Correcting People

[Trenidor]

Of recent I've seen a few things I thought I should correct on people, but I didn't want to really say anything because it would screw up the game if it was said IG (but so was what I saw)

They of course were things people said and tried to play out, I didn't want to have them correct their whole conversation.

Soooo....I came here to ask you guys how you would try and correct this.

Would you RP it out so that the other person would understand IG and OOC?

Would you just ooc to them that what they said was wrong?

Would you Ignore it?

Would you gripe about it on the board?

[Meatwad]

I'd rp it in game, and if they really, really don't get it, then I'd move to some ooc means, briefly.

[EvilRoeSlade]

I think I'd need to know what exactly happened before deciding what to do.

[Anonymous]

I hate these scenarios, but they do come up.  Most often, for me, it has to do with people ignoring VNPCs and acting like that room in the center of the commoner's quarter is empty.

It feels sort of lame to:

say (looking at the crowd) Looks busy to me!

after the other guy just did a:

say (glancing both ways) Ok, looks clear here.

But that's normally what I end up doing.  And feeling like a big tool.

[spawnloser]

The whiney half-elf says in whiner-accented sirihish, "What do you mean noble houses don't hire half-elves?"

Noble employee says in pompous-accented sirihish, "You have tainted blood.  We won't hire you because of it."

The whiney half-elf says in whiner-accented sirihish, "How do you know I don't have pointy ears because my father's father was a dwarf?"

Noble employee says in pompous-accented sirihish, "Uh, because your father wasn't a mul, because you wouldn't be here."

The whiney half-elf says in whiner-accented sirihish, "What if my father's mother was also a dwarf?  My father wouldn't be a mul, then."

Noble employee says in pompous-accented sirihish, "Then your father would have been a dwarf...and you're not a mul."

The whiney half-elf blathers on a bunch more, as if being rude would help him get hired by people that will never hire him getting more and more pissed the entire time.

[Angela Christine]

My policy is that if you can't react to it IC, don't react to it at all.  Going OOC to "correct" someone's roleplay creates hard feelings, and often ends in a long, unpleasant OOC discusion that disrupts the game for everyone.  If you happen to know their email address you could send them a polite note about the situation and your perspective on why it isn't appropriate.  Otherwise I would wish up, or send an email to the MUD account or clan Imm, because they can handle it without creating a scene in the game.


AC

[The Purple One]

I agree with AC. Correcting people OOC leaves a nasty feeling.

Someone recently OOC'd to me that the person I was talking to had stood up and most likely could not hear me talking.

While I have no doubt it was well meant, I still got the feeling I was being looked down upon. It is embarrassing to miss the fact that the other person left, it is twice so when the mistake is pointed out to everyone in the room.

Again it came to mind how good the targeted OOC would be. But even better is IC correction.

[Barzalene]

I don't like ic correction unless you are sure that it is the pc who is wrong, not the player.

I remember when I was knew, I kept saying hi to people without typing say first. People insisted on reacting to it IC.
"Why did you do that?" ".... um.... "

Correcting people with ooc can be done gently and silently with the way. contact guy
psi ooc Not sure if you realized blah blah blah.

If you don't feel comfortable doing that, either move on, or write in, wish up. But don't make someone play something that makes no sense.

[The Whip]

I got corrected too.Made me feel stupid once they explained why it was wrong.

[Khorm]

I really think there ought to be a directed OOC command, so that only the person you are directing it towards knows anything about it. It would be a great way to make a suggestion regarding a mistake without having other people think you're an idiot, or interrupting on-going RP. It could easily be monitored to keep people from abusing it, and I honestly believe it would add quite a bit.

[The Lonely Hunter]

I remember when I first started out I was a human and met a d-elf. Well, the d-elf spent a lot of time in old tuluk and we got to know each other kinda...think he tried to help me because I was a newbie. Anyway, we were up stairs at the sanctuary and I emoted, in detail, drawing a bow and arrow and a set of horns (tryen to hint at hunting) in the sand and dirt on the ground. He OOCed to tell me, "There is no sand or dirt on the floor here". To this day I wanna smack him for that...it discouraged me and gave me a false idea of the world when I had been right to begin with.

SAND IS EVERYWHERE DAMNIT!  :lol:

[ShaLeah]

I really dislike people who break character just to correct someone elses play.  I can see the need for such in very few incidences, to name a few:

A player is going so far off the world that it's both unnerving in game and clearly obvious he or she needs help.  My first character was a bynner and on my first Barani I decided to stir a pot... a metal pot. Boy, you should have seen me clanking away at my metal pot... I was corrected and turned three shades of red. I read a bit more of the docs after that. The same thing goes for "reading" boards, which I think is the most common of newbie blunders.
Coordinating play times for an upcoming RPT.
Going through the new hire shpeal when you're in a clan.
Emergency log offs.
Bug checks. "Dude! My pants are on my wrist, can you check these for me?"

I do not find acceptible that people break character to correct typos, either their own or someone elses.  Most typos are easily understood or can be re-entered after fixed within the span of a second.
I don't think people should break character to tell another person they should use capital letters.

Another newbie blunder I see a lot is good old fashioned say instead of talk, I often just mention that they don't have to SAY things so loudly when he/she can just TALK at the table and people won't be so eager to eavesdrop.

