Brovo

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

Jig said I'll target the bits where we dispute.A single fictional not-very-accurately-written psychopath isn't real either. They're fictional. I don't really follow your point. An individual representation of a particular demographic does not constitute stereotyping that entire demographic.

Except it does affect how people see psychotics, and if you don't believe me, look at the general media. Look at the next time they see a psychotic killer. Are they going to focus on what was likely an abhorrent life? Nope. The warning signs that he or she was about to snap, likely shown for multiple years? Nope, maybe a footnote. The fact that they're psychotic and all psychotics are monsters and you should look for X, Y, and Z warning signs to keep yourself safe? Yup.

The way society looks at the mentally unstable is absolutely contributing to the loneliness and desperation that many of them feel. Hollywood and the general news media are not helping in this regard, they're generally making it worse by constantly pumping this stereotypical crap into people's heads.

Again, I don't think it's necessarily morally wrong to do so, nor am I even going to pretend that a person who is psychotic doesn't need help--they absolutely do. Just that on a personal level? Yes, it bothers me, and yes, it's a more apt comparison to dehumanizing and making monsters out of a national/ethnic group like Chinese or Russians. Which, again, both are often used as generic villains. Because they exist, and so do psychotics. Whether you make one evil Chinese person or millions of evil Chinese people, or one evil psychotic or millions of evil psychotics, it's a more valid comparison than Pikachu, because they exist. Pikachu does not.

Do I really think it needs to stop? No. Do I think more awareness needs to be put on the issue so people realize that these are just movies and what not? Yes. Does it still disturb me when people make these types of monster characters thinking that's a real, accurate representation? Absolutely.

Other than that I agree with what you said.

LowKey123 said Reading through some of these posts, the bits about the 'generic psychopath' sometimes gives me memories and make me feel like 'wow holy shit i did things wrong'

Don't worry about it? It's not like you're a bad person, especially if you didn't know. Just think about it and do some research and that's really all I can or would ask of you. It's not like I'm going to ask you to stop enjoying things like Halloween or Friday the Thirteenth or etc: They're classics for a reason.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

Before I do a reply I'd like to quickly note that I predisposed my annoyance with "personal reasons" instead of "this is". Instead of making the statement one of fact, I made it one of personal feeling, ergo I didn't imply that someone else doing it and enjoying it was necessarily wrong, simply that it agitated me in particular.

Anyway.

Jig said You are right in that most people know nothing about it and b!tching about a societal ignorance is fair game, but complaining that people don't always write psychologically accurate characters is a bit like complaining that Pikachu isn't biologically viable.

Except Pikachu isn't real. This would be like if I wrote that all Chinese people want to eat babies and murder Americans and literally nothing else ever crosses their minds. See how that might be offensive?

Note, too, that I didn't call for it to stop. I said that I don't tolerate it very well in my RP's. My offense, my feelings on something, are not justifiable means for which to call others to stop doing it altogether. If that's what gets your plot rolling, and you enjoy it, fantastic, but I won't enjoy it.

Jig said When you say generic psychotic monster, I think you're hitting the nail on the head with the word monster. These characters are destructive to the world around them in a way that reminds me of slasher movie monster/villain - they are armed with the designated role of villain that both automatically justifies their violence (in an RP, this may be social violence rather than literal) and makes a contract with the audience that they will perform with that violence in ways that allow them to be just slightly more powerful than their victims. When you go see Hallowe'en, you expect Michael Meyers to do some stab-stab-stabbing.

Ironically, you mention Halloween. A film where the main antagonist has a back story. He was born evil and empty and everyone knew this. He has a particularly livid hatred of teenagers and thus goes after them. He has a motif, a motivation: Something which most generic villains in RP's lack. Like, badly.

I mean, it says a lot when even most slasher flicks will go out of their way to give at least five minutes to explaining why the monster is murdering people if it wears a human face.

Jig said For me, what makes this fail as a concept is that the 'villain character' is usually the player's input. In those works where you can get away with having an almost two-dimensionally psychotic (forgive the use of the word; you know what I mean)

I don't mind you using the word to explain something. It's not like it's a dirty word.

Jig said character, the character is basically a plot device to give the real characters something to overcome or be destroyed by.

Yep, which still doesn't excuse poor character execution as, if you're going to use the antagonist as a plot device, you need to tell players why the antagonist is their enemy. Develop him so they don't just feel like it's a generic adventure to slay a generic villain. This is how you make memorable stuff that people feel inspired to stay with.

