Marvel Rebirth: Discussion

[Havelock Vetinari]

...It is possible to make a post establishing something and then make a more detailed one later, you realize. Considering how politically charged this game has been, establishing the government isn't blindingly incompetent is a bit important. Unless that is the intention.

Edited December 24, 2013 by Basilisk

[Constructelf]

Not much to contribute on the debate regarding the state of the response, except that different players are moving on rather different time scales - for some characters, it's been less than fifteen minutes after the explosion, while others have seen up to an hour pass. Generally speaking, the characters in this game are not all synchronised, which makes coordination and understanding of what's going on a bit difficult.

 

Add to that there are numerous characters coming in from out of town (Colorado, Nebraska, Puerto Rico), which usually takes a while, even if you're going at hypersonic speeds. Should we have a timeskip to maybe, say, 2 hours after the fact? That should get everybody organized.

[Havelock Vetinari]

Furthermore, I used the term excuse in response to Durandal. Not the staff, he seemed to be offering excuses for the governments IC incompetence, which made no sense considering how seriously FEMA takes this stuff. I had thought the incompetence was intentional, a comment that things have only gotten worse since Darkest Days.

 

There have been indications it is not though, which worries me.

Edited December 24, 2013 by Basilisk

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

I would be quite hesitant to do any sort of general timeskip without the say-so of the staff.

 

My assumption about the lack of stated government response was much the same as Basilisk's - that, with the pounding the world has taken in this universe, the resources and organization just aren't readily available for the kind of rapid response this situation warrants. The fact that none of the Sleepers had a MOAB or two dropped on them seems to support this conclusion.

[otter]

It's also possible - rather likely, based on previous experience - that if they don't make a post that rather well describes what is being done, then people will either complain about the lack of info provided, or start taking liberties to tell what is happening according to their ideas of what it should be, not necessarily what the staff might try and set up.

 

So really, the smart move would be to give them time, not complaining in here about "IC incompetence."

[Advent Child]

Well, on other, less acidic topics, I've been considering bringing back one of my brotherhood characters, because evil is always fun, even if the brotherhood isn't necessarily evil at the moment. But I'm wary to bring him back with nothing to do. Is anyone aware of any possible brotherhood activity brewing that it would be worth reviving a brotherhood character for?

[Havelock Vetinari]

There was no mention of a reponse being prepared, even by SHIELD. Which could have avoided the issues Otter mentioned. So that leaves two options, IC incompetence or...the other one that I hope it isn't.

[Snelly]

SHIELD, the USA military, and anyone else who would have normally responded to this, should and did respond to this with in a realistic time frame.

 

And yeah, none of us staff have mentioned them yet, that does mean they aren't there. Quite frankly, you shouldn't be assuming they haven't responded, we simply haven't posted as them yet. Bzptime does factor into this as well.

 

Now, it's true it's our own fault that we haven't posted an government or SHIELD response yet, and that's our fault. But please don't assume they haven't done what they logically should have, cause that's just stupid.

 

Now, I'm going to ask all of you to can it and stop this argument, it's not going anywhere. Send a pm to any of the staff if you feel you have more to say.

Edited December 24, 2013 by Yoko Littner

[Havelock Vetinari]

Apologies. I've been more or less forced into an "incompetent until proven otherwise" mentality when it comes to RPG IC organizations. That assumption is more or less my fault, as I made it when I posted as Romulus.

 

The things I've seen....would you believe I came across an RPG where someone tried to deploy an entire nations armed forces to one island? All at once? With no warning?

 

I'll try to keep my general cynicism under control in that regard, since this RPG is operating under "competent until proven otherwise".

Edited December 24, 2013 by Basilisk

[Krayzikk]

I am very, very fond of ninety nine percent of you, but it'd be appreciated if you could, you know, not send this topic into a tail dive when I look away for more than two hours.

 

Now.

 

On the issue of staff involvement, during the past few weeks there has been something of a perfect storm of problems. First of all, for the entire past week barring that last day or so, Tyler has been out of action due to issues with his computer, and was unable even to communicate that there was an issue until he got it back into a semi-functional state. Kaithas has always operated almost exclusively from a phone, and since upgrading his phone recently, he has not had access to the means we, the staff, primarily use to communicate, and any posts that he would have been able to make would have to be done by phone keyboard. Additionally, he has been working very hard for almost a week to get his house ready for a family gathering for Christmas.

