Fascinating post

[avevale_intelligencer]

This post", from the wise and wonderful siderea, is most earnestly recommended for all my friends who take part in historical re-enactment, LARP or indeed any kind of role-playing activity whatsoever. I've lost count of how many times I've heard complaints around the issue she describes, on both sides, and I think she just might have found the answer.

Not only that, but the point about "individuals...moving fluidly through political positions" I think has resonances far beyond the narrow world of roleplay. It seems to me that it's taken as a given that one has one political position and remains there for life or till some cataclysmic event forces a re-evaluation: one is identified with that position. I am left-wing. You are conservative. He is a Monster Raving Loony. Naturally this causes conflicts, especially when one only agrees with part of the agenda that goes with the position with which one is identified.

If those positions could be depersonalised, if one could move from one to the other according to one's preferences and the particular situation one was in...I don't know: could that work? Would it be an improvement?

But anyway, the main point was the post as it affects role-play. What do people think?

Comments

[alyramoondancer.livejournal.com]

Where I roleplay online (on the island of Port Luskan in Second Life), we have designated out-of-character areas, specifically the public shops at the sim entrance. The fire circle area nearby is designated borderline and can be used for either OOC or "light" role-play. We also have private chat that can be used for OOC conversation, and text conventions for designating public OOC talk. This works very well for the most part in enabling us to stay in character while handling the necessary OOC business such as: ((dinner's ready; gotta go!)) right before your avatar disappears from the screen... :)

We also have "OOC tags" - a little gizmo that puts a floating green banner over your avi's head that says "OOC Port Luskan," so visitors and guests can travel about the island and give the rest of us fair warning that they are not roleplaying (yet); when we give them a guided tour, we can do likewise so that we can explain things OOC (and go where normally our characters aren't supposed to).

What we have found is that many times people just jump right into the role-playing even when they're supposedly OOC, and it's quite delightful! So that idea can work beautifully. I think siderea's got a good solution there.

[lastalda.livejournal.com]

I don't know about the SCA, but on German Larps this is partially happening on its own. People who really want to have a break from Intime stuff and/or discuss Outtime stuff find themselves a nice, remote place where they're not disturbing anyone else, sit down and have a chat. Afterwards they get up and go play again. I find these "OT-bubbles", as we call them, the nicest way to deal with OT stuff, and very welcome. So I don't see why it shouldn't work with a designated OOP-room. The trickiest part is making sure that the OOP-room isn't rushed and there are still many IP-people, because otherwise neither Larp nor Reenactment make much sense.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

It illustrates and explains a lot of what some of us were saying about SWiGGLes, about the need for 'chat' space (and not just "go outside", that's the ghetto option). Thanks for the link.

[jahura.livejournal.com]

I'm not all that experienced with open roleplay and am pretty much still learning the ins and outs and what's kosher and what's not.Most of it is involving a PBP version of the environment where OOC stuff takes place behind the scenes or is designated with an "off topic" smiley.

In the actual live sim there is ongoing and somewhat heated debate over the topic. Still, they are gradually ekeing toward that solution, and I was even invited to a gathering in a strictly OOC-designated area while I was technically IC.

I personally don't have a problem with people dropping their masks in that sort of environment, but I can see where one who seeks to hide behind it may feel threatened or offended by even a PM that seemed off-realm.
I think it's a good idea and I would actually be wary of someone who so strongly objects to it.

[armb.livejournal.com]

I haven't LARPed for many years, but that was basically in character in the actual "dungeon", OOC fine outside.
Tabletop gaming (which I haven't done for years either, but not quite as many) we'd switch in and out of character fairly freely, with no "in character conversation only" rules, just trying not to break the flow of a scene. Similarly play-by-email.
I haven't done any online gaming since the early days of the original Essex MUD, which didn't have much roleplay.