The OOC Channel and dying RP

[Jezerai]

Guild hunts we can do!

As for the other, I will think on it and let you all know.  I am thinking that regular guild meetings would not go amiss.  I think some rarely visit the forums and having a sit down in game might be a good way to keep everyone in the loop.

Parties are fun and Njorn was the best at thinking of things to do.  Let us all concentrate and see if we can call him back from his wanderings!

[Jasyn]

As for the rping in guild chat, I know some guilds create a device to allow for distant communication, a talking stone or whatever.  I myself have never had trouble with the concept, though.

I would swear that I was issued one when I joined?

Darragh/Hamnir spent a little time with Vagabond Knights if I recall correctly, right?  Jasyn would have met one or both of those characters (or some earlier incarnations) there a while ago, but I don't think it was ever at any great length.  Spindel issues you a "guild crystal" when you get brought in as a scrub over there.  Saga, on the other hand, has never employed this kind of device.

sounds like I need to get on the ooc channel.  I'm not sure I've ever joined it.

As a matter of record, back in the days of /sillynight, aside from that one night a week, there was so little ooc chat, I'd abandoned the /sagaooc channel so long ago just to keep my joined list pruned.  Only with Saga's recent revival did I actually rejoin the ooc channel since it started getting some use again.  (So forgive me if I slip now and then with the (( )) in /gu as it was chiefly the way we got it done since there was virtually no one in the ooc channel, and since it wasn't a prevalent occurrence then, it was hardly an issue, though without /sagaooc the present would probably be an entirely different matter in regard to prevalence).

As for the rping in guild chat, I know some guilds create a device to allow for distant communication, a talking stone or whatever.  I myself have never had trouble with the concept, though.

As far as how I respond to the idea of rp in various channels, this is my personal stance:

I've never had any problem with RP concurrency, personally.  Very rarely (if ever) has anyone in my channel rp ever needed to know my actual whereabouts in the game world nor my actual activities.  I can be spatially elsewhere doing my own thing adventuring or crafting while maximizing my use of time in addition to my rp opportunities in group, spatial, guild, channel, or while soloing... sometimes as an alternative to loitering in one spot for extended periods of time. (Ultimately, this is what it comes down to for me).

Channels afford me an opportunity for a little bonus, or side-story, rp.  Rarely has my character development had a sequential dependence on my channel activities in relation to what I'm actually doing in the world at any given moment.  Even though some things may be happening in parallel for me, the player, they don't necessarily have to be occurring concurrently for my character when they could just as easily be happening between adventures or even between my login sessions for that matter).

By the next day, which in-channel thing happened before or after things relative to out-of-channel events rarely matters to my character since it's all happened in the past anyway.  It's the sum of the experiences that matter most to me.  It's a flexible way of getting to know other characters' personalities when you can't always be right there in their faces.

We're all rp'ers, so it should be safe to say we have creative imaginations.  For me, channel usage for rp just employs an extra layer of imagination.  In a world where I can fly bareback on a griffon from point A to point B, I can suspend disbelief just enough to find a way to accept and embrace channel rp instead of wrestling with what can or cannot be done due to Norrathian  physics.  Best of all it gives me more options for enjoying two things that I enjoy doing: playing the game and rp'ing.

Anything that helps reduce any feelings of mutual exclusivity between the two can't be all bad, in my opinion.  We can do both things at once, and sometimes there are just multiple ways of getting it done.  That being said, it can certainly be a challenge, as a player, to keep up with text coming at you from multiple directions.  And, of late, it certainly has been physically challenging for me, so I purposely try to limit the breadth of my exposure so that I don't have to sacrifice depth.  Fortunately, I've never run into an issue with simply finding a rp way to excuse my character from whatever alternate venue he may be active in (even if it's the lamest of the "exit: stage left" brand of departures).  Speaking of which...

[Sons of Halas]

As for the rping in guild chat, I know some guilds create a device to allow for distant communication, a talking stone or whatever.  I myself have never had trouble with the concept, though.

I would swear that I was issued one when I joined?

Darragh/Hamnir spent a little time with Vagabond Knights if I recall correctly, right?  Jasyn would have met one or both of those characters (or some earlier incarnations) there a while ago, but I don't think it was ever at any great length.  Spindel issues you a "guild crystal" when you get brought in as a scrub over there.  Saga, on the other hand, has never employed this kind of device.

Aye!  You will have to forgive me as it must have been a while back.  I do not remember much.  My previous stints in the game have been very short.  I have had the game since Nov of 04 but have less than 3 months played I would guess.

[Apollonja]

@Vorenn: I'm on GMT+1 or CET. So I always play on odd hours for our American or Asian members. In result, some people I rarely or even never met, because no one is up when I logg in at 10am (except Renai sometimes who is STILL up), and when I go to bed at 2am or 3am some people haven shown up and will be gone again in my morning. So mostly I meet people in my late afternoon or evening. It really makes things difficult considering grouping.

