Out of Character LS Repearling 2/24/12

[Edricane]

Ok, this topic was just brought to my attention, so I decided to read it and saw myself outlined as one of the problems, regardless if it was low problem or not. This absolutely does not bother me as I act like an idiot in OOC, usually I am an extremely serious Role Player and I like to kind of detach from that with people. I'm what? A week or so old in the game, I knew nothing about the rules, but I didn't look either so it's totally my fault, but I will tone it down alot for the sake of everyone.

[Deirdre]

I do have a few things to say about the posts made in this thread. Normally I'm a quiet onlooker, I don't often post on the forums, and threads like these are usually why.

 

First off, thank you Gospel for taking the initiative to listen to the members of the OOC shell (which is really not Gospels shell, but the communities shell) and proactively question and react like a mature adult. Hopefully this will help alleviate some tensions, even if hard decisions have to be made.

I fully agree that this shell should be an overall OOC pearl, this isn't just a pearl to plan events or gather people for things! While it helps, and is a good medium for that kind of thing, that is NOT it's sole purpose. As it's name states, it is to give us, the players behind the characters, a chance to interact and socialize! We can gather information, get inspired, or simply talk about our day! We can play and tease and have fun with our friends, no matter if our characters like each other. This is a mutual understanding, a gathering of like-minds.

If you want a strictly planning pearl for events, make one -- OR visit the INSANE amount of forums we have for planning and events, such as this one!

If it really comes right down to it and everyone is offended by the smallest thing, then maybe we do need to make a more mature pearl, and keep this one for those who do not wish to be a part of it.

 

To Miyu -> Thank you for having the most wonderful understanding of so many people here. You understood that there was issues previously in OOC, you understood that perhaps you were not in the best of positions to move forward with it, you understood and HELPED Gospel in the reforming, and provided many good points.

You could be the ugliest, hairiest, swagger-i-est Miqo with the most giant breasts and the sword that is directly commanded by the Twelve themselves. In OOC, I don't care. Most of the time Miyu is friendly, happy and greets almost everyone in the shell, unlike many people who hardly speak at all. Don't pick on Miyu, at least he's tried to do the things others only think about doing, that does not make him a bad person at all.

Kudos to Miyu, who has recognized his faults and worked very hard to improve himself. It has gone noticed.

 

To Aysun -> Thank you for not standing and simply taking the awful things that were said to you. Instead you spoke up to make change, which is better than laying back and talking about someone behind their back which we are all too guilty of doing. That PMS gave you balls, girl. <3

 

To Mihana -> While I agree that our image paints on the community as a whole, and that we should tone it down somewhat and deal with things that are an issue, I don't think that adding a jab at Miyu in your post gave it any kind of impact, or validity.

 

To Kylin -> Welcome to the woes of being a leader of an LS! Speaking with experience of being an officer in a variety of linkshells, I know your pain all to well. Yeah, events are planned and I know they take a lot of time and effort. I plan a lot of events, make a lot of storyline for myself and the linkshells I was a part of. Sadly, and an officer/leader, your struggles often go unnoticed. It's a hard fact. Just because people do not attend your events is not just cause to abandon your entire linkshell and punish the people who actually do put time and effort in to wanting to be there. This happens with every linkshell! From The Eorzean Guard to Everwatch to even Blue Skies! Sometimes event turnouts are low, and there are often reasons. Were a lot of people on that day? Was it planned ahead? Did the members know? Was it well advertised? Did the community know?

And sometimes events fail because of the actual event itself! YES! 'My character would not go to this event' IS A VALID REASON! I will not take someone else in to account here but I will put my own character up front. Deirdre is a bitch, enough said. I believe I have ever only attended one of your events, and I know they are not the kind of thing she would be going to. She does not dress up and mingle with higher ups, she has no interest in book education, she would not go digging in a cave for hours on end because someone needed a hand, likely not even if they were paying her. Even as being a guard, for example, she couldn't have gone either as there is currently storyline going on keeping her tangled up.

Maybe some people didn't want to RP that night, and instead wanted to finish their craft/leveling before the patch?

Maybe some people planned to be in bed soon?

Maybe some people had other events to plan?

 

For the failure of one event the fallout sure seems too catastrophic. When I'm looking for a linkshell I want to see one with dedication despite a dryspell. I want to see officers continually trying to improve their events, and learning from what went wrong the previous time.

Despite us having our fun in the OOC pearl, it is used for making events and advertising them successfully. I am on a lot, and I think I saw mention of your event once, maybe twice.

