Blueshift review 24-09-08

001
'''blueshift=Blueshift is SO ARROGANT. WHY DID HE EVER BECOME A WIZARD, ARGH!!! I CANNOT TRUST HIM WITH OUR PRECIOUS, UNCHANGING /THEME/! j/k i love you blueshift, no this is not cliffjumper.'''

''Grr I am Blueshift I am a horrible monster grr! Thanks, I guess! :v ''

002
'''I AM SANDSTORM - blueshift is pretty cool he does a lot here and he always has. He's like the Ron Paul of 2k5 that's the best anyone can say about anyone. I AM SANDSTORM'''

''Thanks mysterious reviewer! Be in character more, and I will totally Ron Paul you up!''

003
'''I say it every time his name comes up, but Blueshift really is 2k5's MVP. He's helpful and accessible, always eager to give a hand to players old and new alike. He actively involves players in the plotting of big storylines, as well as their execution, letting players and not staffers handle cool, fun TP characters, as well as soliciting their help in setting up plots via RP, so that everyone really feels like they're a part of the game's advancement. He's able to sweat the small details of stuff while never losing sight of the big picture of where he wants the game's plots to go. I feel like the game has achieved more stability, TP-wise, under him than it's had in my entire time here. Blueshift is great, and that's the bottom line.'''

''I would like to say that every player is a MVP! But it is good to hear that sort of feedback, it is the open feel I've been going for, which seemed to be all good until last week when I went on holiday. Goodness, I'm never going away again! I DO think it is important to let players do all the cool stuff as well as staff, and I really want to make it easy for people to be able to run stuff that they want to, rather than leaping through hoops and waiting months to just get a simple scene approved. If that starts to happen, please shoot me''

004
'''Blueshift. You're doing a great job. At first I had my doubts, but from the TPs I've seen you seem to be on the side of truth, justice, and the MUSHing way. Just don't get a big head and start messing up, that's all I ask. :)

I'm thrilled that humans are being thought of. Kudos to whoever is planning that. Status quo shakeups are good, can't wait to see it specificly. What I haven't liked? The time of the TPs and scenes in general. Ridiculously way too early for my scheudle. BUT, I understand why they're done when they're done. Not everyone lives in the central time zone, some of us live in tomorrow land and some in the past. So it's something that I will just have to deal with.

I have a few wishes, but I'll only pick one. My one wish would be for masters to make the scene here. I understand why it was shot down a while back, but is that reason still valid now? I say reexamine it. Maybe it's not now, so masters would be ok to do.

Thanks for listening. Game on.'''

''Thanks! And if I DO get a big head, I fully expect people to pop it. With regards to TP times, that is always an issue. Heck, I'm British, most things take place really late for me. It is also why I'm keen for more players to run stuff, even little things, because then there'll always be things going on. I did try running bigger scenes at different times, but people always moaned that they couldn't make it, even if others good. Damned if you do, damned if you don't I guess.

As for your wish. Well. WINK.''

005
'''Blueshift, you cad! Trying to get us to furiously rub your 'MUSH Lamp' to make a "MUSH Genie' come out! Shame on you! But seriously, the MUSH has been doing pretty good these days, the new combat system is a dream come true. I think the only thing I would ask the MUSH Genie would be to add some new characters to the fold... Now, I know some of the recent new characters haven't gotten a lot of attention, but some of them have facets to thier personalities that can make them a bit hard to play. Lazyness, grossness, ect. But I don't see the harm in adding new characters, and I think you agree with me there. TP-wise, things have been good, although I've missed out on a lot of stuff in the past two weeks or so. The last batch of pre-olympic big plots were great, you as GALVATRON was FANTASTIC, so I have high hopes for future TPs. You've just said you want to shake things up a bit, and let everyone be more proactive, which is something we need, I think! One thing I think we're missing (or maybe I've been too busy to see it) is SMALL stuff. It seems like every RP that isn't sitting in the base(and some of it that is in base) is ALL a part of the big plots going. Don't get me wrong, I like it that some of the small scenes are parts of the big plots, but maybe we need more self-contained mini-adventures, one-nighters that more approximate an episode of the tv show. A one-night plot all on it's own, not just a piece of the big picture, with a beginning middle and end. I think(this may not be true, but hear me out) having ONLY scenes that are part of the BIG PLOTS (TM) can make people who don't get to rp much feel left out, because they only get ot play in one little part of a big plot, and can get LOST a little because they don't know all the details of the big plot. Keep uo te good work, Blue dude'''

