Missing Persons

Started by ChibiTama, March 28, 2016, 12:43:37 AM

How long do you tend to wait before you assume someone has either died or given up on their character? I'm just curious about this and wonder if certain clans might have guidelines, etc. Do you have a personal set time or do you just sort of play it by ear?
Quote from: AdamBluewear Inix pelvis
You wear a wood-carved inix strap-on on your pelvis.
etwo wood
You reach down and grasp your wood-carved inix strap-on.
kill booty

Kind of depends on their activity beforehand.

I basically have a 'sense of dread' that rises.  Once it hits a certain point...I give up hope.
She wasn't doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together. --J.D. Salinger

I assume you all died every time I log back into the game. The ones that haven't I plot to kill.

I give them a week, unless they've been emoting their says.

I really wish there was some method of leaving small OOC messages to players for this specific reason.
Someone says, out of character:
     "Sorry, was a wolf outside, had to warn someone."

Quote from: Wastrel on July 05, 2013, 04:51:17 AMBUT NEERRRR IM A STEALTHY ASSASSIN HEMOTING. BUTBUTBUTBUTBUT. Shut. Up.

That fear when your pc's besty has been absent for a couple of days is pretty sweet.

A question like this is hard to answer though, some pc's if they're unavailable for more than 3 days at a time I assume the worst, others I can not find for 2 weeks and can be comfortable assuming they're alright. Gotta know ur peepz.
A staff member sends you:
"Normally we don't see a <redacted> walk into a room full of <redacted> and start indiscriminately killing."

You send to staff:
"Welcome to Armageddon."

Just for an ooc function, I would like a way to tell if someone is dead or alive.

I've gone weeks before looking for someone and fearing the worst to find out they just are a casual player who plays in bursts.

It would just be more efficient then me wasting stun trying to contact them multiple times per day.
<19:14:06> "Bushranger": Why is it always about sex with animals with you Jihelu?
<19:14:13> "Jihelu": IT's not always /with/ animals

Depending on who they are, sometimes I've sent in a request question just saying that I have a reason to be looking for this person (if they aren't clanned, clanned people I ask to see if they've mentioned being away).

That said, I also see less of people around Holidays. I, myself, havn't played since Thursday which might make people think I hit the sand.
Quote from: IAmJacksOpinion on May 20, 2013, 11:16:52 PM
Masks are the Armageddon equivalent of Ed Hardy shirts.

Quote from: Armaddict on March 28, 2016, 12:48:42 AM
Kind of depends on their activity beforehand.

I basically have a 'sense of dread' that rises.  Once it hits a certain point...I give up hope.

This.  It depends on how often I saw the character before, what kind of impact they have in my character's life (some people just might head off without saying anything, other closer associations probably would not), and what the last conversation was like.

"I'm going on [some RPT], way you when it get back" followed by nothing is a different level of dread than "I'll be manually masturbating chaltons as part of a Borsail breeding program so you might not see me for a while."
Former player as of 2/27/23, sending love.

There's also the dreaded timezone issues. I know I've had business relationships with other characters who I could only ever meet when I had a Saturday morning free or whatever.
Quote from: musashiengaging in autoerotic asphyxiation is no excuse for sloppy grammer!!!

Armageddon.org

What about when someone was fairly active and around almost every day, give or take a few, of course. Then, they're suddenly gone. No sign of them anywhere.
Quote from: AdamBluewear Inix pelvis
You wear a wood-carved inix strap-on on your pelvis.
etwo wood
You reach down and grasp your wood-carved inix strap-on.
kill booty

March 28, 2016, 12:29:25 PM #11 Last Edit: March 28, 2016, 12:31:27 PM by nauta
If they're in my clan, the roll call thread or pm.  If they aren't in my clan, definitely I'd love a mechanism other than 'ooc i'm going on vacation so my gdb is nauta'.  Maybe an independent clan people can 'opt into' for ooc conveniences like this.

