Alright gang,
There’s a lot of new faces in here so let’s touch base. This place has been a casual, fairly slow-paced group housing a handful of us for years now.
As the creator and mod, I have had the pleasure of working with writers who are like-wise casual and chill people, but skilled in their craft. I have not had to worry about auditing posts and hovering over the writers, I have been lucky to have very trustworthy and respectful members. I am super thrilled our little hidey-hole has gained so much traction in the past two months or so, but I think it is important that we are all still on the same page of expectations.
I won’t beat around the bush. The U-Haul thread was brought to my attention, and I apologize, I had not been following it in real time or I would have intervened sooner. That was a great example of inappropriate interaction! It happens, but let’s see what we can do better to not have people’s creativity crushed in the future.
It was very obvious from the writing that there was a misunderstanding or miscommunication of emotional intent from the characters, and sometimes as the writers, it is hard to not get tied up in that emotion. It appeared in this particular situation, we let our emotions steal the writing away… it was no longer an IC drama and OOC was undeniably bleeding through in the style of meta gaming.
So in light of this, I want to clarify a few things for us to think about. If something a writer has written IC rubbed you, the fellow writer, wrong - reach out to that individual immediately OOC. Stop the IC writing immediately and have a grown-up conversation about where this writing is going. Or, write your character out of the scene if continuing isn’t deemed enjoyable. Why continue to allow something to unravel when it’s obvious no one is having fun anymore? We are here literally only to have fun.
For example, if I felt that one of jolybean’s characters was being outlandishly condescending and I was having trouble not taking it personally on behalf of my character:
1. Assess this situation - is the writer writing accurately to their characters personality? I.e. my own character, Rowen, is offensive. It is incredibly on brand for that character to be mean to another IC. If you know you’re writing with a character who is rough around the edges… you must expect to be treated roughly IC.
2. Reach out to the writer and show your heart of your sleeve, we aren’t monsters. Be frank about what in the post bothered you, and why it bothered you. Ask about the intent from the offending writer, do some OOC planning and constructing on how to shake out / mend the IC situation. OR alternatively, agree that the interaction isn’t benefiting anyone and agree to terminate the scene.
I can’t be losing more of my friends who have had a home in Paradise for years, to a lack of communication. The whole point of roleplaying is to have fun and be creative. We’re here to have fun with each other as writers. If a post isn’t going accordingly, you can either exercise your strength as a writer to see how you can coral the situation IC, or you can take it to an OOC conversation to strategize.
Letting OOC emotions take control of your IC writing isn’t a good look. Let’s keep it fun! I want to see good, juicy IC drama and not drama between writers. If there are questions, comments, concerns - leave them below.
There’s a lot of new faces in here so let’s touch base. This place has been a casual, fairly slow-paced group housing a handful of us for years now.
As the creator and mod, I have had the pleasure of working with writers who are like-wise casual and chill people, but skilled in their craft. I have not had to worry about auditing posts and hovering over the writers, I have been lucky to have very trustworthy and respectful members. I am super thrilled our little hidey-hole has gained so much traction in the past two months or so, but I think it is important that we are all still on the same page of expectations.
I won’t beat around the bush. The U-Haul thread was brought to my attention, and I apologize, I had not been following it in real time or I would have intervened sooner. That was a great example of inappropriate interaction! It happens, but let’s see what we can do better to not have people’s creativity crushed in the future.
It was very obvious from the writing that there was a misunderstanding or miscommunication of emotional intent from the characters, and sometimes as the writers, it is hard to not get tied up in that emotion. It appeared in this particular situation, we let our emotions steal the writing away… it was no longer an IC drama and OOC was undeniably bleeding through in the style of meta gaming.
So in light of this, I want to clarify a few things for us to think about. If something a writer has written IC rubbed you, the fellow writer, wrong - reach out to that individual immediately OOC. Stop the IC writing immediately and have a grown-up conversation about where this writing is going. Or, write your character out of the scene if continuing isn’t deemed enjoyable. Why continue to allow something to unravel when it’s obvious no one is having fun anymore? We are here literally only to have fun.
For example, if I felt that one of jolybean’s characters was being outlandishly condescending and I was having trouble not taking it personally on behalf of my character:
1. Assess this situation - is the writer writing accurately to their characters personality? I.e. my own character, Rowen, is offensive. It is incredibly on brand for that character to be mean to another IC. If you know you’re writing with a character who is rough around the edges… you must expect to be treated roughly IC.
2. Reach out to the writer and show your heart of your sleeve, we aren’t monsters. Be frank about what in the post bothered you, and why it bothered you. Ask about the intent from the offending writer, do some OOC planning and constructing on how to shake out / mend the IC situation. OR alternatively, agree that the interaction isn’t benefiting anyone and agree to terminate the scene.
I can’t be losing more of my friends who have had a home in Paradise for years, to a lack of communication. The whole point of roleplaying is to have fun and be creative. We’re here to have fun with each other as writers. If a post isn’t going accordingly, you can either exercise your strength as a writer to see how you can coral the situation IC, or you can take it to an OOC conversation to strategize.
Letting OOC emotions take control of your IC writing isn’t a good look. Let’s keep it fun! I want to see good, juicy IC drama and not drama between writers. If there are questions, comments, concerns - leave them below.
I guess since I replied to the U-Haul thread where I obviously wasn't welcomed, and I am being blamed for the outcome, I will excuse myself from this public forum.
Happy Birthday to me.
Happy Birthday to me.
Rowdy Stevenson wrote:
I guess since I replied to the U-Haul thread where I obviously wasn't welcomed, and I am being blamed for the outcome, I will excuse myself from this public forum.
Happy Birthday to me.
Happy Birthday to me.
That wasn't your fault. That was someone that came in hostile and multiple people taking it the same way and then when characters reacted they got blamed instead of the actual person. I'm also leaving.
There was no OOC hostility from me, only OC drama. I was just playing my character and having her react to the situation based on what she observed. And what she saw a character "acting nice" to belittle and shame someone for not having the same knowledge base as their character did. In my book, that's the definition of bullying.
Damn, they both just left. LittleWitch was just trying to sort things out and addressed the issue accordingly. Well looks like all scenes with them are terminated. Guess I'll have to figure something else out for my girls. Shame.
The power couple left? I thought about posting to a couple of those threads (example: Ladies Night) but just couldn't get a hook in, and was afraid I wouldn't be able to respond quick enough with a big enough post, so I just observed when I was on here. It seemed like a 1x1 as well. Missed all the drama. Sad it happened. Hang in there Little Witch. Love the ghettoish grit of the group scene. 