''New characters? Well personally I'm of the opinion that a large ++avail list is a GOOD thing since it gives people more options, and loses you nothing. WINK.

And I take your point about smaller stuff. I do try to run a lot of small one-off things, but also try to make them tie into bigger plots. So if you have no idea what the BIG plot is, you can still go to all the one-off things and heck, perhaps not even notice there's a bigger plot coming. You're right though, and I'm totally for more one-off things. But sometimes, it is cool that you don't know everything, because well ICly, you couldn't. And it is fine for your character to be confused, but always ask people rather than just sit about wondering silently.''

006
Good job on the getting people to temp some Sweeps.

''Heh, thanks. It is just a shame that Defcon /selfishly/ went and god a promotion so the thing fell a bit flat. But hey, roll the dice, you might get snake-eyes, but that's the sort of casual-rp thing I dont' mind specific characters getting temped etc for''

007
'''Blueshifty. Ok. I think TPstaff's been rocking as of late, and this year has been gold as far as plots go. I'm especially loving how we're working everything together story-arc wise.



The future...the future looks good, but I'll issue this one warning: don't let us forget that TPs can be...well...simple. My biggest fear (and boy, is this a good fear to have) is that we'll keep one-upping ourselves until our TPs are year-long novel-like extravaganzas, and we'll never see another three day "Something weird yet not particularly epic happens and people deal with it" kind of TP. I'd suggest that after this most recent arc ends we slim down and let the MUSH breathe a while before hitting it with the next life-changing event. We can have fun with the small things, too. Again, this is /far/ from a complaint, more a hopefully helpful suggestion.

I'd like to use this space to mention how much Scrapper rocked the Olympics. That is all.'''

''The way I like to run things is that there might be a long background runup (hello Books of Primus, your time is coming soon!) but TP action itself, I'll never, ever take more than 2-3 weeks because otherwise you're just totally exhausting an idea of all the possibilities. Ending a tp should be exciting, not a chore, so sometimes if a tp seems 'short', it is because you want to leave people wanting more, rather than wear them out. Of course, that's just my view on it. But don't worry, while I like foreshadowing, TP stuff itself will never drag on. And I want to make things accessable to more players. It's a balance. We don't always get it right, but we've been hitting the mark more often than not recently, I think.''

008
'''Blueshift, Blueshift, Blueshift... What can I say- Dude, you rock! I've been *loving* your TP's and had a blast being squishyfied, thrown into a civil war, runnin around eating Igyak burgers at the Olympics, and most recently blasing up the Creonite fleet while saying "By your command!" The long and the short of it is that I think you're doing an amazing job with the TPs! Please keep up the good work. And thank you for all you do for the MUSH!'''

''What a nice comment. I hope to be able to keep it up!''

009
'''Blueshift is an active and productive member of the 2k5 staff. He provides lots of fun stuff to do, he is largely diplomatic in the face of some pretty embarassingly tricky situations to handle, and is pretty much the best MUSH director 2k5 has ever had. Period. '''

''Thanks! Though I'm just TP Head. 2k5 used to have a director, but now it is run like some sort of Roman Government, minus the togas. It means that I will never get my Actionmaster Thundercracker tp :(''

010
'''Honestly one of the best, if not the best, staffers on this game. I've said it once and I'll keep saying it: Blueshift is your greatest asset, and you really shouldn't look down on that. He contributes the most, does the most work, and has dedicated an insane amount of time to this game where many others would have burned out -- especially given the uphill battles he sometimes has to engage in. Really, if there were more admin like Blueshift on this place, this game would be much better off. He dares to do thinks that would shake up the accepted status quo, all while keeping a firm grasp on the actual theme of Transformers. He's my hero. :( :( :((( My hat is off to you Blueshift, you are a terrific guy and an extra-terrific staffer. '''

''More niceness. Thanks again. And as always, should you feel I stop doing all the above, I want to know asap. It is always cool to shoot me down in flames, I encourage it!''

