--- In hpmush-logs@yahoogroups.com, Pixie <pixie@w...> wrote:

OOC Seminar: RP Conventions
Where: OOC Meeting Room
Who: Everyone! I hope!

What: A summary of RP conventions and styles used on AF, and the
reasons
behind them.

-------------------------------------

Tengu says "Okay. This will be logged and posted to the list. If at
any point
you want to ask a question more or less anonymously, page one of
us."

Cassie says "Right-o. ^^"

Ron crawls out from under his beanbag and sits on it. "Ok."

Joseph doesn't have a wand anymore...so *WHAM*...nods to
Tengu. "Okies..."

You say "The topic for today is RP Conventions. Basically -- the
style of RP
on Alere Flammas, and how it might be different from elsewhere.
We've had a
lot of new players recently, and we thought it might be nice to
continue
with the 'orientation' theme that we've been having."

You say "Wow, deafening silence. :) Anyway, I'll move on to our first
topic."

Milton watches the tumbleweed roll past.

Cassie is listening politely.

Ron looks sheepish.

You say "The first one is probably the biggest point: Meta-posing, aka
commentary in poses. This is probably the thing that varies most
widely
between games and even individual players. Here, we try to
encourage less of
it. Mainly because while it /can/ make a scene very good, it's also
really
really easy to do it /badly/."

You say "Not bad as in bad poses, necessarily, but bad as in
frustrating and
annoying to other players."

Shelley settles in and listens.

Madeline nods and raises her hand. n_n;;

You say "Madeline?"

Cassie raises her hand too.

Madeline says "So, would it be fine between two or more players
who /agree/ on
commentary? As long as there is a mutual agreement that it is okay
to use
the commentary? I know I am terrible with using it. I probably
overuse it,
really. I suppose my question is we can go ahead and use it as long
as it is
fine with the others in the scenes, right?"

You say "Yes, of course. If you're in a private room with people you
know
well, you can pretty much do whatever you want. mp/h up a storm,
meta-pose
all you want. We won't know. And I will say that we haven't really
seen a
problem with it. A little commentary is fine -- I do it myself. But
if you
find yourself with a pose that's 8 lines long, and all your
character
actually /does/ in the pose is say "Hi" then you're probably doing
it too
much. :)"

Hermione puts her hand up for after Cassie.

Ron puts his hand up too, after Hermione.

You say "It's easier to pose back to something with action in it.
Cassie?"

Madeline snerks. "Indeed. Thanks! Tacking onto that, a reasonable
request I
have is if someone stumbles on a scene I'm in where I'm meta-posing
with
someone -- tell me, so I can avoid. Now, quiet time."

Cassie says "I'm still new at RP sort of. What's a commentary pose
like? Just
like 'say'ing things?"

Pixie will give an example! Probably a bad one, but you'll get the
idea.

Tengu yays for examples. :)

Cassie thanks Pixie. "Just typical Ravenclawish curiosity." ;)

Hermione puts her hand down. ^.^

Pixie | Joe glares across the table at Jack. He really has no reason
to be
glaring, since the two made up from the argument they had, but he's
just
feeling in a bad mood. He did just come from a conference with
Snape, after
all. That Potions Master is really a jerk.

Cassie ahhhhs. "So it's more like force-fitting the gist of what the
person/situation might be into one pose instead of playing it out
ICly?"

Joseph chuckles. "Oh sure Pixie...use Joe as the example
name...heh..."

Cassie giggles too.

You say "Yeah. Or including completely extraneous information, or
even OOC
comments about your player. Like in the example above, Jack only
knows that
the glare happened. He certainly can't read Jack's mind and know
what
happened, but now it does seem a little anticlimactic to /ask/."

Hermione puts her hand back up again.

Tengu says "It might help to view it as acting. Show us what they're
saying
and doing. Don't tell us what they're thinking or what happened in
the last
act."

You say "Hermione?"

Cassie nods and smiles at Tengu, then listens quietly once again.

