Sending IC mail to NPCs (NPCmail)

[Noctere]

Hey everyone! We have been receiving a few NPCmails lately and I thought it might be beneficial to post a few suggestions to help both the sender and receiver better communicate and deliver a more satisfying role play experience.

Suggestions:

#1 Please refrain from using the NPCmail feature as a GM summoning scroll. In other words, mail that is vague and asks to meet up for some secret reason without spelling out what that reason is can be a bit irk-some. We like to know why you want to meet with the NPC involved. Please give details and spell out the request in the mail itself. Never expect a certain NPC to show up just because you sent them a letter. I understand that there are some role play reasons why you may not want to give the details, but please just assume the letter is secure and it is safe to say so. We will not punish you for giving us this kind of information unless you do something foolish that might have RP implications, such as sending a letter to a known criminal from a location that is not accepting of that NPC, regardless of the contents. (Such as to Winston from the Shadgard post)

#2 We do read all of the mail OOC or IC that is sent to us but we may not always reply. This is due to the fact that GMs have real lives outside of CLOK and answering every mail would be quite tedious. Simply put, we do this game for free and for fun ourselves and if it is no longer fun... we tend to play less. Which means less gets done.

#3 Context and manners are always nice. As this is an in character letter it is always good to considers how such a person will receive it. If you are a rude person IC'ly I can understand sending something such as, "HEY YOU! Make me this. CHOP CHOP!" However, the receiving NPC is also in character and they may be so offended by the request that no consideration is given to it AT ALL. Always remember that all RP has consequences, both good and bad.

#4 Take your time and have fun with your in character letters. Some GMs prefer succinct letters they can read quickly while others like verbose detailed letters that show effort. Either way let your role play be your guide and have fun with it. All GMs will agree that if the player is having fun with something, that that fun is contagious and they will have fun with it too. So be your (in character) self and have fun!

[Mirazia]

To add to this, the RITUAL command. This does get sent to us and saved for us to read later like the THINK command.

Same as letters, the RITUAL command should not be used as a GM summoning scroll. Rituals that you're hanging around a certain NPC waiting for them to be free can be irk-some. That does not mean we will ignore any and every ritual sent our way of you wanting to speak to an NPC, but we may not be around, we may be busy with super-secret things or we may already be RPing with others. Give us some context to your ritual. Rather than *X coughs politely and waits for Y to have a moment.* then standing creepily around them, try *X coughs politely and approaches Y, "I have a suggestion. Perhaps we can start selling this item/This was found near Tarueka, I think we could do this/I have written an artical I'd like you to read. I'll send it in the mail to you."* Feel free to stand around creepily after to see if we are able to jump in, but with that information, we can further act on it, perhaps add something to a store, act on the information you gave us or call you back for further discussion.

A quick note on the use of the RITUAL command. We do not need to know you smiled at X or bowed to Y unless it is involved in the context of the ritual. Please don't use it as you do emote. It's there to attract our attention and see your character's actions to certain situations. If your character ritualistically howls to the moon alone, that's perfect use.

To finish, I'll echo Noctere's Suggestion #4; Have fun with your in character rituals. It helps us figure out things around your character and pass on that fun to us.