I'd love to have a way to sort of 'ping' a mind to see if it's dead -- then I know I can start shifting my RP to some other plot.  You'd get results like;


pcontact Gertrude

You feel this mind wavering, somewhere, but it is very weak (hasn't logged in for 1 yr+).

You feel this mind wavering, somehwhere, but it is weak (hasn't logged in for 1 month+).

You feel this mind wavering, somewhere (has logged in in the last month).

You don't feel this mind wavering.  (dead)
as IF you didn't just have them unconscious, naked, and helpless in the street 4 minutes ago

It's tricky because RL has a way of popping up and being a thing for people.

Three (I think?) characters ago, my PC had a mate who was around very often and then suddenly wasn't.  It was during a time when relations between north and south were particularly disastrous.  We were in Tuluk at the time but neither of us were inked, so things were...precarious, to say the least.  Especially for him since he was southern while I at least had a tribal/nomadic background.  He disappeared and after a few days I got a bit worried.  After a few more days, I worried more.  I got in touch with people in the south I knew he knew, people got in touch with me etc etc and no one had seen him.  My PC finally (after a good bit of time) made herself accept the fact that he was dead and tried to move on.  Had all sorts of emotional reactions to this fact and sent kudos and all that.  

I can pretty much say that I just about fell out of my seat when a good while down the road, he suddenly finds my head.  I assume RL had happened and Arm had to take a backseat.

It's an awkward situation, because now one player is a little shocked to find out the person they were sure was dead for a year or so is in front of them, and the other person is trying to come up with a suitable in-game reason why they disappeared and are now suddenly back.  I do find though that most players go along with the reasons and are good about understanding that sometimes real life happens.

I tell ya though, when you think someone close to your character might have died, and then it goes weeks and weeks and -weeks- without word from someone who usually is around regularly...more often than not you don't have a 'fall off your chair moment', because they are in fact dead.  That's my experience anyway.

Quote from: nauta on March 28, 2016, 12:29:25 PM
If they're in my clan, the roll call thread or pm.  If they aren't in my clan, definitely I'd love a mechanism other than 'ooc i'm going on vacation so my gdb is nauta'.  Maybe an independent clan people can 'opt into' for ooc conveniences like this.

I'd love to have a way to sort of 'ping' a mind to see if it's dead -- then I know I can start shifting my RP to some other plot.  You'd get results like;


pcontact Gertrude

You feel this mind wavering, somewhere, but it is very weak (hasn't logged in for 1 yr+).

You feel this mind wavering, somehwhere, but it is weak (hasn't logged in for 1 month+).

You feel this mind wavering, somewhere (has logged in in the last month).

You don't feel this mind wavering.  (dead)


This is a really great idea! It would love to see something like this implemented in the game!
Quote from: AdamBluewear Inix pelvis
You wear a wood-carved inix strap-on on your pelvis.
etwo wood
You reach down and grasp your wood-carved inix strap-on.
kill booty

As nice as it would be to have some function that let you know if someone was dead or just not logging in, I can see that being something that risks abuse and that negatively affects player's storylines.

Maybe it shouldn't work the same as them being dead if the logged off person is barrier'd.

Mmmm, I dunno. This is a super OOC construct. How am I supposed to murder my boss, keep his body in a closet, and continue passing orders along for a few years if people can simply contact him and have OOC information about him not having been around or dead.

Quote from: th3kaiser on March 28, 2016, 02:00:31 PM
Mmmm, I dunno. This is a super OOC construct. How am I supposed to murder my boss, keep his body in a closet, and continue passing orders along for a few years if people can simply contact him and have OOC information about him not having been around or dead.

This.

It becomes pretty difficult to embrace the murder, corruption, betrayal aspect of the game when someone can check just OOC whether someone is really dead, or they aren't logging in.

