My first verser me started at least fifteen years ago, close to fifty years campaign time. He is more a character in his own right than anything remotely like me; if he met his older divergent somewhere, he might kill them in disgust. His philosophy of the verse is to become as survivable in combat using bod bias skills for their reliability as possible in order to stay in a world for as long as possible in order to train longer and become more survivable. This might change for at least a short time if he ever found himself zygoted, something he's not really considered thus far. Indigenous people are generally categorized as either worthless, dangerous, or a means to his goal. My more recent verser me began less than a month ago, a handful of days campaign time. He is still similar to me, and is as I would be, in near complete shock. As he still hasn't completely processed what's going on he has not yet formed a substantial philosophy.
Random Chat
(1037 posts) (14 voices)-
Jhiaxus
MemberThe first verser you is what the first Jhiaxus would call a blight on humanity with little to no redeeming qualities, something to be pitied, not feared. The second would just feel bad that a kid gut sucked into the verse and got a raw deal, both would seek to avoid combat, and pretty much any contact whatsoever. It's not a question of fear, just a question of sometimes blight is so infectious, you don't want to be near it.
Fri Sep 24 2010 4:38 pm # -
Hmm, blight on humanity, little or no redeeming qualities... I'm not mad at that. He's also generally distrustful of versers, so wouldn't mind your desire to keep away from him. edit: as for fear, I wouldn't see why you would; respect, maybe, for someone who can strike 12 times a round for, what is it, lethal +2 DC +36 points to the die roll for damage?
Fri Sep 24 2010 4:54 pm # -
Jhiaxus
MemberThe first Jhiaxus does the same and wears armor and reduces all damage by half, The second might not hit as hard or fast, but reduces the chance to hit by over 120 and damage by that form -2DC, and reduces the final damage in half again. It's not a question of fear or worry, Respect is something earned, not given. That's why I don't like to compare versers. Eric thought enough of the 2nd Jhiaxus to send Whisp and a Supersoldier at him at the same time, and although I dodged some attacks, two on one was not even close to fair. You don't know how something will go unless it happens, and Jhiaxus hedges bets, watches people first, etc. He rarely attacks first.
Fri Sep 24 2010 8:43 pm # -
True, it almost always comes down to how the dice fall, except in circumstances where one side has no chance at all. As far as respect goes, I personally try to approach it from the opposite angle; I try to show respect to everyone, usually even when they do not show respect to me.
Fri Sep 24 2010 8:49 pm # -
Yeah, today would have made eleven 8+ hour shifts in a row, 41 hours last week and over 40 hours this week already. It's retail, but right now the store isn't yet open; we're building it, unloading, assembling, and moving shelves and fixtures, unloading, moving, and unpacking boxes. Pretty labor intensive stuff.
Fri Sep 24 2010 8:55 pm # -
Jhiaxus
Member@Kyler: It also boils down to what skills you have, right now the second Jhiaxus is weaker, generally has to work harder for less, and usually doesn't overpower the situation, but has to think through it. The first is much more set in a power vacuum, where less innovation happens. The second is more fun to play right now, just because of the mix of abilities he has.
Fri Sep 24 2010 8:56 pm # -
@Kyler. They should let you, even though it's only a temporary peak in dedication asked. They should keep in mind that you have a family.
Today I had a 9 hour workday. (Well actually I was away from home for 13 hours, it's two jobs), I do that every Friday, but that was my own choice to start with. I don't have a family to come home to, so I don't have to keep that in mind. Once/if I get a lovely wife and five kids (at least ;)), things will be different.
Family is important.
Fri Sep 24 2010 9:39 pm # -
Ky, they'll probably be looking at whether department managers will stick out the tough run. Remember, they aren't making any money until they get the store open, so that's when time off makes sense. Right now they need particularly the managers to direct getting it all up and running, and then when it's running you can get the time off.
Besides, they have to pay you overtime for the overtime, and I know you need the money.
--M. J. Young
Sat Sep 25 2010 7:07 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberKyler wrote:
Yeah, today would have made eleven 8+ hour shifts in a row, 41 hours last week and over 40 hours this week already.
That's nothing. At this warehouse where I used to work, 12 hours was a short day, you would often hit overtime on Wednesday, then they would be nice enough to tell you at quitting time on Friday that you also had to come in Saturday. Huge paychecks, but no time to spend it. My first paycheck was 34 hours for 3 days.
