Chat-free periods

[Lavi]

Well, in all honesty, some of the conversations on chat tend to just tend to slide down the gutter, myself included some times, however there's been times where I find myself going that is completely in appropriate, there's a difference between people being hypersensitive, and conversations that should never be on chat. I personally can talk about whatever, but there comes a point where I have to recognize that it's a group experience. I loved having chat on the IRC channel, but then people would chat over there, and no one was playing the game. I guess i'm just different about chat channels. I agree it helps when you need to distress, but there's been times when I RP something and the person I'm doing that RP with is sending me tells, going, "I hope you're not upset," or, "I want this to happen." It makes it hard to play a character too.
Anyways, my posts are just my opinion, I should probably state that, I keep chat off so it's not too bothersome. I try and turn it on from time to time to say hi and things, but it's not very frequent these days.

[Rias]

I like chat-free periods. Maybe it's my inner tyrant, but I like establishing times when even people who normally don't interact much IC - due to an OOC alternative being so readily available - are more likely to consider IC methods of socialization and interaction to fill their time with.

Not everyone likes chat-free periods, and I'm okay with that. They're temporary, and pretty few and far between. We always see pleasing results when we do them, though.

[Sneaky]

I'm all for chat free periods. I loved it when we went on an entire week of no chat. Every time it happened there was always more intense rp going on. If you absolutely need ooc chatting there's always tells, and IRC, not to mention things like Skype teamspeak team talk. There's plenty of other ways to communicate with people on an out of character means. I do like the idea that was suggested though that it be an opt into thing and if you do you get some kind of bonuses or something, though what kinds I can't really think of. It shouldn't be something like rpas because then people would just spend their ooc chat time out grinding which would defeat the purpose, so who knows. It's also not like they last for days on end every time, the week I was talking about was after a particularly nasty argument broke out over chat. They usually only last for a few hours out of the day, and if you can't go without chat for a few hours then maybe taking a look at the way you play is a good thing.

[Barius]

and if you can't go without chat for a few hours then maybe taking a look at the way you play is a good thing.

So much, this. I realize some of you are getting upset because you think your social outlet is getting taken away maliciously, but that is not what is happening here. What is happening is an attempt to get people to get more involved with their characters and worry less about people's OOC comments on it, and get less dependent on constant chatter. When there aren't so many people on, I can understand the need for chatting some, but these days, CLOK often has a healthy amount of people online. And even with no one around, there's RP to find, if you know how to look. A few days or even a few hours off every now and then will hurt no one. And if you find yourself unable to deal with that, then as Sneaky says, maybe it's time to reconsider why you play CLOK in the first place.

[Vitello]

It isn't about malice, it is about rebellion and disagreement with the method.

Challenge me to try turning chat off? Sure. But I can't accept dictating that everyone must go without it.

[Barius]

It isn't about malice, it is about rebellion and disagreement with the method.

Challenge me to try turning chat off? Sure. But I can't accept dictating that everyone must go without it.

Nobody can, or will, dictate that but Rias. And nobody has, that I can see in this thread.

[Vitello]

Arguably you're petitioning Rias to do just that.

[Vitello]

There are alternatives.

Player ran, voluntary days would be neat. I would actually look forward to it... just not when I would be in the workyard solitary while making nails.

GMs should have the option -during an event- to say 'ok participants will have their chat option turned off.' Don't like it? You don't have to take part in the event.

[Lysse]

There's also alternatives to chat. So saying "the GMs can't be mean and dictate my ability to chat" is pretty silly, as is saying "There are alternatives to chat free periods). You don't need the Chat channel to have OOC chats going on.


That being said, it's been proven in the past that temporarily suspending the Chat/OOC (when it was OOC) channel has promoted roleplaying, which is a good thing. I've greatly enjoyed every chat-free period, as they tend to encourage people to seek out roleplay. And as Sneaky said, and Barius seconded, if you literally can't play Clok without the Chat channel, you ought to take a good look at how you play the game.

