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@notes
...how should they be used?

I've noticed lots of quick discussions on the use of @notes and their benefits in the BgBB but I have to confess to being a bit intimidated by them. I'm really not sure how to use them or what is appropriate/not appropriate. Suggestions and maybe examples of how some of you use them (or even staff/GM input) would be great because I can see how they can forward character plots, etc. Of course, I'm not asking for specifics so much as generic examples of their uses. Thanks in advance for any input :)
Here is an example @note with IC information redacted

A couple days ago I talked to **** down at Location and asked about a job. He mentioned he might be able to hire me on as a waitress but also hinted at possibly knowing where I could find a another job. I left him my SICalias "*****" for him to contact me.

I just recently went in and let him know my papers have been approved so we can talk in a more offical manner.

@notes are best used when you want to communicate your goals, or what you're currently trying to do to the admin. If you're also planning to do something that will definitely require admin help to accomplish, it's best to put timing on there, so it can be accomodated as best as possible.

They can be in whatever format best works for you.

So what I did was Summerize the interaction I previous had with the NPC and then the second part was letting them know what I had done since then that the NPC had asked for (which was getting a @history approved) but was unable to obtain a puppet at the time of writing the @note
Example:

@add-note Nanovirus

I'm working on a new project to destroy the dome. I just need to build the right nano virus to put in the water.

@add-note Gonna Kill Her

Taking my man is the last straw. I'm going to perm Sylvia.

@add-note Application

I put in my application with the grocery store. The cashier was too busy to talk to me so, I gave her my gridmail address ([email protected]) and my SIC alias so they could contact me.

I tend to write my notes as my character. Like writing in a diary. I've realized I've put some useless and trivial notes so, now I try to make them more important.

My examples were short. More of an idea of something you might write one for.
okay..that helps, thanks! Question then. Would @notes also be used in say, this type of scenario: Player X writes in their history that they are searching for their long lost friend in Withmore and then does an @note that their character is open to RPing that search to let GMs know its not just fodder for their history? Or, is that not how its meant to be used?
As long as a @note speaks to your character's inner thoughts and motivations and helps bring them to life it cannot be described as trivial. At least I wouldn't say so. @notes/thinks are used for GMs to better understand your character and what sort of interactions they've been in to help play the Dome around your character, and I think GMs like anyone else like to be entertained and a good well thought out character that occasionally has a silly frivolous note that is none-the-less something of the character makes it more fun to read.
That would totally work Jade, doesn't mean anything might come of it but that is a good example!
Okay, I'm getting a better feel for them already from what you guys are saying. I was worried that it was something to be used sparingly and not 'spam' the hell out of the GMs. I'm getting a vibe from your responses that isn't the case at all.
i use them a lot to let admins know what my character is running because i dont want people to think im boring
Sage post there.
All snark aside, I wonder if any of you little narcs have thought about using your own @notes to document other characters' activities and secrets?

A lot goes on which GM's actually don't know about. Using @notes to let us know about what your own character wants and needs is the classic usage, but using them to set up another baka for the fall is something "power user" could do :)

Just don't LIE in them. That would be metagaming, powergaming and otherwise cheating.

Oh boy...this is going to be fuuunnnn.
Do try to make meaningful notes as opposed to running journals of all events. Not every day will be noteworthy.
@Jade,

Great topic. Thanks for the discussion. Think we can all benefit from it. Will be the first to admit, I don't understand @notes. My experience with them has been (perhaps due to lack of feedback, which you were wise to request) that their absence during GM-involved RP has gotten me into trouble/looked bad on me. On the other hand, the effort I used to spend putting them in never seemed to amount to anything, so for about 8 months I just kinda stopped.

Welcome to hearing some GM perspective on times when you Expect to see and @note, Need to see an @note, or Want to see an @note entered by the user.

Also: GMs use @notes as well. Would love it if you could offer a glimpse to us players of a theoretical situation in which you are required/expected/trained to leave a GM @note (currently...realize practices change over time).

Thanks, all.

Different players have different styles of writing and of including detail.

Nothing is necessarily more wrong than right, as far as style, format, point of view, etc.

What matters is whether it's something a GM can act on.

