About Rules and Metagaming and trolls: an OOC - rant

This is an Out of Character blog entry, addressing various issues that i have seen recently in the Amazon River. OOC is emphasized and i want to point, for some reasons that i will clarify below, that knowledge, gained by this article, is nothing you can mention fluently "In Character", as your Roleplay persona. Seasoned players know what i mean. Beginners may ask the seasoned ones.
I am going over some topics and will start with

Amazon Rules

 As you all know, we have only two rules that we really insist on, which set the frame for our playtime here:

1. always wear the spirit
2. do not be  a dickhead

The first rule is taken care of, largely, by scripts. Excessive attempts to violate it would result in the individual being ejected, repeatedly. We actually only have this rule so that, in case someone would find a workaround to escape our scripts we can still point at the rule and say "Not going to fly here".
The second rule is very easy and simple too: whenever you do something, ask yourself whether your behaviour is, when it comes to OOC; mature. If it is immature then revisit it and adjust it.. I will give a few examples of immaturity that i encountered:

• One resident was once a guard. He decided to step down for personal reasons. Then he saw another player being in a fantasy costume with furry attributes - the mature reaction would have been to either IM that player or to go to the mouthpiece of the Gods and report it there. However, the Ex-guard decided to go into the IM of a staff and pester her then "if he can be that, then i can be a snoopy-cartoon too!" No, you can not, Dickhead
• Another resident walks around in High-Heels and gets first politely in Roleplay hinted at that High Heels surely look dashing, in a club, in a city, but not so much in a jungle. Her reaction? she ignores all hints, logs out, logs back in two hours later, with high heels. And makes staff by that react again. Repeatedly. Dickhead

There are many more examples that i could list. And trust me, none of them are entertaining for staff. They are tiring. And since we all invest our RL time here, our replies are curt. If you get demoted or jailed or banned then simply for the reason that no one here has the mood to deal with dickheads. We don't want lots of rules here. We don't want to compile and maintain a huge rulebook, because that stifles roleplay. But every time someone behaves like a dickhead and is corrected for that, people take it as a 'new rule'.  There are only two rules (wear the spirit - don't be a dickhead) - check your own behaviour if you feel 'picked on' by staff - because most likely you are being a dickhead.

Assumptions

You have seen someone doing something and then you have told our staff via mouthpiece. Now your expectations may run high. You maybe want to see a public reaction from the sim administration - or anything else. You want your request to be taken care of. And that is natural and understandable. However, sometimes our reaction will not be visible for you. Sometimes you will maybe think we ignored it even. Or that we put different preferences on different players. 

Let me assure you: we do not. We treat everyone equal. We even have an internal reporting tool where we can see when a request/report has been taken care of and by who. (Provided that you keep the official way: mouthpiece. Do not IM staff directly please)

Everyone on staff is working hard and dedicates RL time to keep the jungle fun for you. Honour it by quitting assumptions about possible mistakes we could have made - because, regularly you would not know what we did.

Metagaming and Godmodding

This is a permanent issue, sadly, in all roleplay areas. and it spoils long term roleplay big time. It is more sobering even when you experience it by seasoned players. 

Metagaming is using knowledge that you as pixelpersona would not have. Example: you edit an object in SL, see who owns it, and use that knowledge in your roleplay. No. That does not work. And it does not matter how you clad it or try to disguise it. Learning something with OOC tools will stay OOC knowledge

Godmodding is: setting up something that affects another player by assumng something about that other player which is not true. Example: you have edited an object, learned that "John Doe" placed the object (metagaming) and then declare "OH look! John Doe lost his purse there! then *he* has placed the object here!" <- Godmodding, as John Doe maybe did not even have a purse with him at this time. The correct thing to do here woul dhave been, to IM John Doe BEFOREHAND and ask if that would be ok with him to play it this way.

Do not metagame, do not godmode. You can do better and it is more fun too.

Roleplay limits

Many many Roleplay-areas in SL urge you to name your limits. We did too. But i have to say, this concept is not the best really. Some players have a "lawyer mentality" and want to make it airtight, so they write excessive paragraphs in their profile when which action is good and when not. Some want to be superior and write stuff like "I can penetrate you, but you can not penetrate me" (dickhead btw). Some are overly anxious and just come up with a list of "noooooo". ANd wonder then why no one dares to approach them.

Make your profile inviting. Do not put the emphasis on limits but on LIKES. What do you like? Maybe even: what turns you on? Check "F-List" maybe (ask others what that is).

And yes, we will point out if your profile is not balanced in the sense that i mentioned above: you can not go around, act as a brute on dishing out but act like a snowflake on cashing in. Be hard in taking and giving or be soft in both. This is not a D/s sim or Gor where inequality is part of the concept.

Spirit colours red and pink

People who enjoy ERP (Erotic Roleplay, shagging, bunga bunga) can emphasize this by choosing the above colours. And yes, red has more power in the hunt and chase than pink. and to be brutally honest: i have set it that way because some predators are so clumsy wit their weapons that i have chosen to do so - so that they get the prey easier. Because a hunt with a prey that beats down the predator is actually little fun for both parties. 

As for all bystanders: there are every now and then reports about people gossiping "Have you seen? Jane Doe has a pink dot, that slut!" or "John Doe has  ared dot, that pig!". Don't do that, it will put you right back into dickhead mode. we have left pitchforks and torches behind us for good reasons. if you disagree how others live their SL then do what is the best here: mind your own business

This is my rant for today. Enjoy!

Tantrica