Roleplaying in Public, but not..in public?

[Virella]

Okay guys. You can all ERP in party chat, because that's private, you don't want people to see it, nor do you have any desire of other people walking in that for a myriad of reasons.

 

Maybe apply that logic too to any roleplay you don't want other people to see?

 

It's that simple.

[Zhavi]

Okay guys. You can all ERP in party chat, because that's private, you don't want people to see it, nor do you have any desire of other people walking in that for a myriad of reasons.

 

Maybe apply that logic too to any roleplay you don't want other people to see?

 

It's that simple.

 

Not necessarily.

 

What if you want it to be seen and responded to, but you just want to sorta give someone an ooc rundown of the full set of circumstances before they jump in? Or, as I said in my other post, what if you want people to see the rp and approach you about it, but that particular rp was supposed to be a little harder for people to just outright join in on? What if you're just an attention whore and want people to read your rp because you just like people hanging out reading your rp because it makes you feel all super special, but don't actually want interruptions?

 

 

 

(also, it occurs to me that this is a bizarre twist on the usual issue of 'why is no one rping in public channels?' and 'why can't I get anyone to initiate walkup rp with my character?' IS IT CHANGING? )

[Gegenji]

Okay guys. You can all ERP in party chat, because that's private, you don't want people to see it, nor do you have any desire of other people walking in that for a myriad of reasons.

 

Maybe apply that logic too to any roleplay you don't want other people to see?

 

It's that simple.

 

ERP has a massive stigma to it, though. It's something "everyone" says should be hidden. And I'm pretty sure if you were publicly ERPing in /say and /em, you would get reported and get in trouble.

 

Your regular RP... doesn't have that same sort of consequence. If someone is doing their personal RP in /say and you don't like it, they're not really going to get in trouble. So it's not quite the same thing, there isn't the same level of gravitas there as compared to ERP.

 

 

... Also, I thought of something after I had already written that wall of a post above. Another situation where someone couldn't go to Party Chat. What if they're queued for a dungeon and they're just RPing to kill some time? They CAN'T go to Party Chat because then it'd end their queue.

[ExAtomos]

I do wish we had some sort of smaller range /say that could be used to show that I'm speaking quietly to someone, but that the RP is still open to others to join in. It would help with chat spam at large events as well, I'm sure.

[Virella]

But why would I ever give the OOC rundown, or anyone, for that matter. Their character's weren't there earlier? Let them run into an awkward, wrong moment. It happens in *gasp* real life as well. That's immersion shattering stuff broheim. Sure, I'm glad to go "Oh they have x in their hand, or you can see x" if they step into the scene, but I'm sure that can be emoted out as well.

 

Like get out with this dumb culture of "ermgerd best not step on people's toes". We're all a bunch of nerds, doing the same nerdy shit. Stop being so shy, so overly polite, so reserved, and so afraid to insult people. 

 

 

I've always been an advocate of you don't have to roleplay with people you don't like. Just shoo them off IC, don't seek them out if they don't approach you. Simple as that. Like is that heartbreaking to just tell someone IC "Not now." Or move away IC. Or just go "Oh, I'm sorry, we're having a private conversation" IC. That's ALSO ROLEPLAY YOU KNOW.

 

Just because your characters don't want to be interrupted, doesn't mean the player minds it???? Can we drop this attitude that the player is the character??? If Ave shoos someone off, doesn't mean I suddenly hate their guts. They might have just caught her at a wrong day. Jolly gosh, negative interactions are a part of roleplay as well.

 

Grow some balls and tell people to fuck off IC if you don't want them to be there IC. That's roleplay for you. (Heck, I even did it with the weirdo who was in his slutmog. Even if I didn't agree with a single fucking bit what he was doing. Partly because I had no clue how to make Ave respond onto someone being there, but not really being there, so she just gone "okay friendo" and just left. ITS NOT THAT HARD JESSSSSSSUS)

[Gegenji]

Like get out with this dumb culture of "ermgerd best not step on people's toes". We're all a bunch of nerds, doing the same nerdy shit. Stop being so shy, so overly polite, so reserved, and so afraid to insult people. 