Sat Sep 25 2010 1:08 pm # -
I certainly agree that you should take off if you need time for yourself; if you get sick before the store opens that's not going to be good.
My point was that you are in a temporary job from which some are going to be chosen to keep permanent positions, and so you should give careful consideration to whether you are going to be noticed for how hard you work or for how hard you don't work.
If everyone has taken off two days and you have not taken any, then certainly taking one is good--as long as it doesn't look like it will be a day on which your presence or absence would matter more than otherwise. But if everyone has been working solidly, your break will mark you as the one who took the break.
I think you said most people had taken days off. If so, and if they are also management level, I would say that it's safe to take a day or two to recover.
How close are you to opening? You will want to be present for opening day, because a lot of procedures will be established by whoever is running the departments when the customers hit the aisles.
--M. J. Young
Mon Sep 27 2010 12:18 am # -
Actually, the store I'm working in is small enough that we're only one department; my title as "department manager" actually means "assistant manager" for practical purposes, without the pay. I report directly to the store manager since we will have no "assistant manager" titled person. My manager hasn't taken a day off, but she doesn't work close to the same amount of hours as I do, either. We won't be opening yet tomorrow; hopefully late this week.
Mon Sep 27 2010 12:34 am # -
Isn't it interesting to realize that the number of universes in the multiverse isn't infinite? It's like taking one thing which is too large for the human mind to adaquately fathom and then saying there is an infathomably massive number of these things. Very interesting indeed.
Mon Sep 27 2010 2:41 pm # -
Yes, and yet it is inherent in the concept that both the universe itself in which we find ourselves and the multiverse in which the universe is contained are both finite--inconceivably vast, yet finite.
Although as a caveat, it is accepted that some universes may be unbounded in one or more spatial dimensions, and thus you have something infinite contained within something finite.
That's really weird.
--M. J. Young
Tue Sep 28 2010 1:58 am # -
Jhiaxus
Member@Tadeusz, Who does space commando girl want to do nasty things to? I'm thinking Whisp, but she could indirectly mean Jhiaxus. In Jhiaxus's defense, she outright merced him, and he gave her a chance not to and whether it was training or whatnot, continued. I think in the grand scheme of things, she would do better by making up with Jhiaxus than looking for Whisp.
Tue Sep 28 2010 7:59 pm # -
Tadeusz
MemberWhisp. She and Whisp exchanged what she thought were marital vows and he thought were a peculiar local custom of no particular interest, and then they got busy. She died shortly thereafter from a malfunction in the VR sims which is about the only relief the Plutonian Defense Force gets along with faith and love of Earth and exchanging vows 'for the rest of my life' from the incredibly grim statistics that say a Space Commando on duty lives for an average of two weeks. And if you manage to survive a month, you're pulled off the planet to a teaching position.
Whisp thought she was cute and fiery. He had no idea of the fires her soul had been tempered in.
Tue Sep 28 2010 11:13 pm # -
Ky--I'm pretty sure you were in NagaWorld with Dorian, as you all started about the same time and you were the last out of there. For what it's worth, I don't remember much about Dorian in NagaWorld--I remember some of his security work in the Mary Piper Beta (he was first playtester on that) and that he was the first person I zygoted. But he was never a super character in any world in the time he played, and I suppose he's easily forgotten after all those years.
--M. J. Young
Wed Sep 29 2010 12:58 am # -
Sometime last week a CGG friend of mine Tweeted this to Facebook and MySpace:
I hate being bipolar. It's awesome.
I've repeated it to a few people, and they've repeated it to more people, and I want to make sure Derek gets the credit for it--if I can remember Derek's last name, which is not Brown (and it's not Not Brown, so let's not get funny), but all I can remember at the moment is he's the Geek Preacher.I also had an odd thought while driving yesterday. I know that they're now making cars with rear view video monitors--but what if you're the kind of person who can't take his eyes off the TV screen?
I hope someone found that funny.
--M. J. Young
Thu Sep 30 2010 2:51 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberI hate being bipolar. It's awesome.
"I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every moment of it."
"If I'm not a complete nutcase, then that means some parts are missing."
"Next time I lose my mind, I'm not going to let it return unless it brings back a large pizza and a 12 pack."