 

Snelly is an adult, and as such, his time is already more limited than the rest of us. In my opinion, it's a miracle he's as active as he is. And now we come to myself, the person whose jurisdiction a government response would, and will, be. Over the past two weeks I have had to devote extensive time to school, as the teachers of my honors and AP classes all kicked into gear at the same time, and assigned tests and quizzes in each class. During the past week I had almost two tests a day on average. I have also had to devote extensive time to debate, because my partner has had less time than normal to prepare cases. I have been prepping for the holidays, and spent extensive amounts of time out of the house.

 

And additionally, every post I make is written on an iPad, because all of my actual computers have been inoperable since summer. And anyone who has encountered such a device knows what heck on earth that is. A staff post takes even more effort than the posts I make for PCs, and as such, require more time and attention devoted to them. I have, in fact, been working on getting a JJJ post put together for the past two days.

 

I know that as a staff member it is my job to make sure things keep going, and it's one I do gladly. Nor do I explain all of this as an excuse. I explain it to demonstrate the rather unusual circumstances that had, for the majority of the right days in question, cut the staff force by fifty percent. In the future, if anyone has a question about what the staff response will be, or if there will be one, feel free to ask. I assure you, we are not neglecting to do things because we don't care, or because we have other things that we would rather do.

 

I intend to have, at bare minimum, a JJJ post up either today, or tomorrow.

 

Thank you.

Edited December 24, 2013 by Simon the Digger

[Havelock Vetinari]

...Okay. Yeah.

 

......I am slightly amazed the RPG is running under circumstances like that. Good job. Seriously, good job. I'm impressed it's been moving as fast as it has now.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

And this is why it's prudent to raise an issue, and then let the staff address it. Otherwise we get a huge debate that ends with Bigfoot and David Bowie riding an asteroid to Mexico, except somehow it's not awesome and it ends up being really irritating instead and why did I pick that example that's a really bad example of things going wrong.

[Advent Child]

That was ridiculously well handled.

[Havelock Vetinari]

Lynae is abnormally strong

 

 

Not to be a bother but...

 

When did "strong" come to mean "can shrug off bullets"?

Edited January 25, 2014 by Basilisk

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Seems to me that resistance to most means that would kill a human is more or less implied in the profile.

[Havelock Vetinari]

Mm. Probably just paranoid, but I'd looked at the powers part of it and didn't see anything indicating it.

 

Ever since Werewolves gained telepathy in the last RPG without warning, I've been a bit nervous about supernatural creatures. Since I more or less made the first one in this RPG, kinda feel like I should keep an eye on them and alert the staff if anything gets out of hand. I opened the flood gates, least I can do is keep an eye on them.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

The Weaknesses section mentions a list of vampire weaknesses, and, to my eye, quite pointedly doesn't mention normal human weaknesses.

[Havelock Vetinari]

True. Very true.

 

Then again, only a few of the mutant profiles do. Which brings to mind a few other questions. Are nonhuman* characters assumed to be immune to human weaknesses? Almost seems like a power in itself.

 

*To my mind, someone whose genes are different enough from ours that he can shoot fire from his hands, is far removed enough from the human norm to qualify as a different species.

Edited December 24, 2013 by Basilisk

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

That is a fairly flawed take on the species concept - scientifically, if it's not so far removed that children that are not sterile are possible, then it's still part of the species.

 

But yeah, the lack of mention for the good ol' killed-by-death method of solving problems in a lot of weakness sections is worrying.

[Havelock Vetinari]

Eh, there are species of Felidae that are inter-fertile, unless I have a massive misunderstanding of the term. I haven't made a point of studying biological classification in depth, so a mistake on my part is entirely possible.

 

I expect it'll be solved soon enough then.

Edited December 24, 2013 by Basilisk

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Generally speaking, a hybrid between two species is sterile - like how mules, though the donkey and horse were capable of breeding, are themselves incapable of doing so.