 

...

 

Grow some balls and tell people to fuck off IC if you don't want them to be there IC. That's roleplay for you.

So nerds should stop being nerds. Got it.

[Virella]

Like get out with this dumb culture of "ermgerd best not step on people's toes". We're all a bunch of nerds, doing the same nerdy shit. Stop being so shy, so overly polite, so reserved, and so afraid to insult people. 

 

...

 

Grow some balls and tell people to fuck off IC if you don't want them to be there IC. That's roleplay for you.

So nerds should stop being nerds. Got it.

Yeah, some people can get over the fact this is not real life, I'm sorry to give this huge revelation to you. Some people can see this is a hobby, and not themselves. JEEEZ. Some people can distance themselves from all that.

 

It's really just Balmung who has this retarded culture. Man, I can't imagine how sad my D&D group would be if I would need to like kiss people's asses and ask for permission 24/7 to say or do something IC.

[Gegenji]

Like get out with this dumb culture of "ermgerd best not step on people's toes". We're all a bunch of nerds, doing the same nerdy shit. Stop being so shy, so overly polite, so reserved, and so afraid to insult people. 

 

...

 

Grow some balls and tell people to fuck off IC if you don't want them to be there IC. That's roleplay for you.

So nerds should stop being nerds. Got it.

Yeah, some people can get over the fact this is not real life, I'm sorry to give this huge revelation to you.

 

My own personal snark aside, the point I'm making is that you're dealing with a gathering of a people who - by nature - tend to be shy, reserved, and afraid of stepping on toes. Sure, not everyone in the culture is like that, but it's a known thing.

 

Also, someone's personal nature - especially considering something like stepping into the unknown or approach to potential conflict - is not something they can easily turn off. Some can, many can't. It's probably why the whole wallflowering thing has been/was/is an issue.

 

So you can yell at them all you want (or yell at them by proxy by making angry posts on a forum)... but that's not going to fix things. Heck, with some, it might just make them draw further into their shells or dig in their heels and get indignant.

[ExAtomos]

But why would I ever give the OOC rundown, or anyone, for that matter. Their character's weren't there earlier? Let them run into an awkward, wrong moment. It happens in *gasp* real life as well. That's immersion shattering stuff broheim. Sure, I'm glad to go "Oh they have x in their hand, or you can see x" if they step into the scene, but I'm sure that can be emoted out as well.

 

Like get out with this dumb culture of "ermgerd best not step on people's toes". We're all a bunch of nerds, doing the same nerdy shit. Stop being so shy, so overly polite, so reserved, and so afraid to insult people. 

 

 

I've always been an advocate of you don't have to roleplay with people you don't like. Just shoo them off IC, don't seek them out if they don't approach you. Simple as that. Like is that heartbreaking to just tell someone IC "Not now." Or move away IC. Or just go "Oh, I'm sorry, we're having a private conversation" IC. That's ALSO ROLEPLAY YOU KNOW.

 

Just because your characters don't want to be interrupted, doesn't mean the player minds it???? Can we drop this attitude that the player is the character??? If Ave shoos someone off, doesn't mean I suddenly hate their guts. They might have just caught her at a wrong day. Jolly gosh, negative interactions are a part of roleplay as well.

 

Grow some balls and tell people to fuck off IC if you don't want them to be there IC. That's roleplay for you. (Heck, I even did it with the weirdo who was in his slutmog. Even if I didn't agree with a single fucking bit what he was doing. Partly because I had no clue how to make Ave respond onto someone being there, but not really being there, so she just gone "okay friendo" and just left. ITS NOT THAT HARD JESSSSSSSUS)

 

I try to be ridiculously polite, but I actually agree with this. It's WAY more immersion breaking to send a tell asking if I can talk to these people who are talking in public. IRL if people are discussing something relevant to my interests, I'll just go "Excuse me, but did you say X?" I get the feeling that a lot of y'all start off assuming that Ser Random Walkup will wreck your scene, and that's just really sad.

 

ETA: I /also/ don't take it personal if Ser Public RPer blows me off. It's IN CHARACTER, not OOC.