March 28, 2016, 02:15:39 PM #18 Last Edit: March 28, 2016, 02:36:09 PM by nauta
Quote from: th3kaiser on March 28, 2016, 02:00:31 PM
Mmmm, I dunno. This is a super OOC construct. How am I supposed to murder my boss, keep his body in a closet, and continue passing orders along for a few years if people can simply contact him and have OOC information about him not having been around or dead.

Yeah, I'd be comfortable just having the 'pcontact' proposal tell you about relative login rates, and not actual death, so maybe just:

This mind wavers (logged in in the last IG month -- useful for telling you if you are just missing each other due to playtimes -- or dead)
This mind wavers, very faint (1+ month not logged in or dead)
This mind wavers, extremely faint. (1+ year not logged in or dead)

Fiddle with numbers as you please.

This has come up before (can't find it right now), and your objection is one that comes up a bit in these contexts.  The response I'd give is that such plots as the one you put forward don't actually work on Zalanthas.  The way is mysterious and inconsistent, and this is coded into the way contact works already.  Hence, after one try or even a whole day or a week of trying and not finding a mind: could just be the way being inconsistent... But it isn't so inconsistent that we would never be able to reach that boss over the course of a month or so of trying -- unless you used magick or some poison or something.  

So after a month or so of trying (or, in my view, after a few weeks of trying) and not reaching anything, the appropriate in-game reaction (it seems to me at least) would be: well, they are either being fucked up by a witch or dead.

The OOC construct of being logged out compels us to gloss over this little quirk and suspend a bit of disbelief.

That's at least how I kind of see things.

ETA:

I also believe the other big worry here, other than the knowing-when-they're-dead meta-quasi-cheat, would be the burglar worry: knowing when they aren't logged in so you can rob their apartment.  My proposal helps burglars out quite a bit, probably too much. 

So, you know, for me it's the realism of it and how I dislike suspending disbelief, on the one hand, and playability, on the other.  Every time I sit down to think about it, though, I keep thinking: There's got to be a solution!
as IF you didn't just have them unconscious, naked, and helpless in the street 4 minutes ago

I feel the dread of not knowing whether someone is dead or alive adds more to the game than knowing does, honestly.
She wasn't doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together. --J.D. Salinger

Being able to know someone hasn't logged in (whether because they're dead or not playing) removes the uncertainty either way. Can't say I'm a big fan.

As a leader, I would like to know more easily if what my minions may be up to virtually (including not showing up where they should). But for non-leader PCs I think the uncertainty we have now is fine.

Barrier could have extra input whether to block yourself completely from the way, or for people to be able to perceive you faintly/extremely faintly/etc.

'People will have an instant way of knowing you're around' isn't false, but then it's perfectly IC as well. The Way functions well enough that I don't see why Zalanthans couldn't use it as some kind of check-up measure themselves.
Quote
You take the last bite of your scooby snack.
This tastes like ordinary meat.
There is nothing left now.

If someone stored would their be another message?
Maybe something like "Their mind seems distant"

I like the fact that people can just disappear.  I feel like it would take away from the game to know right away when someone is dead right away, without speculation.  I for one enjoy the periods of uncertainty and the elation when someone winds up still alive.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.


I agree on the whole storage side of it.

I can see how PK'd people would be a downer to know that they were dead.

But if someone voluntarily stores, that would be good to know.

So that you wouldn't be looking for Noble X or Templar Z to find out they have been stored.
<19:14:06> "Bushranger": Why is it always about sex with animals with you Jihelu?
<19:14:13> "Jihelu": IT's not always /with/ animals

Quote from: Asmoth on March 28, 2016, 04:02:20 PM
I agree on the whole storage side of it.

I can see how PK'd people would be a downer to know that they were dead.

But if someone voluntarily stores, that would be good to know.

So that you wouldn't be looking for Noble X or Templar Z to find out they have been stored.

