Mod Post: Reminder
Jul 15, 2008 10:24:24 GMT -5
Post by Erik on Jul 15, 2008 10:24:24 GMT -5
As we all know, the Sueniverse plays fast and loose with characters and plots and timelines. Which, in my view, is all to the good; the chaos is one of the delightful things about this place. But that also opens a lot of doors to miscommunication and confusion. So I thought a reminder of a few things might be in order.
1) Things like skipping over action, being in more than one place at once, and generally ignoring some metaphysical rules to get our plots done are standard here. And lots of our plots require us to massage our characters' motivations to get them where they need to be. But there's a difference between subtly guiding them towards a relationship or an action and altering a character's thoughts/actions/attitude mid-plot when other players are depending on you. Think carefully about whether you're writing the character's reactions to the situation or from what you yourself know--unless it really doesn't matter to anyone else. Sometimes it doesn't. This is not a huge problem, but it deserved mentioning.
2) More importantly, please contact players privately if you have a problem with something that's happened, either IC or OOC. It is easy enough to delete or modify posts, and I don't know anyone here who isn't reasonable when the situation is explained. You don't know why so-and-so has posted as they've done: they got bored, they forgot a plot point, they weren't feeling well. Ask them.
3) The cbox is not private. It doesn't matter who you think is/is not on, anyone could be looking and anyone could scroll back (to a point). Please consider what you're saying when you're chatting there. Venting is natural, no one likes everyone all the time, but if it's something you cannot say to the person in question, it probably shouldn't be in public. And preferably, work it out in person.
Please understand this is not intended to make anyone feel bad. It's the opposite. On the whole, this community is a dream. But we all need reminders sometimes, and I want to make sure that you guys know that you can PM me (preferably on the Erik account) with any questions, problems, suggestions, whatever. If there's a problem, and you don't feel you can work it out yourself or with the other person/people, let me know and I'll do what I can. Maybe this post looks like building a mountain from a molehill, but it's also an opportunity to clear the air and make some general points. This is not about specific people. These are general suggestions for keeping this place fun.
We're all here to have a good time, right?
1) Things like skipping over action, being in more than one place at once, and generally ignoring some metaphysical rules to get our plots done are standard here. And lots of our plots require us to massage our characters' motivations to get them where they need to be. But there's a difference between subtly guiding them towards a relationship or an action and altering a character's thoughts/actions/attitude mid-plot when other players are depending on you. Think carefully about whether you're writing the character's reactions to the situation or from what you yourself know--unless it really doesn't matter to anyone else. Sometimes it doesn't. This is not a huge problem, but it deserved mentioning.
2) More importantly, please contact players privately if you have a problem with something that's happened, either IC or OOC. It is easy enough to delete or modify posts, and I don't know anyone here who isn't reasonable when the situation is explained. You don't know why so-and-so has posted as they've done: they got bored, they forgot a plot point, they weren't feeling well. Ask them.
3) The cbox is not private. It doesn't matter who you think is/is not on, anyone could be looking and anyone could scroll back (to a point). Please consider what you're saying when you're chatting there. Venting is natural, no one likes everyone all the time, but if it's something you cannot say to the person in question, it probably shouldn't be in public. And preferably, work it out in person.
Please understand this is not intended to make anyone feel bad. It's the opposite. On the whole, this community is a dream. But we all need reminders sometimes, and I want to make sure that you guys know that you can PM me (preferably on the Erik account) with any questions, problems, suggestions, whatever. If there's a problem, and you don't feel you can work it out yourself or with the other person/people, let me know and I'll do what I can. Maybe this post looks like building a mountain from a molehill, but it's also an opportunity to clear the air and make some general points. This is not about specific people. These are general suggestions for keeping this place fun.
We're all here to have a good time, right?