Sticking to Documentation

[Boggis]

Here's what I see:

In different threads many players and staff have explained that their fundamental understanding is that PCs reflect the "exceptions" of society.

I'm almost certain Staff have never advocated the above position. Rather the opposite I think.

[Marauder Moe]

Let's say that Amos hates gemmers, hates elves, hates northerners, but has a half-breed cousin he likes to hang out with.  People would probably shout "You're playing an exception to the docs!  We need more people that play like the docs say to!".

Let's say Amos also has three friends, Joram, Malek, and Sadira.

Joram hates elves, hates halfbreeds, hates northerns, but his best friend got gemmed and he decided to stay friends anyway.
Malek hates gemmers, hates elves, hates halfbreeds, but his mom is from Tuluk so he doesn't mind northerners.
Sadira hates gemmers, hates halfbreeds, hates northerners, but thinks rugged sand-striding Soh are kinda sexy.

This is one crazy group!  All of them are exceptions to the documentation!  This game is being overrun by people who are in complete disregard of the setting!

Let's say they're all sitting at the bar, though.  A half-elf comes over and sits down.  Magickally, in this group of exceptions, 75% of them don't like him.  Half-elf leaves, gemmer comes in.  75% of the group doesn't like him either.  Gemmer leaves, northerner comes in.  Once again, most of the group is hating.

This group is completely made up of exceptional characters, yet somehow, in any situation, the group roughly conforms to the standards of the documentation (most people hate gemmers/halfbreeds/elves/northerners).

I think people need to realize that being "exceptional" is not a binary state, and really it's unfair to criticize someone for playing an exception when perhaps 95% of their character's view are in-line with the documentation.

That said, it does become a problem when too many characters are exceptional in the same way.

[RogueGunslinger]

Mmm. Very good points, once again.

[Dakurus]

I'm happy everytime I see one of these threads for the following reasons:
1. It shows that we can have a discussion with many different varied opinions without being snarky and trolling.
2. It shows that we all care deeply about the environment/background/story that we play in.
3. It gives ideas and insight that we all learn a little from, even if you've read similar threads before.
4. It acts a reminder to everyone of us to reflect a little more on our characters, the characters around us, and for me at least the gameworld around us as well.

This last one is my particular pet peeve, or poster child topic. The gameworld because it is mostly represented by text, simple code, and documentation tends to suffer from the same difficulties as the rest of things discussed in this thread. People have different opinions on how their character should interpret it, react to it, make assumptions about it, and live in it. People have their characters short cut it for any number of reasons (similar to why sometimes folks may not react to other characters in what they might consider a documented expected behavior).
1. They just don't take the time to consider what the terrrain, npc, conditions, flora, fauna should mean to their character.
2. They fall into a pattern because of repetitiveness, or even learned from someone else who ignored the game world.
3. They play the game mostly for themselves, meaning that they focus on the things they like (combat, social rp, exploring, etc) and only deal with other aspects of the game if forced, or on whim.
4. It's the path of least resistance to treat things strictly as they are coded, or for their coded value.
5. It's just simply to much work to try and extrapolate/guess what the world is supposed to mean to them every step of the way.

Most folks lie somewhere in the middle which is just fine. You do your best to consider the world around you. Maybe not every room, or every npc. You try and imagine what the world is like when you're foraging or traveling, be it walking the streets, or the sands. You do things to help convey that not only to yourself, but to those traveling with you, perhaps watching you through the tools you've been given, bringing the world ALIVE for them and you. Sometimes one might misinterpret, because some of this calls for reading between the line and being creative, but that's fine. And honestly, if you really aren't sure, you can always email staff, who can share with you their experience and opinion.

Some situations to consider next time you're out and about:
1. Consider that npc merchant you're about to deal with, it's not just a coin machine, it's a race that belongs to a tribe/house/something.
2. Consider that next bar you sit at, or city street you travel. Consider the time and weather, how crowded it is, the clientelle, the ambiance and how your character would react/act.
3. Consider the next trip you plan into the hot and dangerous world. Who claims the land you're considering travelling to, why would you travel there, what are the pitfalls and what flora and fauna is around you as you travel
4. Imagine the reactions and nature of the next npc "beast" you might meet. Why are they aggressive, are they a pack animal, should more come, will they warn others, what about their hides and habits. Don't treat npcs as idiots that stand off at two rooms while you kill them, or intelligent npcs that wouldn't call for reinforcements.
5. Next time you relax, take in your environment, think of how it makes you relaxed and what you can interact with to show others.

I'm sure you can think of countless others.

[Synthesis]

If my characters treated the world as scary as it really is, they would never leave the gates.