The pros and cons of a fixed group

Tiana ah, starting. "Questions, commentary, i'd ask that it be kept to a minimum until i've said my main piece, then we can get onto the discussing amongst ourselves. I'll let ya'll know when the time comes."

Tiana wanders up to the lectern, shuffles some papers and clears her throat, "Groups and cliques are a natural part of society, we form relationships and gravitate towards those with whom our personalities mesh the most. And while this is natural and okay, it becomes more distressing when applied to a game such as OtherSpace. This is not to say that a player shouldn't form relationships with those around themselves, nor does it mean that they shouldn'thave a group of 'regulars' with whom they play, but when those regulars become the only, or close to the only people that are being RP'd with that it becomes a problem."

You say, "Not only does it defeat the point of joining a game where there is a large variety of people to play and interact with, it harbors the immense potential of making RP stale and boring, as well as limiting character development, community and world development. While this is a fantasy realm and the characters that we play are not real, there's still an aspect of realism that seems to be forgotten. In OtherSpace specifically, characters are part of crews, militia, companies which gives them a good base of people to RP with, and that's fine, but realistically speaking, are those people who are part of your crew, or militia the only people he or she would see? No."

You say, "Just as with real people, our characters don't stay couped up. There are places to go, that realistically may be gone to every day. Or even just getting out. Who would want to be cooped up in a ship all the time? Or a military base. I sure wouldn't. It's not unimaginable that any given character might be out for a walk, gone to grab a bit to eat or pick something up at a store. There are a lot of options, but there's oftentimes a lack of interaction between characters if they aren't part of -your- crew, or -your- militia etc."

You say, "Now, there may be a myriad of reasonings behind this, OOCly, you may not like the person behind the character, though that really shouldn't factor into it. We're not here, or at least, we shouldn't be here for the OOCly relationships. That doesn't mean they shouldn't form, nor that they won't. But we're here for the love of RP, and one of the most important things that gets forgotten is that we -aren't- our characters, and while you may not like a person on an OOC scale, ICly, it makes no sense to avoid them."

You say, "Furthermore, the give and take relationship between poses can play a part. Person A writes a pose three or four lines long and gets a one or two line pose in return from Person B. Consistant occurances of that can be disheartening, and make it difficult to continue interaction for lack of interest, or lack of interest, as well as bringing the feeling to Person A that they're they only one's putting any effort into the RP. However, it's easy to forget that while someone may love RP, not all of us are capable of consistently throwing out even three or four line poses. We're not all fantastic authors! Though i'm sure a lot of us would like to be."

Tiana pauses, sips some water, "There's also the matter of Canon, and sticking to your character's personality. It can sometimes be hard not to stick within only one group, and not go against Canon. Or, if someone drops out of scene due to the events that have occured, because their character just wouldn't stick around with those people, what are they left to do but go back to their crew etc, or wallow by themselves? Not a whole lot. A good example of this is Franceza and Tiana. Basically, they hate each other, and as such, it can make it difficult for Franceza to find a reason to stick around in a scene if Tia is there, or shows up."

You say, "While this presents difficulty, it doesn't present -impossibility-. There are ways around it. Again to use Tiana and Franceza in example. If the two of them are in the same room with several other characters, it doesn't mean -they- have to interact, even if one or the other shares common friends. Even standing beside the same person, the two of them don't have to interact on a larger scale. A glare thrown here and there can do wonders to create tension between the characters while still allowing one or the other to remain and socialize."

You say, "So, why does this problem persist? Well, people can be stubborn about their OOC views and in doing so blur the line between OOC and IC. This isn't to say that it's always the reasoning. Sometimes it just happens unintentionally. Personal story arcs don't always allow for it. Nor do story arcs within a given crew. You're not just going to go ahead and invite everyone and their uncle along for the ride."

You say, "It's can be a thin line to walk, but with effort it doesn't have to be. In the end, what I aim to do is broaden horizons, if only a little bit."

Tiana denotes it question/discussion time now. :)

Andreo says, "You can broden my horizons any day."

Tiana winks at Andy, "Even in public, baby?"

Suns thinks it was a nice speech!

Fade tries to think of a question.

Ivan raises his hand, but his question has absolutely no bearing to the topic WHATSOEVER.

Tiana answers, Kelly first, then Ivan, go ahead and ask.

Fade holds his question, then.

Ivan says, "If it has relevance to the topic, go before me."

Fade okays. "I agree with everything you said, in principle, Tiana, but there are many groups that there's just no way your PC would ever interact with, at least in terms of seeking them out. For example, I was once told OOCly to drop by and hang out with a group of others in my org, who were on a different ship, but the only reason offered was 'because Fade is bored?'. To say that action would not be ICly consistant would be a gross understatement."

Fade says, "Finding pretexts to interact that don't completely violate your character's psychology can often be impossible."