It's not an 'excuse' I need to go to your event, its a shopping list of things. I need to know about it, I need to be available, and I need a valid IC reasoning to be there (because not everyone's character acts like an NPC and can just be doing whatever you want them to be doing).

 

AND TO THE REST OF YOU! -> <3 Please play nice and be understanding.

 

*slaps her two gil down on the table and walks away*

[Smiling River]

Lots of words are being said. Everyone is getting a pat on the back for saying things. Yay.

 

The original problem is more or less handled, from what I can tell. The rest seems to be a variety of issues brought up from frustration.

 

Yes, it sucks when people don't show up to a planned event, using all sorts of excuses. But at the same time, I wouldn't want them to come if they need to be forced.

 

I want this OOC shell to be used not as a social shell... but as an OOC shell full of RPers. I have very little tolerance for non-RP related OOC chat. This seems to be an issue, as people who don't mind the shell being a completely open social chat shell do NOT want other people like myself to tune out/mute. Can't have it both ways though. If you want the overall community to be involved, the shell has to do that which it claimed to want to achieve, unite all RPers under one roof. RPers, who have very little things in common aside from the fact that they RP in this game. That should be the uniting anchor. I feel that encouraging just random chatter drives away from this central focus. Don't get me wrong, I don't think we should be talking about RP all the time, but that should be one of the main draws to this LS.

 

I had to break an ongoing chat about some non-game related thing when I had a topic I wanted to discuss that was about RP. Is this discouraged? Encouraged?

[Gospel Gestalt]

I have already stated in my past posts that this shell is indeed a social shell. It is a place for RPers to be able to take a break and be able to be their out of character selves.

 

In Oskars case. I don't care if people mute the shell. I understand the text box getting cluttered with nonsense could be off putting. When I said I didn't like people muting/avoiding the pearl, It was more in the case of somebody giving them a shell and saying. "These guys are bad... Just mute them." rather then saying in a polite manner. "Hey, if the shell ever becomes too noisy, it is okay to mute the pearl." The difference there is you're telling members it's okay to mute if it becomes overbearing and are not making it sound like you're attacking anyone. Just another form of self control.

 

I understand some people want this shell to be a no real life talk and event planning shell only but... I'm sorry to say, that was not the intention of why this shell was created. As it stands now, unless I get more people to vote for this, It's 2 people's vote for no real life talk against 74. I've already said I'm not going to cater to the demands of one or two people. I will only change rules if a large majority wants change. If you want numbers, given that we have 77 members in the shell... I would feel that if they can pull together 15 or 20 votes that would be enough to suffice a change or at least a very heavy notice to consider a change in rules.

 

----

 

As it stands now the rules are:

Everyone is allowed to bring one of their alt characters in. (However if we get full I will start asking people to drop them.)

Everyone has pearling status except for their alt. (If you have not received a Silver Star yet. Please come find me.)

Keep swearing to a minimum.

Try to avoid sex talk. (I know it's an open shell but come on... It's a sensitive topic for many people. It's best not to even discuss it in public, there are other shells and chat functions for this.)

Do not verbally assault other members in the shell.

Be courteous when other members are discussing RP related topics.

 

----

 

I'm sorry you had to break up a chat so you could voice your RP related question in the shell, Oskar. However I'm not going to boot people just because some are talking when someones asking a question relating to RP. You are free to ask them to spare a moment of their time, in fact I would encourage everyone to do that. RP event discussion is one of the reasons why the shell was made. I feel it should take priority over normal talk -only- when it's brought to the table. If people aren't discussing RP related elements at the time, I see no reason why members should be forbidden from having their normal talk as usual.

 

To wrap this post up. This is a social shell for RPers to come and break from their IC setting, hence the name "Intermission." People are free and encouraged to talk on the shell so long as it is civil. This is what most of the members want and just enjoy in general. When RP topics are brought up however, I would appreciate that you give the people discussing the topic some breathing room as I feel RP related discussion is important and needs to be clearly heard. I'm not going to ban "Normal talk" unless I get a rather big list of votes supporting it.

 

I'm very sorry to say but if this is a problem for you, either grin and bear it, mute the pearl to filter the noise or there is the door. I would feel sorry for the loss but the majority of the shell takes priority over the voice of one. If you feel it absolutely necessary to drop your pearl, you are free to do so. You will always be welcomed back. You are also free to make a more strict LS with more enforced rules if you feel that you can do better. I would be happy to join and support it but I feel safe in saying that Intermission would probably out last that shell.