Conversely, there could also be a required field in the storage request that stipulates people who should know of the storage.
She wasn't doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together. --J.D. Salinger

What if there was an allotted amount of time before it would show someone as dead? Then, we wouldn't know immediately and we would still have that dread.
Quote from: AdamBluewear Inix pelvis
You wear a wood-carved inix strap-on on your pelvis.
etwo wood
You reach down and grasp your wood-carved inix strap-on.
kill booty

Clan boards usually post when someone retires, atleast certain people.
If that is the case for all clans well.
Just ask someone in the clan.
If they aren't clanned.
Well fuk idk

Quote from: Armaddict on March 28, 2016, 04:03:42 PM
Quote from: Asmoth on March 28, 2016, 04:02:20 PM
I agree on the whole storage side of it.

I can see how PK'd people would be a downer to know that they were dead.

But if someone voluntarily stores, that would be good to know.

So that you wouldn't be looking for Noble X or Templar Z to find out they have been stored.

Conversely, there could also be a required field in the storage request that stipulates people who should know of the storage.

Fucking Genius!

Yeah, If I'm Lord Templar Asmothpants and I get bored of being a templar, because really how many people can you throw into the pit before your bored, or how many people can you cuddle?

I could then do a storage request and say:

Tell Captain Sassypants of the AoD that I'm gone, and he will report to another Templar.

Tell TressyTressy that sugardick Asmoth said it was fun, and it wasn't you, it was me...

etc
<19:14:06> "Bushranger": Why is it always about sex with animals with you Jihelu?
<19:14:13> "Jihelu": IT's not always /with/ animals

I've inherited a LOT of power because a whole bunch of people all of a sudden went off the radar. It's fun to fill the void, especially if said persons come back to find you've usurped them in their absence.

The show must go on.
Quote from: Agameth
Goat porn is not prohibited in the Highlord's city.

The way has always been a little problematic. If I try to way someone and they're not around I think "they're not around" or "they must be sleeping" and these are understood to mean "they're logged off", even though the way has no range, and can be used to contact sleeping people. Or you could say "he's must be busy and have a barrier up" knowing full well that nobody in the game is that good at barrier, what with wisdom being a dump stat for 90% of us. So there's already some IC/OOC problems with the way.

The other thing is abuse and this is my real hang-up, what with being a jaded cynic to the core and all. You can already use the Way to sniff the sdesc of a hooded figure, or someone that you overhead someone describing at a bar one time. Also, to know if that raider is around so you know when it's safe to salt. Or, oppositely, to see if that dude you wanna kill is around so you know whether it's worth your time to go looking for them. I don't feel like we need more specific ways to snoop out these things.

I mean, if we accept that the Way is a limitless, flawless, no downtime internet of the mind, then this makes sense. But it also eliminates the possibility of anyone playing dead successfully ever in the entire history of the game world. It also means that nobody has ever really went missing for longer than the period of time between when they accidentally drank from the blue striped keg and when one of their buddies wayed them to see if they wanted to hang out. I have problems with this idea from both the IC and OOC standpoint...

I get where the idea is coming from, and I've definitely felt that frustration myself - we all have - but if anything the way needs to be debuffed, rather than made more reliable. For the sake of the plotz!
Quote from: musashiengaging in autoerotic asphyxiation is no excuse for sloppy grammer!!!

Armageddon.org

It's definitely an OOC construct, but for the reasons stated by other people, I agree that the benefits of keeping it the same outweigh the benefits of changing it.
Former player as of 2/27/23, sending love.

Quote from: manipura on March 28, 2016, 01:56:20 PM
As nice as it would be to have some function that let you know if someone was dead or just not logging in, I can see that being something that risks abuse and that negatively affects player's storylines.

This is already rampantly the case without any benefits.

ie; burglars checking for PCs minds before breaking into places, insta-outing people who have had massive description changes (self-mutilation, shaving, burning, scarification) because keywords are permanent, etc.

