Various Discussions (OOC)

[Malkavian Grin]

On 5/6/2023 at 1:20 PM, Malkavian Grin said:

So, here's how I see the Directives working. You may not agree, and that's fine. We can talk it out, but it's good to break into small, logical steps because some may need a roll. If something fails, well, a few more steps get added to the list like removing authority figures and resecuring the area and the like.

 

What is needed to achieve Directives?

*Store the Master A.I.*

• Confirm location of safe, secure area (one that can stand the test of time and be undisturbed) (@Wolfglide did you have an idea for this?)
  • This will be tricky. Businesses and banks aren't guaranteed to last in the same spot for a century. It's possible, but if a bank moves, I don't know what happens to safety deposit boxes if there's no one to claim it and re-store it at a new bank, for example.
• Travel to location
• Store item
• Setup external device to listen for proper input (this might be considered "extra credit", thus not necessary)
• Surveil area for some time to ensure no one followed (this might be considered "extra credit", thus not necessary)

*Launch an Energy-Satellite*

• Confirm location of usable shuttle launch
• Confirm location of satellite payload
• Travel to satellite location
• Confirm satellite will function as intended (this might be considered "extra credit", thus not necessary)
• Take satellite to launch area
• Load payload
• Launch shuttle
• Launch payload at right time
• Setup satellite to await proper input (this might be considered "extra credit", thus not necessary)

*Interfere with Important Date*

• Determine current date August 2, 1983
• Confirm date of event to stop 6 days from now
• Confirm exact time of day and place of event (@TheDragonOfFlame did you want to confirm "The Greek Corner between 18:32 and 20:03 local time"?)
• Travel to event
• Interfere with event such that "mortification" is reached
• Surveil at least one or both people to ensure "mortification" has intended effect (this might be considered "extra credit", thus not necessary)

*Prevent Creation of Foe-Swap Virus*

• Determine what aspect of creation needs stopped (@Phntm888 should decide)
  • This could mean preventing Cori Rein's birth since he codes it. This could mean messing with a coding language's syntax to prevent a loophole exploit used by the virus. This could mean Cori Rein is already alive, and ready to start college in computer science, but you need to spook him off. 
  • This detail needs defined better--what leads to the creation of the virus?

*Ensure Birth of John McCarthy*

• Confirm date of birth for John McCarthy
• Confirm birth parents
• Find Birth parents and confirm pregnancy
• Surveil until birth
• Verify DNA matches (@TheRealSife will have been sent back with such data, and the means to quickly/accurately verify from a blood sample)
• Surveil for a little while to ensure there are no complications (this might be considered "extra credit", thus not necessary)

I went back and found this post I made, outlining what was essentially needed for each Directive (as I could interpret).

For John McCarthy, you'll need to figure out when he was born (I assume it's sometime soon or else the game can't happen), find parents, make sure it's really John, and then make sure the birth happens. That's it, in a nutshell. Some of these details will be up to whomever is in control at the time of certain events happening.

[Malkavian Grin]

@Phntm888 Just need a pass or plan from you and we get get to the votes.

[TheDragonOfFlame]

So sorry. I’m super swamped at the moment.

[Malkavian Grin]

23 minutes ago, TheDragonOfFlame said:

So sorry. I’m super swamped at the moment.

It happens, no worries. It's just nice to know when such things are happening. I hope things clear up for you soon.

[Malkavian Grin]

What is the group's opinion of this game so far?

My opinion: It's been a fun experiment but I don't think anyone's really having a lot of fun with it anymore. I feel like it needs more structure and for players to be more involved more of the time, rather than one at a time.

[Wolfglide]

I just finished my post.

The premise of the game is certainly interesting, and I am still invested in the story.

Admittedly, the core mechanic may be better suited to in-person play. Over a forum, the planning and voting phases get protracted, then the execution phase puts a lot of pressure on one person to evolve the story, playing more than just the part of their subroutine controlling the robot. I usually take long enough to think that the website logs me out, which gets aggravating, since it doesn't save my edits. I have to be careful to copy what I wrote to my clipboard before I try logging back in.

[TheRealSife]

The structure of the planning/posting definitely makes it slower paced when played via pbp. I don't necessarily mind that though.

If you aren't having fun then don't force yourself to keep running it, but I'm happy to continue.

[Malkavian Grin]

I'm still having fun, but I read into situations too much; I see a lack of activity and think "what's wrong with this and how can I fix it?"

If I were to rewrite this game for future use, do you have a suggestion on how it might keep more people involved in each part of the story?

[Wolfglide]

I have played a little Tenra Bansho Zero, and one mechanic for gaining extra XP in that game is to be assigned an NPC role in a scene by the GM. Similarly, when one subroutine has control of the robot, the other players could still be involved in crafting the scene by fleshing out NPCs and setting details. That might slow down the execution of plans, but it would keep everyone involved during that step.

[Malkavian Grin]

Hmm that's an interesting idea! Slowdown aside, I think it's more important to keep all players engaged in all steps of the game. I'll keep this in mind, thank you!

[TheDragonOfFlame]

On my end, I haven’t been able find even ten minutes free to post for two weeks. So that’s part of it. I also did start to lose interest in the game, as I find it … hard to relate to the character, for obvious reasons. If I can’t get inside the head of the character then I find it hard to enjoy writing for it.

[Malkavian Grin]

9 hours ago, TheDragonOfFlame said:

On my end, I haven’t been able find even ten minutes free to post for two weeks. So that’s part of it. I also did start to lose interest in the game, as I find it … hard to relate to the character, for obvious reasons. If I can’t get inside the head of the character then I find it hard to enjoy writing for it.

Real life happens and I understand a lack of time.

I also understand that this game is an experiment and is very different from a normal one where everyone has their own character. If you need to step away from this game because of that, I'll completely understand.

[Malkavian Grin]

Okay, I'm going to be honest here, I'm feeling burnt out on this game. It just isn't quite how I expected it to go. I propose one of two solutions, and would appreciate your input:

1) We quit and chalk this up to being bad for PbP.

2) We change the game. I would suggest dropping everyone proposing separate Plans and then Voting on them and instead we use Round-Robin style turns. Then everyone gets a turn to play. You'll still give me a basic rundown of what you want to do on your turn, and I'll respond with what needs a roll. I think this will go much faster and just be more satisfying. (If we go this route, everyone would have ~8 turns each before we run out of Tokens).

[Wolfglide]

I am willing to finish the story and go with option 2.

I also won't be upset if we just quit, so no one has to feel bad about outvoting me.

[TheRealSife]

I'm fine to keep going if everyone else is. So would we still make a plan and then execute it on our turn?