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A thing I was actually hoping for was some sort of review collection or something. For example, say Venture rated something at five stars, and Talen rated the same thing at one. Why those ratings? What did they like and dislike?
Or if Venture and Talen both rate something at five stars (or four, or three, or one, whatever). They could be doing so for different reasons.
So I was hoping to be able to sort of triangulate on whether I'd like a certain arc or not, given that nobody shares exactly my tastes, but several people have displayed signs of being close to some specific parts of it.
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If you want to find stuff you'll like, you're better off looking for "recommend an arc" threads or starting one yourself. Reviews are more of a way for the author to learn what they could do better in their work.
Character index
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Correct. This arc is, in essence, an answer to the hypothetical question "if your character was a signature character, what would their Task Force be about?"
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I missed that completely. Maybe allude to it in some way.
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I think there's a bug with the creator where it doesn't always save the scales correctly, so some of what you're seeing may be unintentional. But in my case it was deliberate (for the servitors). Yes, they are statues, but more to the point, they are parallel Clockwork, and most of the Clockwork are pretty small.
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I should have been more clear. This didn't affect your vote in any way...it was more of a general grumbling about custom foes.
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Good point. My thinking was that the player's character would obviously have realized that something was wrong (probably before this mission), but that the system wouldn't be giving them any real way to figure out the cause, short of continuing the simulation in order to see what it does next. I was also wary of putting words in the player's mouth (though I suppose I already did that with some of the Accept Mission strings)
I have an idea on how to handle this more explicitly, without requiring branching text or whatnot, but I don't know whether there's space left to pull it off, so I'll have to do some testing and adjusting this evening.
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I'm glad you have ideas because it did seem odd to me.
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No ... the spawn placement settings have no effect on most outdoor maps, so the location is entirely out of my control.
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It's not really an issue. It just means people will miss some of your content due to pure bad luck.
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I'll have to do something about it, as that behavior is definitely not intended. It's either a bug, or I've been misunderstanidn how collections work all this time.
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Please do, this was a letdown.
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The allusion was also a (very terse) explanation for why I chose to add that particular character to the story. But if it is giving the impression I'm trying to make UD seem cooler-than-thou, I'll take it out.
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This bears saying...not just for you but anyone reading. These reviews are all 'personal opinion' before you change anything in a mission you have made ask others who have played your arc about the issues. I have found that friends tend to gloss over things they don't like in your arcs but will open up when asked specifically.
This particular part just rubbed me the wrong way. It's not that it was wrong its just it bugged 'ME'. Others may not have issue with it.
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That particular tag wasn't my idea ... it came from a thread here in the forums, where it was suggested for arcs that "make an effort to work into the story of the game" (or something along those lines). Whatever the exact wording, it was broad enough that to my mind, it included arcs that attempt to expand upon canon, as long as they don't outright contradict it. If it's misleading, out it goes.
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Just for the record. I have no issue with playing fast and loose with canon. IMO the MA is perfect for going crazy with stories. Marvel had a fantastic comic called 'What if' and I think if an arc isn't canon then its a 'What if' story. I only brought it up because your description made special mention of canon.
I really did enjoy your arcs overall and if you do make any changes let me know and I will run them again (won't review again, might make mention of changes here tho).
My review of Arc #45503 Through the Looking Glass has been postponed.
The reason is it seems to be gone. I like to play an arc at least twice before reviewing it. Once on my Io'd out scrapper so that I can stop and read everything and once on another character either in the level range or a less sturdy character. This gives me a way to balance my opinions.
When the arc is back up let me know so that I can do my second run (also the second run is when I vote as I have the full picture)
Well Venture, I took most of your advice and did an overhaul of a decent chunk of my Arc, mostly in the writing areas since the other parts didn't need so much changing. I also switched it up and made it much more magical themed, although only time will tell if I honestly like it better this way (just being honest :P).
I had meant to give you some feedback on your comments, pointing out that there's nothing wrong with technomagic (in this setting, I don't particularly care for it myself but I'm not going to grade off for it 'coz it's part of the canon). The problem was that your presentation was choppy...it wasn't clear what your faction was really doing. This was part of a larger problem in that we really didn't know anything about them, only that "someone" wanted us to beat the stuffing out of them.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
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I heartily agree. I don't mean to sound like I'm all special and stuff, but when someone wants me to review an arc with 30+ plays I wonder how interested they are in what I actually have to say.