The option to leave a small note in some manner would be extremely welcome, even if it's an extended contact failure message, like "You contract XYZ, XYZ cannot come to your brain right now, working the fields." for a little flavor thing when you log off. You can't find Lord Templar Jiffylube because he's doing insufferable paperwork. You can't find Sergeant Kanksalot because he's sobbing quietly into his pillow, wracked with performance anxiety. Whatever.

Include an option for a small OOC note, too, if desired. "You contact XYZ, XYZ cannot come to your brain right now, working the fields. (Gone from the 12th to the 19th, making a porno)"

It'd be completely opt-in and at the very least, give us the chance to give people a way to explain our absence and give players potentially much needed OOC information. When I have to go and handle something and will be gone, I don't like leaving persons of interest grasping for reasons to explain why the person they live with is missing.

It makes no sense and it forces people into the position of choosing between "Um, derp?" and conjuring up a reason for the person being missing -- which might not add up if that person comes back, misses their roomie and explains things away in a completely different way. You would think people would be cool with taking it as an OOC misunderstanding, but nine times out of ten people will use it to their advantage, ie; accuse so-and-so of lying, it's a plot, off with their heads.

Which is meta as fuck and retarded to boot, but it happens as often as not.

I don't really like getting too OOC with other players if I can avoid it, too many bad experiences with people going weird on me. I'd like an option to let people know when I'm going to be MIA and for them to let me know, without having to cross that line of giving them my e-mail, PM, skype or whatever. OOC doesn't always line up, as you both have to be online and in the same room.

If someone is dead, it gives the generic message it does now. It could mean they died, it could mean they stored, it could mean they logged in a hurry to avoid the fuzz and preserves the general 'mystery' of missing persons without things having to be silly.
Someone says, out of character:
     "Sorry, was a wolf outside, had to warn someone."

Quote from: Wastrel on July 05, 2013, 04:51:17 AMBUT NEERRRR IM A STEALTHY ASSASSIN HEMOTING. BUTBUTBUTBUTBUT. Shut. Up.

March 28, 2016, 06:14:27 PM #35 Last Edit: March 28, 2016, 06:17:31 PM by BadSkeelz
I'd like certain Guilds to be able to muck with the in-character portion of that message. I do like the idea of being able to set an in-character gone message like that, but also think the ambiguity and the uneasiness is instills is a good thing for the game.

Alternatively, if we're looking to avoid using the forums, I'd like if I could pass a message through staff ala the kudos system, informing significant PCs in my characters' life that I will be unavailable between dates.

Quote from: MeTekillot on March 28, 2016, 02:56:25 PM
Barrier could have extra input whether to block yourself completely from the way, or for people to be able to perceive you faintly/extremely faintly/etc.

This is a neat solution -- it's opt-in and would satisfy both camps, I'd think.  If you are in a relationship with someone, you can do 'barrier twinkle' before you logout to give the twinkle (faintly) message to people that try to contact you whilst you are away.  If you are being hunted down and want to preserve the mystery, you can just not do anything.

Here's the old discussion I was thinking of:

http://gdb.armageddon.org/index.php?topic=48445.0

There's probably more discussions out there.
as IF you didn't just have them unconscious, naked, and helpless in the street 4 minutes ago

Gotta say, I don't really think it'd satisfy both camps. I kinda dislike it. You'd immediately see clan leaders toss out orders demanding it their minions always have twinkle-heads so they know when something is amiss. I just don't view the way as an instant messaging service and I don't want people to be able to set themselves an away message of any sort when they're gone. I just think it'd open things up to abuse.

Quote from: Vwest on March 28, 2016, 05:47:40 PM
Quote from: manipura on March 28, 2016, 01:56:20 PM
As nice as it would be to have some function that let you know if someone was dead or just not logging in, I can see that being something that risks abuse and that negatively affects player's storylines.

This is already rampantly the case without any benefits.

ie; burglars checking for PCs minds before breaking into places, insta-outing people who have had massive description changes (self-mutilation, shaving, burning, scarification) because keywords are permanent, etc.

