In-Character, out-of-character, and roleplaying

[Rias]

Just a general reminder (and prompt for discussion, if anyone feels inclined) on differentiating between in-character and out-of-character actions. If someone communicates something via chat/ooc, that is of course out-of-character, and your character should not act on it in an in-character way. On the flip side, anything done outside OOC chat or tells is considered in-character, despite any intentions to the contrary, so be careful about what your character says and does.

On the subject of roleplaying - characters are free to roleplay however they wish. However, they must also be prepared to deal with appropriate consequences to their roleplay. For instance; a Udemi caught aiding the infested should expect to be in danger of expulsion from their guild, as such actions go against their guild's goals and ideals. A Dwaedn Wyr shunning physical combat and opting to stick to magic, firearms, or some non-combat activity would be laughed out of the organization. Going around insulting or threatening townsfolk and NPCs could get you arrested or banned from town. All these consequences are completely in-character and appropriate.

[Orris]

I think it makes sense. It can be fun to try and walk the line, but that's moot if there aren't any consequences. You might want to put something in the welcome messaging when logging in about ESP as well as chat. I didn't know it existed at first.

[Rias]

I thought I would "bump" this thread, after some of the events tonight, and emphasize one point in particular: Your character's actions are going to have consequences. I know this is a computer-run MUD, but adopt the mindset you would have if you were playing a pen-and-paper campaign in person with friends. Don't expect the outcome to always be the same mechanically - remember that we're in alpha, mechanics are always changing, and the GMs are around to try and make it as dynamic as possible, filling in for mechanics that aren't fully-developed yet (such as the justice system) when appropriate.

Always be thinking in-character. Example:

Bob gets sent to jail. For whatever reason, the incompetent deputy has sent him to jail with all his gear, weapons, lockpicks, and so forth still on him. Not the brightest move on the justice department's part.

Later, Bob gets sent to jail again. This time he is stripped of his possessions. Rather than Bob thinking, "How cheap, they changed it! This is unfair!", he should be thinking, "Darn, I guess the deputy wised up" or "I guess you only get lucky once."

Note: We know it's not fun to lose your stuff. We'll generally provide a way for you to get at least your unique gear back. However, you should still make your decisions carefully. If you're going into a situation where it's possible you'll get killed, captured, or otherwise incapacitated by a party interested in relieving you of your possessions, bear in mind that you might be parted from those possessions. If you're going to return to the city from which you've been exiled and put on the top-most-wanted list, you probably want to be careful about what you bring with you. If they find on you that knife you used to kill the mayor's daughter, you can bet they're going to confiscate it, and you'll be hard-pressed to get it back. So if it's a prized magical uberknife of doom, you might want to stash it in a safe vault back home rather than bringing it along with you where there's a good chance you'll lose it, or at least be very careful while you're in such a dangerous place.

Player character death in the world of CLOK is pretty meaningless, for better or worse, particularly right now while the death mechanics haven't been worked on yet. You die, you respawn, you eat some food and get back to business (that'll be changing in the future, mind). With no fear of death, item loss (even just temporary) is one of the few ways to execute real consequences that have an actual impact on the character.

[Acarin]

At the same time, if you plan to institute a new mechanic that has previously not been a consequence of that particular action, I still believe that it would be nice to announce it to your player base so that they can take appropriate actions (for example, getting nice and naked before slaughtering half the citizens of shadgard).

[Rias]

We do announce mechanics changes, but sometimes things get partially-worked-on and left to finish up later when something of a higher priority comes by (such as a nasty bug coming up that needs to be fixed quickly), so announcements aren't made since the system isn't completed. This is the case with stealing from citizens lowering your rep in that area if you get caught - the justice system was being worked on, then something else came up that took a higher priority. That's unfortunately something that just needs to be dealt with during the alpha stages of development. Not saying that makes it blameless, but it's going to happen. Anyway, it would certainly strike me as odd that I could get caught stealing indefinitely in a town and never suffer a reputation hit for it.

In the case the other night, having your belongings removed was a manual GM mechanic used in response to the situation. Having your gear taken from you when being sent to jail will be automatic eventually, as it's rather stupid of the justice officials not to take your weapons and tools from you, but it isn't coded in to be automatic yet, so there hasn't been an announcement. Again, be prepared for any appropriate in-character consequences to your actions, even if it's different from what you may have experienced previously, or something you wouldn't have expected. The GMs are around to do the things that the automated server doesn't take care of.