011
'''Hey Blueshift. Overall you've done a bang-up job as usual. You're really a big contributing factor why the MUSH is active and fun and I appreciate the time and passion you put in. TPwise I have liked the serious and realistic TPs. But I haven't liked how some feel scripted - makes it feel a bit like playing in someone's fanfic. It's ok to a degree but should be kept to a minimum. Especially if one 'side' is predestined to lose (though the other side often feels the opposite ;). I know the MUSH isn't about win/lose, but recognize each faction's goals and their players interests, think about what counts as a win or loss for them, and try to ensure maximum fun (within reason)! For example if the Autobots shoot down the Argosy due to the agreement was for the Argosy to be temporary, how does this make Decepticons feel? Why should they even show up for such a scene? Or if the Cons commit genocide even if the Bots try to stop them how does this make the Bots feel? Don't allow a predestined 'win' for one side if it means a 'loss' for the other side. Coming out on top in a battle due to # of players active, or how they coordinate on IC channels is fair. So are 'wins' like discovering Books of Primus first or having mobile bases, secret bases, etc...where it's more due to the player's drive/RP/coordination and not just because someone thought or agreed it would be cool to have things end one way or the other. You personally, you've been awesome as TPSTAFF, the above is more directed to our TPWIZ. If there's no easy way to improve it I can accept that but I'd at least like you to seriously consider it. As for your RP, I do feel you kind of play all your characters the same, as has been said before...I see this especially with Raindance who I thought was 'witty and well-liked' according to his +finger? Raindance and Cyclonus feel kind of like Blueshift without limbs or Blueshift on steroids respectively :). But you're not in any way obligated to change your RP, you do keep it fun and interesting, and this isn't really a review of your RP but of your adminly work. For my MUSH genie wish, kind of sappy but I'd wish for more OOC communication/consideration of player's feelings. Statements like 'no one would cry if player X leaves' make me worry, as does heated discussion on a faction ooc channel that isn't visible to everyone. In addition, too many people are offensive and derogatory - they say they're joking, but fact it some people ARE gonna be hurt or offended. Is it their fault for not being thick-skinned, or is it the fault of the offensive ones for being insensitive jerks? :) Just tone it down a bit, keep it civil and show some tact and I'll be a happy camper.'''

''Thanks. I must say, I'm really not a fan of no-sells. The Argosy /was/ a mistake but that's the only time there has been any predetermined outcomes. Just about everything else is so open ended it isn't funny. Actually, most TPs I've done have been changed on the fly because of people's reactions and IC decisions - and that is fantastic. On the Con subject, well, the fact is that if the Cons go to a planet and start shooting people, the good guys WILL take a while to arrive because they're not psychic, so there'll always be some collatoral damage. But genocide would only occur if the good guys then just sat on the sidelines and watched the bad guys walk all over the little aliens :(

I will say though, that Cyclonus is so far from Blueshift it ain't funny, and if you don't believe me, come RP with me more. I'm using him as more a Desk Monkey though, so seeing him in battle should be rare. But yeah ;)''

012
'''Blueshift, you are a very, very cool and very, very fun person. Unfortunately, this is a problem. You see, you're TOO cool and TOO fun. I'm sure people will tell you otherwise, but this is a huge problem. Sometimes I want to be a complete prick and ruin as many people's days as possible, but you're TOO lenient and sometimes let me off the hook with a light warning. I say sometimes, because other times you'll go and actually /help/ me with this endeavor. You're WAY too helpful, dude. You also give good advice. TOO good advice. I remember I came onto +public all upset and ready to kick some ass, but you were there and talked me down. That day I went and volunteered at a local soup kitchen as opposed to going and punching my little sister in the face as originally planned. I would prefer if you kept your brilliant and wholly intelligent advice to yourself in the future.