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In that case, you might be very surprised. See, my "Hunting the Dark Dragon" and "the Revenge of Hro'Dtohz" arcs both have a good (relatively, anyway; I still think it's low 
) number of plays and rates by now - but I have gotten exactly two feedback messages for them. One for each, to be precise.
So yes, I am extremely interested in what people have to say about them, mostly because the bulk of people don't say anything, meaning I get no idea of how to make my arcs better and achieve that coveted 5-star rating. 
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
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My review of Arc #45503 Through the Looking Glass has been postponed.
The reason is it seems to be gone. I like to play an arc at least twice before reviewing it. Once on my Io'd out scrapper so that I can stop and read everything and once on another character either in the level range or a less sturdy character. This gives me a way to balance my opinions.
When the arc is back up let me know so that I can do my second run (also the second run is when I vote as I have the full picture)
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odd i ran it last night
if it helps look for my user name @CuppaLLX and the 5 mission version. (the 4 mission version is for people who dont want to endure the last mission)
AE # 67087: Journey through the Looking Glass - Save the World
LLX VirtueVerse! - Check out my crazy Toons
This is the size of group that we have balanced AVs for, 6.
-Positron 06/07/06 07:27 PM
<QR> I may take up reviewing some arcs in this thread (as long as no one minds), but probably not this week, due to post Spring Break school workload.
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<QR> I may take up reviewing some arcs in this thread (as long as no one minds), but probably not this week, due to post Spring Break school workload.
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works for me
AE # 67087: Journey through the Looking Glass - Save the World
LLX VirtueVerse! - Check out my crazy Toons
This is the size of group that we have balanced AVs for, 6.
-Positron 06/07/06 07:27 PM
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odd i ran it last night
if it helps look for my user name @CuppaLLX and the 5 mission version. (the 4 mission version is for people who dont want to endure the last mission)
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Not that odd, I am hearing alot of grumbling from farmers that this morning a bunch of 'farm' arcs were removed. I use the quotes because not all of the arcs removed were actual farms.
I had searched your name, the arc name, the number and any other variation I could think of including the foes groups you used. When you get a chance make sure its still around.
Currently running 55098 a second time review coming soon.
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odd i ran it last night
if it helps look for my user name @CuppaLLX and the 5 mission version. (the 4 mission version is for people who dont want to endure the last mission)
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Not that odd, I am hearing alot of grumbling from farmers that this morning a bunch of 'farm' arcs were removed. I use the quotes because not all of the arcs removed were actual farms.
I had searched your name, the arc name, the number and any other variation I could think of including the foes groups you used. When you get a chance make sure its still around.
Currently running 55098 a second time review coming soon.
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Gah i hope not, i spent way to long just getting it to this stage of "work in progress" to start over.
AE # 67087: Journey through the Looking Glass - Save the World
LLX VirtueVerse! - Check out my crazy Toons
This is the size of group that we have balanced AVs for, 6.
-Positron 06/07/06 07:27 PM
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(I swear there was a name for this, where the community in general benefits most from a resource if everyone uses it sparingly, but there's a net gain for each individual when they take up more of the resource, so everyone ends up taking up as much as they can and nobody wins. No idea what the name was, though.)
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Tragedy of the commons. I think.
EDIT: I should add that I'm reserving judgement on whether it is applicable here, but I wanted to answer the question.
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I think this phenomenon is also sometimes referred to as "the prisoner's dilemma", though that may be something different. If so, they're still similar.
40062: The World's Worst PUG
84008: Jenkins's Guide to Super-Villainy
230187: The Hero of Kings Row
No H8 - 08.04.10
@Circuit Boy - Moderator - Pride global chat channel
Would love a review on my arc as well. Only managed to get two votes on it so far. Its a bit frustrating when you work your hiney off and no one plays it. (Arc ID: 38056 The Arrival of the Calaton's)
Been trying to play as many unvoted arcs as I can but theres just so many its hard to keep up.
If either of you care to review my arc, ID 3321 (yes, up to and including brutalizing it horribly), I'd be down with that 
Five missions, one defeat all, and precious few crazy custom critters to go around. Since it primarily uses existing NPCs and some of them have limited level ranges I've forced a level range of about 33-40 on each mission to ensure that the powers of the players and NPCs remain consistent throughout the arc. Especially let me know if I've screwed up my references to cannon events in some particularly egregious way.
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Well Venture, I took most of your advice and did an overhaul of a decent chunk of my Arc, mostly in the writing areas since the other parts didn't need so much changing. I also switched it up and made it much more magical themed, although only time will tell if I honestly like it better this way (just being honest :P).
