the continuing struggle with its downs and the series of ups you make.

Obviously, the people who -don't- do this are far less noticeable than those who do, but this is something of a plea and request to those currently in or may find themselves in a downswing. Which, is all of us, at some point in our times on Sindome.

Romanticize the shittiness. Embrace the downswing. More often than not, people double-down on the perceived need to win and lose sight of what's in front of them. The perfect opportunity for introspective, moody moments.

It's been said before, but Cowboy Bebop is the perfect example of "max UE" characters who are flat broke, downtrodden, and trying to make ends meet. So the next time you've lost everything and been punched into a crater at rock bottom? Stand outside in the artificial rain, underneath a flickering streetlamp, curse as your lighter runs out of fluid trying to spark your last smoke, and just remember...

Whatever happens, happens.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4zfEkKs2ZM

I've definitely seen characters whose personal goals were roadblocked by challenges completely disproportionate to whatever they could get out of it, and also seen players who spent months investing in doing something only to basically quit the game when they realized the amount of work wasn't even remotely worth the outcome.

There's 'it's the journey, not the destination' and there's 'carrot on a stick leading off a cliff'.

I think it's dangerous to character people who feel Sindome is too harsh or toxic or unforgiving as people who 'gave up', or that having rewards in a game played for fun (at least in theory) is somehow too charitable and that only struggling for things is enjoyable.

Sindome asks, way, way more in terms of time and emotional investment than just about any other game to accomplish some fairly unremarkable things, I don't think a scenario where people are often burning out or leaving the game in bitterness is necessarily a sign that it's about embracing bad situations.

I say this because I've definitely noticed a trend since I've played of characterizing both players OOC and characters IC who left the game under whatever circumstances as not understanding it, or not being good enough, or giving up -- and that only players who stuck around and enjoyed (or tolerated) occasionally toxic or upsetting or abusive situations were the ones who really got it, the ones that the game was for, and everyone else should leave.

I think this is a misdiagnosis of what draws a lot of people to Sindome. A lot of players tolerate the environment because of the active population, quality of the roleplay, and immersiveness of the environment.

Would we be better off without those players? I don't think so personally. I've played with many of them and there have been exceptional roleplayers who brought a lot to the world around them.

I think the benefit of a GM-driven game like Sindome is that the game-world can be tuned to players and what they do. If you want to live on the edge and be surviving by the skin of your teeth (and are willing to do that in an interesting way) the staff are more than likely to give you just that.

If you're interested in something quieter and social, that is usually accommodated as well that I've seen, with exceptions here and there.

But I'd also caution both staff and players that it's almost never the case that anyone but the player of a character really knows all the 'roadblocks', failures large or small, frustrations, etc. (even if only perceived) that a character has hit before they 'quit'. Sure, there are players who get vatted once or robbed once or betrayed once and just booth or never log back in, but I feel like they're rarer than the cliche that has been circulating for years. Most people who do that have probably hit at least a few disheartening losses / timesinks / roadblocks / whatever they weren't expecting, whether designed ones, random happenstance, or whatever.

That's not necessarily a criticism or a game flaw, but even the all-seeing GMs...miss quite a lot, and aren't often privy to the day-to-day happenings in characters' personal relationships, careers, and so on -- even if meticulously @noted.

I don't think anyone ever quits because they didn't 'win' or reach the destination. They quit because they feel stagnant. If I have one legitimate criticism, it's that it feels very difficult at times to feel like the RP / skill progression / time you're putting in with your character is manifesting into any real sense of progress, unless you're in a corp or a gang with clearly delineated 'ranks'.

And we can harp on 'embrace the shittiness' as much as we want, but particularly in a game where for a lot of characters 'the shittiness' is literally all they get, both in theme and in the reality of day-to-day game interactions, some nuance should be appreciated in the discussion -- players may not be able to expect more 'wins' in some simplistic sense, but perhaps a bit more 'richness' in the struggle, because it's often extremely lacking. If someone, for instance, literally rolls a character who will more or less only ever lose in every sense, who is by design going to be 'embracing the shittiness', both in a meta sense (let's say, awful archetype) and an IC sense (let's say, problematic personality) -- do you think that creates perhaps increased opportunities for interesting, rich RP over Cardboard Cutout Samurai? Perhaps, at times. But mostly it just means you...get a lot more frustrating shittiness to embrace every day.

For a game that's supposed to revel in the flawed and 'the suck' of life, there's very little incentive to RP that way; you -might- get lucky and run across a couple of people that enjoy your character and RP and want to hang out with you or whatever, but being a character in a 'downsing' and acting like it, or being a character that is basically forever in a downswing because of who they are just makes you a target, which is why people generally don't do it.

Sindome is the Dark Souls of RP.

The amount of pixels spent on articles about how developers and players misunderstood what made that game great and why all the 'Dark Souls but with X' games never rose to the same level is enormous.

Saying 'Sindome is fun because it's hard' is as reductive an understanding as saying 'Dark Souls is fun because it is hard'. Both are great because of immersive worlds, extremely deep lore, but Dark Souls is renowned for not just difficulty but its fairness in applying it. Sindome goes out of its way to emphasize that it is not fair.

Bottom line, people should be encouraged because positive outcomes happen. I think this encouragement could happen in IC ways much more often, but I think the messaging of 'it's always going to be bad, get out if you don't like that' is both completely wrong (it isn't always bad, it's sometimes amazing and rewarding) just frames the game in a bad way and marginalizes players who don't chase that play-to-lose mentality rather than being inclusive of the varied community that actually makes Sindome great.

Not playing to lose, but embracing when you do.

Isn't the theme to want to off yourself but to tell them to fluff off and keep pushing anyway until you do inevitably get chucked into the incinerator? While my end goal may be impossible, I'm looking forward to where the impossibility takes me. Sometimes I get do get stuck and stagnate. When it gets too frustrating I go play a MOBA and murder all the things and then come back with more ideas for more failure. <3

Failure is all around in the setting, but failing doesn't mean you perm out. It means you try again. I don't think there are many circumstances where a GM will outright tell you 'No, that's impossible and will never happen.' Even if there's no code for it. Try a different approach. Get other players involved. A good rule of thumb is that the more people are involved in a plot, the more likely is that plot will develop and get more attention from GMs.

But yeah, I really don't like that defeatist attitude and I think a lot of players have it. It's a shame a lot of people are content to just sit around, collect paychecks and be another face in the crowd. Take a chance.

Cyberpunk stories all have this oppressive theme in common! ALL OF THEM. But if you see cyberpunk movies, shows, or novels, you will see how the main theme is always the actions of the anti hero, that guy who won't take it, who's trying to carve a niche and survive in that cold, mean world.

Sindome isn't hard because someone's a sadist fucker, it's hard because all cyberpunk worlds are hard.

There's also probably a bunch of other characters out there doing things and we have no idea about what else is happening.

What helps me is remembering to just do what is in my control and try not stress over things that aren't. Don't let the game be the only place you can experience a sense of achievement. And just focusing on improving yourself (or your character) to be better today than yesterday.

Hope that helps someone.

It's a little meta but I've noticed certain PCs in the past who seem to be trying really hard to get to a position they want, and constantly getting blocked by the GMs because they're not ready. In this situation, I feel like it would be difficult for the PC to really read the GMs' intention whether you should push harder or whether you should chill, since doing the latter might be seen as "giving up."

Sometimes NPCs are just dicks, too, so you have to kind of rely on other people's views and your own view to get a fuller perspective (if possible). That's helped me overcome some of the IC roadblocks with my current character, when previously I may have quit. Just keep trying, if it is something you want, but enjoy the journey and growth as you go.