On Respect

And this OOC rant is about a simple concept that seems to have gone down the drain in the past few years: respect. Simple respect.

In the space of less than two years, I have watched the concept of netiquette, which is not terribly complex, go right down the tubes. Part of netiquette 101 was the understanding that if you were a new person to this, or any other forum, simple respect dictated that you first, lurk for a substantial amount of time, so that you might familiarize yourself with the customs of this new "society" in which you chose to be a part of. Second, that you find out whether or not there was a FAQ, a charter, or any set of rules around, other than your own impulses. Third was accepting the idea that, if there was such a thing in place, that you would chose to abide by it, or lobby through the correct channels to effect change, or leave.

This is not an extraordinary expectation, and in other forums, I have seen people who have disregarded this simple exercise of respect treated far more harshly than the player of the Student has done here.

The player in question, that of the "invading monster," either didn't read the FAQ, or did read it, and decided his personal fun was more important than the customs of this virtual community. Having been a storyteller for many years, I can tell you right now that any player who sat down at my table and conducted him/herself in this manner would find him/herself outside without even a mug of coffee to show for his efforts.

This is the same kind of moron, who when invited to play a nice hearty game of Werewolf, insists on being an Archmage/kinain/cybernetic/timetraveller, no matter what the rest of the TT community thinks.

The technical word for such a person, at least around my campaigns, is asshole. You may have other names for such people who exhibit disrespect.

Now, as for your other points: There is no GM here, per se. Each person is expected to be their own GM although here we call them Story Tellers. People here also come up with their own monsters to battle, and have no need to import them. If you find this somehow to be an unfair advantage, I suggest you look at the list archives, in it's many forms. We are a ruthless and mean crowd when it comes to our beloved Hunter characters. They make stupid mistakes, they fall, they get horribly injured, they die. (Some of us are a little more predisposed to offing even our favorite characters than others in the name of good storytelling, hehe.)

And an organized rant:

There is no single META-plot here, as in a single TT with a single ST. There are several storylines going on, all at once. Some of them mesh nicely, some don't. No harm/No foul, unless one of those unmeshable stories attempts to inveigle itself into another one. It all depends on where your focus is, and there are three distinct foci operating here:


1. the Storyteller
2. the Roleplayer
3. the Gamer

There are also two distinct ways of seeing the World of Darkness, but I'll get to that one in a bit.

Last one first, the Gamer. The Gamer is a lonely person here, because unlike many forums out there, there is no "rolling of the dice" or "GM" behind the scenes to determine combat outcomes. It's played out in story, as determined by the requirements of each individual's character and story. Stat sheets don't exist here, either, although a character's bio ocassionally pops up, and there is a collection of those bios at John Meehan's website (appropriate links will be provided at the end of my rant).

Second one second, the Roleplayer. Many people here are writing out what in literature would be called "character studies," that is, they have no great driving story behind them, but are examinations of an individual's reactions to a given set of circumstances. These can be fascinating explorations of motivation, or they can be tedious indulgences. Most of that determination falls in the realm of personal taste. Some Roleplayers also take this idea of fully exploring their character offlist, and send others private emails IC. I personally find this distracting, but that's an opinion, and if others enjoy it, I wouldn't dream of telling folks it has to stop, but I also wouldn't be interested in pursuing such a discussion offlist. Again, that is a matter of personal preference.

First one last, the Storyteller. This is a person who wears many hats, operating within the structure of a game system, with thought-out characters, within the framework of a plotline. A good storyteller has his/her own set of internal ethics in operation at all times; bent rules which benefit one of their characters should also come with some problem attached, etc... What a storyteller does NOT need is someone else introducing a problem into this little community without asking first. That is what private email is for. The storytellers here, as a general rule and as a display of respect, don't force themselves on anyone, which is what the author of the "monster post" did when he took this action. I cannot stress strongly enough the virtues of sending a private email with an OOC request first. And for crying out loud, be clear in what you want when you do. And if someone you have privated declines to get involved, be gracious about it. Most people here have very busy full lives, and are working with others behind the scenes. If there isn't time, or what you want from someone isn't appropriate to their characters, stories, etc... it's not an indictment, it's simply how things are right now.

This is what is called here, a Very Bad Thing. (Sorry about the captitalization, Student, but it deserved the connotation of a title, IMHO.)

I mentioned earlier that there were two distinct ways of seeing the World of Darkness. Here they are, although they are in no way to be construed as rigid lines.

The World of Darkness is a big mean awful scary place that is somewhere far far away in a fantastic universe full of all sorts of really cool and really scary things.

The World of Darkness is a big mean awful scary place that lives one inch away from everyone's throat, and what you think is far away is touching the skin above your jugular vein.

Any of the three types of participants on the list can have either WoD view. The two don't really mesh well, and what is generally accepted practice is that the people holding one view ignore the people who hold the other, with nods and props when called for, because no matter which interpretation stands as the basis behind the writing, a good story is a good story. (Of course, that again falls in the realm of personal tastes.)

Most of the problems on this list would be avoided if newcomers would simply give out the slight effort it takes to read the FAQ, restrain themselves long enough to lurk for more than ten minutes, and exhibit some slight measure of respect for the community in which they came of their own free will.

That is really not too much to ask, but sometimes folks act like we're trying to cut their hands off when we ask for that small, small concession to community standards.

still not Fred