I had meant to give you some feedback on your comments, pointing out that there's nothing wrong with technomagic (in this setting, I don't particularly care for it myself but I'm not going to grade off for it 'coz it's part of the canon). The problem was that your presentation was choppy...it wasn't clear what your faction was really doing. This was part of a larger problem in that we really didn't know anything about them, only that "someone" wanted us to beat the stuffing out of them.
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I did add what I could to their backstory, when you can talk to the contact after accepting a mission. Sadly I capped out my Arc at 99.99% before I could get very much into it. Assuming enough people end up liking Arc 1 I can add a lot more to Arc 2 since I plan on it only being a few missions, but space limits sorta knocked down my ability to give a lot of info. If I can figure out a good way to condense Shadowlights backstory without making it sound like a third grade essay I'll try to do it.
That or include more current history instead of backstory, not really sure which is a better idea. Not sure which people would rather read honestly, backstory or current history. I think if this gets figured out I'll be able to do a little more work with that in the current Arc, just need to figure out which to include. There is definitely not room for both.
Arc Name: Fall of the Blackguards
Arc ID: 1685, 1690, 1696
Faction: Heroic
Creator Global/Forum Name: @arbegla
Difficulty Level: Medium to hard (teams would be good)
Synopsis: The blackguards (a villain side VG) is putting a plan into action, and Ice Transhuman would like you to put a stop to it.
Estimated Time to Play: Arc 1685 is only two missions, Arc 1690 is also two missions, and arc 1696 is one mission. If you ran all five of them, it would take about 2 or so hours.
If anyone would like to review it, please let me know. ill keep an eye out. any input would be great.
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I heartily agree. I don't mean to sound like I'm all special and stuff, but when someone wants me to review an arc with 30+ plays I wonder how interested they are in what I actually have to say.
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In that case, you might be very surprised. See, my "Hunting the Dark Dragon" and "the Revenge of Hro'Dtohz" arcs both have a good (relatively, anyway; I still think it's low ) number of plays and rates by now - but I have gotten exactly two feedback messages for them. One for each, to be precise.
So yes, I am extremely interested in what people have to say about them, mostly because the bulk of people don't say anything, meaning I get no idea of how to make my arcs better and achieve that coveted 5-star rating.
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Another potential reason may be that the author wants someone to write a review of his or her arc for publicity's sake. 30 rates is good. Only 970 more to go 'til hall of fame!
Now, whether you want to fulfill -that- critical role is up to you, though I'd venture that if the the author didn't want public publicity, he or she would request the feedback be given in a PM.
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For my purposes here, a Mary Sue is a character of either sex that a) is an obvious stand-in for the author, which is adequately demonstrated by the character being one of the author's PCs or an Expy (thinly disguised version) of such, and b) is being repeatedly glorified by the arc, constantly telling us how powerful/intelligent/wonderful/special/etc. the character is.
[/ QUOTE ]I realize that's your personal criteria, but I'm just going to chip in here and say for me, only that second condition is necessary for me to consider a character a Mary Sue. Making the Mary Sue also be the author's character just makes the problem worse. (There are a couple of descriptive words I would use for it that would probably end up getting modded - suffice to say "pleasing to the self")
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I think in this context "obvious stand-in" doesn't have to be specifically the author's character; it could simply be a character that appears to be obviously designed around very personalized wish-fulfillment. Actually being someone's character, though, is obviously a strong suggestion in combination with the second criteria.
The reason why I think the first criteria is an important hedge for the second one is that I don't think something like the aspects of Rularuu count as Mary Sues, even though they are generally described as being very special and immensely powerful in general. It simply doesn't appear as if they are really wish-fulfillment entities in general. Lord Nemesis might be highly overused, but even when written as incredibly smart and powerful, he isn't normally considered a Mary Sue (the big problem with writing for Lord Nemesis is that if you aren't as smart as he's supposed to be, you can only *say* he's smart, not *show* he's smart, which is a writing problem, but not automatically a Mary Sue problem).
[Guide to Defense] [Scrapper Secondaries Comparison] [Archetype Popularity Analysis]
In one little corner of the universe, there's nothing more irritating than a misfile...
(Please support the best webcomic about a cosmic universal realignment by impaired angelic interference resulting in identity crisis angst. Or I release the pigmy water thieves.)
Highschool Revisited
#8873
Lvl 1-50, custom baddies.
A 3 mission arc, in which you serve justice to everyone who was mean to you at your old high school.