 

(That wasn't ment to come off as a provoke. I just feel under most circumstances that Intermission would out last other shells of similar nature do it it's more active and looser setting.)

[Kassandra Dawn]

I would like to say that I appreciate the existence of this shell. Many of the people in the shell I had heard of, but had never gotten and chance to interact with until I got the pearl for it. I've also heard of lots more events because of the shell, because, and I'm not ashamed to admit it, I rarely read the forums (LONG work days make for tired Kass).

I understand the need for rules and applaud them, and I know I have one thing I have to work on. That's not swearing like a trucker, I forget sometimes that people might find that offensive. And I am glad to try my best to make the ls chat a place where EVERYONE feels comfortable.

I would be very sad if ls chat was rp business only, because I care about the people behind the characters, not just the characters I get to interact with as Kass.

[Smiling River]

I was under the impression that the point of OOC shell was to unite all ROLE-PLAYERS, so that we can find ways to RP easier, discuss RP, and so on.

 

Some questions:

Is this shell still a community shell or does it now have a clear leader? Does the name intermission actually supposed to mean something now, as opposed to Out Of Character which was just a name used as a clear label of the LS? Is this version of the shell have more weight on the "social shell" aspect of it than the previous? If so why? What do you mean by 'social shell'? How does this differ from the original intent behind the OOC pearl, if at all?

 

 

***

 

Gospel, I am not sure who the "you" in your later half of the post is, but since your referenced me specifically I'll assume it's me you're addressing. You're pretty much doing the exact same thing in your post as you did in the /random combat post, which is basically creating a straw man argument and then reacting with fervor against it.

 

I don't think there should be a "rule" against OOC chat. I never proposed that, and if I did, I'd be damn sure to make a better outlined case for it, and get more than 1-2 people on board. But it's not really what I want, so you painting it as some sort of a petition when I am clearly a minority isn't very nice.

 

I've the tools I need to cut out the noise should I feel I need to, no need to worry about that. You did end up agreeing with me though, about RP discussions being topics of higher importance than random every day chitchat. So... again, I am not sure why you're going apeshit arguing against my post.

 

Self-quote ftw:

Don't get me wrong, I don't think we should be talking about RP all the time, but that should be one of the main draws to this LS.

I don't see how you can read that and then proceed to type a reply as skewed as the one you wrote there Gospel.

[Gospel Gestalt]

I have already said this is a social shell in the extent that people are free to talk about anything they want so long as they keep it PG-13. It is a shell for people in the RP community to have an OoC shell in which they can chat and mingle in and also announce and seek RP. So yea, it is very much so a "Social" shell like any other LS in the game. Only this one is strictly for RPers. The Out of Character shell was made for the same purpose

 

 

 

I'm sorry if I made you feel labled Oskar and yeah, I know this edit is a probably sounding like a complete omelette flip cause for the most part, since my previous post came off as a selfish attack. All I can do is apologize and I'll admit I may be venting some... (okay, all my) frustration off here on you and that wasn't cool... but I really don't know how or what else to really say here at this point. The shell is a pure social channel for people within the RP community with elements in which people are still highly encouraged to discuss RP in an OoC fashion and announce and plan events. As to why? Most have voiced that they feel comfortable having a shell in which they can just break from character and be themselves for awhile. I don't want to take away that element from them when so many have stated that they like it.

 

All I can do really is just tell members who want the social aspect out or if they want to have new rules is that they can try and start a poll. It's the only way I can really give them a shot at getting them what they want. I pretty much run the shell on a majority vote system. It's also why I say it's the communities shell. They have the power to shape this shell into how they see fit so really it is still their shell, not mine.

 

As for the rules I stated in the older post, all I can do is follow them and be the annoying guy that has to enforce and remind people of them. That may possibly label me as the guy who owns the shell. I'd rather not be labeled as that but if that's what it comes down to then I guess that's that.

 

That's really the only thing I wanted to get across. I apologize for labeling and attacking you in the post above my edit. it was wrong on my part.

[Aysun]

I think Oskar's and my (and some others) problem with this now is just that we did not realize that this new shell would end up with different purpose than Miyu's original shell.

 

I've become more and more annoyed with the splitting of the RP Community.

No, we will never ever agree on all things, what we CAN do is make -one- big linkshell for ALL! and ALL! Rp-ers to join, and prefeably WILL join so we can at least know WHO is an Rp-er, communicate with other rp-ers, annouce/create events/linkshells/friends/whatever so we can at least (re)start all the fun with Roleplaying again.