[Constructelf]

You know, some of these "weaknesses" (such as death by falling from great heights, decapitation, getting blown up, etc?) would venture into Captain Obvious territory; to the best of my knowledge, that's why things along those lines aren't listed. As far as I know, unless a person is RPing as a robot, an alien, or a supernatural creature, they are considered human in the areas where they don't have any special powers. For example, a person whose only power was to shoot fire out of their hands would be just as vulnerable as a normal human to getting shot in the head, which should be implicitly stated; therefore, said "weakness" need not be listed as it is blatantly obvious.

[Havelock Vetinari]

True, but there are examples of fertile offspring in the Felidae family grouping, across different species. Though, I admit, the males are typically sterile. The females however, are not.

 

I suspect I am missing something however.

[Krayzikk]

The general rule of thumb is that unless the profile says a bullet to the head won't kill them, then, barring a few instances were the power could easily and legally be extended to prevent it, a bullet to the head will kill them.

 

And you can substitute just about any normally fatal instance for a person in for "bullet to the head". As always, if there's a specific query, ask the player or the staff.

[Havelock Vetinari]

Alrights, so an ability like "shrugs of normal bullets like a light rain" would need to be listed?

 

Thanks for clearing that up.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Alright, awesome clarification.

 

And yes, there are occasionally minor exceptions to the rule - but with fictional examples, it is generally best to simply apply the biological species concept as-is.

[Krayzikk]

Unless supernatural durability is listed, yes.

 

If it is, start breaking out the anti tank rounds.

[Havelock Vetinari]

So the question becomes does "strong" mean "can shrug off bullets" or "can lift a car over their shoulders"?

 

Because the two seem like different powers to me.

 

Ymper, Hm. Very well. Though I'd need to see how mutant/human DNA interacts before I'm fully convinced.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Strong, to my mind, when referring to a person, generally means something about them transferring kinetic energy to something else - in other words, it's about how hard they punch or how much they can lift. Toughness would have more to do with resistance to applied force or how hard it is to break their skin.

[Krayzikk]

They are two different powers, and which one it refers to depends on the context in which it was used.

 

EDIT: The word I mean, not the power.

Edited December 24, 2013 by Simon the Digger

[Havelock Vetinari]

As a side note, I know I can be very...abrasive. Much I'd like to blame my debate class, which taught me that the only way to win was going for the neck with as much blood lust as can be managed, some of the fault lies with my tendency to respond to something as soon as it is posted, instead of taking the time to build a larger, calmer, arguement.

 

Bad habit I have not managed to break yet. Unfortunately.

 

So, now the question is, what type of "strong" do vampires possess? Some words indicate toughness, but the profile indicates the ability to benchpress a car.

Edited January 25, 2014 by Basilisk

[Krayzikk]

That would be a question best posed to Rawrmouse, and then brought up with the staff if a conclusion isn't reached. I don't believe in getting involved in a staff capacity if there isn't an issue warranting it, or if it might still be solved without intervention.

 

I'm a benevolent dictator, after all.

 

Sometimes.

[otter]

You aren't much of a dictator.

[Havelock Vetinari]

I haven't seen a single unit of blackshirts beating up peaceful protestors.

 

Which is depressing. Standards are slipping.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Yeah. You're more of a benevolent commentator.

[Makuta of Time]

I've been gone for a few days and an argument is sparked. At least it's over with. So the Sleeper incident is over with, so what's next, rebuilding the city?

[25K Now!]

kray, you are not dictator

 

you are more of sexy sane supermodel

[Light]

I'm back, I-

 

What in tarnokation happened here?

 

Nvm I dun wanna know.

[Flex Lord Splash]

Well, on other, less acidic topics, I've been considering bringing back one of my brotherhood characters, because evil is always fun, even if the brotherhood isn't necessarily evil at the moment. But I'm wary to bring him back with nothing to do. Is anyone aware of any possible brotherhood activity brewing that it would be worth reviving a brotherhood character for?

 

I'm sure Kane and Zac could use another Brotherhood face to interact with.

Edited December 26, 2013 by Flex Cop

[otter]

You are so unbelievably late to have said that it's painful.