Jig said Unless an RP has been founded around that antagonist (or had the antagonist tied into it), the antagonist has no role; the conflict is already there. Therefore, the antagonist's primary role reduced to being pointlessly belligerent in a way that typically seems out of place and usually obnoxious.

Yup.

Jig said The great and massively under-celebrated thing about RPing is that it's one story told from every character's perspective. Because of this, a character (like the antagonistic-by-design ones) that is not deep or developed feels egregiously empty. With all the space there for exploration, why isn't there any?

Exactly. There should be some. I mean, here's the real crux of it: Western fiction is character-based 99% of the time. If you don't have humans, then you anthropomorphize something in the environment, typically animals. The plot is built around the characters. The story progresses because of the characters. If any of your characters are weak, you are damaging the entire story, which results in forcing other characters to pick up the slack.

Jig said I don't think it's that a 'generic antagonist' is a bad thing by design:

Anything that is generic is stereotypical. Anything that is stereotypical is generally overdone and boring. You at least want to put a unique twist to something, to make it yours, or just to make it different. You can use generic for unimportant things, but for something as important as a main antagonist? You better give them a personality, a history, a face--something. Something which players can spot and remember as unique. Otherwise there is no reason why a player should join your RP and not someone else's generic fantasy RP, or generic Naruto RP.

The same thing happens in films. There are a lot of generic films out there that are not memorable whatsoever. For every Lord of the Rings there's a dozen fantasy B-grade knockoffs that deservedly die off in the public memory due to just being so abhorrently uncreative and generic.

Jig said I just feel they typically feel out of place in RPs. I recommend the British series Utopia to you. It's full of people getting slightly too comfortable with fighting against a government conspiracy and being able to break into houses, torture and kill people. That and the colours and soundtrack are beguilingly bizarre as well. The plot's a kind of generic government conspiracy one, but it's done with aplomb.

I'll think about it.

League of Legends

Magic Magnum said
Ah, I see.People I asked in the past should have just said that to start, rather than simply getting mad for not blindly obeying them. >.<Considering this I'll probably start trying to follow the lane rules now.

Most don't. They just follow the meta blindly. For instance: Veigar Soraka bot lane is viable. Not great in the current meta, but completely viable.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

@Coco: Don't apologize! I wasn't blaming you or anything like that. I was mostly just expanding about bow irritating it is for me personally from your comment.

@Jig: Funny story, a lot of top tier business men immitate psychotic behaviours. The wolf in sheep's clothing is a very real thing: it's typically sane people who train themselves and overpower their empathy until they can simply switch it off on a whim. There are also psychopaths who learn how to emulate normal emotions, but unless they have a way to escape social situations to disguise any mental breakdowns they typically get caught at some point.

To me, it is far more interesting to dive into the head of an otherwise sane person who emulates the behaviour of a psychotic or sociopath, who struggles to retain some shred of humanity and sanity while still being capable of becoming a cold blooded killer on a switch. Such as a hitman, or an assassin.

But nobody does that they do generic psychotic monster people that show just how little they understand about this stuff. x.x

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

Cuco said I'm not sure I follow you. Like, you reckon you're a bit unstable, and find it offensive when people poorly represent such a thing?

Well, actually, I am. Unstable. Technically. Not nearly as bad as I used to be but I quite clearly remember it. So when others use it as an excuse to make horrible violent monsters that have no reasons for what they're doing it drives me nuts. Because I realize those people probably, genuinely, think that unstable = horrible bloodthirsty monster that should be put down. The ultimate of all evils. The truth of it is that most are absolutely suffering horrible shit. They aren't monsters: they're victims.

Edit

Note: I don't mind people playing unstable characters when they've done research and understand what it actually is. I am somewhat disturbed by people who think, say, all psychopaths are mass murderers. (More psychopaths kill themselves than commit murder.) Because that tells me they might actually think all the Hollywood movies portraying mentally unstable people as insane monsters with amazing intellect made only for killing are true... o_o

Ferguson, MO protests and police brutality.

Aeonumbra said
That is literally the same as going back to the 18th, or 19th century and telling all of the slaves... .

Except that's quintessentially what happened. Lincoln said "no more slaves kay". Over time blacks then earned more and more rights when they stood up and took them through numbers and good causes.