Hermione says "More a comment than a question. Done correctly, and
with people
who understand, a little bit of metaposing can help tell the story
to the
'omnicient' viewer, such as the person reading the log when all is
said and
done. If not posed right, or not read right, however, I've found it
can
really throw the flow of RP off, since things can be easily
misinterpreted.
Like Maddy, I metapose a fair amount myself, and would rather
someone let me
know if I'm doing it too much than walk away confused."

Pixie nods. And definitely we're not saying that we want to outlaw
it, or that
we're going to stomp on anyone who does the least little bit.
Basically what
we're looking for is a good ratio of commentary:action. At least
1:1, but
preferably weighted a little bit to action.

You say "If you have to weight in any direction. :)"

Ron has more of a comment than anything as well. :)

Pixie, personally, finds it very easy to get carried away with it,
because
it's easier and more fun to write than actual actions, at least for
me.

Hermione definitely agrees, if not weighted more so toward action.
^.^ Is done.

You say "Ron?"

Cassie raises her hand. "May I present a theory on that last point
after Ron's
question?"

Ron says "For the most part, I use commentary at either the beginning
or end
of my pose, generally to add a little bit of spice to it, maybe add
a
punchline that could have been said, but wasn't. Also, sometimes
it's also
helpful in figureing out what my character would do, delving into
his (or
her as the case may be) psyche. Especially when I'm playing a
feature I tend
to do this, cause I always feel like people are wanting to know why
the
character is doing this and that."

Hermione comments, "Is anyone else scared that Ron's comment
dovetails nicely
with my own feelings?" o.o

Ron laughs.

Jean says "Extremely."

Cassie :chuckles. "Nope." ;)

Madeline laughs. "Not entirely, Herms."

Shelley rarely uses that, in any event.

Cassie says "Err, is it my turn?"

You say "Yep! Go ahead, Cassie. :)"

Cassie smiles. "I agree with Hermione and Ron, but I've got a point
to add.
The thing is that HP is a book, and a book can tell things from an
omniscient POV at times and seem perfectly normal. When you try to
give
things the flavor of that universe, most people who have read the
books keep
that style in mind."

You say "That's true. Just keep in mind that moderation is the key.
We don't
see what's going on in all the character's heads every second of
the day.
And even if we're to see what's going on in your head, you
certainly don't
need to include your entire character background in a pose. (Which
I've seen
in logs from elsewhere.) So just be aware of what you're posing and
make
sure that you give the other people something to pose back to.
Remember that
people can't react to things you haven't done or said."

You say "Anyone else have a comment on this? I'll move on if so. If
you think
of something later you can just speak up then."

Cassie nods. "I realize that. Just thinking on why it's such a
prevalent thing
to do. And I'm finished."

You say "Er, if not so."

You say "Ok, moving on! Very quick thing. This kind of goes along
with the
first topic, but not entirely. %r's in poses -- breaking them into
separate
paragraphs. There are usually two reasons that people do this: 1)
their pose
is really long, or 2) they're running an NPC and want to have a
separate
'pose' for that character."

You say "With regards to 2, we'd just request that people simply emit
the
person rather than use %r. The main reason to that is cosmetic. If
you put
%r in your pose it's a little jarring to the flow in the room,
especially if
you double space. It also messes up the +watch -- your second
paragraph
won't have the prefix in front of it and it's just confusing."

You say "1 is a little more tricky. We leave it to your discretion.
If your
pose is that long that you think it's two paragraphs, then you
should
probably split it up. But think about whether it should be that
long. Would
someone really let you talk on for that long without interrupting?
It
depends."

Cassie nods.

Ron grins and nods.

You say "Hmm.. no other comments? Ok, then we'll keep going! This
sort of
segues into the next topic. NPCs and how to use them. I think I'll
just open
this up to discussion tho. Anyone have any thoughts on the subject?"

Joseph has been told that somtimes when your pose or @desc is that
long it's
good to split it up cause somtimes it hurts people's eyes.

Madeline raises her hand. n_n;

You say "That's true. It can be hard to read a giant block of text.
And descs
definitely, go ahead and break them up."

You say "Madeline?"

Joseph also raises his hand.

