DSADec 9, 2022
hannah online

When I was in college i got into flight simulators for a minute, and discovered there was a whole community of people who roleplay as air traffic controllers on a multiplayer version of MS flight simulator. There was specialized radar and comms software and you could sign up for classes where you learned real-world lingo and techniques for directing air traffic. I tried it for a couple weeks and realized it was basically "having a stressful job" as a hobby

anyway now I'm a moderator on mastodon

Dec 8, 2022 at 8:05pmWeb
Show threadAndy   #RIPYassieDec 8, 2022

@prehensile some might say that's a

p a t t e r n

Show threadKatDec 9, 2022
@andyy @prehensile a flight pattern
Show threadAnaKaye 🖖🦀🛸✒️Dec 9, 2022
@kat @andyy @prehensile Well-played!
Show threadarkywarkyDec 8, 2022
@prehensile those people are really cool, one of my friends does that
Show threadSvetlana   Dec 8, 2022
@prehensile in college, I read books on aviation to try and be better at kerbal space program.
Show threadBogusMeatFactoryDec 8, 2022
@prehensile I actually worked with an old navy vet at a Blockbuster video that did this when he wasn't working. Seems wild... I could only imagine what creative trolls would do. Play the long game to create ultimate chaos
Show threadA-Dog McPants 🇺🇸🇵🇭Dec 9, 2022
@Bogusmeatfactory @prehensile I read this replay and thought "'old navy' vet" ... like he worked at an Old Navy, and I thought "Wow, he must have had a rough go in retail if he referred to himself as a 'vet' after doing it."
Show threadBogusMeatFactoryDec 9, 2022
@alyssapants @prehensile I am CACKLING at this! Also retail definitely is a rough go hahaha! The HORROR STORIES.
Show threadA-Dog McPants 🇺🇸🇵🇭Dec 9, 2022
@Bogusmeatfactory @prehensile haha I totally agree. I am a "vet" of retail myself, which probably contributed to my thinking "that's pretty plausible."
Show threadeilidh Dec 8, 2022
@prehensile i have been a ground controller on vatsim hahahaha
Show threadbeetlejuice's ghoulish wifeDec 8, 2022
@prehensile would you get kicked out if you roleplayed as a really bad air traffic controller
Show threadhannah onlineDec 8, 2022
@mark they were pretty strict! you had to pass a bunch of tests just to be allowed to do it on the public servers and I never got that far
Show threadDonchoDec 8, 2022

@prehensile My first flight simulator was (I think?) F15, back then in 1998. But maybe it was even earlier because "Elite" was a very cool spaceflight simulator back in 1984, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_(video_game).

Ah, the good, ol' times. Nowadays, I'm super happy to be able to play way, way more realistic game on a machine, probably 100,000x faster.

