Summary of Workshop: Role-Play Principles in Second Life's Crack Den Community
Consent in Role-Play

• Importance of Consent: Fundamental to all role-play, with a focus on respecting limits.
• Violent and Extreme Themes: While the sim allows for violence and sexual assault themes, nobody should be pressured to role-play anything they are not comfortable with.
• Asking for Consent: Consent is not required for 'standard' attack scenarios, but it's essential for extreme actions. Most characters have death limits or may want a say in life-altering situations.
• Kidnapping: Practical examples, like kidnapping, were discussed, with emphasis on time coordination, mutual agreement, and respecting each other’s limits and availability. Kidnappings require consent/coordination.
• Spontaneous Scenes: Highly encouraged, but with a mindfulness of others' comfort levels. If time/availability is limited, the attacked player should reach out and communicate. Time restrictions should be respected.
• Communicating limits: It's the victim's responsibility to communicate their limits (a profile pick, while helpful, does not suffice). Nevertheless the attacker should pay attention and reach out when in doubt.
• Respecting Decisions: Players' choices to opt-out or fade to black (FTB) in uncomfortable scenes must be respected.
• Hiding behind limits: Limits should not be used to evade consequences. Players are expected to react as though a threat is 'real'. Provoking a violent response that cannot be role-played due to limits is considered bad practice.
• Extreme Consequences: It is good practice to ask for consent before taking extreme damage that was not intended by the attacker.

Role-Play Etiquette and Engagement

• Intervention in Scenes: Participants should use discretion when entering ongoing role-plays. When a scene takes place behind closed door or at a secluded place, intervention requires explicit consent. In a public setting intervention doesn't need explicit consent, but courtesy is expected. Ideally players should only join in when they can contribute to the story - and not to take over or to end the scene. Practical advice: It is helpful to emote the player's arrival and to wait for a response before posting in.

Thought Emotes in Role-Play

• Principle: Thought emotes are allowed, but excessive thought insults are discouraged.
• Engaging with Thought Emotes: Highly recommended to pair thoughts with observable actions or expressions to allow others to react appropriately.
• IC vs. OOC: Ensuring that negative or insulting thoughts are clearly understood as part of the character’s behavior, not the player's personal feelings. This can happen through OOC communication in IM or through emotes.
• Addressing RP Issues: Any concerns about another player’s role-play are to be handled through private communication and not through thought emotes or OOC remarks in open chat.

Note: This workshop emphasized the importance of mutual respect, open communication, and sensitivity to personal boundaries in role-playing scenarios, while balancing the need for suspense and surprises in a dark role-play setting.