The only time change happens is when people get off their asses and make things change. Through politics or violence.

League of Legends

Okay Magnum. The reason the lanes are set up like that is because bot lane is near dragon. Dragon is the mid game objective, baron is the late game objective. You need a support with most marksmen in most matchups, ergo they go bot so that when the jungle pursues dragon he can quickly call on three out of four of his teammates for help to nab it quick. Meanwhile, this means top lane has to be capable of surviving alone for pretty much the entire early game save for the occasional jungler gank when dragon isn't an option. Ergo you want fighters up there, who can murder off minion waves quick but survive harassment from their lane opponent.

The Last Bastion: Bunker Chicago

Achievements

((Place these anywhere in your sheet.))

Nathaniel Hawthorne
--Mind on the Money: More often than not when Nathaniel takes a guess at where his objective or target is, he's spot on. (Increases odds of randomly finding whatever it is he's looking for.)
--The Chosen One: Having been touched by the ghostly touch of a very important figure, other listeners and enemies within the shadowzone tend to be more likely to listen and comply with Nathaniel's requests. (Bonuses to diplomacy with mutants of all kinds, intelligent or not.)

Daniel Ezekiel Anders
--Isaiah 13:13: "Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty, in the day of his burning anger." (Bonus to melee combat, blows hit slightly harder.)
--Returning Fury: Having lost his mech in battle, Daniel better understands how to deal with such mishaps in the future: Dodge the wrench. (Bonus to mech survivability.)

Bruce "Brucey" McFoster
--Australia's Number One BBQ: Brucey is a damn fine frycook. Yes, oh yes, he most definitely is. So much so that he has tweaked his mech to ensure perfect tenderness in 0.5 seconds instead of 0.6. Mmm, extra crispy. (Bonus to flamethrower intensity.)
--Out of His shining light: Brucey has seen shit no man could ever wish to see, from his homeland, to the pacific theater, to the west coast, and across the barren central nightmare. Being the leader of his "church" for some time and having seen active duty, he can break his fellow non-mutants out of a panicked state simply by bellowing orders at them. (Can reform mentally broken allies, PC or NPC.)

James Wolff
--Eyes Everywhere: After an incident that nearly took his life, James has become aware to watch his own back, even when his eyes are peering through a scope. (Greater chance of detecting enemies sneaking up on him with sound if his sight is preoccupied.)
--The Key is More Nitroglycerine: James and explosives go together like sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate. That is, he's spent time understanding how to make glorious plumes of fire. (Explosives tend to be more devastating against enemies and less effective against James and any nearby allies.)

Roman Cassidy
--The Warpath: Rain or snow, sun or moon, heaven or hell, Roman will find a way. (He always has an escape path and can find a way through ordinarily impassable terrain. It may not always be safe, and it may take him a minute, but he can always find a way.)
--Cut The Head Off: Having taken the time to look for enemy weaknesses before and capitalizing on them to save his own life and countless others, Roman's grown an aptitude for instinctively firing at enemy weak points, whether he noticed them or not. (Greater chance of stumbling on enemy weaknesses, and hitting them successfully.)

Jenive Rousseau
--Ladybug: A woman with a deep interest in culture, and yet, who likes to fly given any opportunity. (Increased odds of evading harm while using jetpack.)
--Savior: Jenive goes out with ten soldiers. She comes home with ten soldiers. There are no exceptions in her mind. (Increased odds of success in actions if doing so to save an ally's life.)

Georgia Rhettland
--Toyland: Georgia has grown up her whole life building gizmos and putting them to good use. (She now keeps a small package of random material with which she can make nearly anything.)
--SPARKLY PLUG, WOOSH!: Faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster! (Georgia sprints faster and has a small defense boost while sprinting in the first few seconds of any dash.)

Junko Heizen
--Two in the Bush: Having struggled to shoot through the Shadowzone earlier, she's trained and adjusted her scope accordingly. (No penalties for shooting long distance in the Shadowzone. Bonuses for chances to cause debilitating injuries to mutants that are otherwise extremely hard to kill.)
--Juggernaut Killer: Junko has thought long and hard about the heavy armour that U-ARM soldier was using before... What a shame if it had failed him. (Greater chance to pierce heavy armour.)

