Something I've Noticed...

[Jenred]

Wasn't sure where to put this, so figured it fit into general discussion.

More and more I'm becoming... (fill in word here) by the fact of how many players know each other by their GDB name. It seems that nearly EVERY time someone posts looking for characters to fill a role, or for a role for themselves, 8-10 people respond back with "this person is great to play with, yadda yadda yadda". Do that many people really associate and know what characters each other were playing? That kinda disturbs me. I was always under the impression that players didn't really know who was who.

Am I one of the few that doesn't talk to other players on an Instant Messenger? Or is it just that there is a tight knit collective of role-requesters and role-fillers?

[FuSoYa]

Alot of people know who others have played because they were in the same clans.  They don't necessarily talk with these people OOC but they most likely were added to their clan's discussion board and read through it and posted in the check-in threads.

Brandon

[Lizzie]

I don't use any IMs either Jenred, but I've been in a few clans that have a lot of long-lived characters in them. A lot of us only use one GDB name. So when one dies, and says "Hey looking for a sibling" we know it's that player. I'm hoping it's as simple as that.

[Jenred]

I guess that makes sense. I guess I've just never been huge into clans, so Im not really all that familiar with the intricacies.

That would at least be a more comforting answer then lots of OOC communication.

[Forest Junkie]

I guess that makes sense. I guess I've just never been huge into clans, so Im not really all that familiar with the intricacies.

That would at least be a more comforting answer then lots of OOC communication.

Don't kid yourself. The level of coordination on an OOC level on this game is astounding. Alot of people play together pc after pc after pc.

[Irulan]

I'm sure that some people do chat OOCly, but I know that when/if I post about liking to RP with someone, it is because I played in a clan with that person, and they posted on the GDB about who they played. Some people change GDB names when they post on clan boards, and some don't. *shrugs* I don't usually mind if people know who I play, and trying to manage more than one GDB name sounds annoying to me. But, other people like being annonymous. To each their own.

-Irulan

[brytta.leofa]

Don't kid yourself. The level of coordination on an OOC level on this game is astounding. Alot of people play together pc after pc after pc.

A lot of people probably have a good experience in a particular clan and, wisely or not, want to come right back after their characters die.

I don't get y'all talking about how much illicit OOC coordination you absolutely know is going on.  If crime happens, report it already.  If people aren't getting this idea from a clan board (which is licit and staff-monitored), doesn't that sort of mean that they're in on it?

[Forest Junkie]

You say, in Keyser Soze-accented sirihish:
  "I'm not a rat.."

[Nyr]

From my observation:

OOC coordination is something that we can keep track of better than players.  We usually know when this happens, and we can take action against it (it is a form of abuse).
Some people create separate GDB identities for each role they create that ends up in a clan.  This seems as though it does a good job of protecting anonymity.
Those that keep to one GDB profile tend to garner notoriety (good or bad) from their work in clans with other people.

[Gunnerblaster]

I've, seriously, only talked with about 4 players of old PC's that my old characters used to know.

Beyond that, I don't know anyone and I'm sure if I met them in-game, I wouldn't be able to tell them apart unless someone went OOC.

[AmandaGreathouse]

With a few exceptions, (2 people who I got to know pretty well in sending messages back and forth for a while, someone who -finally- filled the daughter role I was looking for), I don't really like to IM with other players. It generally makes things awkward for me, as a player, if I know OOC the person that my character (who I have an emotional investment in) is killing, or fucking, or anything like that. I mean, I don't want to know who is on the other side of mudsex that I don't generally enjoy, but push through to fit in the occasional crying fit or poorly timed 'I love you'. Or that the pathetic half-elf she is about to -off- for a few black is my best IM buddy IRL. But yeah, I really enjoy knowing who plays who on the clan boards, or even on the GBD, because I personally really like knowing who came up with the stellar concept  I saw the other day, or what someone's RP style is.

Meh, thats just me.

[Dalmeth]

The best OOC collusions are when players try to one up each other as enemies.  Coordinating for your character's own benefit is for wimps. 