Top 3 ways to know you're insane:
3: You've ever mistaken a bowl of M&Ms for your daily medication.
2: You've ever gotten into an argument with your coffee table about whether the neighbor's oak tree was trying to kill you.
1: You've ever screamed "I've got AIR MOLECULES all over me!!!!! Get em off, get em off!!!!!!"(Doing Therapy)
Thu Sep 30 2010 11:08 am # -
Is it ignorance or apathy? I don't know and I don't care.
(From a Steve Taylor song, modified slightly because I can't remember it.)
--M. J. Young
Fri Oct 1 2010 4:57 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberYa know, I just realized something strange. At close range, an expert with a 22 rifle would be more effective in close-range combat than an amateur with a 50 caliber rifle. They're both doing lethal damage, but the expert can fire three times (or more) as quickly. The 22 can also carry exponentially more ammo for the weight. Kind of blows the whole verser's credo "Me wants a beeeeg gun" right out the door if you think about it.
(Doing Therapy)
Sat Oct 2 2010 5:10 am # -
Only sort of?
Yes, the expert with the .22 can outshoot the amateur with the .50; but the expert with the .50 is better yet, unless the fire rate of the .50 is that much slower.
But yeah, an expert with a pair of chopsticks can be a very dangerous adversary, even if ordinarily chopsticks are an annoying weapon.
--M. J. Young
Sat Oct 2 2010 9:04 pm # -
JohnA1nut
MemberSpeaking of running two or more characters under different referees, how do you do that? I was thinking (briefly and vaguely) about doing what Max did, and hiding my identity to play two or more games at once. I didn't think it would take you more than a week to figure out it was me though. (HAHAHAHA!!!) Here's the thing. Would the character I would start now have been playing Multiverser for the past 4 years? I was 29 when my character versed out. I'm 33 now. Have I been playing this game the whole time if I made a secondary character? I think it would be safe to say that this has been an influence on my life. If I really did verse out now, I think I would have a similar attitude to my character right off the bat, whereas my haven't been playing Multiverser attitude would be extremely different.
(Doing Therapy)
Mon Oct 4 2010 4:36 am # -
John: the Multiverser game is the only thing that does not exist in any universe. It's a given that if you are in the world of a game system, such as Dungeons & Dragons or Vampire: the Masquerade, the rules to that game system don't exist in that world. Since all worlds fall under the Multiverser rules, the Multiverser rules don't exist in any of them. Therefore, this world does not exist, and your character did not actually start from it.
In more practical terms, for the past four years you have been playing Multiverser, but if you began a new character he would have been playing some other game created by some other version of me, the ephemera of which are similar but the mechanics of which are entirely different. You know nothing about scriff, bias, attribute checks, skill checks, general effects rolls, stages, versing out, or any of the other features particular to Multiverser. You do have memories of playing some game in which your character visited those worlds and interacted with those other characters.
--M. J. Young
Tue Oct 5 2010 3:04 am # -
There seems to be some discussion over in the Behind the Screens thread concerning my chance of repairing the plumbing problems. Let me see if I can muddy the waters further. I decided it was actually random chat, so I'm moving it here.
Part of it depends on which version of me you have in mind. I've got three sheets that represent "me" in one form or another. Indeed, the Bryant Andrew Stevens in the Character File is, or at one time was, me. I note that he has a 2@10 intellect, but his Tech BRA is his 3@3 Ed Lev, and he has a 15@2 tech bias. Meanwhile, the last active in play form of that character is recorded on a character sheet still saved here, and he had a 2@8 Intellect, and his Ed Lev was 2@7 and Intuition 2@5 Intellect was his Tech BRA; he also had an 11@1 Tech Bias. The version of me in the game world is listed with a 2@6 Intellect and 2@7 Intuition (which would be his Tech BRA--Ed Lev is 2@5 on that sheet), and again an 11@1 Bias. Yes, that's for computer programming--I have a high amateur ability, can do some reasonably interesting things in Basic, write HTML-coded text on the fly and understand something of the HTML coding beyond that, and have managed to troubleshoot and modify CGI and Javascript to get them to do what I want.
