Harassment and common sense

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Jahlad
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Harassment and common sense

#1 Post by Jahlad » Tue Nov 22, 2005 9:11 am

Greetings,

I rarely write notes on this board, and this is because I
am quite fond of the system and the environment we are so
generously provided by the hard-woking admin and wizards.
There is few to complain about at all, and bugs are usually
quickly dealt with.

The atmosphere has been pleasant, even though there is
conflict, some based on race, other based on guild or
religious affliliations. All of these conflicts belong to
the game, but there is one conflict which shouldn't be
part of this game ever.

Yesterday a player decided to start a smear campaign
based on the sexual preference of poEiderich's and my
char. The note (and board) has been removed for the
time being, till this conflict is solved, but it was
highly insulting and lacks any base in the history of
this world since there are no such guidelines as to
what is considered normal or abnormal when it comes
to personal (and private) relations.

I consider this good, especially since sexual incidents
(such as rape or molesting) is usually absent from the
game. And this is the way it should stay. Where emotions
are involved, and even more where emotions of players
about such topics in RL are involved, they have no
place in a game which should be fun for everyone.

Both our chars have acted decent in public, avoiding
any conflict which justify a reaction of this kind.

I am sure there is plenty of conflict connected with our
chars already, so I will consider any sexual harassment
of our chars in game as an ooc harassment, and ask that
this is stopped at this point, before it escalates.

Thank you,
Jahlad

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iza
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#2 Post by iza » Tue Nov 22, 2005 10:20 pm

ooo...ticky subject :( ..

I'm not quite sure i understand what actually happened in this situation but my understanding of the game is that any ooc insult on a Po is completely forbidden anywhere in the game. Your char is not you and you are not your char so any insult to it should not be taken personally. A char's personality is no indication of a person so it should not be used to judge someone.
In short no insults on Po are allowed.

However..

Hate for all kinds of reasons are very real in this game. I've seen that it ranges far more then just race, god or guild. For example, I believe that human and elven relationships should be looked down upon in game ... things like that. It really isn't though and thats partly because the player base is small and making too many enemies will isolate you from others and just because we the Po are friendly folk for the most part and are afraid of looking like bigots, jerk or in anyway insult the Po.

There are no real guildlines to what our chars can hate...but there are no guildlines to what our chars cannot. To me this is a good thing because it gives us more freedom to make interesting chars. Forbidding certain situations such as rape and molestation are also good for various reasons.

However, until the wizards say 'your chars are forbiden to hate/comment in anyway on this, this and this' or just say 'don't make potenitally controversial chars' (both which would suck in my opinion). Hating chars to blue rocks for any reason is open game.
The only thing i would say is that if a char is going to make their disapproval of something potientially politically incorrect in RL, they should choose their ic words more carefully and be more sensible.

In the end of the day, its just a game...nothing in there should effect us in anyway in RL. :D
Geas. Imagination sold separately.

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tessa
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#3 Post by tessa » Wed Nov 23, 2005 12:01 am

I don't know the full story or all exactly what was said, but I don't see the major problem with it. Granted, there is no standard of what is a normal or abnormal relationship, but no matter what standard there would be, nothing says everyone has to be okay with it.

Granted, sexual preference is a sensitive subject, and it can't be regarded the same as racism in the game (since elves and so forth don't exist in RL), but just because the character has a problem, doesn't mean its OOC-related too. I know several pos who have a different opinion on the matter than their characters do, and I've actually talked to a few about the matter before.

Unless there are insults or things directed to po's OOC, I don't think it's that much of a problem. Usually it's just the character being the asshole, and the po will usually agree to that. The situation can be dealt with ICly usually without much problem.

Now, you did mention how emotions are involved. And I can understand how you might not like the IC reaction, even if it's solely RP. I won't mention names, but I know who the note-maker was, and while I don't know the person all that well, I don't think they're the sort to purposely anger/hurt anyone's feelings OOCly (though the character could care less, I'm guessing).

If there's a problem with the situation, I'm sure a OOC mail/message/etc to the person saying that you don't like it would be enough to stop the problem. Most people are respectful and considerate enough to find a way to resolve the problem.

lirynel
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#4 Post by lirynel » Wed Nov 23, 2005 3:20 am

I'm astonished by the reactions a strictly IC note has caused. Not just astonished but offended that poJahlad and poEiderich make the assumption - their words not mine - that this is some sort of personal hate campaign against them. It's not. It's a purely IC issue and that's how it should stay and I, for one, won't be discussing the matter OOC'ly any further.

I'm now in two minds about what to do. I feel that the "smear campaign" (a single IC post) should be restored but I know some of the grief that poJahlad and poEiderich have given the wizards over this and that makes me reluctant to put the post back.

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aragog
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#5 Post by aragog » Wed Nov 23, 2005 5:58 pm

Well, this is a game, so far I can agree with all notes before, but I can understand the note of poJahlad and the problem that is connected to it.

Maybe poLirynels note was really meant IC, I don't want to judge here, but the topic is not only a very sensitive one in the game but also in RL. This means that noone can ever be sure about the intention of such a note - is it really related to the game and the character or is there any personal reason behind it? And there are really a lot of people who have a problem with homosexuality, so the guess that one will transfer his personal problem to his character is not that exceptional.

I fully agree that such notes should be removed for the future and I hope that every player on geas just uses his/her common sense and leave that topic where it causes enough problems - in real life.

poAragog

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iza
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#6 Post by iza » Wed Nov 23, 2005 6:39 pm

Maybe poLirynels note was really meant IC, I don't want to judge here, but the topic is not only a very sensitive one in the game but also in RL. This means that noone can ever be sure about the itention of such a note - is it really related to the game and the character or is there any personal reason behind it?

Rule a thumb in such cases is innocent until proven guilty. The comment was said IC and therefore it should not be assumed it was meant otherwise. Its sad it was taken out because it could have proven to be good RP. Seriously its a game. Rarely do people know you that well in RL, so why would you assume anyone give a rat's ass about how you live it.
Geas. Imagination sold separately.

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tessa
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#7 Post by tessa » Wed Nov 23, 2005 11:29 pm

iza wrote:Its sad it was taken out because it could have proven to be good RP.
Yes, I'm fairly confident Tessa would have risen up hell if she read it. ;)

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