Elite (video game) - Wikipedia

Show thread[zaphod@::1]#Dec 8, 2022
@prehensile
You must be familiar with Airforceproud95 on YouTube 😆 then.
Show threadDo NOT Fear|🇺🇸🇺🇦🐊🦉🌊💙Dec 8, 2022
@prehensile I didn't realize mastodon had moderators. TIL (Guess it's up to each server, anyway)
Show threadhannah onlineDec 8, 2022
@jdrch mastodon.social is notorious for having pretty bad moderation, that's one reason why it's blocked or silenced by a lot of other servers and i typically recommend that people on there migrate to a smaller one
Show threadDo NOT Fear|🇺🇸🇺🇦🐊🦉🌊💙Dec 8, 2022
@prehensile People have been telling me to do that since I joined, but since the server is no longer accepting new accounts this is pretty OG. I might in time. It's just not worth the effort to me right now
Show threadIndigo HazeDec 8, 2022
@prehensile "So explosive ordinance technician wasn't stressful enough and you decided to go with nude plutonium juggling?" ;)
Show threadRobin Forlonge PattersonDec 8, 2022
@prehensile #FlightSimulators on home computer for my primary-school-age son may have been what led him to train as a pilot. Even our #Commodore16 had a flight #simulator and a moon lander game. He now flies long-haul at age 40.
Show threadAdrian  Dec 8, 2022
@prehensile I randomly got recommended to a MS Flight Simulator video on YouTube just yesterday and I started watching it out of curiosity. The community’s professionalism and realism in their role playing is really impressive, I honestly respect their dedication. That being said, much respect for your work as a moderator lol 🫡
Show threadLiamSora ​ ​Dec 8, 2022
@prehensile Yeah I almost got into Vatsim while I was still WFH a lot towards the end of 2020 then decided it was too much. Now I mostly fly offline because then I can do other things like listen to podcasts while flying instead of having to be listening out for ATC for like 3 hours straight.
Show threadwilcoDec 9, 2022
@prehensile stack 'em pack 'em and rack 'em, fren ✌️🚬🧐
Show threadWill SchneeklothDec 9, 2022
@prehensile @CCRuns thank you for your service 🫡😄
Show threadTiggersongDec 9, 2022
@prehensile 100% this! Exactly right. My husband uses X-Plane and people do this in it, as well.
Show threadGreg SmithDec 9, 2022
@prehensile a few decades ago - back when people used to call 411 to find out phone numbers - I read an article about the operators. Phone co had recently switched to a new system where you record your request, the operator would listen to that (& could speed it up), and, unless they needed to ask you for more info, they could just tap the lookup result (which would be read to you) and move on. So a good op could do a ton of lookups. Article said the good ones really liked the fast pace.
Show threadgeekpowerDec 9, 2022
@prehensile you are very wise.
Show threadAlexTheRetroChickenDec 9, 2022
@prehensile this deserves ALL the boosts
Show threadS. HuffDec 9, 2022
@prehensile i’m so glad to be reminded of this 😄 i remember when i first learned about VATSIM and it restored some of my faith in the fundamental goodness of people
Show threadsortiusDec 9, 2022
@prehensile VATSIM isn't just role playing, much like flight simming isn't just role playing. It's people training and getting experience for roles in ATC or as a pilot
Show threadPieter Kuiper 🌍🇳🇱Dec 9, 2022

@sortius @prehensile
So it occurred to me that they could be called in if there was a strike of air traffic controllers or of the pilots union...

... not my best idea maybe.

Show threadRev. GothAliceDec 9, 2022

@prehensile Have you tried running mining/manufacturing in EVE Online? Or just being in a player-run guild I mean clan I mean group… I mean… corporation?

Second Job: The Game.

Luckily, flight sims offer the comfort that no, you're not killing 200 people in that failure to take off. (Extend your flaps, bro! 😜) AirForceProud is a great YouTuber for highlighting the hilarity and fun that can be had. ("Only drug runners have landed here", "that hot air balloon is going orbital…", &c.)

Show threadRev. GothAliceDec 9, 2022

@prehensile Having grown up in an airforce base town, the terminology and procedures are actually… slightly… attractive to me? The comfort of procedure and check-lists.

LockPickingLawyer has "first we turn all the cylinders fully clockwise…" meditative lock picking, AirForceProud has some meditative takeoff/landing routing, IVR clearance, and airspace transitions.

And trying to land 747's on aircraft carriers. And mostly succeeding. Sometimes.

Show threadAlixDec 9, 2022
@alice @prehensile Corporation management in EVE Online is how I first learnt to configure role-based access control (RBAC - crafting patterns of security settings for who can do what, with what, where). It’s entirely real, and at least as complex/powerful as the RBAC systems I’ve configured in my paid work.
Show threadRev. GothAliceDec 9, 2022

@alix @prehensile I helped found the Brave Collective back in the day (whoo, Hek is so long ago at this point), eventually rose to head of diplomacy (and spycraft), and in one of our wars we won by default.

One of our agents infiltrated the enemy corp and got trusted enough to gain permission to un-anchor every spacefaring object and clean out every corporate inventory from each station.

The screenshots of the loot were jaw-dropping.

Show threadRev. GothAliceDec 9, 2022

@alix @prehensile Even more wildly, real-world infosec enters the picture. Eve is "serious bzns".

Fleet movement announcement? Send each player a customized version tweaked ever so slightly based on a hash of their player name. A copy leaks? You know who leaked it.

For serious.
And that's the tip of the iceberg.

(Social graph correlation when you hand character API keys over…)

Show threadAlixDec 9, 2022
@alice @prehensile For a game that’s nominally about space pixels, players could bring a remarkable range of skills to EVE Online. Corporate management and comms, diplomacy, propaganda. “Spreadsheets online” for market work. Lore development. Resource prospecting and extraction. Many layers of security work. And then there’s the actual blowing up of spaceships. I don’t want to do it again, but I do have some nostalgia for it.
Show threadRev. GothAliceDec 9, 2022

@alix @prehensile For me, there are moments that stand out. Far beyond others. Our war for Rahadalon's constellation. Bomber's Bar runs. Diplomatic acts and cooperative fun.