 

This linkshell is called Out of Character because I like simplistic and straightforward names.

Everyone will be officer and everyone, yes EVERY roleplayer will be invited, no discrimination. The point of it is to gather all RP-ers, no matter what style, race, timezones, shells, or whatever. You don't -have- to talk to other people or like other players but you can at least see they ARE roleplayers and maybe rp with them.

 

The idea is to spread this asap so we can have just simple fun in what we do best: Create stories.

 

I urge you to join, no.. I BEG you to join so we can finally break those walls between comfortable friends groups and reach out to other and perhaps entirely -new- roleplayers.

 

Yes it's a risk to give all and all roleplayers officer status, but I trust in you roleplayers to make this work.

After all our differences and disagreements we can all agere on one thing.

 

We -want- to roleplay. So let's do it!

 

To me it always seemed like the unity of the RP community was first for the sake of RP, and social let loose stuff second. I never thought of the original pearl as a simple 'let's just chat' type pearl. I thought of it as a tool to gather RPers and a list of active RPers. Which is why when the conversations got out of hand on a pearl that I thought was being used to represent and bring together the community, I was upset. With the influx of new RPers from the server merge, I saw the shell as an opportunity for them to join the community and find RP with us here, as well as those in established linkshells to branch out. So good behavior and staying 'on topic' more often than just acting silly was what I thought was expected of us.

 

So, Intermission is a social shell for RPers, not the new OOC shell. Because it doesn't seem like a true recreation of that shell's original goal..

 

Or hell, maybe I misinterpreted even that original goal. Maybe it was supposed to just be a social shell all along. I don't even know anymore. :frustrated:

[Gospel Gestalt]

It originally was and I think Intermission still is like the OoC pearl. Just over time in OoC it became more and more of a social shell and it seemed people just started to roll with that. When Intermission was made it was pretty much during the time frame when OoC was in that phase.

 

If you guys really want me to start asking people to tell people to tone the OoC chat down, I can. I just don't know how well that will fly with people since they've become so accustomed to how things are now. All I can do is try and ask is if this is what they want. I personally feel this shell is still within the proper guidelines of the Original OoC because frankly, I almost see no difference between the two. The community, for the most part is all together in this shell right now. They still discuss RP, Plan events and talk about their characters. As for what the shell represents, It's really just a matter of the eye of the beholder. I can also try asking what you people want to do from here.

 

Some view it as a social shell for RPers, some view it as a means to only link the RPC. Really the whole thing has just greatly evolved. I personally view it as all the above.

 

So I guess what I'm asking now is... What do you guys want to do? What do you think should be done right now?

[Tessaface]

I personally would highly disagree and discourage telling people /not/ to talk on the intermission pearl, since as I always understood it, at it's inception, the Out of Character shell was meant to be a place for all RPers from multiple shells to be able to come together and socialise.

 

This socialisation breeds community that makes it easier for people to break past that barrier that some people find they have that prevents them from just rping with strangers. The ability to be comfortable with the people you're rping is really important.

 

The sudden change in the shell's tone would probably put a lot of people off aswell. I mean, i haven't got any particular use for a shell where people should keep chat to the minimum of asking about events and organising rp. Nothing stops people from doing that now, and they often do. Heck, i've been rping with a LOT more people thanks to the out of character/Intermission pearl than I did without it, simply because i find a like speaking to the people there.

[Gospel Gestalt]

Honestly after going back and rereading all this, I'd just like to kindly ask if Kylin or any other mod if they could just close or delete this thread.

 

This whole thread has really just turned into one god aweful mess. Really as Oskar said, the point has been more or less, made. The players were causing trouble have been listed and talked to and will be dealt with a fair manner. Anyone who may of dropped the pearl are welcomed back anytime, just ask anyone for a pearl. You want, you can talk to me via PM if you want or need anything. Just I personally feel this thread in the state that it's in probably looks like one horrible turn off for newer players. There's no reason for this thread to continue on any longer. Everything else since the named players has just turned into a horrible off putting display and I personally apologize and am willing to take the full blame for any and all of it.

[Riik]

This thread didn't turn me off. In fact, I found it interesting to hear how different players view the linkshell (everything else just looked like typical forum arguing to me, except a lot more polite and calm than a lot of forums I've read, so i have great respect for that. If this is considered a 'horrible turn off' on this forum, then if anything, it's made me a little more respectful of the community).