Madeline says "I think, personally, having an NPC is fine -- but keep
them in
a minimum. Don't become insular with an NPC and basically enter a
scene and
write with yourself. Believe me, that isn't very much fun. I also
believe it
is fun to leave a lot of the NPC open, so that you can possibly
talk a
friend to take up the role alongside you. I just think with an NPC
you need
to be careful with how much you use the character. Don't overpower
your PC
(why else do you have your character, right?) and don't set
yourself off
into a corner to talk to yourself; I think that's important to
remember when
mucking about with an NPC. Yay."

You say "Joseph?"

Jean imagines a reaction to the huge blocks of text just like the
ones to that
Japanese cartoon, as people begin going into seizures..

Cassie :chuckles. "Err.. that was Pokemon..."

Joseph says "Well, if your going to pose a NPC who is a FC..you need
admin
permission. Such as during a Gryffindor Quidditch practice they
need Harry
as captin. Well, I remeber we had to send a +mail to admins about
posing him
but Echidna decided to pose him for us."

Joseph sorries...'('

Pixie nods. That's true. Thanks for the reminder, since I'm not sure
if
everyone would have known that. :)

Hermione says "That was on my to-ask list. ^.^"

You say "Mostly we just want to keep track of what the non cast FCs
are doing
so that we can let their players know when they get cast."

Cassie thinks Echidna does a good job at it. ^_^

Echidna bows with a flourish.

Joseph claps for Echidna...'('

You say "Anyone else? We don't have any real limits on NPCs here,
other than
what Joseph mentioned about non-cast FCs. You can't make up an NPC
for a
role that's already filled, ie, you can't claim your NPC father is
the
Minister of Magic. But you can create NPC students and relatives
and emit
them in scenes when they're needed. If you ever have a question as
to
whether an NPC might not be allowed, just ask us."

Cassie says "Are you allowed to RP your own parents and such?"

Tengu says "Everyone also has blanket permission to emit Pomfrey or
Pince. As
long as you're reasonable about it. Don't start fighting over them.
And
don't make them do somethign wildly out of character. Like having
Pince
dance on the library tables."

Hermione says "That's definitely good to know, Tengu."

Joseph chuckles and nods.

You say "In a scene where your parents would be there, you can emit
your
parents, yep. Like at Platform 9 3/4, or in Diagon shopping."

Joseph chuckles. I got an alt who's Daddy is famous for being Seeker
for
Falmouth Falcons...I like to @emit the Daddy! Wee!

Cassie says "What about at home during the holidays? (if you manage
to make
one) ^_^;"

You say "At home too. I know Ruby and Christy have done their parents
when
people came over to visit."

Ron does have a question now. :)

Cassie says "Ok then. :) Just checking if you have to register them or
anything. I'm done. ^_^"

You say "You may want to put them in the NPC database, but we did
approve all
your backgrounds, which generally included your parents -- so
they've been
cleared."

You say "Ron?"

Cassie says "Thanks again for clearing that up. :)"

Denman is sorry for being late, he had a basketball practice that
went very
late.

Ron says "My entire family is a FCs, most currently uncast. During
the summer,
I'm going to be home a lot and I'd still like to be able to RP,
especially
with people who would visit. Should that mean I should just
conviently come
up with a reason for said parents to not be around? I just have
been to
places where major FCs are allowed to pose some minor FCs (such as
Draco
posing for Crabbe and Goyle, ect). I understand if I just have to
conviently
do things like that, but it might seem odd that Ron's family is
never
around."

You say "As Joseph mentioned, if you want to emit an uncast FC, you
simply
have to ask. Some people have misinterpreted this to mean they're
not
allowed to do it at all, but that's not it. You just... have to
ask. :) If
you don't feel like emitting a bunch of people that's one thing,
but there's
no need to get rid of them if you feel up to the task."

Ron ahs. "Ok."

You say "Sometimes if the scene seems important enough, one of the
admins may
volunteer to actually run the character. But probably not for
random scenes
like this. (We don't run Crabbe and Goyle, usually.)"

Echidna ran McGonagall for a few scenes. *cough*

Pixie snickers.

