Tinytalk Episode 012: MUSH and relationships
Submitted by javelin on Sun, 2007-09-30 08:27.
Click here to download this episode: 
Click here to subscribe to the podcast: 
Tinytalk is a podcast about MUSHes and other text-based virtual worlds, and the players who play them. In this episode:
- [00:00] Intro
- [00:36] When online goes offline
- [03:34] Interview with Mal and Inara of Serenity MUSH
Links to stuff mentioned in this episode:
If you have mushing questions you'd like answered, or suggestions for future shows, send email (or audio files) to tinytalk at javelin.pennmush.org. You can also leave a voice message at 206-333-1542.
Tinytalk is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License .
»
- javelin's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Click 
Big Damn Thank You to Javelin
From Mal and Inara, Brice and Brooke, we would like to thank Javelin for taking the time to interview us for this show...
It was really a lot of fun and we hope to work with him on other shows.
I hope you all enjoyed it.
Thinks,
Brice and Brooke
Mal and Inara @ Serenity MUSH
http://serenitymush.com
Big Damn Thank You to Brice & Brooke
While being married and living together is an extreme, I find personally knowing the people I work with at the staff level to be very helpful. The dynamic is significantly different than a person you know only in a text environment.
Managing situations becomes much, much simpler. You know who can handle a problem efficiently and effectively. Many times, they are doing so before you even see it. Knowing a person transcends the typical online trust barrier. It allows tossing problems over the fence without worry that it will not be resolved. That environment produces much less stress and is more conducive to future progress.
I do have one question and I'm certain it is an uncommon occurence. Given a very difficult situation, who is the final decision maker? In all games, someone is ultimately the final judge. At this stage of the game, I'm sure you've hit it.
Again, thanks for the perspective into Serenity and taking the time with Javelin.
-- Mark
Re: Mark's Question
Mark, in all honesty after talking with Brooke, we really don't think one of us has anymore say then the other one of the couple as it regards the MUSH.
I can think of times when I wanted something to happen, and Brooke didn’t want the same thing to happen and she gave in and trusted me. I can think of times when the reverse was true.
Most of that debate if not all of it happens at the dinner table, off the game.
I have publicly said many times, with out Brooke at my side I could not spend the time I do, with the commitment I do to Serenity, in that case, the most honest answer is Brooke.
However it is a power that she as never really had needed to use.
Thanks for your kind words, and the question.
As always my door is open.
Brice/Mal
http://serenitymush.com
Script
Intro
Welcome to Tinytalk, a podcast about MUSHes and other text-based virtual worlds. I'm your host, Javelin, and this episode focuses on relationships, on and off the MUSH.
When online goes offline
When I started MUSHing, meeting another MUSHer in real life was a fairly bold move. Maybe that's because the Internet was much more geek-heavy in those days and many people MUSHed in order to get away from their real selves. My first meetings with other MUSH players were DuneMUSH players – about a dozen at dinner at the Old Spaghetti factory in Jack London Square in Oakland, and several others on an individual basis thereafter. Since then, I've had the privilege of meeting quite a few other MUSHers face-to-face.
At first, I found this really awkward. Should I call them by their MUSH name or their real name? What will we talk about besides the MUSH? What if they're really different than they come across online? Now, though, I really enjoy this. Maybe it's just a matter of practice – these days, most of the people I meet for the first time haven't done it as often as I have, so I'm rarely the more anxious one. But mostly, I think it's that getting the opportunity to see someone in the flesh and share some other aspects of our lives beyond the game builds a kind of bond that carries over online. Now you can see their real faces and hear their real voices in your mind when they connect, and it's probably not wrong to say that now you have a greater incentive and ability to treat them as distinct individuals.
Ok, the answers to the question: MUSH name or real name. I always opt for real name in real life, but if we're discussing other MUSHers not present, I'll use MUSH names of those folks unless both the person I'm meeting and I have met the other MUSHer in person. I will admit, though, that there are MUSHers I've met several times and feel quite close to, but when I think about them, I use their MUSH names in my mind. Hard habit to break.
What will we talk about? I always ask about what they do off-screen – jobs, hobbies, family. With MUSHers from other countries, politics and culture are always good. And, yes, we usually spend at least some time talking about our common MUSH, or our MUSH histories or MUSH plans.
What if they're different than online? I've had a surprise now and then; I once met a DuneMUSH player whose character was male, whose online OOC persona was male, and who hadn't told me that she was a male-to-female transgender. It made picking her out of a crowd a bit tricky, but it was also kind of fun. I've never met anyone I thought was pleasant online who came across as unpleasant in person, though.
I'm glad that I've come to like this and do it more, to trust in the players I meet. I've even had some at my house, which I never would have dreamed of back when I began. It's become my custom to buy the first round for any player of one of my MUSHes who deigns to meet me in person somewhere for the first time, and it's been well worth the price of the beer.
Do you have stories of RL meetings that you'd like to share? Leave them on the show voice mail or email me and we'll feature them on a future show.
Interview with Mal and Inara
Brooke and Brice Staeheli are Inara and Mal, co-Gods of SerenityMUSH, a Firefly-based MUSH. They're also married. We spoke about what it's like to run a MUSH with your life partner.
(No transcript available)