 

Moving on, I joined the OOC shell as a way to reveal myself to the player base as an RPer and to know who is more likely to respond if I start emoting in front of them. I was also hoping a bit of casual roleplaying to come my way, but everyone on the shell in Gridania seemed busy, so I ended up playing around Acon Orchard (until someone walked in on me as I was doing so, making me feel rather embarrassed ). I did expect a social side to the shell, though, so I wasn't that suprised when i joined. And to be fair, there was some RP chat going on as well in the shape of preparation for an event (although I believe most of that ended up being about Dante and his subligar ).

 

I have one problem with the shell atm, and it's a problem that is my fault, and that's I'm too shy to ask if anyone is up for roleplaying >.< . I'm sure after meeting a few of you guys ingame, I can get over that though.

[Rhin]

I'd just like to share a little thought that came to me as I was reading through this thread and trying to wrap my head around both sides of the argument.

 

Way back in the day I used to be a stage manager at a small theater company run by students and alumni from my high school. One way to think of theater and acting is extremely serious hardcore Live Action RolePlay, On Stage, With an Audience. So some things from the Company apply here.

 

Namely, in our theater house we had two particular rooms on opposite sides of the stage.

 

One was our Green Room, a resting room/lounge for actors to wait in when they weren't in scene. Our Director explained it to us thusly : "The Green Room is a place for you to get everything that you're trying to suppress out of you. When you're on stage YOU ARE (insert character here), leave everything else in the Green Room." So it was a place where people could just be who they really were, de-stress, smooth frazzled nerves, and be ready to jump on stage in their characters.

 

The other was the Production Room. This was the director's and manager's offices. In this room we would work out the details and nuances of actually running the show. We'd plan and edit scenes, revise scripts, design sets, coordinate projects, anything that had to do with the background work of show business, we did it there. Free from the distractions of those crazy actors and my ever-complaining stage crew.

 

Perhaps that's the direction we're heading in now. We have a "green room" in Intermission, where the RPers of Balmung can just lounge around and hang out and be friends while waiting for RP to happen. It might not be a terrible idea to have a "Planning Office" type linkshell for RPLS leaders and other RP leaders (i.e. if you have an RP plot line to coordinate with the greater community) to use for managing far-reaching RP events.

 

In this way, I'm not saying that one group is right and the other isn't. I think we all as moderately mature adult-type people should be able to come to a mutually beneficial and functional solution for everyone.

[SamusKnight2K]

That doesn't sound like a bad idea Shurin. As for the linkshell I'd hate it to become a RP discussion only shell. Many of us just chat, be silly or talk about everyday life. RP chitchat happens too so it's not all about real life stuff. If it gets to be too much I just tune it out myself.

 

@Riik - Don't be afraid to ask for RP! Some may be busy so it won't always happen, but we're all generally friendly! There's one other guy I know who's the same really, very shy and timid about flat out asking. Plenty of us would be more than willing to RP with you. Just give it a shot!

 

EDIT : My bad meant Riik not Riil, haha. What I get for responding via a cellphone. :3

[Verence]

Just stepping in for a moment to comment on the following...

I understand some people want this shell to be a no real life talk and event planning shell only but... I'm sorry to say' date=' that was not the intention of why this shell was created. As it stands now, unless I get more people to vote for this, It's 2 people's vote for no real life talk against 74. I've already said I'm not going to cater to the demands of one or two people. I will only change rules if a large majority wants change. If you want numbers, given that we have 77 members in the shell... I would feel that if they can pull together 15 or 20 votes that would be enough to suffice a change or at least a very heavy notice to consider a change in rules.[/quote']

It's never a good idea to speak for those who haven't spoken for themselves unless you're confident of what they'll say. Never discount the silent ones in any given community; it's dangerous ground to claim to speak for everyone. I'm not saying this to say "So we should discourage OOC chatter!" Clearly a number of individuals enjoy that, and if they do, I'm sure not going to tell them they can't. Discourage people from doing what they want and they'll find somewhere else to do it, and the key to the success of this shell is keeping people using it.

 

But, I will say that I myself and several others I know aren't fond of inordinate amounts of OOC spam and have, numerous times in the past, muted OoC and will likely continue to do so intermittently here in Intermission. Heck, I even know a few who've stated their desire NOT to join precisely to avoid OOC spam. So, it's significantly more than 2. 15-20? No clue. That'd take a survey, and fact of the matter is that if ENOUGH people want it BAD enough, they'll probably speak up themselves. Me? I'm happy just muting - people can do what they want, and I'll do what I want. This approach does mean we'll "lose" a few members every so often when they mute and miss event and RP announcements, but the debate as to whether or not this is worth the heightened enjoyment and interaction of those who enjoy OOC chatting isn't one I'll get into here. The LS is what it is; until and unless the need for change is highlighted, it will probably remain so. If more and more voices speak up, limiting OOC chatter is something to consider, but until then, attempting to silence such voices out of hand accomplishes relatively little.