Ron nodnods. "Sorry, I'm still new to this place and sometimes things
need to
get ground into my head." :)

You say "That's why we have these things. :) So people can ask. Are
there any
other questions about NPCs?"

Denman raises a hand.

You say "Denman?"

Denman doesn't know if this has already been answered, but is it
frowned upon
emiting your NPC Relative/Parent to an extent without ever making
them a PC?

You say "Well, there's a line... if you're playing them more than
your own
character, then there's a problem. But there isn't a rule about
when they
should become a PC. Most NPC relatives only show up at certain
times of the
year -- vacations, for example -- so even if you play with them a
great deal
then, they aren't used much at other times."

Denman nods.

Joseph is gonna go idle soon so I just want to say this. "Hmm..if
anyone is
thinking about making an younger alt...make a child who is gonna be
getting
there letter this summer...

You say "Ok. The last thing isn't really a big topic. Logs and
logging. Mainly
it's just to say -- we like them. Send us more. :) And to briefly
mention a
few things that will help you get yours approved faster."

Tengu peers after Joseph.

Cassie will tell Joey what he misses if she has to. ;)

Oriana is late. Yay ;_;.

Madeline tackles Oriana quiet-like. n_n

Shelley mms

You say "First, make sure it's linewrapped. Second, read through it
and see if
there are any parts that jump out at you as being un IC or
illogical. (Like
suddenly someone was claiming they didn't know who Dumbledore was,
yet they
were a third year.)"

Jean must slip out. Sorry. Bye.

Cassie nods and listens more.

You say "And last but not least, write up a header for it. Include
the IC date
that it occurred on, where it took place, and if anything
significant took
place in the scene -- this last is what should go in the Chronology
field. I
know people sometimes get confused about what to put in that field -
- it's
/not/ to place this log in the context of others, as logical as
that sounds.
It's to list any important events that will be put on the website
timeline.
If you need to note that it came after XYZ log, use "When", or put
a note
elsewhere."

Ron has a quick comment. ^^

You say "Sure."

Ron says "It also might be a good idea to ask the people in the scene
if they
mind you sending it, especially if it's a rather personal scene. I
know it's
silly, and most people won't say no to it, but I always considered
that kind
of thing to just be nice. Also, it would tell people that someone
else is
sending it already so you guys don't get spammed by ten people
sending the
same scene. ^^"

Tommy idly wonders where the website is situated?

You say "'news web', Tommy."

Cassie says "news web, right?"

Cassie chuckles.

You say "That's a good point, Ron, though I will mention that while
submitting
logs is optional for OCs, it's expected that FCs will do so as
often as they
can manage. Since FCs remain to be played even if a particular
player goes
poof, it's particularly important that there be a record of what
they've
done."

Hermione says "And quite helpful in dealing with FC apps, as I know I
mentioned before. ^.^;"

Ron agrees. "Especially with the nice little Search option narrowing
down the
choices."

Tengu says "And if the roleplay is taking place in a more or less
public area
(a +watchable room, the common rooms), you should expect that
someone will
probably post the log."

Pixie nods. We don't require that people get permission before they
send it
in. If you want to do that, you certainly can, but we don't check
that
everyone has been asked. It would delay things too much. So if
you /don't/
want a log of something posted, it would probably be wise to speak
up about
it at the time.

Tommy isn't sure... NPCs, Log submission and such, it seems...

Ron was just suggesting it as a courtesy more than anything else. :)

You say "Oh, it is. I'm just warning people. :)"

You say "Another mention about logs that did come up recently is post
and
pre-dated RP. If there was a scene you wanted to do but didn't get
a chance
to do, or if you need to play something ahead of time, go for it!
But please
make sure to put the correct IC date on the log, and make sure
everyone
involved knows that it's a different date."

Tengu says "Posting logs can be a bit of a pain, but there's some real
benefits to doing so, especially for OCs. If you never post logs,
we might
not have any idea what's going on with your character. We won't
know how to
best include more people in the MUSHwide plots. Plus your logs
might get
other people interested in rping with your character. :)"

You say "We also strongly suggest that you do scenes like that in a
private
room so that random folk don't wander in and not know what's going
on. Go
ahead and @dig a floating room and RP in there."