Basically, stop being a fun and intelligent person and start being a mean, merciless dictator, okay? That's all I ask.'''

Okay I will put on my Mussolinishift hat :(

013
'''I think that in my limited time here ...that things are going well...I've had alot of help getting into the swing of things. Do however think there need to be a library of MUSH commands I can turn to...not just a few of them ALL OF THEM...I see people come into the repair bay and get refuled and I have no idea how to do that! I don't know most of the commands ...it would be benifitial to all if I didn't have to ask BLUE how to do everything..even though I am sure he does not mind ..I think it takes away from the RP when I fill OOC chat with clatter because I am not as skilled as the rest. I do really like the people here.. I have been in a few Transformers RPs and hated them immensely the moment you do something wrong it's just the end of the world...here if I mess something up it's dismissed and we move on...I like that...if I could have one wish from the MUSH genie ....oh god it would be a MUSH COMMAND TOME..with all the commands and their definitions outlined. I.E. (Type: System check - This will bring up your system information) I didn't know I could do that till yesterday! HOLY CRAP! :D'''

''Absolutely - I'm always looking for ways to make the MUSH more accessable to people so if ever anyone has a suggestion then please, let me know. Also since we have a wiki, anyone can update it and add pages, so if there's stuff you think it is important people know, add it to the 'getting started' pages linked to on the front page! Anyone can update wikis, anyone! Yaay!''

014
''Blueshift is easily one of the best assets on this game and probably ought to be considered for some kind of MUSHing MVP award if such a thing existed. To say this is not some kind of anonymous ego-stroking for Blueshift, either. Saying this means that he consistently puts forth the effort to help make the game:

1. accessible to new players,

2. accessible to old players,

3. fresh, fun, and engaging for everyone

And that alone is pretty incredible, given that prior to him so little had been done and that little was near-disasterous to the continued viability of the game. He is always approachable, completely friendly, strives for the mid-road between outrageous and "grim and gritty," and is the perfect interface between conservative admin trends and 'have your cake and eat it too' player pushes. I remember someone once condemned Blueshift for being arrogant. If being arrogant means staying up till an ungodly hour, knowing you have to put in a full day's worth of work that very day, just to keep a schedule moving or just to merely shake up a quiet IC atmosphere, then that individual needs to go look up the definition for 'selfless,' instead.

Blueshift I will tell you directly, again and again, that your portrayal as Galvatron in the Decepticon Civil War TP was phenomenal. Without a doubt an amazing, accurate, and enthralling depiction of the comic book representation of our favorite robot tyrant. It is depictions like these, and your amazing fortitude to want to engage the MUSH in a steady stream of quality roleplay that nearly make it a crime for you to be on such a different timezone than the rest of the MUSH.

Yet we cannot fault you on your time zone. We should not dare, given all that you've done for us. You've helped make TPs accessible to all walks of the game in addition to limiting it to particular groups. We Autobot players felt great pride and accomplishment in getting a shot at taking down that Argosy ship. We Decepticon players were chilled and emboldened when Galvatron, from high above in Unicron's head, offered the great decree of: join me or die. Saying kudos would be too wussy of a complement here. Thank you sincerely, instead.''

'''Danke. I do try for range in TPs, and often some people don't like one far end, but like a buffet, you can pick and choose what you want. You dont HAVE to eat the prawns. Thanks for recognising that.'''

015
''I still love Blueshift to death. Are you sure I can't steal him?''

'''You can! But I am VERY high maintenance!'''