 

As for OOC chatter disrupting RP discussions, I'd suggest adopting a guideline somewhat similar to the following, which the past two RP LS's I've been in have adopted to fair success: Defer to RP discussions. Chatting about your new car is fine and dandy, but if a discussion about, say... I don't know, the appropriateness of post-modernistic literature in Eorzea springs up, people ought to politely defer and tone down their non-RP discussion or take it to /tells so as not to drown out the discussion of RP. This takes a certain amount of tact and consideration from both sides, but then if we can't scrape that together, we're doomed before we've begun.

 

That last bit is a bit of a concern to me, since I've seen... For lack of a better term, a sort of belligerent contrariness among some of the members of Intermission when people are simply stating their own views on RP. Saying what you think is not an attack and should not be met with aggression. People have views - often contradictory views - but unless they start pointing fingers and obviously referencing characters or incidents, their opinion ought to be respected. I'm not saying you can't argue against it, but keep it classy... I've seen reactions that range the gamut from subtly spiteful to blatantly petty.

[Gospel Gestalt]

I'll admit I'm still feeling pretty awful for a lot of my past posts. I've been pretty stressed for multiple reason. I won't make excuses or go in to detail. There's no other way to say it, what I did was wrong and I shouldn't of lost my cool or point fingers at people. Even though I had a small list of names, I shouldn't of tried to claim ownership for the voice of others and for lack of better words, Straw-man the argument either.

 

So again, I apologize for the harsh things I said. I would like to ask if we could maybe come up with a small guideline with things like Verence was suggesting in the post above. If anybody has any more ideas they'd like to voice which they think would be an idea to take to thought, please feel free to share. I'm all for making a small list and posting it once we get some thoughts in.

[Eva]

We're all going to have preferences that are as unique as our individual selves. Like Kylin, my focus is on the RP first and foremost. I very seldom go OOC for any reason these days (that's what forum posts are for I guess). I know some people in the past have expressed that think that's weird or whatever, and those are valid opinions too. And maybe it is strange. I never claimed to be normal anyway. Everyone plays the game in a way that will enhance their own enjoyment of it. For myself, I love the RP and the interactions and coming to Eorzea to explore and enjoy this fascinating world of magic and mayhem and mischief. I'd much rather sit in a small group and discuss current events in RP than spam Ifrit runs or whatever. That's just me. I know other people, even other RPers, play this game differently and I can appreciate that.

 

For the linkpearl itself - I have everything set up on two tabs. The first (default) tab is labeled IC and has every communication channel (/say, /party, and all RP linkshells) open with only the Intermission channel filtered. This is how I log into the game each time. The second tab is exactly the same as the first, labeled OOC, and has all communication channels open, so I see all the usual stuff, plus the Intermission text (which is a dull grayish-purple so I can still keep a focus on what's being discussed in-character if need be). I do toggle back and forth depending largely on my mood. This works well for me. Since my time spent in the game is easily conducted in-character 95%+ of the time, the Intermission text scroll often pushes stuff in /say or /party or one of the RPLS's off screen before I've had a chance to read/interpret it.

 

Then there are times when the RP linkshells I belong to are quiet, and it's nice to have OOC/Intermission as a fallback instead of just sitting around waiting for something to happen. It's nice to talk a bit about RP ideas, or planning events, or theorize the way our characters might behave in certain situations. I've seen all of this discussed and it's an entertaining alternative to any sort of actual RP. I admit I feel a little more awkward when talk shifts to more RL-centric stuff, but it doesn't exactly bother me, and I've participated openly in such conversations. I don't really like the extensive swearing or lengthy sex talk, but it's easy enough to tune out if it bothers me. I can certainly understand and appreciate the mentality of referring a fellow RPer to this linkshell only to kind of have to offer a word of caution about it in the next breath. From what I've seen on the linkpearl itself and from what I've read in this thread, it seems like Gospel does a good job of moderating it.

