(08-06-2013, 01:32 PM)Koren Wrote: So we're to the next step: Should the group change to be able to accommodate their story, should they allow this one person to change the setting (they can get away with no authority even though other people cannot), or should the other person be asked to leave for not fitting the group?
My answer to this varies depending on my position within the group. I prefer to avoid conflict, so if I am one of the people being affected by it but not the leader or in any other position to make that kind of decision, and it got bad enough I would simply let my character leave when he/she would naturally do so; taking myself out of the equation rather than continuing on with a situation that my character wouldn't choose to be in. I've been in a situation like this a few years ago and ended up with my character changing in ways she shouldn't have in order to remain within the group (who I'd been rping with for a long, long time) after a new person joined and her character refused to play by the rules and never, ever suffered any IC consequences. I don't believe people should feel that they have to change their characters personality or choices in order to prevent further conflict like that when the other party refuses to give. I am now more inclined to find another group of people to RP with, whilst maintaining contact with the old, than try and force my own character to remain where she obviously wouldn't.
If I were running the guild then I would rather the character who doesn't fit be asked to leave than to expect the rest of the group (which may be quite substantial) to accept changes being thrust on them in order to suit this one person, or expect them to turn a blind eye to the obvious rule-flaunting or lack of ic-consequences. While its really hard to say to someone "I'm sorry, this isn't working, you have to go" is it really fair to allow one person's character to force others to change theirs in order to justify staying, or push other ic changes on the group/guild in order to allow the rules to be broken without consequence?
I am a believer that IC actions should equal IC consequences, and if the character or their player won't accept that, then maybe that group isn't the best place for them.
I'd rather see an amicable parting of ways then just ignore the problem which could then fester into something worse. There's no reason why an IC clash has to lead to OOC drama (though sadly it often seems to), and there's no reason why a person who's character doesn't fit the group can't still RP with them anyway in other ways or times.
One final point: I think this is something the leadership of the group or guild in question needs to be willing to come forward and make a stand on. In my situation, no-one was willing to make the decision to enact any IC consequences and things were just left to roll forward. OOC discussions just led to the usual excuse of 'that’s just how he is' and the character was allowed to stay. This led to more confrontations between characters, and finally pushed myself and others into having to come up with creative reasons for our own characters to remain in the situation - because without that they would simply have walked out. In a group with an established member base and an established story etc I don't believe this is very fair.
I hope this doesn't give people the wrong impression though. I'm not against RPing with new people, I think that IC conflict is good and can be quite fun, and I have a lot of patience when it comes to things like this, but if it is causing drama and runs the risk of spilling over from IC to OOC then decisions need to be made.