"Uh… Motre? Do we have anyone who can pilot a dreadnaught?"

"Wh… what? Are you saying you HAVE one?"

"I do as of about two minutes ago. But I can't even sit in it, let alone get it out here."

It died. To a multiboxer.

Gloriously, and to the cheers of the newbies trying to use it offensively—while failing.

Fun per hour.

Show threadRev. GothAliceDec 9, 2022

@alix @prehensile There's also the… impressively broad impact and reach.

Benghazi impacted me.
I knew one of the diplomats who died. He was also a diplomat in EVE. That still hurts.

One of the mothers of a newbie from the group, who died tragically, would join us on yearly memorial fleets. Community.

Show threadAlixDec 9, 2022
@prehensile @alice Vile Rat? Yeah, I had friends who were very cut up at his death. Also saw some mythologising of him that… wasn’t consistent with what I’d known of him in life. But that’s a thing people do.
Show threadAlixDec 9, 2022
@prehensile @alice And yes, EVE Online did community intensely. The lynch mobs as well as the support networks.
Show threadKatieDec 9, 2022
@prehensile fwiw I thought this was funny
Show threadMariya DelanoDec 9, 2022

@prehensile haha relatable
A few weeks ago I got too stressed from my work with tech company clients and operations of running a business, so I would unwind by playing…. Game Dev Story, an iOS game where you have to manage the operations of a video game development business.

My husband wouldn’t know if I was screaming about raising profits in the game or in my work 😂

Show threadSuperMoosieDec 9, 2022
@mariyadelano @prehensile
Plot twist: It isn't a game, it is training AI to be able to manage video game development.
Show threadMariya DelanoDec 9, 2022
@SuperMoosie @prehensile damn it the companies I built were too successful 😤
Show threadMs. Penny OakenDec 9, 2022
@prehensile have you been shown the secret handshake yet
Show threadNat Weaver 🏳‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️Dec 9, 2022
@prehensile 😂
Show threadBrian Danger HicksDec 9, 2022
@prehensile You might also enjoy: joining a model railroad club and becoming their dispatcher
Show threadCasey CallendrelloDec 9, 2022
@ckape @prehensile ya so some German dorks made https://www.stellwerksim.de/ which is basically that. Entire European rail network, real time, connected, and a freaking SIP network for yelling at your neighbor.
StellwerkSim

Show threadTed FaberDec 9, 2022
@prehensile VATSIM kinda rules. 😉
Show threadSaanichGuy 🇨🇦🇨🇦Dec 9, 2022
@prehensile haha. Learning from past experiences
Show threadKaren E. Lund 💙💛Dec 9, 2022

@prehensile An excellent reminder for young people (and even older people) that when somebody says, "Why are you wasting your time with that? It'll never amount to anything" they are likely to be wrong.

Things that interest us in youth often lead to skills we can use later on.

Show thread(migrated) chaos |Dec 9, 2022
@prehensile *tips hat*
Show threadP StewartDec 9, 2022

@prehensile From what I've seen part of the fun of that is ATC-simmers playing it completely straight and in character while random drop-in players show up performing aerobatics in a Wright Flyer or buzzing the airport in a space shuttle or something.

Ahhh, the internet.

Show threadTrisha Lynn 🇵🇭 🇺🇸 🇨🇦Dec 9, 2022
@pstewart @prehensile I can't vouch for all of the content on the channel, but Airforceproud95's YT FlightSimulator vids can be scream-laugh inducing.
Show threadP StewartDec 9, 2022
@trishalynn @prehensile That guy's videos were the exact ones I was thinking of, yeah. :D
Show threadfunkypenguinDec 9, 2022
@prehensile sounds like dwarf fortress!
Show threadzippy 🇺🇦Dec 9, 2022
@prehensile this video of a Flight Sim X player going from casual chatty local airport ATC to beyond O'Hare level intense cracks me up. (change at 0:50-1:00) https://youtu.be/lPNN8w2XlwY
TROLLING as an Air Traffic Controller in Flight Sim X! (Multiplayer)

YouTube
Show threadKitsyDec 9, 2022

@prehensile

I remember that software.

I also appreciate the metaphor. ;-)

Show threadLinaBDec 9, 2022
@prehensile and howz that working out for you?🤩
Show threadLorian TaylorDec 9, 2022
@prehensile
Probably a lot more fun!!