Things which GMs cannot act on:

-> Missing details. It is useless to note "I talked to Raymond." without saying why, what motivated your character to do so, informing me whether Raymond knows how to reach you back or whether you'll try again, whether you have other avenues you'll pursue to reach whatever your character's goal is.

-> RP-less giveaways. I won't act on a note which simply says "Can I have a ... !?" when you aren't lifting a finger to act ICly to pursue . Roleplay it and let us know how you roleplayed it.

-> Unrealistic expectations. We don't have a lot of resources to build/invent/create people/places/things which don't exist, just because your player describes an elaborate plot idea and sends their PC off to set it in motion. If it's awesome and can potentially involve other players, it might fire us up and you'll see IC results after we spend some effort setting things up. If it's a thing which is only going to do anything for one person's RP, we're not likely to put much effort into it, depending on the amount of preparation needed.

-> Usually, diaries. Your @notes aren't your character's memory, you have other IC tools for recording things for the character to remember. Goal-less journals of day-to-day happenings MIGHT wind up including the occasional bit of plot fodder for GMs to pick up on, what happens more often is that a journal winds up including a lot of "I did this" and not a lot of "I want/plan/fear this". Also remember, @notes are OOC and are not your character's memory, so, if your character wants to journal or remember stuff, there are IC ways to do this.

So beyond that, just try to think about what you can @note which GMs CAN react to. It has to be ICly plausible and based on actual RP which you either have done or are planning to do, purusing your character's goal. Notes aren't a shortcut around RP, they're a way to let GMs know what you now need or will soon need, to get/keep your RP flowing. What do you know that GMs might not know? As stated above, there is a LOT we don't know. Even if we see some of your RP, there may be dots we can't connect. And we definitely do not see every bit of every PC's RP.

Example of admin-side notes:

Every time we puppet, we @note the interaction. What happened, what influenced the NPC's decisions, what does the next GM to run that NPC need to know when the same player (who will remember the interaction) comes back and the GM wasn't there when it happened?

Why did the NPC act the way they did? What led to the decisions they made? What did the PC do, say, smell like? Does the NPC like or dislike the PC based on the entire history of all their interactions?

Does the PC owe the NPC something? Does the NPC owe the PC something? Are there outstanding matters between the NPC and the PC which the next puppeter should not let go un-addressed when they meet again? Stuff like this.

There's another type of note, we'll put notes on rooms, on items, and on things you can't see which we call 'plots'. Again, as usual, the goal of admin @notes is to support the reality that GMs are around at different times and need to know what has gone on, if they step into a situation which other GMs ran before.

Bumping this topic because it was proposed for the Town Hall. Let's move the discussion of it here.

What questions do you have, after reading this post, about when/how to use notes?

Huh. I've always treated them as sticky notes that aid the player in keeping IC things straight, but in a way that can double for keeping GMs in the loop on your character.

So it's primarily for passing info to the GMs for puppeteering purposes instead?

Well shit. Looks like I've been using them completely wrong this entire time. :p

Seurat, I believe it's to be used both ways. I personally use @notes as a sort of personal diary of interesting stuff my character is up to (of course, not every day will have interesting stuff, so don't note that time you went to buy a soda), and also to let GMs know my intentions, regardless I need their assistance by a NPC or not.

Usually no news is good news in this regard, so use @note as much as you feel like you need to, and if you don't have an admin telling you to not clog the system over XHELP, then you're fine, and I'm sure they appreciate all the detail and the effort you put in documenting your character's RP.

This is something I am somewhat confused about, and have a few questions regarding etiquette and use. (And couldn't find these questions directly answered)

Reaching the couple month mark on my character, I haven't added a note. However several parts of the forum suggest GMs add notes to my character.

Question: Do you see GM added notes as a player?

Another question is, having not added notes myself.

Question: Should I go back and add notes retrospectively?

I.E:

I worked at X club for X time.

X yelled at my for Y.

I got exploded at B, for C.

I now work at Q and have for Z time.

Player to GM RP. (Assuming.)

Question: If a GM, or what I assume is a GM interacts with my character, do I make a note of it myself?

I.E: X Puppeted NPC did so and so. (obviously more detailed)

Question: If so/not, do I make a note about my characters reactions, and the effects?

