Bear with me as I try to convert hastily jotted notes into actually fluent English, and forgive any terseness due to this fact! Also, TEXT AVALANCHE.
Structure
1-2 representatives from each sounds great. I'd suggest an RPC council with a private section of the boards only they can see to discuss problems, and potentially have a monthly meeting to keep everyone updated on what's going on to keep problems smoothed and the cross-guild RP flowing. Real authority would for the most part be deferred to the actual guild leaders, who may or may not be the actual guild representatives, but in the (should be) very rare event that the council has to make a mandate, it would carry the weight of the support of all guilds of the coalition, via their representatives. Too much stuff from On High will make the RPC seem restrictive, and people will begin to chafe and resent the perceived control. Leave as much as possible up to the leaders and members of the community and step in only when it's necessary... Not even every time it's requested, necessarily. Some will try to hide behind higher authority rather than resolve problems themselves.
Neutrality and Authority
Essentially, to my mind, the RPC should exert its authority as little as possible. It should be a last-resort thing to head off trouble, not a set of guidelines all must follow. When problems arise (and they will, believe me, the two most drama-prone groups in MMOs are end-gamers and RPers), the guild leader(s) of the person/people in question ought to be expected to take care of things. If they cannot, THEN they can appeal to the RPC council, or the RPC council can ask them to step up resolution then step in if the leaders can't/won't handle it. As for slander against the RPC as a whole... It's too broad a subject with too many nuances to make hard-and-fast rules. Let the RPC council discuss them as they come up and attempt to reach as peaceful and drama-free a solution as possible.
RPC Standards
PvP conflict is always INCREDIBLY sticky stuff. I generally try to avoid it even if it's a bit OOC to do so for my character because with no clear rules in place and the fact that you simply can't kill another character no matter what, it just turns into a mess of trying to get in a good fight without stepping on anyone's toes. It's fairly common for people to get so personally invested in their characters that they OOCly get hurt/offended when their char gets kicked around. I strongly support drafting up some RPC-standard conflict resolution guidelines. I don't necessarily think they ought to be enforced as a first solution, they ought to be something to fall back upon if the involved parties can't reach a resolution within their own guild's in-house policies so we don't have to go pussyfooting around and shy from character conflicts for fear of offense.
In the same vein, standards/etiquette/guidelines/etc for the RPC isn't a half bad idea, but try to keep them simple and general. Two complete delineated rulesets, both individual guilds and then the RPC will make heads spin. We're here to have fun, not be lawyers. I've seen some ideas expressed that I think work pretty well: Event organizer's event, event organizer's rules. If a conflict flares up and they just can't work it out, there are RPC guidelines to fall back upon, but this should be a last resort. Again, too much micromanagement will make people chafe.
The Public
RPers can seem pretty insular to the community at large simply due to the fact we have our own thing and our own plots going that are OURS, and nobody has a clue what it is we're standing around prattling about in the town square (though CPM tries to avoid RPing in busy areas out of courtesy to non-RPers). Sometimes passersby will try to interact with RPers, not realizing what's going on, and often RPers will ignore them because, let's face it, it's hard to RP with someone who isn't RPing. They use concepts and game terms that don't translate well. The non-RPer walks off thinking RPers are cliquish jerks who blow people off. CPM's general policy has been to just... Respond ICly to anything random people interject. People tend to either get confused and wander off, or join right in. Win/win. Greifers tend to give up in disgust as RPers refuse to take them seriously, though I have in the past successfully GM'd insistent and crude griefers and gotten them temp-banned.
Basically what we in CPM have found is that the best policy is open-door. If someone stumbles into an RP and starts talking, RP with them. If they get confused, explain what's going on in OOC /tells. Above all remain friendly and welcoming. It's served us well as some drama erupted over the griefer I got temp-banned on the Alla board and many people in the larger OOC community told him that CPM was a bit weird, yet nothing but cordial and if he got his ass banned then he must have deserved it.
Structure
1-2 representatives from each sounds great. I'd suggest an RPC council with a private section of the boards only they can see to discuss problems, and potentially have a monthly meeting to keep everyone updated on what's going on to keep problems smoothed and the cross-guild RP flowing. Real authority would for the most part be deferred to the actual guild leaders, who may or may not be the actual guild representatives, but in the (should be) very rare event that the council has to make a mandate, it would carry the weight of the support of all guilds of the coalition, via their representatives. Too much stuff from On High will make the RPC seem restrictive, and people will begin to chafe and resent the perceived control. Leave as much as possible up to the leaders and members of the community and step in only when it's necessary... Not even every time it's requested, necessarily. Some will try to hide behind higher authority rather than resolve problems themselves.
Neutrality and Authority
Essentially, to my mind, the RPC should exert its authority as little as possible. It should be a last-resort thing to head off trouble, not a set of guidelines all must follow. When problems arise (and they will, believe me, the two most drama-prone groups in MMOs are end-gamers and RPers), the guild leader(s) of the person/people in question ought to be expected to take care of things. If they cannot, THEN they can appeal to the RPC council, or the RPC council can ask them to step up resolution then step in if the leaders can't/won't handle it. As for slander against the RPC as a whole... It's too broad a subject with too many nuances to make hard-and-fast rules. Let the RPC council discuss them as they come up and attempt to reach as peaceful and drama-free a solution as possible.
RPC Standards
PvP conflict is always INCREDIBLY sticky stuff. I generally try to avoid it even if it's a bit OOC to do so for my character because with no clear rules in place and the fact that you simply can't kill another character no matter what, it just turns into a mess of trying to get in a good fight without stepping on anyone's toes. It's fairly common for people to get so personally invested in their characters that they OOCly get hurt/offended when their char gets kicked around. I strongly support drafting up some RPC-standard conflict resolution guidelines. I don't necessarily think they ought to be enforced as a first solution, they ought to be something to fall back upon if the involved parties can't reach a resolution within their own guild's in-house policies so we don't have to go pussyfooting around and shy from character conflicts for fear of offense.
In the same vein, standards/etiquette/guidelines/etc for the RPC isn't a half bad idea, but try to keep them simple and general. Two complete delineated rulesets, both individual guilds and then the RPC will make heads spin. We're here to have fun, not be lawyers. I've seen some ideas expressed that I think work pretty well: Event organizer's event, event organizer's rules. If a conflict flares up and they just can't work it out, there are RPC guidelines to fall back upon, but this should be a last resort. Again, too much micromanagement will make people chafe.
The Public
RPers can seem pretty insular to the community at large simply due to the fact we have our own thing and our own plots going that are OURS, and nobody has a clue what it is we're standing around prattling about in the town square (though CPM tries to avoid RPing in busy areas out of courtesy to non-RPers). Sometimes passersby will try to interact with RPers, not realizing what's going on, and often RPers will ignore them because, let's face it, it's hard to RP with someone who isn't RPing. They use concepts and game terms that don't translate well. The non-RPer walks off thinking RPers are cliquish jerks who blow people off. CPM's general policy has been to just... Respond ICly to anything random people interject. People tend to either get confused and wander off, or join right in. Win/win. Greifers tend to give up in disgust as RPers refuse to take them seriously, though I have in the past successfully GM'd insistent and crude griefers and gotten them temp-banned.
Basically what we in CPM have found is that the best policy is open-door. If someone stumbles into an RP and starts talking, RP with them. If they get confused, explain what's going on in OOC /tells. Above all remain friendly and welcoming. It's served us well as some drama erupted over the griefer I got temp-banned on the Alla board and many people in the larger OOC community told him that CPM was a bit weird, yet nothing but cordial and if he got his ass banned then he must have deserved it.