A scientist named Max has invented an immersive Virtual Reality device which will allow you to beta test his game, Highschool Revisited.
The next one is
Highschool Emergency
#59945
Lvl 1-50 baddies, custom
Also 3 missions. This is the heroic alignment version. Supers have been hypnotized and are attacking highschools. Find out whodunit and stop them!
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(I swear there was a name for this, where the community in general benefits most from a resource if everyone uses it sparingly, but there's a net gain for each individual when they take up more of the resource, so everyone ends up taking up as much as they can and nobody wins. No idea what the name was, though.)
[/ QUOTE ]
Tragedy of the commons. I think.
EDIT: I should add that I'm reserving judgement on whether it is applicable here, but I wanted to answer the question.
[/ QUOTE ]
I think this phenomenon is also sometimes referred to as "the prisoner's dilemma", though that may be something different. If so, they're still similar.
[/ QUOTE ]
The Prisoner's Dilemma is actually pretty different. The Tragedy of the Commons involves a shared and limited resource, while the Prisoner's Dilemma doesn't. The closest thing it has to "shared" is the test-giver, who is kind of like an infinite Good Thing/Bad Thing dispenser.
Current main:
Schrodinger's Gun, Dual Pistols/Mental Blaster, Virtue
Avatar: Becky Miyamoto from Pani Poni Dash. Roulette roulette~
"Arc Name: Astoria in D Minor
Arc ID: 41565
Arc Length: Medium/Long (5 missions, but they can be very quick and are stealthable for the most part)
Arc Difficulty: Easy. Support ATs might have some trouble but I didn't test on any so they might be fine.
Description: A horror arc about the search for a lost daughter in Dark Astoria. Meet an alien, a disturbed hero, and find out what it really means to survive."
This is one of the best I ave played. By a long shot. There is a very solid story backed by an underused and poorly represented group (Banished Pantheon). It is not too hard to solo (i played with a BS/WP scrapper) even on rugged. The story is great and the mission maps used fit perfectly. Number 2 and number 4 are the best maps ever.
I would detail the arc but it would take a lot away from the story. Kind of like telling people Bruce Willis is dead before taking them to see Sixth Sense. Not quite as dramatic but similar concept.
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Kind of like telling people Bruce Willis is dead before taking them to see Sixth Sense. Not quite as dramatic but similar concept.
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SPOILER ALERT, GAWD!
Arc: 55098
The same thing we do every night...
Length: 5 missions
Foes: Longbow, PPD, Custom
Level Range: All Levels
Contact: No. 86 (custom)
Rating: 4 Stars
TL-DR
Pros: Has humor in text and mission layouts. Custom foes are balanced(mostly) with great costumes. Not terribly long despite the 5 missions. Well paced. Well written. Good choice of maps. No AV/EB that I ran across
Cons: Annoying foes (will explain the contradiction), seems unfinished. Lacking end payoff.
Overview:
Your henchman No. 86 tells you that your plans for world conquest are falling behind and that you need to motivate the troops.
After subtle 'motivation' you are told that minions you had sent to retrieve materials for your 'project' have been captured and that you need to deal with it personally. While escaping you meet up with a would be hero named Captain Fantastic.
upon your return you find out Dr Reverb, a rival evil warlord, has almost completed his world destroying device and the heroes sent to stop him have failed. If the world is destroyed you cannot enact your master plan so you put an end to Reverb.
It seems Longbow has discovered your plan and lab so you must remove them while collecting the components and scientists for your evil plot. Along the way you dispatch Captain Fantastic agian.
At this point you are ready to enact your evil plot, Destroy the captured Captain Fantastic and rule the world. A quick trip into your evil lair you find that Longbow again have come knocking. The fight was a nice distraction but you launch your missles, put Fantastic in a deathtrap he can't escape and become the ruler of the world.
Specific Review:
This is one of those arcs that make ALOT of assumptions on the character. It assumes you are a world dominating obsessed villian with a draconian management style. It assumes you have a rival and assumes you have henchmen.
To this I say....So what.
The arc felt very much like James Bond meets Venture Brothers from a villians point of view. It may not fit your character, in fact it probably won't. But its fun as hell. Forget your characters goals and motives and just sit back for the show on this one. The use of a henchman as a contact is excellent in that it makes you feel as tho you are the one plotting not being given jobs to do. truth be told I had been looking for a way to do this with my villian arc and am now stealing this idea, or rather a variation of it. The only thing I might suggest is instead of a numbered henchman maybe make him just a henchman. That way you can go Darth Vader on him and have the player kill them for giving bad news only to have a new henchman the next time. You can have them introduce themselves each mission....just a thought.