[Lizzie]

And sometimes..it really is just coincidence, and how the plotlines happen to just fall together. I don't OOCly coordinate things that will pit my PC with, or against, another PC. But then again, I won't OOCly prevent it, just because I had a great time RPing with that player on my last PC. If it ends up that the characters know each other, great. If it ends up they end up as pals/enemies/lovers/co-workers/boss-employee/founders of the spy ring, then even better. I'm not going to OOCly arrange it, OR prevent it. But sometimes people are drawn toward certain roleplay styles (and login availabilities!) that seem to be in sync with their own styles (and availabilities). There's no blame there. It's just how things end up sometimes.

[Malken]

What sort of bothers me is when people post, like five minutes after a RPT has ended, things like.. "That was amazing!" or.. "Great job, Imms, I really had fun tonight." with their GDB accounts.

This happens often, nearly after every RPTs, and makes it very easy for others to identify which character you are playing.

[Dalmeth]

The best OOC collusions are when players try to one up each other as enemies.  Coordinating for your character's own benefit is for wimps. 

Now that I've let that sink in a bit, take note that I didn't specifically collude OOC to be enemies.  So long as IC situations rein in OOC intentions, things typically work out fine.  I'd love to find any one of the few people I know on the opposite side of my character, because I know they play well, and I trust them to be a fine enemy.  It gives me an extra bit of encouragement to up my game, and nothing is wrong with that.  This is a game, we play together no matter where our characters happen to be.

[Sokotra]

I guess that makes sense. I guess I've just never been huge into clans, so Im not really all that familiar with the intricacies.

That would at least be a more comforting answer then lots of OOC communication.

You aren't alone.  I feel the same as you.  I've played in a few clans but not extensively and my play time is up and down.  I've played for somewhere around 10 years off and on and I hardly know anyone at all.

[sarahjc]

I used to post -a lot- on the GDB, when I did, I would change my name on clan boards. I also had a good deal of OOC friends who would always seem to find out who I played anyway, so Meh.

Nowerdays, I just post as me on my clan boards. I've stopped caring who knows who I play, mostly because I've stopped talking to other players on an OOC level.

So if they are saying "Man, that Sarahjc is  awesome! I want to play with her!" I don't know and don't care. If they say "Man, that Sarahjc blows doggy dick, let's kill her character!"  or "Don't join that clan, Sarahjc is in it and she smells really bad!" I also don't know and don't care.

I've found that I enjoy the game a whole lot more in doing this. Things are a whole lot more fun, when you don't really know any of the personalities that you play with.

I've also never really cared for the OOC GDB role call for a player role, by players. I know the staff allows this, but I think it gears players to the darkside of OOC coordination.

[Sokotra]

I've also never really cared for the OOC GDB role call for a player role, by players. I know the staff allows this, but I think it gears players to the darkside of OOC coordination.

I like the fact that I can put up a request for a family member or fill a role or something.  I think it's because of the fact that I don't know anyone or do any OOC coordination but I like the ability to be able to form families and stuff like that.  But beyond that, yeah... I almost feel like the OOC coordination of large groups of frequent players that know each other might be getting out of hand.  I don't know if it is or not, it just sorta seems that way from someone that is outside of the various cliques.  Like Nyr said, the staff can keep track of it better than players so I really just ignore it but I've had bad experiences from time to time in the past - subtle things that the staff might not notice (it's easy to make up an IC excuse to do something because of OOC circumstances that staff would have no way of knowing).

[Desertman]

I have always talked to a ton of people OOC.

As you teach ten or fifteen people over the years how to play the game IRL, and then they become addicted, its not like you then sacrifice your RL friends because they now play Armageddon with you.

So, I talk to a ton of people OOC, but almost all of them were people I knew before they ever played Armageddon, its not as though I am going to stop talking to them.

I tend to never play with them though. I prefer to play with people I dont know. I dont really ever play with my wife for this reason, seldom do our characters ever interact.

If I know you out of character, it takes a lot of the fun out of playing with your PC. I guess it kills some of the "wonderment", or something.

I have however, played with people for a few RL months in game, then turned around and said..."YOU PLAY SO-AND-SO!!! Oh man, I never knew that was you! That PC rocks"...which is always cool.

Sure, I wont lie and say we dont share OOC secrets, because they are cool little stories.