Tengu says "And when deciding on Prefects and Quidditch positions, it
helps if
we've seen your rp. And we may not have seen it in person."

Pixie nods. That's true.

Alan slips in late, sorry.

You say "Okay... we're winding up here. The last couple of things are
back to
RP conventions. mp/h -- I posted about this on the bboard, (+bbread
1/24) so
I won't go into it a lot here, but please try to keep OOC chat to
pages and
channels."

You say "And then the ever controversial topic -- posing when you
come into a
room/greeting people before they pose into a scene. In general,
when you
come into a room and there are people in there RPing, you should
wait a
couple of poses to see where people are and what they're doing.
That way you
can react properly to the scene you're entering."

Cassie must go to sleep. -_o; "Take care everyone." :)

You say "The converse -- if someone enters the room, that does /not/
mean
they're really 'there'. Don't wave to them until they've posed their
arrival. You want to react properly to their arrival too. :)"

You say "Ok. That's all I have. Anyone else have any comments or
questions?
Tengu has something to say, I believe."

Tengu says "Just a bit about the dorms. You're /more/ than welcome to
just sit
in there and idle, even if there's someone else on. You can rp in
there too,
but you should agree on that together. Don't just log in and start
posing to
someone sitting there. They're probably idling for a reason. Also
about
dorms. Girls are /not/ allowed in the boys dorms and vice versa.
Same with
the bathrooms. If you do it, someone's going to rat on you ICly.
It's also
not a common thing to have the same gender of different years
wandering in
and out of each other's rooms. The common room is the place to
socialize."

Ron coughs about the girl's bathroom. :)

Tengu says "Not that you can't rp doing it with a good (or bad)
reason, but be
aware that Prefects might get involved."

Hermione cracks her knuckles. ^.^

Ron looks around innocently.

Joseph returns.

Tengu says "I think that's all I had. Though if I sit here long
enough, I
might think of something else. :)"

Joseph raises his hand to say somthing!

Tommy fears Joey's return...

You say "Joseph?"

Joseph says ""I had +watch/on about the bathroom thing...yes..Joey
once did
enter the girls' bathroom in his skivves. Heh...he got a dare from
Christy.
As the admins say...prefects might get invovled...but instead of
prefects
with Joey it was more with Mcgonagall..."

Hermione chuckles. "As long as you're willing to deal with the IC
consequences, go for it. I haven't had the chance to ream anyone
out yet as
it is." O:)

Alan remembers even in college in the US, people got very touchy
about males
entering female bathrooms in a coed dorm. I think if you do
something like
that, you'll wind up getting hexed.

Joseph got scared off by the ghost who haunt's the toliet!
MUHAHAHAHAHAH!

Tengu says "If you ever want to get someone in trouble for doing
something and
there's no prefects around, feel free to page them or a teacher.
Most of
them like deducting points. :>"

Joseph nods. "Tried that on Tommy once...got Joey in trouble
instead...."

Tommy smiles innocently.

Tengu says "Well, if you're /fighting/... you can expect both parties
will get
in trouble. :)"

Rebecca pokes Tommy in the eye

Joseph points at Tommy! "He started it!"

Tommy ows at the eyepoke, before he looks over at Joey, "He's only
trying
lies..." @;O)=

Joseph throws a table at Tommy. "Shut it...heh..."

Tommy eats the table.

Madeline thinks that might give you indigestion, Tommy.

You say "All right. It sounds like we're done then. If anyone has any
questions, feel free to send them our way. Thank you all for
coming. :)"

Tengu says "We have the Information channel for questions on anything
game-related. :)"

Shelley smiles quietly.

Ron wants to say thanks too. "In five years I've never been on a game
that
does this and I think it's really helpful." ^^

Rebecca wishes she'd made it in a touch earlier. THink you can post
the log of
the meeting for those of us who didn't make it to benefit?

Joseph says "Rebecca...they have logs on all the Orientations..."

Milton says "The log of the meeting will be posted on the site."

Rebecca says "lovely"

Tengu says "If you want to see the other ones, search for 'ooc
seminar'."
--- End forwarded message ---