 

Anyway, that's my perspective. I also think everyone here is awesome and made of ultra win. :cheer:

[SamusKnight2K]

After talking with a few LS members tonite Gospel maybe a slight cap should be put on the OOC chitchat. If there's nothing really going on RP discussion-wise, then it's probably okay. But pretty frequently I see chatter going on between two individuals (I won't point names or anything.) that have absolutely nothing related to RP beyond just casual real life chatter. Again, I have absolutely no problem with the OOC chatter as that's just why the pearl exists. But if you're going to have a lengthy discussion about how cute your pet is or your favorite music band with like one other person it's probably best better taken to tells or an alternate means. It's a difficult line to draw what might be okay and what's pushing it. But just tonight as I was doing Ifrit runs I poked between my filters and there was this huge discussion mostly between just two people that really had nothing to do with RP.

 

Again, I am not saying that it has to be about RP or only RP. I myself like to relax and have a casual talk sometimes. But there's a difference between a longwinded discussion that's pretty much involves nobody else, and one that pretty much anyone can get involved in. So yeah, some way to kind of curb it I guess... Sorry if that doesn't help, I'm rather tired right now as I type this and I'm really out of ideas for recommendations.

[Riik]

I admit I personally went a bit over the top with non-RP chat last night over the shell (at least by my standards), but that was boredom, coupled with the fact that I always get more talkative when I'm tired and I was getting a little more comfortable after being brought into conversations a little. Maybe it's good that I opened up with the community because normally, I never manage to do that so quickly (if at all, in some cases).

 

What concerns me most is that when I asked about RPing over the LS, I only really got 1 reply (unless I missed anyone else's) and the non-RP conversation going on didn't really pause, either. For that moment, it felt like I was talking over a general community that only a select few were roleplayers rather than a complete RP comminuty. As if some members of the LS weren't even interested. I'm probably reading too much into this, but at that point, it felt far more social-based than RP-based.

 

Thankfully, in the end I did get my RP (much thanks to Kass, Aly, and even Endricane, for his small part in the RP - or at least the part of the RP I was involved in, as he was still RPing when he took Kass on a date in the middle of the desert ). And it was great fun, even if it was all sitting around .

 

Another thing I point out is that so far, other than talk about an event, I've really not heard anyone else try to organise an RP over the shell. Either not much RP goes on during the time when I'm awake (the sucky thing about GMT time is by the time I go to bed, it's still evening in the US, and thus still prime time for online gaming), or a lot of people are using other means to organise RP. If the latter case is correct, then I would really think about toning down the non-RP chat (in my personal opinion, anyway) to try and draw in those people who do want to use the shell for RP planning.

[Kassandra Dawn]

Ahhh! Riku! I love your signature!!! <3 my ooc rp son!!

 

oh and you're in the guest room rp wise we didn't leave you at the bar.

[Miyu Asuka]

Sorry for my afkness, been moving and ISP fucked up with the wrong days so no internets... Maybe friday but doubt it.. (I'm at my school where there actually is internets<3)

 

Anyhow, the main function of the original OOC shell, now called intermission(are they the same shells I wonder though?) was to get RP-ers together in one shell, there never was anything about whether the talking in it was social or just rp related, it was just to get all rp-ers on the server in one shell so we know who rp's and it was easier to instantiate and initiate RP.

Whether there was RP-related discussions, or random social talk wasn't the point what-so-ever... Then again I assumed all rp-ers where mature people who could behave themselves well enough without the need of execive moderation, which i somehow still believe as I see this discussion here.

 

Anyhow, does it matter when someone it talking about their new car or whatever they wanna talk about? If you don't wanna participate in it, ignore it, put it in a different tab or just mute the shell for a bit, these are all modular options that anyone can do. If you really wanna talk about RP-related discussions (or wanna talk about real life things while there is an rp discussion) by all means do so, but interrupting someone's discussion whether on the internet or in real life -can- be considered rude, then again it -can- be considered needed as well, in the end it all matters on what views the person has, as Eva very well said: we're all unique.

 

Anyhow, we're all adults here and can solve these trivial things without the need of drama and/or viewing such things as personal attacks.

 

Cheer up, be positive and look at the world with a smile instead, everything will be fine and there is no need for feeling hate to eachother just because one thinks RP-related discussion should be above real life discussions.

 

In the end, we all want one thing: To socialize.

 

So try to think of eachother and see their viewpoint as well.

 

Also, the maturity of the community is very well seen in this thread, we're all pretyt much polite and so (seem) to respect eachothers opinions and views, I'm sincerely pleased to see on how we all can talk normally without raging with eachother, unlike some other communities. We could set an example!

