As others have said, I don't know that really can be done. And it's certainly not a new phenomenon. It's been happening since before I got into online gaming or online RP of any kind. Yes, even offline pen&paper rpgs can get this. I did a IC romance in a White Wolf campaign that the player took too far OOCly. I didn't realize they were using their character to court -me- basically. It was... awkward. For quite a while since neither of us were willing to quit the circle of mutual friends we were with.
There is even a thread here that talks about some minor bleeds that are generally taken as 'not really a problem'. I've seen it described as a sort of method acting in some cases. Several of us who have been gaming for years and years still end up doing the bleed to some extent... We don't RP in a vacuum. There will be some bleed and it goes both directions. The 'trick' is recognizing when you start to do so.
I'm not really certain where you want us to be discussing, this seems more of a rant than anything. And believe me I do understand the frustration. I mean... I'm sure we've all got stories like this. From what we ourselves have experienced or watched someone else experience. Some of us probably have blurred the line too far ourselves at one point or another. I know I have. We learn we grow. We move on. Those that don't will eventually not find much RP for themselves after a while. Those of us that have this happen -to- them all develop our own 'hard lines' of where we think it is going too far. How much effort we as individuals put into correcting the 'offending party'. Some are willing to, others much less so.
But what this sounds like, is you're basically calling us out to do is start actively policing. There is no system in place to do so. Who makes the rules? Who enforces them? How far is too far? etc etc. An awareness campaign? Who runs it? -How- is it approached to others? Come on too strongly and you'll likely scare off as many potential RPers as attract. Not all are on the RPC as others have pointed out, how do we get the entire community on board? Do we broaden this campaign to other games? etc etc. In the end I think all we can really do is continue to look out for ourselves and perhaps look out a bit for those we choose to RP with. Guild leaders making policies on this sort of behavior. Etc. I mean... there are enough guilds in maaaaaany games that touch on this specific point that I don't know how it's not already -in- a sort of awareness state much like the other guidelines of RP like not godmodding.
And then we have to be careful as I've seen these sorts of things backfire entirely in the opposite direction. I've seen people completely wig out over mere whiffs of OOC/IC bleeds and instead of trying to constructively work through the situation they get very accusatory, belligerent, and downright mean to the 'offender.' Dragging others into it and trying to ruin someone's reputation. Which is entirely the wrong direction to go. I'll even admit to being on some of those shame bandwagons in the past. Not getting the full story and taking things far out of proportion. I'm not proud of those instances. I'd take them back in a heartbeat if I could. At the time I thought I was protecting a friend. Turns out I was being a bully.
Ultimately I guess what I'm saying is rant away. It sounds like you've got a system in place on determining who you RP with and who you don't. Stick buy it and get the individuals who make the game fun. Which sounds like what you're already doing. As I mentioned before chronic and blatant offenders will usually end up outside of many circles eventually through their own action.
There is even a thread here that talks about some minor bleeds that are generally taken as 'not really a problem'. I've seen it described as a sort of method acting in some cases. Several of us who have been gaming for years and years still end up doing the bleed to some extent... We don't RP in a vacuum. There will be some bleed and it goes both directions. The 'trick' is recognizing when you start to do so.
I'm not really certain where you want us to be discussing, this seems more of a rant than anything. And believe me I do understand the frustration. I mean... I'm sure we've all got stories like this. From what we ourselves have experienced or watched someone else experience. Some of us probably have blurred the line too far ourselves at one point or another. I know I have. We learn we grow. We move on. Those that don't will eventually not find much RP for themselves after a while. Those of us that have this happen -to- them all develop our own 'hard lines' of where we think it is going too far. How much effort we as individuals put into correcting the 'offending party'. Some are willing to, others much less so.
But what this sounds like, is you're basically calling us out to do is start actively policing. There is no system in place to do so. Who makes the rules? Who enforces them? How far is too far? etc etc. An awareness campaign? Who runs it? -How- is it approached to others? Come on too strongly and you'll likely scare off as many potential RPers as attract. Not all are on the RPC as others have pointed out, how do we get the entire community on board? Do we broaden this campaign to other games? etc etc. In the end I think all we can really do is continue to look out for ourselves and perhaps look out a bit for those we choose to RP with. Guild leaders making policies on this sort of behavior. Etc. I mean... there are enough guilds in maaaaaany games that touch on this specific point that I don't know how it's not already -in- a sort of awareness state much like the other guidelines of RP like not godmodding.
And then we have to be careful as I've seen these sorts of things backfire entirely in the opposite direction. I've seen people completely wig out over mere whiffs of OOC/IC bleeds and instead of trying to constructively work through the situation they get very accusatory, belligerent, and downright mean to the 'offender.' Dragging others into it and trying to ruin someone's reputation. Which is entirely the wrong direction to go. I'll even admit to being on some of those shame bandwagons in the past. Not getting the full story and taking things far out of proportion. I'm not proud of those instances. I'd take them back in a heartbeat if I could. At the time I thought I was protecting a friend. Turns out I was being a bully.
Ultimately I guess what I'm saying is rant away. It sounds like you've got a system in place on determining who you RP with and who you don't. Stick buy it and get the individuals who make the game fun. Which sounds like what you're already doing. As I mentioned before chronic and blatant offenders will usually end up outside of many circles eventually through their own action.