016
''The Good: Blueshift has put a great deal of effort into TF2K5. You never catch him directly complaining, and even when he does have an indirect complaint to make, he is very polite and discreet about it. He stays up way past his bed-time, quite often, just to make sure that a scene goes correctly. He codes all the time to make the props needed. He is a fantastic RPer, with great range and depth. He does an excellent job with Cyclonus, exuding an aura of menace and keeping everyone on their toes. Meanwhile, the actual Blueshift character is fairly comical. Paradigm is a snobby, shady scientist. Raindance is a kooky journalist. I have never actually seen Blueshift play Leet, Groove, or Rimmer, but just judging by their +fingers, they're all pretty different. He does an interesting IDW-esque Thunderwing, and he was a fabulous temporary Galvatron. Lord Chumley is *special*. Finally, he does all sorts of one shot characters. Blueshift always at least considers an idea, even if it is stupid or off the wall. He is very supportive of players who want to run out and do things, ICly. Whenever I ask him, "Can I do X?" the answer is usually some version of "Yes", provided that I have not asked to blow up Antarctica and reshape it into the face of Emirate Xaaron or something like that. He also foreshadows like mad, and I approve of this. He provides all sorts of plot hooks for people to follow up on. He also tries to inject meaning most of his plots. For example, the humanization TP wasn't just, "Well, it's fun to turn TFs humans, so let's do it." He actually tied it into a greater threat, the Azreal, and I have no doubt that the Azreal will be back to haunt us. He also tied it seamlessly into the previous TP, no jerky starts and stops. I always look forward to Blueshift's scenes, and I always mourn whenever I miss one.

The Bad: There has been something of a lull after the Olympics. I know that there is a lot scheduled to start any minute, and there needs to be a lull for people to catch their breath, but seems just seem a bit dull. Also, I know that Blueshift is in a different timezone that most of us, and I bear him no ill will whatsoever for occasionally sleeping through a scene. He deserves his rest; he works hard enough as it is. However, might I suggest that he start his scenes a bit earlier, maybe a 5:30 EST or whatever, if that would make it easier on him. Also, I know he needs to keep his schemes secret, but maybe he could write some non-revealing 'break in case of no Blueshift' files for the other admin, so that if Blueshift does sleep through a scene, a different admin can open the file, get an idea what's supposed to happen in the scene, and run it. Like, the Creon space fleet attack scene was pretty simple; I think any admin could have run that, based off a few notes about the ending. Also, some of his scenes get pretty big, and it's hard for anyone to pay attention to everything. He might want to think about splitting up some of his bigger scenes into two or more smaller scenes and handing off a bit to another admin, so that the scenes stay smaller in size, and poses do not get missed quite so often.

The Rambling: People often complain that Blueshift endorses too much silly. I will admit that some of his characters have a good deal of silly about them, but some of his characters are also rock-cold serious. See Cyclonus. However, none of the scenes I have seen Blueshift run, lately, have really been very silly at all. Take Alkor Zephyr or the attack on the Creonite Fleet. Those were in no way silly scenes. The only ones I can remember doing silly scenes recently are Durango and Americon, not Blueshift at all. I tend to feel that there was always an undercurrent of silliness, even before Blueshift rose to power. I can look back to years when Blueshift didn't even log on, and there were silly scenes back then. Let us suppose that the original show was 50 percent mediocre, 25 percent silly, and 25 percent serious, high-quality stuff. These percentages are made up; argue them as you will. There is a vocal group of RPers who want TF2K5 to stay in that serious, high-quality mode all the time. Then there is a vocal group of RPers who want the silly stuff. (I don't think anyone actually wants the mediocre, but I could be wrong.) I am not really sure how a compromise can be reached. It is usually pretty obvious to tell, right from the start, whether a scene will be serious or silly, although some scenes do combine a bit of both. If people like silly RP, they can just avoid the serious scenes. If people prefer serious RP, they can just avoid the silly scenes. That, and there are a lot more serious scenes than silly scenes, so the place is still tailored more toward the serious RPers. I am not really sure why people need to join scenes that they know they are going to dislike and then explain about it. Of course, here I am, complaining about them. In short, I do not feel there is too much silly RP on TF2K5, and even if there was, it isn't Blueshift's fault.