[Aegir]

What's a slutmog?

[Zhavi]

But why would I ever give the OOC rundown, or anyone, for that matter. Their character's weren't there earlier? Let them run into an awkward, wrong moment. It happens in *gasp* real life as well. That's immersion shattering stuff broheim. Sure, I'm glad to go "Oh they have x in their hand, or you can see x" if they step into the scene, but I'm sure that can be emoted out as well.

 

Like get out with this dumb culture of "ermgerd best not step on people's toes". We're all a bunch of nerds, doing the same nerdy shit. Stop being so shy, so overly polite, so reserved, and so afraid to insult people. 

 

 

I've always been an advocate of you don't have to roleplay with people you don't like. Just shoo them off IC, don't seek them out if they don't approach you. Simple as that. Like is that heartbreaking to just tell someone IC "Not now." Or move away IC. Or just go "Oh, I'm sorry, we're having a private conversation" IC. That's ALSO ROLEPLAY YOU KNOW.

 

Just because your characters don't want to be interrupted, doesn't mean the player minds it???? Can we drop this attitude that the player is the character??? If Ave shoos someone off, doesn't mean I suddenly hate their guts. They might have just caught her at a wrong day. Jolly gosh, negative interactions are a part of roleplay as well.

 

I've rped my characters in the water, up on the wall (zhi is a climber), in a space not physically represented in the game. When those situations are happening, I'd prefer to let people know oocly first so they actually have the correct positioning for their post -- especially because once the scene is set, I don't care to continuously input that information into my post. I personally hate having to redo posts to account for something I wasn't aware of, so I like to extend that courtesy to others.

 

I like being polite oocly. Zhi can be a total and unreserved bitch icly. RPing her being rude to people was never an issue for me, and also never why I prefer oocly touching base with people (the ooc thing is just how I like to rp to avoid mixups with stepping into someone's away-from-the-beaten-path rp). I'm not sure where you're getting the ic/ooc mixing? Though I'm also not sure if that was aimed at me.

 

But you didn't really directly reply to any of my points so I'm still not sure if your post was directed at me or not, since you're not quoting anyone, heh.

[Virella]

Like get out with this dumb culture of "ermgerd best not step on people's toes". We're all a bunch of nerds, doing the same nerdy shit. Stop being so shy, so overly polite, so reserved, and so afraid to insult people. 

 

...

 

Grow some balls and tell people to fuck off IC if you don't want them to be there IC. That's roleplay for you.

So nerds should stop being nerds. Got it.

Yeah, some people can get over the fact this is not real life, I'm sorry to give this huge revelation to you.

 

Snark aside, the point I'm making is that you're dealing with a gathering of a people who - by nature - tend to be shy, reserved, and afraid of stepping on toes. Sure, not everyone in the culture is like that, but it's a known thing.

 

Also, someone's personal nature - especially considering something like stepping into the unknown or approach to potential conflict - is not something they can easily turn off. Some can, many can't.

That's bullshit. Utter and complete bullshit. Roleplayers aren't just shy people. To say to is fucking absurd. It's the dumb American PC culture what just rules on Balmung. THEE MUST NOT OFFEND ELSE I WILL DEMONISE THOUUUUUUUUUUUUU.

 

@Zhavi

 

The fucking point I'm trying to make is that it's not rude to just come up to people and roleplay. It's goddamn roleplay, not running into their irl marriage and shitting on their table.

[Leggerless]

What's a slutmog?

 

A moogle that shows off its pom just a bit too much. Oftentimes in front of people's faces, but sometimes from a distance. The methods of slutmogging are wide and far and require much practice to know whether or not your regular moggle is, in fact, a slutmog.

[ExAtomos]

 

That's bullshit. Utter and complete bullshit. Roleplayers aren't just shy people. To say to is fucking absurd. It's the dumb American PC culture what just rules on Balmung. THEE MUST NOT OFFEND ELSE I WILL DEMONISE THOUUUUUUUUUUUUU.