When most people start to do groups in (epic)dungeons, I already have to have an eye on my clock for bedtime. So welcome to my club of soloing 

I have to agree with Jasyn on the channel-rp. The sum of rp-experience is the most important. Next day all is past and no order needed, my character just knows what happend yesterday. That is all fine, and I'll keep it that way.

[Vorenn]

Thing is I'm also on GMT; we've got at least four or five people who are on at those odd hours so I'm sure if we puts our heads together we could sort out grouping for those of us in Europe or wherever, or events or summat if we were so inclined.

[Ank]

I enjoy being in character, but I also love to gab OOC. Being stuck at home means I play a *lot* and it's tiring to be "on" all the time.

Having an active OOC channel doesn't mean that RP should suffer. Personally, I am more likely to get involved with in-character shenanigans the better I get to know the players and their attitudes. (I'm sure that's not the case for everyone, just sayin')

As far as character developing RP goes, I find it much easier to let my characters' personalities seep out and develop in face-to-face RP. Guild chat RP seems to have very little depth (as in, no story or significant occurrences that will really affect my characters), and instead it's mostly light banter and short descriptive monologues. I enjoy the banter though, and I try to describe what I'm doing here and there just to let people know I'm alive! But I like to just chat too.

And I guess this is why I split my time up between alts in three very different guilds, hehe 

PS: I also play pseudo-GMT times, so I'm always up for stuff. If I'm not on Thisbe, I'm lurking in sagaooc as someone else.

[Dicey Reilly]

*waves*

Jystana is always in /sagaooc because well I miss you guys!

I do rarely actually talk in the channel, because I don't often have much to add and more times then not, what is being talked about is an obvious response to something going on elsewhere.

That conversation I actually knew the answer too!

[Jodas]

My 32 cents   

/GU for me is to chat with the guild, ask questions IC and hellos and goodbyes
/OOC is to talk about whatever I want to or jump in on one of your brilliant conversations 

I was classified a while ago as a "Spatial" RPer, if you're around me, we'll RP 

I'm sorry if my quietness in /GU is a problem, but I don't see it being fixed anytime soon 
If you wanna RP with me, find me or tell me to get my but over to you and I'll make my way.
Just watch out for Berrak and Higran, I hear they're not the friendly type, well one is, but he might be a bit too friendly 

That was 37 cents, ya owe me five!! 

[Corsair]

Yeah, I too just don't deal too much with the laws of physics as it relates to channel usage in game.

I suppose, if asked, I would answer thusly: For me, when I am on, I am playing in the moment, wherever I am...hunting, craftering, wandering the earth and stuff....and I r/p in tells or group or whatever in teh moment. At the same time, I am also representing all that time I am not awake and in the moment, by r/p'ing on /gu channel as though I was in teh tavern, or whatever. So essentially, since I can only be awake a small portion of a 24 hour day, I try to achieve 4 hours worth or presence if I am logged in for 2 hours...that kind of thing.

So for me it is not a question of abusing what is "realistically" possible...it is my way of filming two episodes of the Oozag show simultaneously.

Like Jasyn, this kind of thing just does not confront me all that much.

I do however tend to loose track of to omany channels, or chat threads in general while hunting in a group with some pace. That is simply my weakness as a player....brain....slooooow.

[Lyrima]

I like that analogy Corsair!

I think Lyri just has sixteen personalities..and I'm one of them

I've never spent a second worrying about how any of it works..it just does, as a part of the world, just like magic and ogres. 

[Jezerai]

For me, basically the guild chat is like sitting in the tavern after the day's events and recounting what happened, at the same time it is happening while I adventure.  For the most part I am perfectly comfortable with it and don't give much thought to how it might work logically.  I know some guilds have a talking crystal or something of the sort to explain things.  Konnar suggested that that might be fun for Saga.  Perhaps I'll toss it around and see if I can come up with a story, but I'm perfectly fine with the way things are.

[Anaris]

 
You know what'll happen with that talking crystal, right?  Bella's going to burn it, Samina's going to misplace it, Nikodeimus will probably give it to the first pretty girl he sees, and Anaris will make a pair of earrings out of it... 


One of the new recruits, can't remember if it was Darvok or Brimacombe, actually e-moted the "talking crystal" to talk spatially and it was pretty cool...  Guess we could "give" one upon guilding someone if it makes things easier for them...

[Jodas]

Hmmmm   
Life without Ana's "Talking crystal"?     Is that Heaven?

[Anaris]

HA!  This coming from the guy who was asking where she was and why she hadn't been around since his arrival...