alibasil wrote:Faction differences ingame, the pvp, the outposts, it's all fine ingame. However I think dragging this world into our forums has proven to be bad on occasion.
I was having similar thoughts last night, Ali, and was going to start a post this morning but you beat me to it.
Hopefully it'll be OK if I expand on your thoughts with some of my own here. If not, I'll delete this post and start my own thread.
Ideally, I'd like to
suggest a few additions to the way we use these forums. I'm not trying to tell anyone how to behave; I don't have that right. I just want to suggest some thoughts:
1. Let's make the assumption that all posts are OOC. If you must say something IC, make sure you delineate this clearly that it's your toon talking and not you.
The reverse assumption will be true in game; if you speak in game, it's your toon talking. If you must say something that contradicts how your toon feels, make that clear. No, I'm not saying everything ingame must be RP'd, but just that the best place to play the game is in the game.
When we use the forums to talk about a problem with the mechanics of the game or to suggest an idea for the devs, the hatred and anger is usually minimal if any. We may disagree, but it's usually polite. But when we try to play out our character's disagreements, they get mixed in with how we feel as players and we get angry with each other.
2. Let's reduce the amount of RP in the forums and move it back into the game where it belongs. The forums make a great place to post announcements of in-game activity, but a horrible place to respond to those announcements and to begin the RP.
3. If you do wish to announce an activity, announce it and then ask for NO REPLIES. And let's all respect a call for NO REPLIES. No matter how much it seems to be begging for a reply, don't do it. Send that person a PM if you have a question; if it's a question that person feels should be answered in public, they can make that choice and add to their posting. But don't attempt to start the event here in the forums.
For example, when Kos wanted to auction off her OP, maybe it would have made more sense to move it ingame. Announce it here, sure. But then move the bidding/rp into the game where it belongs. Yeah, I know that the offensive action actually occurred ingame; in that case, Kos could have updated the initial post with a call to defend the OP and a delay of the ingame auction. And leave the rest of it to occur ingame. Or in private messages.
The same with the call to defend AP's outpost. Nothing wrong with calling for help, but keep it in character and mark it as NO REPLIES post. If you want to aid the defense, aid the defense. If you want to bash the declaring for their aggression, do it ingame at the attack time. And do it with your sword or amps.
A 3rd example would be the Yrkanis Shielding Act. The hope there was that we could announce it here, but play it ingame. Those that disagreed could come to Yrkanis and disagree in a pvp fashion. Those that agreed could do the same. Those that don't do faction pvp would be unaffected. But instead. it became a firestorm.
My point is that it's the very public thrashing back and forth, often mixing our toon's roleplayed friend/enemies with our OOC feelings, that makes these forums so ugly sometimes.
4. When you start a thread - try to have a clear topic. When you reply, try to stay on that topic. If someone puts a suit of Aen armor up for auction, just bid or ignore that thread; telling them they are overcharging or lauging at them for not keeping it or whatever just distracts from the topic at hand.
5. If someone says something that angers you or does something that angers you, contact them directly first before lashing out publicly. Yes, even if their offending statement is public. If you must go public, focus on the action or statements that offend and NOT the person. If you find that you offended someone and they send you a PM; feel free to clarify your public remark in the thread after you've discussed it with the person privately.
5a. If you have your PM's turned off, then resist the urge to say anything controversial at all. If you don't give people a way to privately respond to you, then they feel obligated to take it public and we're back to where we started with more public back and forth.
6. If you want to post here anonymously, don't post about anything that is in-character. i.e. don't respond to in-game actions specifically. Basically, don't attempt to play the game here in the forums at all. Feel free to discuss mechanics or game theory, but it's not fair for you to get personal about something going on in-game if your not going to reveal who you are in game.
Please understand that I'm not trying to attack anyone by these thoughts. Examples I've given are just meant to highlight the point and not be the point. Let's not redebate any of the examples.