 

I would say it's actually widespread low self esteem that makes people terrified of other people. An attempt to buffer against anticipated rejection and all that. :<

[Gegenji]

Like get out with this dumb culture of "ermgerd best not step on people's toes". We're all a bunch of nerds, doing the same nerdy shit. Stop being so shy, so overly polite, so reserved, and so afraid to insult people. 

 

...

 

Grow some balls and tell people to fuck off IC if you don't want them to be there IC. That's roleplay for you.

So nerds should stop being nerds. Got it.

Yeah, some people can get over the fact this is not real life, I'm sorry to give this huge revelation to you.

 

Snark aside, the point I'm making is that you're dealing with a gathering of a people who - by nature - tend to be shy, reserved, and afraid of stepping on toes. Sure, not everyone in the culture is like that, but it's a known thing.

 

Also, someone's personal nature - especially considering something like stepping into the unknown or approach to potential conflict - is not something they can easily turn off. Some can, many can't.

That's bullshit. Utter and complete bullshit. Roleplayers aren't just shy people. To say to is fucking absurd. It's the dumb American PC culture what just rules on Balmung. THEE MUST NOT OFFEND ELSE I WILL DEMONISE THOUUUUUUUUUUUUU.

 

American culture is predominant on a US server?

 

 

That's bullshit. Utter and complete bullshit. Roleplayers aren't just shy people. To say to is fucking absurd. It's the dumb American PC culture what just rules on Balmung. THEE MUST NOT OFFEND ELSE I WILL DEMONISE THOUUUUUUUUUUUUU.

 

I would say it's actually widespread low self esteem that makes people terrified of other people. An attempt to buffer against anticipated rejection and all that. :<

 

Also this. I think you're strawmanning US culture a bit hard there, Virella.

[Virella]

So nerds should stop being nerds. Got it.

Yeah, some people can get over the fact this is not real life, I'm sorry to give this huge revelation to you.

 

Snark aside, the point I'm making is that you're dealing with a gathering of a people who - by nature - tend to be shy, reserved, and afraid of stepping on toes. Sure, not everyone in the culture is like that, but it's a known thing.

 

Also, someone's personal nature - especially considering something like stepping into the unknown or approach to potential conflict - is not something they can easily turn off. Some can, many can't.

That's bullshit. Utter and complete bullshit. Roleplayers aren't just shy people. To say to is fucking absurd. It's the dumb American PC culture what just rules on Balmung. THEE MUST NOT OFFEND ELSE I WILL DEMONISE THOUUUUUUUUUUUUU.

 

American culture is predominant on a US server?

American PC culture, yes. Because other games I've roleplayed before this 'you must not offended anyone ree' shit became all the rage, US people weren't as fucking terrified to just roleplay with randoms in the open. It's like ???? What happened to you guys. You used to be so cool, and not give a fuck, and just roleplay. Now this idiocy is seeping into roleplay as well. And on Balmung, is just so fucking easy to see. Unless we somehow, gathered all the US social outcasts and shy people, what I doubt????

 

But whatever, I'm done.

 

Just roleplay, instead of whisper people constantly. Like what the ass, no one is out to get you if you DARE TO INTERRUPT THEM IC, except for a few butthurt divas. Once more, grow a spine and get over yourselves that everyone is going to be mad at you for daring to join in their public roleplay.

[Zhavi]

@Zhavi

 

The fucking point I'm trying to make is that it's not rude to just come up to people and roleplay. It's goddamn roleplay, not running into their irl marriage and shitting on their table.

 

<3

 

I'm not saying it's rude to. Maybe I'm just being really bad at explaining.

 

A vast majority of time, walkups go fine. I'm not bothered by them. I'm like 'hey cool this person saw our rp and liked it so much they wanted to join in.' It's flattering. Cool beans.

 

But for certain scenes, if something looks or seems a little off, I'm going to send a message first. That way I don't waste my time, they don't waste theirs. We can all be on the same wavelength.

 

It's polite, and it's efficient. I guess when I use the word polite it would make sense to assume that I'm saying to not do it would be rude, which isn't how I'm looking at this. I understand that not everyone wants to send ooc messages, and if they don't send me a message I'm not going to think them rude. My tastes and preferences aren't always someone else's tastes and preferences, and that's perfectly fine. I'm just arguing cuz I like my way of doing things!

