Post by Admin on Sept 16, 2009 15:21:10 GMT -5
Roleplaying Guidelines for The Neverenders, The Tomorrow Project, Sky Daggers, and Thanatopsis.
Generally speaking, a supergroup is a community that provides members with common ground as the basis for in-game activities. In addition to regular game play, our groups establish a link for members to roleplay together and share stories with one another. As such, a certain level of respect for all members and members’ characters should exist to ensure that the community functions successfully and is a fun, safe environment for people to express creativity. Most of the following guidelines are probably considered fairly common sense, but it never hurts to write these things out.
1. Fun for all.
The most important thing to remember about roleplay and City of Heroes/Villains is that both activities are supposed to be fun. This is a video game after all, not a job. Everyone’s definition of what’s fun is probably different, but we all have the right to expect an enjoyable environment when we log in. This means we should express our concerns if something makes us uncomfortable. If someone tells us something we’re doing is making them uncomfortable, then we should try to correct the issue as quickly as possible. Sometimes though, people just see things differently. If a solution can’t be found, let an officer know what the problem is and see if something can be worked out.
Abusive language and behavior is definitely not fun, nor is it ever acceptable in our community. Let an officer know immediately if you feel like someone is stepping over the line from inconsiderate to abusive.
2. Have a little respect.
Respect is a pretty common word that gets used a lot, but the meaning can sometimes become vague and is generally viewed quite differently from person to person. Essentially, when we say that members are expected to demonstrate respect toward one another, we’re using the Golden Rule. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
What this means is that for both characters and the people who play them, we should all strive to treat each other with the same level of consideration and tolerance we expect to be shown ourselves. This should be applied in general interactions but also when differences arise. Misunderstandings are going to happen, especially when good-natured joking can be easily misinterpreted on the Internet.
3. Godmoding, Metagaming, and Other Things that are not cool.
Roleplaying is a social activity, and like most social activities there has to be agreement between or among the participating parties to follow certain rules to avoid chaos. One of the basic principles of this social exchange is the idea of consent – an agreement to allow certain things to happen. Each of our characters is our own intellectual property and as such, we have the right to control what does or does not happen to them.
No one can injure or harm your character without your consent, and the same is true for other people’s characters. We cannot affect other characters without the permission of the player. There are times when players know each other well enough that they can assume a certain level of consent, but as a general rule we want to make sure to ask for consent if we’re not sure how the other character would respond.
For example: If Hero Guy wants to throw a bottle at Other Guy, instead of saying “Hero Guy hits Other Guy in the face with a bottle,” try “Hero Guy throws a bottle at Other Guy’s face.” Hero Guy is still doing the action his player wants, but Other Guy has the option of missing the attack or getting pegged in the face. That’s one way of asking for consent without breaking the flow of roleplay.
We’ve probably all run into characters or players who think that have the right to punch your character in the face without your permission. That kind of behavior isn’t really fun for anyone except the person who’s getting to win all the time. Along the same lines, we’ve also probably had experiences with players who use information they’ve learned OOC to make their own characters look smart without our consent. There also those characters out there who can do everything. They’re invulnerable, immortal, experts on magic and technology, can juggle fire, knit sweaters, and soothe the cries of baby kittens around the world with a single sigh.
We encourage players to avoid those kinds of roleplay tactics. You wouldn’t want someone to stab your Super Reflexes scrapper in the face without your permission, so avoid doing it to other players. Having said that, we should all try to remember that while consent is ours to give, we want to actually have a dialog – through words or actions – with other people. Give and take is a crucial part of the roleplay environment. We have the right to protect our intellectual property, but we also have a responsibility to our fellow roleplayers to respect their characters’ needs and wants. So help others have fun, and they can help you too.
4. All for fun.
For a supergroup to succeed, everyone has to pitch in. If only a few people are starting teams or roleplay, then a couple of things generally happen. Newer members (or even older ones) feel intimidated about starting their own roleplay or feel like that can’t get involved with ongoing plots. On the other end, the people who are always starting teams and roleplay eventually get burned out. And that’s not fun for anyone!
We encourage all members, new or old, to feel free to start roleplay, teams, task forces, pvp events, or anything else they think might be fun for the group. If you’re shy or just not sure where to start, ask! Supporting each other during roleplay and teaming gives us all good vibes and usually encourages more activity. Real life always comes first and sometimes, we’re just busy. However, we usually get back what we put into something.
