Introductions

So I realized I've been playing this game off and on for over a year now but have never officially introduced myself. It was actually a good number of years ago I created my first character and immediately fell in love with the game. Despite this, it wasn't until my third or so immigration that I finally grasped how as a role playing game the most important thing to do is develop a relationship with the other characters. So I did this, I forgot about commands and stats and focused on just getting myself out there so I could get involved. Yet even this is imperfect. Recently I find myself disappearing from the game for weeks at a time. This makes it difficult to stay caught up with the latest happenings in Withmore and therefore stay involved with the RP.

One character, one year, and a college course on the human side of computing later and I finally grasp the importance of real world community in this game. So I�d like to introduce myself. My name is Alex and I�m currently a full time student majoring in a computer related field.

I've always had a personal interest in strengthening the player base and I�d like to open up a discussion on the ways we could make this possible. Personally, I believe what needs to be done is to shift focus from in-game solutions towards ways we can rope new players into the real world community. One of the biggest hurdles as a new player is the inability to find immediate RP. This requires a lot of patience that can�t be expected from someone trying something so new. The solution I see is to remove the mask of the avatar and to interact with new players as human beings. To clarify, I�m not trying to bring OOC conversation into the IC world. Rather, I want to see more done to improve the OOC environment of this game.

What is your opinion? Do you think this is worth the valuable time of the GMs? Do you have any ideas as to how the OOC environment could be improved? I think being able to pair OOC identities with IC characters would be immensely helpful in finding RP. As it stands right now I have a very hard time knowing who is who in the game. I would also like to see a way to schedule RP sessions OOCly. Instead of having to �peek� inside the MOO to see if anyone is signed on I can RP with it would be nice to know what times people plan on playing so I can plan my day accordingly. I miss my RP but with my current schedule (finals rapidly approaching) I�m finding it difficult just to sign on.

There are pluses and minuses to what you are talking about. A bigger player base would mean more fun for everyone playing.

It's each players responsibility to bring new players into the game, whenever they have the chance.

I think that knowing who people are outside the game, and talking to each other outside the game, via AIM, or Skype or whatever, can actually hurt the game and remove some of the mystery. It's definitely against the rules, but of course, everyone does it, we just need to keep a lid on how much it goes on and draw lines in the sand about what we will and wont tolerate.

In game, you have the OOC channel, where people can talk and discuss, and it's only moderately moderated by the admin. That is a great place to get help if you need it, and get to know your fellow players.

However, not knowing who plays who is actually the best possible thing you could ever do. If you can associate a character with a person then you can associate that characters actions with that person. That's when IC feuds end up ending OOC friendships and that is not what this game is about.

We're all adults, but we all get attached to our characters and when someone perpetrates an evil deed against our character, we tend to take that personally.. even when we know we shouldn't.

I am all for allowing players to schedule RP sessions OOCly.. to a point. We don't want people saying, oh theres no RP session going on right now.. so f that i'm not going to sign on at all..

So how can we do this? We could create a thread where people can list the times they are normally on..

However, then, this information could be abused.

IE:

John Dildo is going to be on at 8pm DST.. well I'm going to be camped outside his cube at 7:45 to rob his ass.

We could solve this by making an area where people could post anonymously when they are normally on.. that way no one could camp out.. at least until they ICly figure out that you are the person who's on at that time.. and that IC, since it's a pattern you're recognizing.

Just my thoughts..

-	PsycoticCone	6m
-	notloose	3h
-	Ralph	20m
-	Ameliorative	11m
-	QueenZombean	1m
-	AdamBlue9000	4s	Rolling 526d6 damage against both of us.
-	BigLammo	8s	https://youtu.be/fE53m3N1WSc
a	Mench	8h	Doing a bit of everything.
And 17 more hiding and/or disguised

Introductions Because community is important.

Introductions
Because community is important.