The option to leave a small note in some manner would be extremely welcome, even if it's an extended contact failure message, like "You contract XYZ, XYZ cannot come to your brain right now, working the fields." for a little flavor thing when you log off. You can't find Lord Templar Jiffylube because he's doing insufferable paperwork. You can't find Sergeant Kanksalot because he's sobbing quietly into his pillow, wracked with performance anxiety. Whatever.

Include an option for a small OOC note, too, if desired. "You contact XYZ, XYZ cannot come to your brain right now, working the fields. (Gone from the 12th to the 19th, making a porno)"

It'd be completely opt-in and at the very least, give us the chance to give people a way to explain our absence and give players potentially much needed OOC information. When I have to go and handle something and will be gone, I don't like leaving persons of interest grasping for reasons to explain why the person they live with is missing.

It makes no sense and it forces people into the position of choosing between "Um, derp?" and conjuring up a reason for the person being missing -- which might not add up if that person comes back, misses their roomie and explains things away in a completely different way. You would think people would be cool with taking it as an OOC misunderstanding, but nine times out of ten people will use it to their advantage, ie; accuse so-and-so of lying, it's a plot, off with their heads.

Which is meta as fuck and retarded to boot, but it happens as often as not.

I don't really like getting too OOC with other players if I can avoid it, too many bad experiences with people going weird on me. I'd like an option to let people know when I'm going to be MIA and for them to let me know, without having to cross that line of giving them my e-mail, PM, skype or whatever. OOC doesn't always line up, as you both have to be online and in the same room.

If someone is dead, it gives the generic message it does now. It could mean they died, it could mean they stored, it could mean they logged in a hurry to avoid the fuzz and preserves the general 'mystery' of missing persons without things having to be silly.

I'm a little confused.  I could be misreading you here.

Are you saying that since the Way is already able to be used to glean OOC information that can be used IC, we may as well sponsor said problem and make it a permanent construct for gleaning OOC information?
She wasn't doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together. --J.D. Salinger

I was pointing out that raising 'abuse' as a reason to withhold beneficial code functionality is ridiculous.

It's been exploited for years and years now, without ever being addressed or an effort made to curtail these abuses -- it's even staff supported to use 'contact figure' in-game to suss out peoples short descriptions and have your character know that information. I've got a request tool e-mail from Nyr asserting this is an acceptable and proper use, as is using the Way to track people down by their keywords.

There are all kinds of shady things players do with the Way to get an advantage. They've been doing it unmolested until today and tomorrow is going to be the same.

I would rather have more elaborate and beneficial functionality be added (ie; being able to let people know I'm out of town for the weekend, my PC will be tending the fields during that period of time, etc) and accept some risk of it being abused, as it's a better option than avoiding improving our coded functionality for fear of it being abused, simply because there is a history of similar functionality being abused.

I don't support gun control laws, either.
Someone says, out of character:
     "Sorry, was a wolf outside, had to warn someone."

Quote from: Wastrel on July 05, 2013, 04:51:17 AMBUT NEERRRR IM A STEALTHY ASSASSIN HEMOTING. BUTBUTBUTBUTBUT. Shut. Up.

QuoteIt's been exploited for years and years now, without ever being addressed or an effort made to curtail these abuses -- it's even staff supported to use 'contact figure' in-game to suss out peoples short descriptions and have your character know that information. I've got a request tool e-mail from Nyr asserting this is an acceptable and proper use, as is using the Way to track people down by their keywords.

This makes me chuckle because of the inconsistency over the years (and recently) over when you can and can't do this, and when it is and isn't appropriate to use sdescs to identify people.  It changes from situation to situation, it seems.  I wonder what the criteria are or if it's yet another arbitrary decision based on whether the overall thing is something desired or undesired, at the time.

QuoteI would rather have more elaborate and beneficial functionality be added (ie; being able to let people know I'm out of town for the weekend, my PC will be tending the fields during that period of time, etc) and accept some risk of it being abused, as it's a better option than avoiding improving our coded functionality for fear of it being abused, simply because there is a history of similar functionality being abused.

