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Roleplay Conduct: Introduction Introduction Lord of the Craft is based on Roleplay. It breathes Roleplay: it bleeds Roleplay. Roleplay pushes this server forward and is the core component to every single thing on the server. It’s prided itself in this, as it should, and the pride it’s taken has proven to be a large benefit to the Player-base. The Whitelist feature of the server helps weed out those just wishing to troll, and those who currently do not fit the criteria for the Roleplaying standard of the server. Due to this, massive contentions arise across the Roleplaying scene. These mostly culminate in a series of forms that not everyone seems to adhere to. Some tend to hold a different ideal on how Roleplay should work, which is all well and good, but there are a few guidelines which everyone must follow to ensure everyone enjoys themselves. After a few less than savoury scenarios which prompted me to do some research and communication with the Server Staff in regards to the view of the now discussed, I decided to make a small mini series of topics on the RP conduct nature and delve into the specifics in regards to RP customs and regulations which are generally put in place to ensure all are enjoying the Server’s Roleplay universe. This mini series will cover and hopefully clear up any contention between some common misunderstandings. I will cite references and sources, and have ensured that everything I have said has been approved by those who manage the Server to ensure complete transparency with what I say. So let’s get right into it. What is Roleplay Conduct? This is going to get mundane, and I’m going to apologise for that now. To understand and delve into problems around, you need to break it down to its fundamental core and build up from there. So, conduct by definition is “the manner in which a person behaves, especially in a particular place or situation”. So what is Roleplay Conduct? If it wasn’t fairly obvious, and I hope I don’t beat a dead horse or prompt anyone to feel belittled by this clarification, Roleplay Conduct is how one presents themselves and how they behave when Roleplaying. This can occur anywhere, on any server and even in real life. (Not particularly Mommy and Daddy, Doctor's dress up type roleplaying you did as kids) Why is positive Roleplay Conduct important? Positivity is vital in many scenarios, most importantly when handling other people. Many people are cynical and like being negative, and that’s completely fine. If that fits you as a person, wonderful. You do you, but much like offering a lactose-intolerant person cheese, you really shouldn’t shove it in their face. The Internet is vast and filled with all kinds of people, some are here to make the Internet a lighter place, some are here to make it darker. Then there are those who use the Internet, and in many many cases, Roleplay, as an escape from Real Life. This isn’t always as depressing as you’d think it may be, but people use Roleplay as a way to express themselves in a way they never thought possible in their day to day runnings of the real world. Someone may wish to be an adventurer in real life, so as a substitute they create a character who lives to explore and delve into new endeavours as a way to satiate the thirst in their real life. If someone is having a particularly troubling time outside of the Internet, they usually resort to coming online in search of escape or just a treatment to what they are feeling. Because of this, it’s a general rule of thumb to act like a good ol’ bloke with everyone you come across. Who knows what they’re going through in the real world. Because of this, positivity is a very important thing. “You’ve sidetracked”, I assume you’re thinking, and you’re right. I do that; I rant. Back on topic, however: as we just established, positivity is important. “But what positivity in Roleplay?” “What if I want my character to be rude and negative?”. Good questions, and no one is asking for your character to be a good guy. If you want your character to be abrasive, mendacious and cynical and then by all means go for it. Give it your all, be negative! What I’m referring to here; however, is the focus of being positive in regards to the guidelines of Roleplay, and how to act when Out-of-Character. This, of course, is in regards to the infamous ‘Metagaming’, and ‘Powergaming’. Both of these topics I will cover in following posts. Having a positive Roleplay Conduct is important because it helps everyone feel welcome, prevents people from feeling targeted. The last thing anyone wants is to feel targeted In-Character because of something that occurred Out-of-Character, or for their concerns to not be heard. So what are you getting at here? I’m really bad at staying on point, so I’ll try and re-rail myself. Roleplay is fun for us all, it’s something we come to do and if you don’t enjoy roleplay; I’m not sure why you’re on Lord of the Craft. Following a decent set of guidelines is vital to ensuring everyone receives the maximum enjoyment any one individual can, and allows everyone to understand what is expected from them as people. There are many who do not take this into account, and just do as they please. We get it, it’s the internet, and you want to mess around. But there are people here who are trying to enjoy themselves, and for their leisure to be interrupted because someone wishes to break or provide negative conduct, is not something which should be taken lightly. In the followings topics posted by myself over the coming week, I will try and highlight certain areas of negative conduct and expand on them, detailing specifically what they are and how an individual can take a step in the right direction. I’ll cite examples of negative and positive scenarios, and provide as much additional content as I can. Summary? Be a good human being? I’m not pandering to everyone here, and of course there will be some people who will just be bullheaded and ignore me, which I suppose is all fine. I’ll be making a bunch of posts in the coming days in regards to the appropriate RP Conduct all should follow, to certify that everyone is on the same wavelength on how they should act. Hopefully this will prevent Conduct violations, and resolve any future misunderstandings or longstanding contentions between different Roleplaying communities. Yay for bridges? I don’t know. They’re good I suppose. That’s pretty much all for this post. It’s about 1am, and I’ve spent the entire night on Teamspeak and Skype chatting with a host of fun and interesting people. I wanted to whip this up and post it as quick as possible to notify any who care of what is to come, to stay tuned within the coming days. I probably should have bulked out (or thinned down) the content in this post, but I wanted to make it as lighthearted as possible so I don’t seem like some sheriff shouting laws to the locals about how some of them should behave. But I am tired, so I’m going to go to bed. Love you bye. -Tahmas (Thomas) (also feel free to ask questions on the thread about the up and coming discussions, or about anything in general. I’d love to clear up any contentions. I love that word, can you tell?) (double also, if this is in the wrong section, feel free to move it <3)