[Vitello]

The same can be said to those who can't play with it.

[Lysse]

The same can be said to those who can't play with it.

That's my point. Your argument isn't really valid, since it can be used to justify chat free periods and to justify never having chat off.

[Carressa]

As a relatively new player (I think I'm still new.. I FEEL new..), I want to say that I often ignore chat even when I'm not "ignoring" chat (via option 5). That being said, sometimes I love the ability to just chatter for a few minutes, ask an OOC question, get advice on my laptop, whatever. but other times the chatter just gets so bad I can't RP, but I have option 5 to just turn it off.

The way I see it is that it's an option, never a requirement, so taking an option away every now and then, I really don't see the point of it. For the people who would enjoy a no-chat day, just set chat on ignore. For people who wouldn't want a no-chat day, if one is started, then you're just out of luck.

And I'm know someone else has probably already voiced this, in lots of different ways, but I've been glancing over this board for a while now and I FINALLY have something relevant to comment, even if it's not the first person to say it! :)

Thanks for reading :)

[Lysse]

As a relatively new player (I think I'm still new.. I FEEL new..), I want to say that I often ignore chat even when I'm not "ignoring" chat (via option 5). That being said, sometimes I love the ability to just chatter for a few minutes, ask an OOC question, get advice on my laptop, whatever. but other times the chatter just gets so bad I can't RP, but I have option 5 to just turn it off.

The way I see it is that it's an option, never a requirement, so taking an option away every now and then, I really don't see the point of it. For the people who would enjoy a no-chat day, just set chat on ignore. For people who wouldn't want a no-chat day, if one is started, then you're just out of luck.

And I'm know someone else has probably already voiced this, in lots of different ways, but I've been glancing over this board for a while now and I FINALLY have something relevant to comment, even if it's not the first person to say it! :)

Thanks for reading :)

Well, there's a couple of reasons to temporarily disable Chat. First, is during events. People have a bad habit of commenting real time on the "oh my gosh that's so cool" event stuff on Chat, which really is against the rules. The second is, once in a while having a chat-free period encourages people to get out and roleplay more actively. Like, this isn't speculation. Whenever chat gets disabled for a bit, or even tells or both, GMs have stated that people RP more actively, there's more nominates, all that kind of good stuff.

It's worth pointing out that when Chat has been disabled, Question is still around. So, there's that for legitimate questions. Just, no Chat.

[Carressa]

Well, there's a couple of reasons to temporarily disable Chat. First, is during events. People have a bad habit of commenting real time on the "oh my gosh that's so cool" event stuff on Chat, which really is against the rules. The second is, once in a while having a chat-free period encourages people to get out and roleplay more actively. Like, this isn't speculation. Whenever chat gets disabled for a bit, or even tells or both, GMs have stated that people RP more actively, there's more nominates, all that kind of good stuff.

It's worth pointing out that when Chat has been disabled, Question is still around. So, there's that for legitimate questions. Just, no Chat.

I sit corrected. :) I guess I'm in the minority that likes to just RP and actually doesn't usually enjoy chat. I mean I'm a smith trying hard to make anything that's not a lump so right now more often than not my RP is smithing until my fingers bleed, but hey, that's just me. :)

I definitely see the point of those days if there's a quantifiable difference in active RP with chat off. Though personally I like the idea of the "tell" because as someone mentioned earlier, every now and then I like to doublecheck that an RP didn't make someone OOC uncomfortable, or if one did, they have the ability to OOC tell me to stop. People have "nerves" that can be stepped on, often times without intention and sometimes without knowledge, and the ability to tell someone OOC "hey, can we avoid that kind of topic" if it's an OOC not IC reason to avoid it is good..

again, just my opinion, some might say "it's RP, roll with it either way" :)

[Alaia]

I sit corrected. :) I guess I'm in the minority that likes to just RP and actually doesn't usually enjoy chat.