I will just have to be a voice of disagreement with you here.  The less sponsored OOC communication the better.  In the case of true LoA's where you would want to attach a message to someone using the Way, I'd say letting the staff know is part of that step as well, which means it can already be handled without this.  In the past, I've been notified when people relevant to my clan stored, if it was truly relevant.  I just don't see this being a great addition to the game.

Quoteburglars checking for PCs minds before breaking into places, insta-outing people who have had massive description changes (self-mutilation, shaving, burning, scarification) because keywords are permanent, etc.

Just noting that if a burglar actually does their research on a house and finds out who lives there before breaking in, I consider that worthy of kudos compared to the general behavior of the role.  Likewise, finding out if they fell asleep there is also awesome.  If they use the Way to make sure their target still hasn't woken up, you can call that abuse, but if they're doing that kind of legwork ahead of time, more power to them in my book.

So far as using situations like the above to somehow tie into 'Well, the Way already does this, let's give it a new function', I'm not so sure I approve of the bundling; it's clunky.  Your descriptions of abuse are not really situations of abuse under consensus, and thus using them as justification for expansion under the banner of 'well at least this abuse is useful' isn't a very favorable position.  Sometimes minds are available, sometimes they aren't, but I'm fairly certain they're never an answering machine, and in cases of actual LoA's where you would use the above functionality, you can let appropriate parties know beforehand, rather than implement something that gives a knowledge of whether the head being unavailable means this or that.
She wasn't doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together. --J.D. Salinger

Being that this is a multiplayer game, some folks get attached to other characters.

When I was in Salarr one of the times, I had to clan mates that literally were inseparable, they joined Salarr together and when one died to a freak Bahamet, the other just wasn't the same, great roleplaying but so great that I think they actually were distraught because of the missing player.

Point of all that is I would rather there be a bit of ooc code to say "Homeboy is definitely dead" so that people know your awesome, or awful character has passed.  As is the coded body decays quickly, so if I die alone in the sand, all anyone will find is my mount and gear.  There should be a way to tell if someone is gone or doesn't exist anymore.
<19:14:06> "Bushranger": Why is it always about sex with animals with you Jihelu?
<19:14:13> "Jihelu": IT's not always /with/ animals

Quote from: Jihelu on March 28, 2016, 04:08:44 PM
Clan boards usually post when someone retires, atleast certain people.

I've never seen this happen ever.

Quote from: Suhuy on March 29, 2016, 09:04:51 AM
Quote from: Jihelu on March 28, 2016, 04:08:44 PM
Clan boards usually post when someone retires, atleast certain people.

I've never seen this happen ever.

I recall seeing it a few times.

It is always something like;

"Captain Fluffyfluffs was reassigned to another unit and won't be seen as often going forward as new duties are taking him elsewhere."

Things like that.

I saw a particularly funny one where someone put in a post about taking a dart to the eyeball in the middle of a dart game in a barracks alone to explain why they "went away". Heh.
Quote from: James de Monet on April 09, 2015, 01:54:57 AM
My phone now autocorrects "damn" to Dman.
Quote from: deathkamon on November 14, 2015, 12:29:56 AM
The young daughter has been filled.

Yeah, I've only seen it once or twice. It would be nice it if happened more. Like if there was a section of the "leave a clan forum" to flag your own "Hey guys I'm dead now" message, ala "Word spreads around that Amos hasn't shown up for sparring in a couple weeks. No one has been able to find his mind in that time."
Quote from: musashiengaging in autoerotic asphyxiation is no excuse for sloppy grammer!!!

Armageddon.org

Quote from: IAmJacksOpinion on March 29, 2016, 02:46:45 PM
Yeah, I've only seen it once or twice. It would be nice it if happened more. Like if there was a section of the "leave a clan forum" to flag your own "Hey guys I'm dead now" message, ala "Word spreads around that Amos hasn't shown up for sparring in a couple weeks. No one has been able to find his mind in that time."