Lets not pretend like we are perfect little shits people...But, I will go so far as to say that I am proud to stand by the fact that I have seldom (And that means MAYBE two or three times in the past 10 years) seen someone abuse an OOC secret I leaked to them in a moment of friendly conversation.

In fact the number of instances I have seen where people purposefully avoid using OOC information I know they have, to thier character's ultimate demise, because it is IC to do so, far out number any OOC abuse I have witnessed.

The playerbase we have, in general, rocks.

[Bogre]

I've been assassinated by a guy I talked with on AIM, heh.

I find that generally the playerbase self-monitors itself well enough to keep IC information IC.

Personally, I don't create a GDB account for joining a new clan because its a lot of extra effort I really don't have time to take. The people I talk to generally have added me due to being in clans with them. I also get a large number of people AIMing me since I'm a helper, but of course IC info is strictly left out there.

Also, remember that people who go to APM's and such probably add each other on AIM/MSN afterwards.

[ale six]

I want to parrot what sarahjc said, because it's really really true:

So if they are saying "Man, that Sarahjc is  awesome! I want to play with her!" I don't know and don't care. If they say "Man, that Sarahjc blows doggy dick, let's kill her character!"  or "Don't join that clan, Sarahjc is in it and she smells really bad!" I also don't know and don't care.

I've found that I enjoy the game a whole lot more in doing this. Things are a whole lot more fun, when you don't really know any of the personalities that you play with.

I've also never really cared for the OOC GDB role call for a player role, by players. I know the staff allows this, but I think it gears players to the darkside of OOC coordination.

The game is SO MUCH MORE FUN when you only play it IC. There's an OOC Armageddon game where you can talk to everyone and make friends and share info and gossip and be cliquey, but that game sucks. It really sucks, and it ends up being less fun for you as a player, and for other players because of what you do. Trust me.

Whenever I join a clan, I make a new handle for my PC. I don't tell my friends who I'm playing. If I know someone plays a character near mine, I make a special effort NOT to talk to them about the game at all. And I never post an AIM handle with a clan account I use.

With all that said, I've made some awesome awesome friends on Armageddon through players I've played with. But usually, it's because I start talking to them after I die and they know I'm dead.

[Desertman]

The game is SO MUCH MORE FUN when you only play it IC. There's an OOC Armageddon game where you can talk to everyone and make friends and share info and gossip and be cliquey, but that game sucks. It really sucks, and it ends up being less fun for you as a player, and for other players because of what you do. Trust me.

Whenever I join a clan, I make a new handle for my PC. I don't tell my friends who I'm playing. If I know someone plays a character near mine, I make a special effort NOT to talk to them about the game at all. And I never post an AIM handle with a clan account I use.

With all that said, I've made some awesome awesome friends on Armageddon through players I've played with. But usually, it's because I start talking to them after I die and they know I'm dead.

QFT

[roughneck]

It all depends on the spirit and purpose of your OOC conversation and relationship.

Like many other people, I discovered arm through OOC relationships, I walked into my buddy's basement one saturday afternoon and there were three other of my buddies playing D&D.  I jumped in and started hearing about arm (the first hour of any session was spent talking about arm) because none of us talked about D&D or arm at school because of the social stigma surrounding it haha.  Well I got in and we all played together often, talked about it afterwards and it was some of the best times I've had on this mud.  A bunch of teenagers needing an outlet for a bit of adventure and creativity and we had blast.  After my first six months my friend apped a Borsail noble, I apped a mul warrior-slave and soon after the rest of the group was in the clan.  We hunted the sands for bushman, tried to catch creatures for the arena and just had an all around great time with really good rp that was made even sweeter because we could share it in our regular relationships as well.  We tried some other stuff afterwards too but nothing really lifted off but I still have good laughs about it when we meet up for a beer somewhere and talk about old times.

Us Armageddon players tend to be reclusive and angsty enough without adding pressure to be more so.  There is obviously a real responsibility not to be careless but these are great stories that we all pour a lot of effort into and sharing the excitement with a trusted friend that isn't involved is just fine.  There's also the fun of a random encounter with a pc where you know the player and you trust them - they may kill you but you know whatever happens it's going to be a good scenario and lots of fun.  I've never had a problem or a negative experience from an OOC relationship I've gained through or is connected to Arm.