You say, "I think it's detrimental. It creates an incredible amount of stagnation and can even go so far as to crete tension between players, often for the silliest of reasons. Let's take Elinon for example. Keller and I were admins on that game, and unless an admin created a situation that -forced- players to interact with one another as a whole, and not their IC friends, husbands and wives all the time, then it didn't happen. To prove a point, Elinon has virtually no playerbase after a very short run and is essentially dead."

Fade says, "Additionally, in the case of New Luna, A lot of the characters there (mostly marine-types) are people my character would go extremely out of his way to -avoid-, much less seek out for interaction."

Fade sits back down again.

You say, "Sometimes Fade, you just have to suck it up and go interact with people. You don't even have to be seeking them. If they're in the same org as you, is it not viable that your character might go to that ship for a reason not at all related to the people? In the case of New Luna, you don't have to, as I said, interact with everyone to be in the same room and essentially a part of a scene. You can go to the beach, for example, just wanting to go for a swim, and come upon those Marine types. Even if it's a short scene, doesn't make it worth any less than a scene that goes on for hours at a time."

Fade says, "That's true, but how much fun of a scene is it if, say, there are three marines standing on the beach talking, and I'm sitting by myself at the other end of the beach, and every four poses or so I have to think up a new, colorful way to basically pose that my character is doing nothing?" You say, "That's where it becomes up to -you- to create interest. You created the character, you decided his direction and it's your responsibility to find ways to interact with characters, even if they might not be on the best of terms. Create tension, take some risks and find some fun."

Suns suggests Fade go over and kick sand on them. He saw a great muscle building program in the back of one of these advertisements he read.

Fade can think of less painful ways to kill off his own character, thank you. :P

Tirax says, "He'll get sand in his face.. when kicked to the ground..."

You say, "Ivan? You wanna ask your question now? :P"

Suns says, "They can wait until the next one. We'll be here all afternoon wondering, otherwise!"

Ivan says, "Mmmmkay, so I'm going to ask this girl to Homecoming, but I need ideas."

Keller says, "Just walk right up to her and ask her."

You say, "It's a good option, she can't fault you for trying. Like I said before everyone came along, don't be a creep about it and you should -at the least- get a polite reply. :)"

Ivan stalks Tia.

Tiana mrowls at Ivan.

Cyral says, "Get a pencil:

Friend, I know you not yet, But I yearn for your commaraderies Out of the harshened mist of memory I see the mystery of your face, And take joy at such handsome company. Why must our meeting be so tumultuous? My tongue near rends itself in two in effort to entertain you. My mind stands aghast, lackluster in shock I was a spark, an ember of vitality surviving on spite in a muted realm. You- a fresh wind, stirred the magic behind me and turned my course unto questing -On to Glory again. AND I AM MADE A FLAME.

My name is _________. I am at your service. I would be honored to take you to Homecoming."

Ivan smirks, but was planning on taking the girl as a friend ;) "That's why it's not as easy as say, if I was dating said girl."

You say, "Oh psssh. Taking as a friend is SO much easier."

Ivan doesn't find it easier.

Keller says, "If you're going as friends, then just ask her. No need for poetry, wining and dining or anything else."

Tiana points to Cyral, "Deary, that could very well be contrued as creepy."

You say, "Construed too!"

Ivan wanted to do something /somewhat/ creative/nice, NOTHING over the top though.

Rkagar would have to agree with Tiana.

Tiana chintaps. "I'd have to know something of her, to give you a better idea of how to go about it creatively, i'm afraid. All I can suggest is find something she likes, nothing serious as you said, just something fun and play off of that."

Ivan nodnods.

Tiana is the guru of everything!

Ivan bites Tia.

Tiana counter-bites Ivan.

You say, "Right! So other than homecoming advice, I assume we're all done?"

Fade says, "It would seem so"

Cyral says, "Yeah ... if you think guys hate hearing: Let's just be friends, girls hate it worse. Don't use the word 'friends' if you can. Use the word 'casual' instead. And remember options, location, and intimacy. Even if you're not serious your date will appreciate the effort."

Fade can't think of anything else to ask, anyway

Suns, regaring the seminar questions, also has been making a point to visit the other worlds that he can, and not being wholly confined to New Luna's circle of friends. It may be because he's both attracted to mysterious unknown and not quite a joiner OOC'ly as he might be IC'ly. "I get the opinion that these worlds were past RP locations, has the New Luna location been always this popular, or is it merely as I see it from the few weeks I've been on?"

You say, "Populairity shifts, Suns, depending on Arc events, personal story development and in my case, whatever I might come up with that's both viable, and fun. I try to go around and give people someone to play with when there's no one else around, and I try to keep it interesting. :)"

Ivan says, "Although, NL has been a hotspot recently."

Tiana nods sagely.

Tiana does a little dance, shoos you all to go RP.

Fade is shooed.

Rkagar will pine away on the landing pad for his beloved Tiana :P

Tiana snickers.