I'm in that minority with you, if it's any consolation. That's not to say that I hate OOC means of communication, I don't, I actively talk to people I play with (in other MUDs) on Skype and sometimes I use tells to blather with ones I don't speak to on Skype and I was part of Chat conversations before. OOC methods of communication can be fun when there's a slump in RP or when your PC is doing something tedious that has to be done and has no one else around to help them out and RP the process with you.

I've seen, through OOC methods of communication, MUDs become very unpleasant to play on. I come from roleplay MUDs, I know a lot of you come from a MUD I've never heard of/played and thus I don't know what you're familiar with, but what I'm familiar with is not something I'd like to see happen to Clok. Cliques are the least of the problem (clique being defined as a group of people who pat each other on the back OOCly when they do unpleasant IC things and refuse to include Other People in their RP and generally make Other People not enjoy playing with them), but there's also the deterioration of a game from an RP MUD with a lot of potential (which Clok has) to a social MUD where people just sit and grind their abilities and become Lone Wolf powerhouses skilled in every weapon and every trade and then they never RP with anyone else and OMG THEY'RE SO BADASS BECAUSE THEY CAN DO IT ALL and that's shitty. That's not RP. That's not enjoyable for other people.

And that's the sort of thing you sometimes get when people would rather chat on an OOC medium than go out and look for roleplay and contribute to a healthy game world. I've seen it happen on a game that used to be great for RP. These days, a lot of the players who can access the OOC channels (and those ones are exclusive for donators) just sit in their PC's house and chat on there instead of RPing and though there is still RP to be found, there isn't much of it and it is unfortunately subpar. People generally know everything about a situation even though they weren't present for the RP. The massive cliques that have formed make it difficult for other people to enjoy the game or RPing with other people. I'm not saying this is what We The Players are doing by requesting we not have Chat-free periods, but these things happen gradually over a period of time if left unchecked.

Like zombies.

Would it really hurt anyone for the Chat channel to be inaccessible for a few days? Will you quit because you can't talk on it for a few days? Will you leave and come back when it's turned back on? Do you want me to get a list of social MUDs where you aren't expected to contribute to the game world? I repeat what someone else said earlier: If you must have the Chat channel to enjoy Clok, perhaps you should reconsider your choice of game.

(I'm sure I went way off into left field with this and I apologize for that. TL; DR.)

[Vitello]

Just don't turn it into TEC. That place had no ooc chat, most of the problems Alaia described, and rp about as deep as Acarin's conscience.

[Vitello]

Compromise,

Make it routine/scheduled. I don't want to log in and find chat disabled with no warning. The surprise is a major aggravation, at least for me.

Something like No Chat Thursdays. Every first and third Thursday of the month.

[Jaster]

They usually only last for a few hours out of the day, and if you can't go without chat for a few hours then maybe taking a look at the way you play is a good thing.

Several people have referenced Sneaky and agreed that some people should reconsider why they play this game, but I'd like to point out, on his behalf, that he did not say that. He said they should rethink the way they play, and was referring specifically to going without chat for only a few hours. I just don't want his words to be misconstrued and used to support an argument he himself was not making when he said them. :D

[Barius]

They usually only last for a few hours out of the day, and if you can't go without chat for a few hours then maybe taking a look at the way you play is a good thing.

Several people have referenced Sneaky and agreed that some people should reconsider why they play this game, but I'd like to point out, on his behalf, that he did not say that. He said they should rethink the way they play, and was referring specifically to going without chat for only a few hours. I just don't want his words to be misconstrued and used to support an argument he himself was not making when he said them. :D

While I find this post obnoxious at best, you are technically correct. He did not say what I said, but they are similar viewpoints.

[Vitello]

I found your original post obnoxious at best. You and I both can refrain from saying such.

[Rias]

All right, this thread is done. Good grief. Locked.