More than one plot has been ruined because people, innocently or otherwise, informed others OOCly that they were dead.
It is said that things coming in through the gate can never be your own treasures. What is gained from external circumstances will perish in the end.
- the Mumonkan

Why even hood guys, when them rats can find you any Way.  I'ma vote no for death messages, though, because of that stuff about keeping your boss's skeleton in the closet.
Where it will go

If I am in a leadership role, then I feel it's good to have some updates on folks in my clan, for example if no one has seen them around for a month IRL and they have not said anything on the boards.   I have presumed folks dead before, only to have them op up again, so after a reasonable amount of time I think it's ok for staff to let leadership PCs know who is still alive and who is under the sand.

However for all others, no. Zalanthas is a rough place, stuff happens. Not knowing just makes the sharpness of the edge between life and death that much more real.
At your table, the XXXXXXXX templar says in sirihish, echoing:
     "Everyone is SAFE in His Walls."

Ever since my real life became all consuming, I keep getting these, "Oh Shit! Dar! I thought you died!" And I get them every two weeks. Sometimes from the same people.

Once upon a time, Talia was an assassination target, but Talia had an "important boss." So Malik wasn't going to kill Talia as long as there was even a remote possibility that Talia could way her boss to warn him that she was about to get ganked.

This was before the changes to the Way. Malik came up with a clever plan - he would try to contact Talia's boss whenever he saw Talia around. One day, he discovered Talia's boss was not in the game (he knew this because the echo showed this, before the changes were made). So he knew it was safe to try and kill Talia, because she couldn't run to her boss. He killed her, and Talia's boss never knew what happened because his player hadn't logged him into the game that day.

She was killed successfully because the Way showed "That character is not in Zalanthas" (or whatever the echo used to be).

The system was changed because of this kind of abuse. It wasn't the first time it'd happened, and in fact it was abused frequently enough that they felt it needed to be changed.

I'm glad it's changed, and I would not want to revert back to the old way. The staff continually works with the psionics system, and it's one system I have grown to trust that staff will keep an eye on and make tweaks as necessary (or not make them as necessary).
Talia said: Notice to all: Do not mess with Lizzie's GDB. She will cut you.
Delirium said: Notice to all: do not mess with Lizzie's soap. She will cut you.

Quote from: Suhuy on March 29, 2016, 09:04:51 AM
Quote from: Jihelu on March 28, 2016, 04:08:44 PM
Clan boards usually post when someone retires, atleast certain people.

I've never seen this happen ever.
I've seen it three or so times when I skulk clan boards?
It should be the norm, it's smart.

It should be the norm!

In either cases, when I have RL business and can't log on much. I usually tell the people I deal with regular basis that I'm busy doing (Insert IG Reason Here), and won't be available for (This Much Amount of IG Time). That usually works if there's people trying to get in touch with my PC.

People who disappear on my PC without any explanation, however, after a while of not being able to find their minds, I assume they're dead.
I ruin immershunz.

Quote from: ChibiTama on March 28, 2016, 12:43:37 AM
How long do you tend to wait before you assume someone has either died or given up on their character? I'm just curious about this and wonder if certain clans might have guidelines, etc. Do you have a personal set time or do you just sort of play it by ear?

Two minutes real life, this includes time I am afk or not in game.

. . . .

There's been a lot of necromancy lately.

April 01, 2016, 04:45:30 PM #53 Last Edit: April 01, 2016, 04:50:26 PM by Lizzie
I'm just checking to see if these persons are missing:

Nyralia RathNyrra dorf SeidNyr Eurynomos SaNyrvean The Shade of Nyrssalin AdNyra

Edit after checking back: Oh bloody hell.
Talia said: Notice to all: Do not mess with Lizzie's GDB. She will cut you.
Delirium said: Notice to all: do not mess with Lizzie's soap. She will cut you.