I.E: I left Q sitting at the bar, as I ran home terrified and cried to my Y.

You don't see notes GMs leave on your character.

Retroactive notes are probably fine for anything that might be important in a plot now that you missed.

You should note NPC interactions. The cold facts of what happened are most important there but everything's fair game.

I @add-note goals, things my character is working on at their job, -anything- that might get them in trouble whether I think they were caught or not (that's important) and in general any plots, schemes, and scams they're running.

The GMs will never get involved in your plots if they don't know about them, @add-note often.

So... My two cents:

First off, admin notes are for admin only. We players don't see what they have to say about us.

As far as players adding notes, it's a great tool.

The things I note are:

If I need to tell an NPC something but I'm not asking for a response. If my character gave an NPC a report for example, I'd tell the NPC what the needed to know, give them a chance to respond, and if they don't, I just note it so the GMs will know what happened and can decide if the NPC needs to get back to me or not. If I really need a puppeted response, I @request-puppet.

If I want to do something and NPCs would reasonably be able to respond (spray-paint inside a store in front of the shop keeper, attack a prison guard, mug someone on gold) you should write a note with your plan BEFORE you go and do it. Then you xhelp and get confirmation a GM is ready for you.

Always @note your character's goals. Long term and short term. This helps the GMs know what it is you are looking for. What you want out of the game. This doesn't mean you'll get it or course.

Any interesting events. If I get mugged by another player, I note it. All the details IC and OOC (though I try and make it clear what my character knows and what is ooc). If I had a talk with an NPC, I note it. Sure, the admins might have noted it too but we are all people and it doesn't hurt to have the same situations describe from different perspectives. Heck, if I hear other players having a juicy conversation with potentially interesting bits, I'll note that too!

The main thing to remember is to NEVER lie in your notes. Keep them neutral and honest. Even if you feel like doing so might endanger our characters or make it more likely something bad will happen to them. If your lucky, that feeling will be proven right!

I'd say that adding notes about character goals, and player to player interactions is much more important than adding notes about interactions you had with an NPC. This is just my two cents, but if the GMs are doing their job, there will already be a note about the npc interaction. Nothing saying you can't note those as well-- but if you don't want to note everything that happens to your character, noting the stuff that a GM may not have seen/been privy to is the best place to focus your efforts.
Sometimes I also make a note (hurrhurr) to @note whenever my character does something that's really CP. AKA "I'm really trying to do the thing."
I want to expand on what Slither said about leaving notes about NPCs. What he said is very true for cases where the NPC was puppeted. We will leave detailed noted in this case. However, if they were not puppeted, please note the interaction. If you are unsure then note it just in case.

Sindome is a Role Playing Game with a handful of GMs and hundreds of players. Us GMs can not and do not see everything that every character does all the time. Even those of you that assume your character is big and noticeable: we still do not monitor everything your character does all the time.

There is SO much that we simply can not see. This is where notes come in. I encourage you all to use notes as a way to help us GM for you. Did you have a meaningful interaction with another PC? Tell us about it! Did you attack an unpuppeted NPC ganger? Tell us about it! I strongly encourage you to note anything that is interesting or significant to your character.

I want to stress that, just because no GMs were on to see what your character did or because they were busy with other work and didn't notice it, the IC world DID notice it. Or should have. This is why it is key for you all to keep us informed.

Attacked that unpuppeted ganger? Cool. Now note it. Tell us when it happened. Where it happened. Who all was present. Who did what. What your character was wearing at the time. What they looked like and sounded like at the time. How they fought at the time. Anything you think that the NPCs and/or ambient population present might have noticed.

When you do this we can help make your story more interesting. A story where you just do all kinds of crazy and never even have the chance of facing consequences because you are flying under the GM's radar will be a boring story. Worse, eventually we will see what you've been doing and it might make us think that there was metagaming involved.

Flying under the GM radar is not a good thing. Instead, keep us informed so we can decide if the world needs to react to your character's actions. We will consider what is in the notes and decide how much NPC elements know given the circumstances. We will consider your character's skills/stats. And we will try and use that information to make your character's story better by having the IC world react to them.