 

Love you all<3<3.~

 

(Off topic: I want my internets back!! ; ; )

[Verence]

Er... If I can respectfully point at my above post regarding making assumptions and speaking for those who haven't spoken...

 

Actually, I'm not really keen on socializing. I have this pearl for one reason only: to keep abreast of IC events in the RP community. Nothing personal against anyone, I'm just not a friendly person and I don't really get a bang out of talking to people I don't know very well about whatever random topic is drifting about at the moment. I appreciate a lot of people do, and more power to them. I'm just not one of them. That's fine though, I can mute pearl and I do. No complaints from me.

 

However, I'd also like to point out that we're not all adults and not all at the same level of maturity (though, as always, openly accusing someone else of immaturity only displays the accuser's own). Also, not all of the members of Intermission utilize this forum. Well-wishing and calls for unity are of course important and serve an essential purpose, but without a proposed plan of action or delineated methodology, "Let's all get along" remains a wish and not a resolution. I apologize if my tone seems contrary or aggressive; that's not my intent. I'd just like to point out that saying we all want the same thing isn't necessarily true.

 

We all have our own reasons and motivations for RPing and our own thoughts on what we'd like to get out of it. We're not going to get along unless we agree to get along, and that's not a one-time decision, it's a dedicated effort. A decision that must be made each and every time someone says something you don't like or don't agree with. Is throwing your hat in the ring worth the disturbance it will cause? Is someone else's expressed view something that cannot go unanswered? Does it threaten you? If so, why? Should you take that out on them publicly or invite them to a private chat so you're not both "playing to the audience" and attempting to score points rather than truly sharing viewpoints? Is it worth saying anything at all?

 

Honestly, I'd probably have kept quiet if not for the fact that you, Miyu, are actually one of the individuals whose in-shell comments concerned me enough to add that last paragraph to my former post in the first place. I understand that some of your views are at odds with some of others', but I just don't really see the need to jump into the middle a conversation about them with statements that bluntly contradict rather than add to the discussion. It seems... Contrary for the pure sake of contrariness. Different views ought to be appreciated and welcomed, but they ought to be stated respectfully and constructively or kept close to the vest. Please be mindful that a crusade for acceptance does not turn into an attack on differing views.

[Miyu Asuka]

Saying what you think is not an attack and should not be met with aggression. People have views - often contradictory views - but unless they start pointing fingers and obviously referencing characters or incidents, their opinion ought to be respected.

 

Honestly, I'd probably have kept quiet if not for the fact that you, Miyu, are actually one of the individuals whose in-shell comments concerned me enough to add that last paragraph to my former post in the first place.

 

Errr... If I do I likely haven't realised it myself, if I do/did I appologize for i but like you said people often, almost always have contradictory views. I log in to the game to have fun and/or to relax, talking with people in shels including OOC (Intermission) is included in that, though I'm pretty sure I don't only talk to disagree with people as plenty of times I just talk about various stuff that I fully agree with.

For example the discussion about jobs with Merri and a few others that I can't remember, we all agreed on how we liked how jobs and quests are implemented.

 

Though I am slightly annoyed, not angry or whatever, that evertime I do say something someone seems to always put a reaction, usually negative, right back at me, whether I am saying the Comunnity is meh or when I praise them, the result is usually the same. It doesn't really matter to me though as I am who I am, if that means I have often contradictory views compared to others so be it.

[Verence]

The two quotes, in proper context, are actually quite consonant - both point at the need for proper consideration in the context of discussing views of roleplaying within the bounds of OoC linkshell discussions. The second merely clarifies the reasoning for the statement of the first.

 

Please, and I'll say this nicely, don't snip quotes divorced from their context in an attempt to set them against each other. Anything can be made to say anything else by careful word selection; this is the basis of many cults and some wacko religious zealotry. It actually really does annoy the heck out of me when people attempt to turn my words against themselves by divorcing them from their actual perspective and meaning.

 

That probably sounds aggressive, but it's not really directed at you. I just get tired of how it seems to happen all the time, and it's never a valid representation of the ideas I'd expressed. A sore spot, I suppose. At any rate, I'd be happy to continue this discussion but to prevent this thread from becoming the Miyu And Verence Show, I suggest taking it to PMs!

[Miyu Asuka]

Totally agreed, I didn't want to turn your words against you not mean anythign in any agressive way, nor insulting, nor is it in any way really contributing to the current topic and discussiona t hand.

 

I do appologize, again. It's a very very busy time and have got a lot of things on my mind that I wont go into detail to, so I am a tad... volatile these days :3