Just a friendly reminder...

[Vanth]

Communicating through ooc means like AIM and IRC is a very subtly seductive thing.  I remember being a new player and starting up the exchange of ooc info with other players...both those connected and unconnected with my PC icly.

At first, it seemed so innocent.  Joking about things that happened ICly, arranging mutual playtimes, asking newbie questions.  But eventually it progressed to the point where things were being ruined for me ICly...and yet I found to hard to stop the communication.

Please, if you are chatting OOCly through messengers like AIM or IRC's pms...think about what you are communicating.  Is it giving you information your character wouldn't otherwise have?  Is it changing the way you play your PC? Could you be changing the way other people play their PCs?

We as imms have no way of policing these types of mediums, nor would we want the challenge of it.  We hope you will consider what you are learning/saying and who you are communicating with, and choose wisely what is right to share OOCly.  If it's IC, wouldn't people rather learn IC rather than having it spoiled for them OOCly?

(This is merely my experiences and opinions as one person, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions and experiences of other staff.)

[Xamminy]

We as imms have no way of policing these types of mediums

Or do we?

No, seriously, joking aside.  I can back this up.  Please, consider very carefully what you are discussing over OOG channels.  It really can ruin the sense of discovery and accomplishment for different things in the game for yourself and for others.

[Savak]

And while we don't go out trying to moderate/police most out of game channels, and have no intention to try, that doesn't mean you're excluded from facing the consequences of being seduced to the dark side.

[Avril]

Wasn't it the empire that did the police work back in Star Wars?

[Kankman]

People who play Armageddon are losers. Why communicate with eachother outside of the game anyways? Seriously though, I've ended up blocking everyone who plays Armageddon on my MSN list. Not because I actually don't like you guys (most of you), but because its awkward. Just plain awkward.

Sorry to all those who I suddenly disappeared from, a while while back.

[Dracul]

*sigh* Well you dont have to remind us of how lame we are kank...jeez...ass. lol

And uh...the dark side took over...before...when the jedi and the republic was in charge...the dark side lurked.

[amoeba]

People who play Armageddon are losers.

No Comment

Why communicate with eachother outside of the game anyways?

Well this may suprise some people, but there is a RL world out there that does not include Armamgeddon.  I don't think the problem is people using IM.  It's people speading IC information.  I agree with the posters, just don't say stuff, no matter how innoucuous it may seem.  It's much better to learn IG.  IM is just a method of communication, one that can't be monitored, same thing goes for email, or talking to your friend or significant other that plays.  It is not a dark force in and of itself, but it is easlily abuseable.  It also has it's place.

[Kill4Free]

I do know that this post is directed towards me, and the main reason I use aim to talk to the occasional character in game, is because I would like to get to know them better, see what other games they play, where they live etc. Its different from using it to gain an unfair advantage over other players, its just that it is a bit hard to have a conversation about ooc stuff in the game.

[Kill4Free]

Also the main reason for AIM, is so you can set up times to play with your aquaintance very easily easily, as using contact command in game, only really allows you to talk to them if they are currently playing, unless both of you play all the time everyday.

And thanks for the reminder, I will be sure to do my best to follow your advice.

[Xygax]

"I'll bet you think this post is about you."

[Kill4Free]

No, I do know it is about me, as I was explaining to another player how to set up AIM, in game, then 2min later Vanth posted this

[Vanth]

I do know that this post is directed towards me

No, this is not about you.

[Miee]

Wasn't it the empire that did the police work back in Star Wars?

DERAIL

For the love of God, go pick up the DVDs.

END DERAIL

[Kill4Free]

Then it was a pretty big coincidence, although those do happen

[Dracul]

Okay, to provide some comments to the non-derailed thread.
I've had one friend and at times a couple more temporary, who I talked with ooc. With some people, more ic information slipped...and it did ruin it.

And although when talking about the game, there is often bound to be some ic slipage, if youre both responsible and respectful about it, it can be nice.

But I'll agree with the official advice. Better not to.

[Agent_137]

One time i heard about an event over the phone that my character would have heard about as soon as I logged in.

I don't feel like that hurt anyone else, or give anyone a unfair advantage, but it did keep me from enjoying playing out the surprise with my character.

It operates on the same idea as that line of thought, "I'd rather find out the same time as my character does, if possible."

[Angela Christine]

Another thing you have to be very careful with is death.  It is easy to lose it a little when a beloved character dies, and who do you most want to commiserate with?  Your IC/OOC buddies, naturally.  Your purely IC buddies are out of reach, because your PC is dead.  Your purely RL friends and relatives will think you are a nutjob if express your frustration and unhappiness about the death of a fictional character, and they may even suggest you shouldn't be playing the game if it upsets you.  The people on the GDB would understand how you feel, but they don't want to hear it.  It is just too easy to fire off a "Damn it!" email or IM to another player you've been keeping in touch with.

Even if you resist the urge to actually tell them that your PC died, not telling them can make things akward too.  Your PC was  supposed to meet their PCs on Tuesday, and you didn't show up, what happened?  It is akward.  You may even find that after your characters die that you don't have much left to talk about, despite the fact that you had lots of non-game stuff to talk about when you were playing together.


Just one more thing to think about.


AC