*shrug*
I'm a nazi, I'll keep away from people who break character too often, no matter what the reason. If something minor is bothering you about someone's play, you should email mud and ask for an intervention. YA-YA!

[spawnloser]

Sanvean herself has said that using means other than OOC to do OOC communication should be avoided.  The only way I would see using anything else would be using the Way to OOC at someone not in the same room.

Yes, sand is everywhere, but some places are kept cleaner than others...like the Sun King's Sanctuary and the Trader's Inn.  If you're in a upscale establishment like those, assume that sand and dirt are not a common thing.

I just thought I would offer up my thoughts on those two things...as I disagreed with them as they were originally posted.

[Bestatte]

Yeah what Spawn says. Using the Way as an OOC channel is just plain wrong - except the odd rare moment when someone does something dramatically and obviously in error and walks out and you can't use the OOC command to let them know. Well there's also the times when you're having a normal IC Way discussion and need to tell the other person what time in RL you are talking about regarding the assassination of Lord Fizzlesnot you're talking about. Like - psi assassin So early next week, when dawn break, you'll find Fizzlesnot right outside Traders walking his rounds (ooc usually around 9 am EST).

Also - although some staff members don't like this, I will occasionally use an "ooc whisper" to help someone in dire need of help while in a PC-crowded area. I do it in a way that people who are -not- able to hear whispers will see clearly that I'm being OOC, so they don't need to RP wondering if my PC is talking about theirs or plotting something or whatever.

whisp newbie (oocly) Type "look me" and "stat" and "score" to see that you are naked and "near death" - you probably shouldn't be asking Lord Fizzlesnot for a job until your character gets cleaned up.

I'll add my sids to the metal pot of support for an option to direct/target the OOC command, -as long as- other people in the room can see that -something ooc- is being shared between the two parties.

You are sitting at the bar, a noob does something incredibly noobish, and then:

Jane-at-the-other-table OOCs something to Noob.
Noob nods.
Jane OOCs something to Noob.
Noob follows Jane.
Jane stands up.
Jane takes Noob to a less populated place to give him a hand.

[Ayashah]

I agree with AC. Correcting people OOC leaves a nasty feeling.

Someone recently OOC'd to me that the person I was talking to had stood up and most likely could not hear me talking.

While I have no doubt it was well meant, I still got the feeling I was being looked down upon. It is embarrassing to miss the fact that the other person left, it is twice so when the mistake is pointed out to everyone in the room.

Again it came to mind how good the targeted OOC would be. But even better is IC correction.

A better way to have handled that, by the person that dropped to OOC to tell you, would have been to do something like the following :

say (while tilting their head to look at ~target where he stands by the table) Hmm? Oh sorry, I was distracted. What did you sat?

Granted, that person might not have been sitting with you, etc, but you get the guist of it. Adjust to suit.

*wink*

I rather deal with things IC. If I already reacted to what happened IC and you drop to OOC to correct it, most likely I am going to continue to play it. People goof up and say the wrong thing all the time in RL so if you do it IC, deal with it.  It provides some interesting rp at times.

[The Lonely Hunter]

Yes, sand is everywhere, but some places are kept cleaner than others...like the Sun King's Sanctuary and the Trader's Inn.

Hrm, I've never seen a room desc say it is kept free of sand. Only place I ever thought would have very little sand would be deep inside noble estates, after the first few rooms.

Sand gets -everywhere-, peoples hair, clothes, boots, under their clothes, in their fat rolls, etc. Even in a place like Indiana Dunes, no matter what we did, our camp and tents were always douced in sand.

Sorry about going off topic If anyone else replies to this subject, lets just start a new thread

[spawnloser]

Oh, just because it doesn't say there is not sand somewhere means there is sand?  I'll remember that the next time I go outside and just because it doesn't say there isn't prey for me to hunt, there should be some there...so I'll roleplay it out and then wish up for the staff to give me animal parts for me to sell.

Where does it say that sand gets everywhere?

If someone is getting sandy, it shows up on their clothing.  If it doesn't show on their clothing, they're not currently sandy.

I'm not saying that you should OOC to correct people or that you couldn't find a bit of dust to draw something out, but assuming that sand is everywhere is something that I think should be corrected here and now.  Emote that out in a noble estate some day...I dare you.

[Meatwad]

Even if codedly there isn't sand on your clothes after you trudged around in the desert, there is probably a lot of virtual sand.  And that can fall off in small amounts anywhere.  So you could track that stuff -anywhere-, even a noble's estate.

[Crazy Hakhim]

Not sure how the thread got to talking about sand, but living in a pretty sandy, largely even deserty, country, I can tell you sand doesn't get EVERYWHERE.
Sure, leave a room for a few days with the window open, and it'll get there, but some minimal cleaning, even the slight movements created by people being in the room often prevent it from summing up to any overly noticable amount.
Granted, It's not exactly Zalanthas here, nor do we get so many sandstorms as Zalanthas does, but I think it's SOME guideline.

[X-D]

I used to attempt IC nudges and correction, but found that, even with several other people helping out, 9 out of 10 times the person simply doe snot get it so you end up going ooc anyway, so now, ooc 100% so it is overwith quicker and the person is probly less embarresed.