I've done plumbing before. In fact, yesterday's second problem was really rather easy, a bad joint that needed to be replaced. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of cutting into the main water line before I realized that it was not a 3/4" three-way connector but 3/4" on the inflow side and on the angle, with 1/2" on the continuation line, and I did not have such a connector in the house. Once the hardware store opened and I was able to get the necessary parts, I was also able to cut the pex tubing that comprises 90% of our pipes with my newly acquired tube cutter to remove the old poorly-designed copper connector and replace it with a newly-acquired Sharkbite™ of the appropriate design. It took me under three minutes. Of course, I was working from a below amateur SAL with positive sit-mods for a familiar project and good tools and parts, so figure 1@4 SAL+2@7 BRA (the lowest BRA any of those sheets sports)+2x11@ bias=52% plus those aforementioned sit-mods, maybe 72% total, with a 2% chance to botch, and I managed to hit the botch last night (when the sit-mods hadn't accrued so it was a 52% chance of success and 4% chance to botch) but recovered with another skill check after a change in circumstances created by the acquisition of additional parts and tools (including a pair of rather useful LED mini flashlights with magnets on the sides of the cases for five bucks from home depot).
The other problem is a toilet. It was leaking rather constantly internally--a valve gone bad on the inflow to the tank. Toilets are tricky and I don't do them often, so that's probably -10 there giving me a 42% chance of success on that, and sure enough the first time out I hit the 5% chance to botch: installing the new inflow valve I managed to break the flush valve. I failed an attempt to repair it immediately. On my second attempt, with a small bonus to offset that penalty due to picking up parts and consulting with someone at the hardware store, I rebuilt the entire mechanism and got the outcome that it does not leak internally but instead leaks from some unseen location onto the floor. I took it partly apart and put it back together again with more parts, twice, and it still leaks. I have acquired yet more parts which I hope will fix the problem, but I'm here instead of there right now, and planning to get the toilet fixed tomorrow.
Since my bias is 11@1 and I already have plumbing skill, the world bias only matters if it's not as high as mine, and obviously there are tech skills above my bias level. If I needed to learn the skill, the world bias would count.
As to what Kyler calls me, he calls me Dad in person--which is what probably five percent of the late teens/early twenties population of Cumberland County calls me, I think (and no, it's not because I have that many children, but because all the people my sons have brought to the house have adopted us as surrogate parents). John is surprised that Kyler would refer to me by my given name--but I've no idea who gave me the name "MJ". I think I gave it to myself quite by accident, and the only people who call me that are those who know me only online or through gaming conventions. I'm "Mark" to all my real-world friends and family. I've grown accustomed to it, though, as something of a professional title. I'm still jarred when people write to me and call me "Joseph", but it's obvious where they get that. But then, I've noticed that at least some of those who call me "Mark" at home refer to me as "MJ" at conventions--undoubtedly because they figure no one there will know who they mean if they use my name. Probably if Kyler walked up to Alyssa or Kyle or a couple other people at Ubercon and said, "Have you seen my dad?" they'd immediately know who he was; but I don't know that Liz or Janet would, and there are a lot of con workers who would immediately know who MJ was who would not recognize Kyler as my son.
Sure, it's awkward. I work with at least one person who was a seven-year-old playing in the street when we met and I introduced him to my two-year-old eldest son. He's not sure what to call me, and I'm not sure what to expect him to call me. On our private development forum I've taken to signing my posts "--M" because several of my sons are on it. But then, everything about my life is strange. Apart from my wife, John Mastick, and my pastor, I don't think I have any friend closer to my age than a decade, and the bulk of them are younger by a quarter century. People think that's weird, but it's quite simply because everything I do--rock music, role playing games, time travel--appeals to a young audience.
I guess I've randomized enough for the present; I've got game posts to read.
--M. J. Young
Wed Oct 6 2010 4:10 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberMJ, I recall you saying that you couldn't even abide the smell of hot peppers. I pity you, I really do. A pepperoncini (AKA banana pepper or yellow pepper) is a taste experience. They're just a touch too hot, but the flavor is incredible!!! I'll sit down and eat a whole jar of them whilst watching a movie. My face is on fire, my sinuses cleared, and it feels wonderful. I frequently put an entire jar of whole pepperoncinis into my spaghetti sauce. I'm eating some right now. I pity anyone who can't enjoy these sensational peppers.
(Doing Therapy)
Thu Oct 7 2010 5:01 am #
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