Mission 1: The henchmen foes look great, simple faceless masses with a info text to explain why you see them again and again. Well done. The map was a good smallish size for a kill all and enabled the pacing flow.
The only thing in this mission that bothered me was the use of /devices on everything. Although for some reason the foes did spam nades less and attack more than I noticed in previous missions it still bothered me. Did not mark you down for it tho. This is why there is a contradiction in my TL-Dr. The foe is annoying yet not as much as I thought it would be. Perhaps they are fixing it?
Mission 2: The intro text and nav bar goals text was excellent. And the boss was fun. Again a well sized map for pacing.
Mission 3: A timed mission which is indicated in the text of the mission ...bravo. Fantastic use of activating text. Humerous conversations in the generated battles. Doctor Reverb and his gang had great costumes...again the minions looked exactly like minions should, faceless and numerous.
Doctor Reverb himself proved to be a challenge my first go and a chump my second go. I could not figure out what had caused this. Regardless, keeping your bosses moderatly weak might be a good idea as the story will flow faster if they are. And speed in a comedy arc is good...keeps the jokes flying.
Mission 4: For some reason the humor slowed at this point. I suspect that the arc is not fully completed. Some suggestiong would be to include humerous text to your rescues and collections. Make use of your 'clues' to add more jokes without it being thrust down a players throat. If they want to read more they will if not they won't. It can't really hurt you.
If I may be so bold, one of your rescues says that the player has your family and when you rescue him he says don't hurt Emily. I got the feeling of inside joke here. Instead maybe something like 'he has my goldfish' and 'don't hurt Wanda'. This way you have a joke that everyone is included on. The family thing was too serious for the arc IMO.
Mission 5:The death chamber idea was great and done well but with no clue attached it was anticlimatic. Same with the rocket launching. Again, use clues to give more to your players who are enjoying your arc.
Also the goodbye text was more or less a throwaway. Give us the big picture...tell us exactly what your evil plan was. I don't care if its silly ...thats the point of this arc...have some fun.
The reason why I could not give this a 5 star is it does not seemed finished. Some things just seem incomplete. If you can flesh it out a bit I would be happy to play again and re-rate.
Next Up Arc # 8928 (unless 45503 is back)
I have two arcs currently published that I'd love to get feedback or just general publicity on. Both are linked in the sig, they're #4827 (heroic) and #6391 (villainous).
Jerk 4 Life
In brightest day, in blackest night/No evil shall escape my sight/Let those who worship evil's might/Beware my power ... Green Lantern's light!/(Meowth, that's right!)
My Arcs: #4827: Earth For Humans. #6391: Young Love.
Also, I'm telling the story *I* want to tell. It would be impossible to try and make sure everything was compatible with all the different possibilities of PC back stories.
It is impossible to avoid conflict completely, but you can minimize the problem by not making definitive statements about obvious "hot topics". These stories are written for a shared universe and that means playing nice with the other kids. Postulating a character or group inspired by Arthurian myth is OK. Making a character the Lancelot du Lac...not so good.
You can play the "this is just a holodeck" card but that just punches your story in the gut. If the story absolutely will not work without using actual historical or mythological figures, you need to step back and reconsider what you're actually doing, because there's a good chance you don't have an actual story in the first place.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
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(I swear there was a name for this, where the community in general benefits most from a resource if everyone uses it sparingly, but there's a net gain for each individual when they take up more of the resource, so everyone ends up taking up as much as they can and nobody wins. No idea what the name was, though.)
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Tragedy of the commons. I think.
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Ah, thanks, that was it. (Google is sadly unhelpful where all you have to go on is "that thing with the cows and the shared pasture".)
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A thing I was actually hoping for was some sort of review collection or something. For example, say Venture rated something at five stars, and Talen rated the same thing at one. Why those ratings? What did they like and dislike?
Or if Venture and Talen both rate something at five stars (or four, or three, or one, whatever). They could be doing so for different reasons.
So I was hoping to be able to sort of triangulate on whether I'd like a certain arc or not, given that nobody shares exactly my tastes, but several people have displayed signs of being close to some specific parts of it.
Current main:
Schrodinger's Gun, Dual Pistols/Mental Blaster, Virtue
Avatar: Becky Miyamoto from Pani Poni Dash. Roulette roulette~