Eira Mairwen
--Stabilize Or Die: Precarious situations demand precarious thought, after having experienced what falling through a building was like, Eira has practiced in her new mech how not to fall to her death. (Greater chance of recovering from a fall at a height in a mech, any grappling hook or similar might be used to keep her safe instinctively.)
--Returning Fury: Having lost her mech in battle, Eira better understands how to deal with such mishaps in the future: Dodge the wrench. (Bonus to mech survivability.)

Kiku
--ARMed with Science!: Having had her arm amputated to save what was left, Kiku now has a mechanical arm. It isn't much stronger than a regular human limb, but it'll do. (Mechanical arm has obvious advantages, do I really need to list them?)
--Nightmare Fuel: Between her extreme disposition, mechanical arm, and morbid mutations, she can easily strike fear and terror into opponents she assaults. (Chance to cause enemies to panic and flee if charging them.)

Kai "Lupus" Aevephasa
--Get In, Get Out: In the tight, claustrophobic apartments, he learned the very valuable lesson of tucking and rolling and weaving from place to place. (When dashing short distances, moderately increased chance to avoid harm.)
--The Chosen One: Having been touched by the ghostly touch of a very important figure, other listeners and enemies within the shadowzone tend to be more likely to listen and comply with Kai's requests. (Bonuses to diplomacy with mutants of all kinds, intelligent or not.)

Matthew Fetcher
--Unfriendly Fire: Friend. Enemy. Not so many letters difference, is there? Apparently, there is. (If firing at an enemy where allies are ordinarily in the way, Matthew will usually hit the correct target. Usually.)
--Instinctive Shooting: Having blindly fired around a corner, and finding that it kept him alive, he's slowly gotten better at pointing his gun in the right direction before firing. Slowly. (Accuracy bonus for blind fire, though it's still best done in tight spaces.)

Peter Táo
--SUPPRESSING FIRE: Exactly as implied. (Greater chance of pinning enemies down when firing at them. Does stack with Full American Unload.)
--Concentrate Fire!: When firing at targets which allies are firing at there is a greater chance for both attacks to succeed. This also works for allies attacking your targets. (Accuracy and/or damage bonuses, depending on situation, when Peter is contributing to the damage against a target.)

Liam Grillod
--Savior: Liam goes out with ten soldiers. He comes home with ten soldiers. There are no exceptions in his mind. (Increased odds of success in actions if doing so to save an ally's life.)
--Watchman: Liam has spent most of his time not on the front line, but looking for enemies that might hope to attack the front line. (Greater chance of spotting ambushers.)

Marvin Walters
--Precision Shooting: In a mech, this is achievement worthy. (Bonuses to accuracy.)
--Supremely Uninteresting: Believe it or not, Marvin doesn't look like an appetizing target initially. That's a mistake the enemy doesn't get to make twice if Marvin has anything to say about it. (Until Marvin opens fire, enemies generally don't take interest in him.)

---

@Kadaeux:

Kadaeux said 1x: Shoulder Slot; Right Shoulder;
1x: Minigun (Mounted to Right Shoulder, head-tracking.)
1x: Extra Arm Slot; Left Arm;
1x: Chainfist (Mounted to Left Arm)

Acceptable, though may I quickly inquire what you mean by chainfist? I think I know, but lets just confirm here.

Aliquam Ignis Dei is also acceptable.

---

Raen Elvarasi said Wow...So many people play XCOM here....Maybe we should start an XCOM Tournament.EDIT: If they have video games in the Bunker, maybe we could have an IRL tournament that translates into the RP. :P

I'd win by spamming cloaker telepaths and assassin drones. Multiplayer isn't balanced.

---

PCSutfin said 1. Can I only upgrade my main weapon (shotgun) as a Grunt, or can I upgrade my side pistol to make it more effective instead?

You can upgrade your side pistol in the arsenal system. Focus on the shotgun for now.

PCSutfin said 2. For clarification, every PC has their own apartment and they're all living in the same complex?

Correct.

PCSutfin said 3. What does my promotion mean in the story besides the gameplay element of being able to officially order NPC soldiers?

Other officers and factions in the Bunker are going to start revealing themselves to you and asking you for favours in exchange for favours. Expect a visit from the mysterious OTF and even possible U-ARM at some point. If you keep getting promoted, you'll have a shot at being able to decide which missions get greenlit and which ones don't, or even a chance to strike out at high level people.

PCSutfin said 4. Will promotions and rank in general play a major part in later missions?

