Winners and Losers in Starmourn: Where do you fall?

Xiru

Which of these scenarios fit you as a player the best, regardless of how your character may feel? For discussion, does your answer change between external faction-to-faction conflict and internal conflict within a faction? 

Nykara

You missed the "I want to lose" option. I'm letting this post stand in for it: I play an antagonist. Nykara is not a good person; they're a vicious mercenary who's out for the mark and would sell their own mother into slavery to stay comfortable for a couple days. I might want to win the battle, but I never really want to win the war. 

Xiru

I didn't even consider that option, to be honest. My bad.

Slander

Can confirm that Nykara the character is not a good person. Even though Slander considers them a friend, there've definitely been times where she's been like 'holy fuck you are damaged.' It's refreshing to see someone play a character that truly reprehensible while not being an awful person irl.

RocketCat

For Science!

Cubey

Regardless of in-character roleplaying: out of character, as a player I hate losing, I especially hate getting curbstomped, and I don't want to curbstomp others because I know how it feels. I believe the best solution here is to create systems or pvp scenarios that are as fair as possible - in the end, victory depends only on skill level of individual combatants, that way they have no other external factors to blame.

I'm also playing this game for the sole purpose of "git gud" - reaching system mastery, especially in PvP but other aspects such as PvE, exploration, etc are important as well. Roleplaying, faction politics, etc are either secondary concerns or side effects of that.

Oh yeah and I'm a reverse Nykara - my character is a much nicer and better adjusted person than I am IRL.

Poet

Don't get me wrong, I want to win. I also want everyone to have fun, and not have half the game IRL pissed off at the other half. But it needs to make sense RP wise, while also not setting everyone off.  RP wise Poet would murder the lot of you without a second thought if you got in her way, and then scan your INRs to make personality constructs of you.

Ikchor

I don't care if I lose, I just don't like losing for really dumb reasons. I've had other people on my "team" cause us to be on the losing side because they either a) completely lost the plot thread for whatever reason or b) tried to use the plot to railroad their own wants/needs when it did not suit the plot at all causing us to lose badly.

Sairys

Personally, I've seen the "depends on the scenario" / "rp fits the game" become an excuse elsewhere.
People saw/see the most fitting thing as one particular group losing or having something bad happen to them that they recover from. Even positive things would have negativity heaped onto them so they weren't as much "wins" as they were "consolation prizes".


So yeah, I think everyone should want to win, I think there should be clear moments where everyone shines, and if its necessary for a group of players to lose then I think the negatives of that should be salved(?) into neutrals/positives as much as possible.

Xiru

I like impossible tasks, so I maybe should have put "I prefer being the underdog" here. In those sort of instances, I expect to fail. I don't mind failing. The real winning is the friends we made along the way. Seriously though, it's the process, not the end result that I'm concerned with. Some things are long game if you're ever going to accomplish them. Some will never be achieved. Of course some things that should theoretically be a long shot are incredibly easy given a bit of luck and game mechanics, but that's gonna be another post.

Xiru

Poet said:

Don't get me wrong, I want to win. I also want everyone to have fun, and not have half the game IRL pissed off at the other half. But it needs to make sense RP wise, while also not setting everyone off.  RP wise Poet would murder the lot of you without a second thought if you got in her way, and then scan your INRs to make personality constructs of you.

Finding RP justifications to not do something for the sake of not totally shitting on someone's playing experience can be just as fun for me as finding reasons to do something for the sake of my own character.

Ikchor said:

I don't care if I lose, I just don't like losing for really dumb reasons. I've had other people on my "team" cause us to be on the losing side because they either a) completely lost the plot thread for whatever reason or b) tried to use the plot to railroad their own wants/needs when it did not suit the plot at all causing us to lose badly.

Yeah sometimes getting blindsided just sucks. 

Sairys said:

Personally, I've seen the "depends on the scenario" / "rp fits the game" become an excuse elsewhere.
People saw/see the most fitting thing as one particular group losing or having something bad happen to them that they recover from. Even positive things would have negativity heaped onto them so they weren't as much "wins" as they were "consolation prizes".


So yeah, I think everyone should want to win, I think there should be clear moments where everyone shines, and if its necessary for a group of players to lose then I think the negatives of that should be salved(?) into neutrals/positives as much as possible.

Instantly makes me think of long stretches in Achaea where one side just got the crap beaten out of them. (Though I knew players on both sides who could turn lemons into lemonade, they were generally the exception to the rule and a lot of times things weren't fun at all.)

And like @Cubey said, getting curbstomped, especially, can just suck. A good game and a good player base with decent leadership finds the balance and can keep that from happening. 

RocketCat

RocketCat said:

For Science!

Just to be clear: I am joking. Fuck winning: set phasers to fun!

Orrin

Can you imagine Orrin clicking option 2? haha 

Xiru

I need a lol reaction to click. 

Beaux

I’m convinced everyone in Scatterhome is chaotic neutral I believe the kids call it.