The Conclusion: Rock on, Blueshift. Rock on. With your pink phone.''

'''Thanks for the comments. I do try to encompass any idea players have in some form or another. It isn't always possible, but where it is, I want to encourage and reward people coming up with ideas. And yes, there has been a bit of a tp lull after the Olympics, partly because I didn't want to wear people out with event fatigue. That said, there has been a decent amount going on, I was hoping the Decepticon rampup of activity on Cybertron would be a bit bigger, but hey!

Also yes boo narcalepsy. But most tps I run I try to do in a modular fashion, so if a scene is missed one day, it doesn't HAVE to be run then. I do prefer to split scenes up. It does happen more often than you'd think, but can also be a bit tricky, since people naturally gravitate towards busy rooms. That's life I guess.

I think the silly-serious thing is pretty much done to death, but to me it boils down to this - if people want to go to a scene, they will. You can't force someone to rp, and as long as most overarching tps are serious, or at least neutral, then there shouldn't be any problem with what consenting adults are doing in a room (unless it breaks any rules >:. I don't like it when people overreact, or judge scenes based on heresay. '''

017
''I can't say that I have any real (negative) criticisim for Blueshift. He's one of the more active staffers, readily approachable, and thus far I have liked his TP's, both serious and light. (I prefer 'serious' admittedly) What would be nice, are a series of TPs linking in to an overreaching goal, this we saw with the Pretender-TP I thought, and liked having something to work too other than random raids that get tedious after a while. A mixture of RP both on Earth and in space (including Cybertron) is great, and I'll say great job! Keep it up, and try to get more sleep.''

'''You are in luck! Stuff is coming, and has been coming and slowly ramping up for the past few months. The idea being that at the time, things are fun one or two-off things, but looking back, you go 'ooooh'. I've had two players work out nearly the whole web, but I'm not expecting people to, just a fun diversion. But oh yes. Big stuff is happening!'''

018


For the sake of the reviewer, thanks for the nice comments, and yeah, on that last point you're totally right, I concede :)

019
''Blueshift has been probably one of the best and most productive features that Staff has to offer the players on 2k5. While his techniques are often questionable, his results do justify the ends. Matt has always been helpful, kind, and caring. No matter the audience, no matter the issue, no matter the situation, he has been a great trooper and did his best to make sure that everyone who came to his events, or any event for that matter, was able to leave with a smile. Sometimes it did not work out that way but he put in the extra bit of work to make sure that the next time he ran an event, everyone involved with then be able to have a smile. His efforts on the Wiki are a phenomenal leap for getting 2k5 to be part of the current Web2.0 world. I don't quit understand why he keeps working so hard considering he doesn't get paid for his work and efforts on the wiki. Sometimes it feels like the push for the wiki has made Matt slow down on it but then he comes back with a billion efforts and editions to the wiki. He has handled player issues perfectly well in the last couple months and constantly tries to resolve issues at hand as if it was his job. While he might not be confrontational and force issues, he makes sure that the players know what is going on and how they can perform better to get the mush to be a better family of players. His efforts on helping with the EDC and Terrans has been much appreciated. As an active terran; behind the scenes or ICly, I am happy that Blueshift pays an interest to the faction. While ideas may be shot down for the faction, Blueshift doesn't stop at a simple no. He looks for a compromise. He's amazingly active with all the factions; Terran/Decepticon/Autobot/Junkion/TP etc. It's impressive considering his time zone. I had a lot more to comment on but I decided a barebones on how Blueshift is should simplify things. I wish him well with the rest of his +reviews!''

'''Bless you, thanks. Its unfortunate that there are only so many hours in a day, but I'm glad the ones I spend with you guys are appreciated!'''