Yes. There will be assaults where higher ranked PC's will be asked for input on where to devote resources prior to the battle starting. This could range from specialists such as Carolyn or Alyss, all the way up to tank battalions and infantry platoons.

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Maxim said 1x Right Shoulder Slot (both shoulders if at all possible). Shifting the HE Missiles there.

Nope, only one shoulder.

Maxim said Installing a .50 Calibur Mini Gun in the Right Arm
1x Torso Slot. Installing a Motion Detection Package.
1x Back or Torso Slot (not sure which I want to do)

Indeed. Could put more sensors in there. I'm sure you'll think of something.

Maxim said 1x Invented Item:
Drone Deployment and Control Center: This package, about the size of a small backpack, allows for the deployment of aerial drones, controlled by the pilot's glove. Drones are stored inside of it, which recharges their batteries and protects them from onslaught. It's current capacity is only one drone, but can be upgraded to hold more. Also comes with the programming make use of the cameras aboard the drones.

Accepted.

Maxim said Speaking of the Drone...

... It is approved. Though fragile. Beware.

---

Jorick said
Balls, I was hoping TLB unique traits would be badass and kind of overpowered like in LoR. I'll go with just the accuracy then. Also, that random mutation is fucking perfect for Nathaniel, I love it.

Good, approved.

Also, big reason I can't let y'all have game breaking bonuses yet is because I need more time to cook up and develop the world. Unlike LoR 2 which has this huge developed background, TLB is getting on its feet and showing what it can do.

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GreenGoat said Brovo, would a Visor, or something that covers the eye(s) that gives a heads up display as a minor bonus and a motion detector as its main feature be acceptable?

Yes.

---

I will get to even more achievements and the like tomorrow. For now, a general idea of what the arsenal does.

#1: Lets you pick and choose research for extra gadgets and gear that will be added to the main list which you can equip. Promoted players get a greater share of votes. (To get promoted, do important things and protect your allies.)
#2: Lets you see intelligence files on your NPC allies, such as Carolyn, Colonel Black, and Ryan Dufont. It will also include files on enemies, though these obviously aren't likely to be as extensive.

There will be more addons to it in the future as players get promoted further.

Now to finish my laundry, have a shower, go to work, do things, come home from work, sleep, do more things, and hopefully reach the weekend in one piece. Because it's a long weekend. Because labour day.

OFF I GO!

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

Cuco said This used to be one of my chief gripes. I once ran with this group where more than a few people would create, as I called them, "generic psychopaths". They generally just happened to be insane and capable of all kinds of cruelty, yet also balanced and logical enough to fight efficiently and make sound decisions in general.

This in general pisses me off for personal reasons, straight into the special kind of evil category and dropkicked off my RP's without warning. One does not simply generic psychopath. Now this doesn't stop me from allowing others to try making genuinely mentally unstable characters, but I'm plainly uncomfortable when others make mindless monsters out of those who have traits that I also have.

If that makes sense.

Let's B!tch. I feel it's a healthy release for our roleplay annoyances 2.0

Jig said
When people's unfonzcool behaviour results in posts being removed causing this problem.___Tbh I didn't see the original posts so I'm not having a go at people. But, yes, it's annoying. xD

Prisk said I can sometimes get annoyed with the phrase "it's just a game," which of course applies to roleplaying as well. Obviously, it's not just a game, it's recreational devices that a lot people invest quite a bit of time (and sometimes currency) into, and when those who think that "it's just a game" take things for granted by ignoring rules, not responding, or otherwise undermine everyone else because the device is dog shit to them, I can get pretty cranky.

Well, it is just a game. That doesn't exempt the other party from responsibility though: One agreed to join the game and follow a set of rules. Failure to follow the rules results in the player being exempted from the game.

So yes. Those people annoy me too, though altogether for different reasons.

EDIT

New Gripe

A lot of evil characters are actually written poorly, often given no motivation for why they do the things that they do, or coming up with hair brained schemes that any fifth grader could defeat with a little bit of common sense. Most often evil is used as a shitscreen shield for doing random, depraved acts for no more reason than to be "edgy" or "cool". It's to the point that when people say they want to join any of my RP's with an "evil" character, I will probably shoot them down unless I know them well enough to trust them.

Because, really, no, it's not cool to join a story for the sole purpose of wanting to murder your fellow players when that's not the purpose of the plot whatsoever.