Generally speaking, a supergroup is a community that provides members with common ground as the basis for in-game activities. In addition to regular game play, our groups establish a link for members to roleplay together and share stories with one another. As such, a certain level of respect for all members and members’ characters should exist to ensure that the community functions successfully and is a fun, safe environment for people to express creativity. Most of the following guidelines are probably considered fairly common sense, but it never hurts to write these things out.
1. Fun for all.
The most important thing to remember about roleplay and City of Heroes/Villains is that both activities are supposed to be fun. This is a video game after all, not a job. Everyone’s definition of what’s fun is probably different, but we all have the right to expect an enjoyable environment when we log in. This means we should express our concerns if something makes us uncomfortable. If someone tells us something we’re doing is making them uncomfortable, then we should try to correct the issue as quickly as possible. Sometimes though, people just see things differently. If a solution can’t be found, let an officer know what the problem is and see if something can be worked out.
Abusive language and behavior is definitely not fun, nor is it ever acceptable in our community. Let an officer know immediately if you feel like someone is stepping over the line from inconsiderate to abusive.
2. Have a little respect.
Respect is a pretty common word that gets used a lot, but the meaning can sometimes become vague and is generally viewed quite differently from person to person. Essentially, when we say that members are expected to demonstrate respect toward one another, we’re using the Golden Rule. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
What this means is that for both characters and the people who play them, we should all strive to treat each other with the same level of consideration and tolerance we expect to be shown ourselves. This should be applied in general interactions but also when differences arise. Misunderstandings are going to happen, especially when good-natured joking can be easily misinterpreted on the Internet.
3. Godmoding, Metagaming, and Other Things that are not cool.
Roleplaying is a social activity, and like most social activities there has to be agreement between or among the participating parties to follow certain rules to avoid chaos. One of the basic principles of this social exchange is the idea of consent – an agreement to allow certain things to happen. Each of our characters is our own intellectual property and as such, we have the right to control what does or does not happen to them.
No one can injure or harm your character without your consent, and the same is true for other people’s characters. We cannot affect other characters without the permission of the player. There are times when players know each other well enough that they can assume a certain level of consent, but as a general rule we want to make sure to ask for consent if we’re not sure how the other character would respond.
For example: If Hero Guy wants to throw a bottle at Other Guy, instead of saying “Hero Guy hits Other Guy in the face with a bottle,” try “Hero Guy throws a bottle at Other Guy’s face.” Hero Guy is still doing the action his player wants, but Other Guy has the option of missing the attack or getting pegged in the face. That’s one way of asking for consent without breaking the flow of roleplay.
We’ve probably all run into characters or players who think that have the right to punch your character in the face without your permission. That kind of behavior isn’t really fun for anyone except the person who’s getting to win all the time. Along the same lines, we’ve also probably had experiences with players who use information they’ve learned OOC to make their own characters look smart without our consent. There also those characters out there who can do everything. They’re invulnerable, immortal, experts on magic and technology, can juggle fire, knit sweaters, and soothe the cries of baby kittens around the world with a single sigh.
We encourage players to avoid those kinds of roleplay tactics. You wouldn’t want someone to stab your Super Reflexes scrapper in the face without your permission, so avoid doing it to other players. Having said that, we should all try to remember that while consent is ours to give, we want to actually have a dialog – through words or actions – with other people. Give and take is a crucial part of the roleplay environment. We have the right to protect our intellectual property, but we also have a responsibility to our fellow roleplayers to respect their characters’ needs and wants. So help others have fun, and they can help you too.
4. All for fun.
For a supergroup to succeed, everyone has to pitch in. If only a few people are starting teams or roleplay, then a couple of things generally happen. Newer members (or even older ones) feel intimidated about starting their own roleplay or feel like that can’t get involved with ongoing plots. On the other end, the people who are always starting teams and roleplay eventually get burned out. And that’s not fun for anyone!
We encourage all members, new or old, to feel free to start roleplay, teams, task forces, pvp events, or anything else they think might be fun for the group. If you’re shy or just not sure where to start, ask! Supporting each other during roleplay and teaming gives us all good vibes and usually encourages more activity. Real life always comes first and sometimes, we’re just busy. However, we usually get back what we put into something.