Proper discussions IC and OCC

Adament · Post by **Adament** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 5:47 pm

I have a few questions about IC and OOC talk during dead times.

On occasion after a server crash or some other interruption and before everyone is back in place and settled someone will have a question about game mechanics or alignment or something of that nature. Is it frowned upon to discuss such things during this time? If so is any one channel more appropriate than another, party, pm, or ((ooc))? I understand that it is all OOC.

How much discussion of the game OOC is considered acceptable and are any things strictly forbidden. I will give an example. During some exploring with a group of 6 characters I RP that perhaps a certain member of the group should check the loot and drops. I did it through RP by saying that this member was the most experienced adventure and also the most trust worthy of the group along with a few other reasons. I also explained OOC that he was the one most likely to get better loot drops and since some of the characters had lower levels this would be beneficial since the higher levels get better drops as I understand it. Was this out of line for me to include the OOC part of my explanation?

Any input would be appreciated thank you.

Midknight · Post by **Midknight** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 1:22 am

pm, or ((ooc))

These two are the best to use. Anything in Party chat is sent to the DM's as well.

As for how much OOC to use... that's really up to you. However, if you must use excessive OOC, then use tells/pms to communicate rather than using ((ooc)) in the regular talk channel. In fact, that's most likely the best place to situate ooc talk, via tells. No one ever really sees those tells at all, save for you and the person you're sending to, so you can use ooc chat there.

Was this out of line for me to include the OOC part of my explanation?

This is a bit borderline metagaming.... as I see it, the OOC part was not really necessary. Most people don't really mind who picks up the loot anyway, so long as they end up getting their cut.

Sojan · Post by **Sojan** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 3:24 am

you see, on my part I wouldn't even tried to get this done.

I would have not even considered it since it is, as MidKnight said,..."bordering" metagaming. Of course you play as you wish it. But in my opinion, to put the OOC reason for this IG decision made it metagame....not to put it would have made sense...but to use out of character knowledge to go forward with some IC actions is...well...better not to be used.

As I say again, to make sure there is no confusion here, this is my opinion and each plays their game as they wish...as long as here, on Avlis, you do it mostly for RP and IC

I hope that if you adventure with a group and the most trusted member is the lowest level you would have him gather for this same reason...that would make it an IC reason in your example.

as I read somewhere....((Sindol sig)) So much fun and yet so little time to enjoy it

Sindol · Post by **Sindol** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 9:27 am

At pretty much any time the best rule of thumb is to minimise the OOC chatter. Try to keep it all IC.

If you must do OOC talk (sometimes it's just unavoidable, I know, all DMs know), use:
- Tells (in game personal message)
- Talk channel, prefix your note with "OOC" or another obvious signal that what you're saying is not in character.
- Party channel if it's the best option. Keep this to a absolute minimum though, because all DMs online will also see this and it may spam their other communications badly.

Oh, and something I've observed a few times to my amazement:
If a DM tells you to cut down on the OOC, he usually intends for you to get to doing IC things. Don't make excuses or start an OOC conversation with the DM about all those neat quest ideas you have. Such stuff can be handled over the forum quite well. Almost all questions about the game are discussed somewhere on these boards or could be discussed here. Each time you do this you effectively waste time that could be spent RPing. Not only yours, but also that of the DM. RP that would have probably netted you some cookies as well in all probability. Who knows? You might have even gotten a nice quest.

Adament · Post by **Adament** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 2:42 pm

Thank you Sindol. That is exactly the kind of response I was looking for. I wanted clarify some things and this does that.

Thanks for the advice.

Adament