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Rape and the @rules
Fine lines.

Contemporary players are generally aware that rape isn't to be discussed on SIC and that there's a formal @rule about what the game regards as "rape".

Every so often, week or month, OOC-Chat, Game-Help and sometimes SIC too erupt with players treating each other like there's been a faux-pas and a breaking of the @rule for using the word "rape" on SIC.

So there was a discussion in OOC-Chat today where the situation, the policy, the @rule, and the reason for the current "community standard" were all discussed.

There's a community standard around rape content on SIC and other IC situations where players can't consent to being exposed to it.

The @rule 2.D entitled "Text Rape" is intended to address OOC non-consent to this particular roleplay content. It's not intended to bar the subject entirely from the IC world.

Here's the log, I'm posting it here for quick and easy linking when this comes up again and we want to educate and coach players who seem to be pushing the edge.

The posting of this log was approved by Johnny and several other GMs, there was no dissent, so you players can take this as an accurate representation of what @rule 2.D means and what the "community standard" around rape content in public and on SIC is about.

Thank you.


Is this not showing up for anyone else?
huh...it was there before because I looked at it..but now its empty. So, yeah...not showing up for me either.
Maybe Linekin implemented an edit post feature in secret!
We think it might have been too long, so, reposting in 2 parts.



[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: there was an IC rape, it happened completely privately among OOCly consenting players. This was like a year ago.

[+][OOC-Chat] Kuzco: Oh.

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: the RP affected everyone in the game because it didn't stay secret.

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: players and at least one GM were quitting game sessions because there was so much chatter about the details on SIC.

[+][OOC-Chat] Kuzco: Wow.

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: they couldn't escape it without silencing SIC, which is an IC option but not a fair one to the player.

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: The @rule was not changed, but the community standard now is that exposing players to rapey RP in a way they can't consent to is to be avoided. That's why SIC is touchy.

[+][OOC-Chat] Kuzco: I don't understand the change.

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: one occurrence of the word isn't against the @rules, but it's proably right to counsel newer players not to go there.

[+][OOC-Chat] Dittolicious: You can't say no to surprise SIC.

[+][OOC-Chat] Mythologique throws up hazard signs.

[+][OOC-Chat] Mythologique [to Seenal]: Thanks for taking the time to explain.

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: you're welcome

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: i'm thinking about loggging this and putting it on the BGBB for easy reference

[+][OOC-Chat] Mythologique: I'm seeing fires started.

[+][OOC-Chat] Mythologique: Maybe if a GM posted the log it would go down easier?

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: makes sense.

[+][OOC-Chat] Mythologique: And, maybe some caps warning what it contains....I dunno. I've never been somewhere where it was such a touchy subject to be honest.

[+][OOC-Chat] Staff Cinnamon Toast Crunch: If it makes you feel any better, I approve this message.

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: i've never even been raped but if I was, say, in Starbucks and the next people over were talking at length and in detail about a rape they knew had happened, perpetrated by someone they knew, I'd be touchy enough to leave. Now imagine someone who *has* been violated, and how *they'd* feel.

[+][OOC-Chat] Kuzco: This is a gritty game.

[+][OOC-Chat] Mythologique: [[...]] everyone handles things like that differently.

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: well I agree it's a slippery slope and that's why it wasn't made a @rule or an amendment to a @rule. Next would be mental illness. Next would be drug addiction. Next would be PDS.

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: Oh, wait.

[+][OOC-Chat] Mythologique: And, there are just certain subjects that really...why would you talk about that publicly? I get it. It's unfortunate that it affected people so negatively.

[+][OOC-Chat] Kuzco [to Seenal]: Yes, it's a neverending road.

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: it affected high profile game characters and you know what SIC is like. Everyone has their say.

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: Over and over and over again.

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: it took a few weeks for staff to say 'the game needs this to stop'.

[+][OOC-Chat] SoulTune: Why is that?

[+][OOC-Chat] Kuzco: Weeks?

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: because instant censorship sucks

[+][OOC-Chat] Mythologique: It's just like someone being killed and having Signal and using SIC to talk about it. Big traumatic events will go on SIC. 

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: it wasn't done without repeated instances of players and at least one GM who couldn't handle it to @quit for a while

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: it was intense. The SIC content.

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: for weeks.

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: Any questions?

[+][OOC-Chat] Kuzco: A real shitstorm right?

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: people IC STILL talk about one of the perpetrators.

[+][OOC-Chat] Seenal: sometimes

[-][Game-Help] Annaliese: I apologize for jumping my gun there on the "R" word. It's a touchy subject and, in my own opinion, best avoided using the word in general. 

[-][Game-Help] Mello: no no, its understandable. I used it because it seemed suitably vulgar and insensitive

[-][Game-Help] Annaliese: You're fine, Mello. It -isn't- against the @rules but...it's just easier not to go there. Molest, harass, other good words. 

[-][Game-Help] Evald: well said

To summarize: Rape is a touchy subject and this is a gritty game. Our characters might be gritty and tough but that doesn't mean -we- always are. IC/OOC bleed can happen and when it does, it's perfectly acceptable to step away from the game. The word rape is not against the rules, the concept of rape exists in the world of Sindome, just keep in mind that you are dealing with real, non-gritty (most likely) people playing these characters.

In general, the community seems to feel that rape RP (and the RP that ends up revolving out from rape RP in general) is too taboo a subject, with too much potential for OOC bleed.

Still, as the rules state-- it is not specifically against the rules in some situations. If you have RP that centers around the subject (or if it is a defining moment in your characters history, for example) it is best to speak with a Senior GM about it and get their take on the situation.

As always, we are all adults here. We need to balance the 'gritty' world with the potential for people getting real world upset due to the very sensitive nature of the subject.

If you have any questions about the subject, the rules, or what is or is not acceptable, please xhelp.

--S

Recently a question was raised on OOC-Chat, asking if 'forcibly stripping another character and taking a picture of them' was against rule 2.D. (Text Rape).

After some back and forth discussion between other players, a staff member weighed in with this statement: You cannot rip someone down to nakedness against their will and take a picture. It will fall against the @rules.

This statement was an incorrect interpretation of rule 2.D. There is nothing explicitly sexual about doing this action. Embarrassment and humiliation is just fine as long as it isn't explicitly sexual. The nude form is not by itself explicitly sexual.

To make this more clear, we have completely rewritten rule 2.D. to call out a distinction between Text Rape (something explicitly sexual being forced on a played character) and Rape RP (the RP that often accompanies or follows such an event occurring) and to make it clear that stating non-consent is an immediate end to either of these. Please take a moment to type @rules and read section 2.D. again. It is wordy, but we feel it more fully defines the edges appropriately around this thorny topic.

That is a very fair and entirely appropriate clarification, and a welcome one at that. I know I was a little concerned about the blurring of the lines, and I'm glad that they have been sharply defined in order to both maximize RP potential AND protect the innocent.
Not precisely on the same exact topic, but can we get 'raped' off the list of cyberpunk slang for 'kill', when you use @slang?
That's valid. I'll try to get this done later tonight.

That's great, thank you.