The most courteous of RPers are those that communicate effectively. Not saying go reveal all your surprises, please don't! Hathianites love surprises....

But due to some reoccuring issues involving multiple players, both new and old, I'd like to start a discussion about roleplay and courtesy. Not so much the rules... or what is right or what is wrong. Just the basics of some things and really a way to gauge the current players thoughts because quite frankly I have been feeling how I was taught to go about this sim is dated in that everyone else just seems to think that their roleplay does not have wider effects. So I'll list what I learned to be true... and you guys just comment away and share your views. be respectful. remember there is no right way or wrong way (to a point :p) and everyone's experiences are different.

To me it can all be boiled down to courtesy. If you have to suddenly leave.. try and say something or say something when you come back. If you have a on going storyline whether its long or short - be sure to communicate if things will be changing. I won't really name any examples - I am sure we can easily come up with instances where suddenly details changed and we had to scramble with how to adjust our character to it. Most times its not that big a deal... but sometimes it can be.... and a lot of times it leads to a form of unintentional powergaming and metagaming. Ever since I first got into gang RP i have seen these forms of the aforementioned and from issues being brought to me and my own encounters I feel it has been getting worse.

1) Taking advantage of OOC limits - Metagaming
So most of us have at least a death limit. This form of metagaming usually manifests itself when people know we have to respect their OOC limits and RP their badassery using that as leverage. it is one of the things that led to the GUN BAN. So the effects of it can have some pretty hefty consequences. Examples: Player has a knife at your throat and you tell them to go ahead and kill you.. you have no fear. Of course you dont. they cant kill you. Another example is when people tell you to kill those you have hostage or continue to act as they are knowing you can't make good on your threat. A year ago, I was told the best way to avoid this is to not threaten to kill those who have limits, but i'd like to think that players here are mature enough to see how they are unintentional metagaming and tweak their actions so it fits their wants and doesn't essentially force the other player to act out of character. Then there are those that have other limits and use them to their advantage so their character can be fearless. It doesnt really break any rules, its just not courteous to those who are putting in the effort to create a colorful scene for all involved. How do we stop it? Communicate with the person that you think thet are taking advantage of this. If they don't agree. Kill them. JK! don't do that... end the RP as creatively as you can and don't get too huffy about it. It happens. More than you think. Send a log of the RP to a RP mod ( http://live.thecrackden.com/inworldhelp ). Again, they aren't breaking rules and they may not get talked to unless its a reoccurring problem. Sometimes it truly is not even realized. I know this because I was guilty of it myself when I was a teen and in the Rejects. New rules dictated how adults could act towards my underage character and i realized i was escaping a lot of consequences by acting so ICly difficult.

2) NPCing - Powergaming
If your NPCing something that doesnt involve anyone else than this doesn't apply, but in most cases, if something effects another character, you should talk to those involved first. Why? In many cases in the den, the result of NPCs places another character in action - and if you don't discuss it then you are essentially powergaming them. It could be as simple as your NPC meaning they made a phone call they actually wouldn't have because of IC circumstances you dont know about. It is completely UNintentional of course. Most that do it are excellent RPers and just trying to move things forward, but what I have noticed is complaints that result from it that have to do with the character personalities and story itself than the actual action itself... It leaves people feeling rather disrespected to see their character suddenly grew a heart or suddenly lost half their brain and did something sloppily. How is this prevented? Communication. Most would be happy to create a NPC that fits all characters so that no ones RP is 'crapped' on.
Another example is NPCing things that's aren't there visually or RPed out in someway... and gaining from it after the fact. Hidden cameras, sudden appearances of phones and weapons, back up coming when someone didn't make a call. Just RP things out ... every time. It is an RP sim after all 🙂 It prevents assumptions that you don't play fair.

3) Talking things out
We all have RPs where something happens or someone does something that annoys us. Instead of telling your posse about the annoyance - shoot the person an IM to clarify it. Most times its just a miscommunication. Venting about it can be good sometimes, but really just detrimental to the relationships between players. How? The worse thing I see is small little comments tainting people's views of other players and marking them as unfair. No matter how objective we try to be, most times the memory of "so and so totally ninja-ing through a fight" will linger in the back of our minds.

4) Rage Quit!
Again, totally doesn't break any rules, but it sure does leave others who have RPed with you in a bind most times. Suddenly, thing change... or people are gone.... only to come back later when the person has cooled down, nursed their pride or realized that it isn't that big a deal. Definitely, try and communicate with those that are the cause or those it would effect before quitting a character or story. You may find that people are more than willing to make any apologies needed or change up some aspects of the story because RPing with you is .... whats the word... fun! This is especially true if you are a leader - when approved it was because it was trusted that things would be handled in a way that wouldn't just put other peoples hard work to waste and in a way that wouldn't create more work for the void that needs to be filled. When you quit as a leader - its unlikely that position will be granted again or any time soon. Again... it's courtesy XD

I could write so much more, but I'm sure I have made your eyes bleed enough! Have more examples of how people could be more courteous? feel free to add to it. Hopefully, this leads to a healthy discussion that will bring the unintentional repercussions our RP actions may have on others to for all of us. In the end I think we all need to make a bigger effort to talk to each other and be sure to not assume others are on the same page (myself included!).