[Gegenji]

Yeah, some people can get over the fact this is not real life, I'm sorry to give this huge revelation to you.

 

Snark aside, the point I'm making is that you're dealing with a gathering of a people who - by nature - tend to be shy, reserved, and afraid of stepping on toes. Sure, not everyone in the culture is like that, but it's a known thing.

 

Also, someone's personal nature - especially considering something like stepping into the unknown or approach to potential conflict - is not something they can easily turn off. Some can, many can't.

That's bullshit. Utter and complete bullshit. Roleplayers aren't just shy people. To say to is fucking absurd. It's the dumb American PC culture what just rules on Balmung. THEE MUST NOT OFFEND ELSE I WILL DEMONISE THOUUUUUUUUUUUUU.

 

American culture is predominant on a US server?

American PC culture, yes. Because other games I've roleplayed before this 'you must not offended anyone ree' shit became all the rage, US people weren't as fucking terrified to just roleplay with randoms in the open. It's like ???? What happened to you guys. You used to be so cool, and not give a fuck, and just roleplay. Now this idiocy is seeping into roleplay as well.

 

It could also just as easily be the fact that maybe MMO RP is becoming more popular and widespread, so you're getting more people who don't know that it's okay. Or are afraid to make that leap. Or any other number of situations, issues, or problems that could be keeping them from just diving right in.

 

Pinning it just on US PC Culture is, again, somewhat of a strawman argument.

[ExAtomos]

 

It could also just as easily be the fact that maybe MMO RP is becoming more popular and widespread, so you're getting more people who don't know that it's okay. Or are afraid to make that leap. Or any other number of situations, issues, or problems that could be keeping them from just diving right in.

 

Pinning it just on US PC Culture is, again, somewhat of a strawman argument.

 

TBH, I would say you've got increasing amounts of RPers who have encountered players who have responded harshly to them or who have gone through drama and are now just afraid to reach out to others, no matter how much they may want to. This is why I try to send a follow up /tell of "I'm sorry my character is being horrible to you right now!" just to keep it clear that the blow-off is IC only and /not/ OOC. Too many people blur the two. >.>;

[Gegenji]

 

It could also just as easily be the fact that maybe MMO RP is becoming more popular and widespread, so you're getting more people who don't know that it's okay. Or are afraid to make that leap. Or any other number of situations, issues, or problems that could be keeping them from just diving right in.

 

Pinning it just on US PC Culture is, again, somewhat of a strawman argument.

 

TBH, I would say you've got increasing amounts of RPers who have encountered players who have responded harshly to them or who have gone through drama and are now just afraid to reach out to others, no matter how much they may want to. This is why I try to send a follow up /tell of "I'm sorry my character is being horrible to you right now!" just to keep it clear that the blow-off is IC only and /not/ OOC. Too many people blur the two. >.>;

 

Haha, I've done similar things myself! Mostly with Gogon, since he's very much an abrasive character. I get super worried that people might think I'm mean rather than it just being my character.

 

... Which, I think (and hope) is more a personal neurosis rather than assuming the worst of the other person.

[QalliFlower]

I mean, the main reason I ever ask someone to join is because I'm lazy, and if they're going to be prickly or ignore me that's a quicker way to find out.

 

I'm generally polite to other players because I'm a selfish creature and know they'll be more amenable to my funmaking if they aren't put off.

 

YMMV.

[Leggerless]

I mean. I wouldn't necessarily assign the problems to just Americans about magically knowing whether or not it's ok to RP with someone and calling them afraid just because they won't walk up to someone.

 

Even in Germany (EU), at a cafe setting (for an example), you use a phrase like "Ist hier noch frei" (Is here free?) to a group of people sitting down at a table already with what appears to be open seats. If they say "Ja" (Yes) or "Ja, hier ist frei" (Yea, here is free), then you're free to take the other spots at the table. If not, then you politely nod, move on, and see about acquiring another table or continue standing around. If they spout some mean nonsense towards you... then politely nod, move on, and see about acquiring another table.

