IC/OOC Separation

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ila
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IC/OOC Separation

#1 Post by ila » Sat Oct 03, 2020 9:31 am

This hasn't really affected me personally too much, but since I failed to follow my own advice written here a couple times in the past (and still feel kinda awful over it btw), and since I've been hearing that it's happening more frequently lately, I felt a need to comment.

The rules on separating IC and OOC for Geas are actually very important.

Geas is pretty hardcore. It's no permadeath game, but each death is meant to be significant, and some consequences can literally strip away a character's access to huge parts of the game. In short, PvP conflict can get really heavy really fast, and even if you try not to be a jerk, some of the results can still manage to feel very personal and very damaging.

Because of this, it's important, nay, vital to keep IC and OOC separated. I don't mean "never talk about IC stuff OOCly," actually my favorite conflict with another player was one where we were OOCly joking about stuff all along the way. In fact, that's the spirit of what I mean about keeping things separated.

You are not your character!

However, if you try and resolve a situation through OOC means, whatever they may be, other people are going to pick up on that, and it's going to seriously start to feel like you are your character.

If you're your character, then if other people do anything to your character, they're doing it to you. Likewise, if you're your character, then you're doing whatever your character's doing.

Suddenly, you're not roleplaying a jerk. You just are the jerk, and nobody wants to deal with jerks when they're trying to have fun.

(And trust me, if you're involved with any conflict at all, your character's probably being a jerk to someone.)

That's all I wanted to say. I hope this is actually a sparse thing, that most of the playerbase wholeheartedly agrees with me, and that my message almost has no point to exist. I don't really talk OOCly too much though, outside my little in-game quips, and my endless insane ramblings to the tiny few who can withstand it without going mad (they suffer so you don't have to).

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Delia
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Re: IC/OOC Separation

#2 Post by Delia » Sat Oct 03, 2020 7:44 pm

Personally I believe players ought to establish boundaries OOC and talk OOC to each other about what is nice and what is not. Granted, OOC talk can get out of bounds especially when you feel like you want to win. When you feel like that, take pause and reflect. Every triumph you make for the sake of your character alone is a loss for the whole playerbase and detracts from the game as a whole. Your wins and losses are shared among all the players and as such, even the most hurtful of losses can indeed be a huge win enjoyed by all. Even by you.
"To be is to do" - Sokrates
"To do is to be" - Jean-Paul Sartre
"Do be do be do" - Frank Sinatra

ceinna
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Re: IC/OOC Separation

#3 Post by ceinna » Sat Oct 03, 2020 11:56 pm

I have to agree with Delia. It used to be pretty common place for the players to go hey so, just checking in! Ive had some amazing talks with players OOC before and after some pretty extensive and vicious IC stuff. I remember one evil who straight up asked me "what are your OOC boundaries" because it was very important to them that they didn't cross them in the roleplay. While yes, it should be normal to split OOC/IC, I think that discounting someone's desire to talk OOC because they need to clarify things is just...not nice.

I think its important to remember its a game. And when it gets to the point when OOC boundaries are being broken - we should be able to go to one another and go hey, so this bothered me a bit, I dont want to lose the roleplay so can we put our heads together and find another way to handle X?

I've had a few IC interactions with players just since returning that I -knew- were going to go into potentially hard territory, and I asked them before hand what their boundaries were. Because the last thing I ever want is to be the reason someone OOC has a boundary crossed. Its happened to me.

I think if someone is denying someone the right to share a concern OOC - the next best step is absolutely to get a wizard involved. That is their job! And I'm thankful for them and all the hard work they do.

All that to say - OOC has a VERY important use. Making sure the player behind the character is okay. We all want to have fun, and Ive seen some hard core conflict where everyone is having a blast - and often because there are OOC boundaries at least understood.

ila
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Re: IC/OOC Separation

#4 Post by ila » Mon Oct 05, 2020 2:39 am

This is my concern, but whatever.

Laewyloth
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Re: IC/OOC Separation

#5 Post by Laewyloth » Tue Oct 06, 2020 4:18 pm

My own $0.02 on this (again, as a relatively new player, so feel free to disregard) is:

I'd love for OOC, any sort of OOC, to be the absolute 'last' result / path to solve for something. Not because I don't think it's fun to chit chat, or say 'Hey, I got an improve~!' but just because the second you try to connect with someone OOCly, prior to a big event, or story, or RP pivot - you are purposefully 'invading' their space.

What I mean by that is, the player (not the character) now feels invested in or uncomfortable with whatever the RP is, and if something should happen (maybe the circumstances change, or maybe something goes wrong, or maybe there's just an unforeseen circumstances) it's the player, not the character, that's affected. I'd rather everyone just be true to their characters, stay IC for any and all decision making, and keep OOC for talking about cats, or how much it sucks to improve X skill~!

And to clarify, to me, keeping it IC -does- also mean that if you're doing something 'shitty' and you know it'll affect another character, and you feel like you need to OOCly justify it, or discuss it, or 'check' with that player beforehand...well, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place :3 Because we are playing 'with each other' not 'against each other'.

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Delia
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Re: IC/OOC Separation

#6 Post by Delia » Wed Oct 07, 2020 4:34 am

My personal ideal would be that we could just casually commit atrocities(or not) against each other IC and at the end of the day enter back into our RL lives undisturbed and happy. I'm the happiest when others do not have to wear any fluffy kitten mittens when they hit me. Not that getting hit is a prerequisite for my game fun to actualize.

It is just that there is no good answer to this. There are ups and downs to each approach. I have just personally lived through some absolute nonsense in Geas when people have not approached me personally, OOC, and asked the truth of the matter that bothered them until their imaginations lost control of the rumour mill they operated so I kinda prefer the tabletop way: speak with the players you are playing with.

Ignoring and keeping the OOC aspect from the game also limits scope. How can we proceed with telling a story if we do not tell the same story? Everything just devolves into a narrative tug of war, which kinda describes my experiences. My best experiences have always been with players whom I have had established OOC trust with OOC means. It always resulted in far superior IC play. Though all of this is subjective of course. We come in all sorts and as such enjoy different things wherein lies the difficulty.
"To be is to do" - Sokrates
"To do is to be" - Jean-Paul Sartre
"Do be do be do" - Frank Sinatra

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