 

It's not just one culture or group of people that may be scared to do this. It's many people. And it's certainly not just one region. It's everywhere, in some form or fashion of a particular magnitude. That's what I think.

 

It's almost what you should expect from a RP community of people who hail from a countless number of backgrounds.

[zaviire]

While I agree that it's a kind of silly attitude to have that "omg if I wanna walk-up to anyone ever for the arr peez then I have to ask permission first or they'll be mad at me," I don't think it really has anything to do with American "PC Culture." Nor do I think that there's anything really wrong with "PC Culture," because I think it's a pretty good deal that people try to be inclusive and respectful of one another.

 

Being afraid to offend people is kind of its own separate issue that is more likely to stem from other things that are more likely to be on a personal level. For example, Balmung has quite a few people who can and will ostracize or even harass you if you don't march in lock-step with them and their opinions, whether they pertain to RP or not.

 

At that point, I think that the fear is... Kind of natural? RP is a social hobby and MMOs are social games, and no one wants to be bullied. This is to say nothing of cases where people actually do bleed IC into OOC which has ended ugly, or vice-versa.

 

Anyway, I don't think that there's anything I could say on the matter that Gegenji hasn't already.

 

A semi-related note, though, is that I don't feel like it's a particularly heinous crime to let someone know, OOC in /tells, that either the scene is closed or I have no interest in RPing with them. Mostly because in crowded places, I find chat scroll to be a bit brain-bendy and I can barely keep up when I'm just RPing with one other person. If a scene is closed, I'll usually take it to /p because I just treat /p like I do /em, regardless of the nametag attached to names. But anything I do in /s is usually fair game even if I'll probably be surprised if anyone actually picks up on my character to interact in the first place.

 

But if it's just my character being an irritable arse, then the telling-to-buzz-off will probably just be IC. And it'll just be because he's an irritable arse, not because I, OOC, want the scene to be closed. If my character tells someone to buzz off, then they're absolutely free to not buzz off. The results might just be a little interesting depending on how Leon is feeling that day.

[Caspar]

It's how I was raised. I use both /tell and walkup, but I try to read the mood and tailor my approach to what I feel is most appropriate. It has very little to do with being sensitive towards offending someone and more about pragmatic politeness. I can understand the desire to be IC at all times, but I think gaining important context, especially if the RP is not in the in game locale or a huge visible event is happening ICly, is worth breaking character if only for a moment. Say there is a huge riot and the emotes are responses to GM posts in /p. Your character ought to be able to see the riot; walking up with no context just makes them appear blind or deaf. That is unless your character is one of those things...

[Silmanos]

Honestly 90% of the time I don't actually think people have an issue with walk ups as being shown here. I've found if it is in say or emote then it normally is fair game. Yet like everything in life the rule of thumb is not always the case. Closed FC events are actually a perfect example of this. You can only utilize so many channels for these things and depending on your fc size party chat is not one of them. Thus many default to using say/emote for most of it while dms use other channels for scene setting and ooc dm things. This of course leads to someone seeing people rping but it is a closed scene. And honestly anyone who says their fc doesn't make these closed.... well I feel sorry for your dms having to constantly deal with the added stress of including randoms. These being closed are also often coupled with the fact that we at times do have to use a spot in the game world to represent something else, for all that we have we don't exactly have everything that might potentialy be rp'd. 

 

So yes saying use party chat for private scenes or when you don't want to have interruptions is nice and all, it just isn't feasible unless its with a small group. Now of course this doesn't give anyone the license to be rude if someone mistakes it as open. As a dm I've always just sent a polite ooc tell to the person letting them know it is a closed fc event and they have always been polite about accepting that. Hells more often than not they stick around to watch. Outside of instances like this you should be fine to walk up to your heart's content if they are in public channels with their tag on. If they become rude over it... well do you really want to rp with peoplenlike that? The only time I'd really say for sure you need to send a tell oocly is if your character is walking up with the intention to detain or arrest them. Let's just be honest here, no one is really going to be okay with a complete stranger walking up and trying to rp lock your character by arresting them unless it's worked out so it can be resolved within a reasonable time.