All Members who Roleplay please read

[SliceOfDog]

There have recently been a few issues in the RP section, leading to one member being temporarily banned and a topic being wiped clean. I would like all members to read this if they will be taking part in Roleplays on SciFiFur.net;

SciFiFur is open for everyone. We accept RPers of any ability, and even advanced members must realise this. I understand it can be frustrating for a member to be making mistakes or even godmodding, but it is likely they do not realise they are doing this. Any member who purposely sabotages an RP will be quickly identified, warned, and if need be removed by staff. We do not need members to make posts about such behaviour. You can certainly complain about behaviour that is ruining your RPing experience. However, do so in Private Messages with staff, or by contacting them off-site.

Most players who make mistakes, godmod or otherwise irritate other players will honestly be doing it accidentally. They may be new to RPing, or have never done so with the standard of RPers many of you expect here. In these cases there is a definate policy of "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all". Give them constructive criticism, advice and help, and calmly point out mistakes they have made (For example, using the wrong word and changing the meaning of their sentence)

If 'irritating' behaviour is consistent, feel free to tell a member of staff, who will talk to the member privately and will not tell them who has raised the issue. This will mean there are not tensions in the RP itself.

And if worst comes to worst, feel free to start your own RP here that only has the members you want to RP with. As a policy on SciFiFur we do not have elitism and will not stop new or inexperienced players from using the site. However, you may create an RP specifically for your friends on the forum. This is not an excuse for bullying members, and we will not condone excluding members (Saying for example, "This RP is for anyone except Bob"), but you may specify certain members who the RP is for (Eg "This is an RP for me, Kate, Billy and Geoff").

Finally, it should be noted that criticising other members in an insulting or distasteful way will never be condoned by staff. You will never, as a member, have permission to insult other active members in public posts. You may by all means complain about a member in a PM to staff (Complaining about members to other members over PM will not be tolerated) and the matter will be dealt with accordingly.

Thank you for reading, if you have any questions feel free to ask, and I hope you enjoy RPing at SciFiFur.

Please also read the Role-Playing Guide by one of our RP Moderators Dusty, which covers various issues and is helpful for any experience level; http://www.scififur.net/forum/conten...ng-Guide-PSA-1

~ Slice,
Assistant Director

[Dusty]

Well said! Hopefully we can all get on the same page here.

[Daryn]

Very well said Slice. I suppose we can look back on this as a growing experience for all of us.

[Samantha Arrow]

I feel bad because it happened in one of my threads

[Rick Canaan]

And if worst comes to worst, feel free to start your own RP here that only has the members you want to RP with. As a policy on SciFiFur we do not have elitism and will not stop new or inexperienced players from using the site. However, you may create an RP specifically for your friends on the forum. This is not an excuse for bullying members, and we will not condone excluding members (Saying for example, "This RP is for anyone except Bob"), but you may specify certain members who the RP is for (Eg "This is an RP for me, Kate, Billy and Geoff").

I would like to add something to this as well.

First of all, very well said, Slice, and you hit upon some very good points. One thing I would like to stress though, is the point on "elitism".

Groups of players are going to form. This is an inevitability of large groups of people interacting with one another. However, people forming cliques on a site is ultimately detrimental to a site. It is something which should be avoided as much as possible.

On that same note, however, groups of players have the right to tell someone that they would rather they didn't join in their roleplay.

Let's face it, too. If there are members known for godmodding or all the time trying to get their way in a roleplay, thinking that their ideas are the only ideas which are valid, then these members are very likely to be shunned from other roleplays.

The word then, is respect. It is very important to respect everyone else's ideas. Say members one and two wants to have a roleplay on a pastoral planet with a sedate colonization theme, but member three wants to play an all-powerful super hero type of character - and it is a type of character which doesn't fit in this setting. Players one and two have the right (and will be backed by staff) to ask player three to either get in tune with the desired roleplay, or to please leave it. Or let's say, in a different kind of roleplay, where the members are into godmodding and playing all powerful characters, they would have the same rights if a third player wished to join the roleplay, but started complaining about the godmodding and all-powerful character-play.

In these types of scenarios, we aren't talking cliques if a person gets asked to leave a roleplay. Cliques are when a person is never given a chance to join in on the fun - which again, is very detrimental to a site. But asking someone to leave a roleplay or is told they can't join because they have a reputation for being disruptive, is a completely fair expectation. It is not a sign of the formation of a clique. If you a disruptive person, then you may simply be shunned from roleplays. To not be rejected, stop being disruptive and start respecting other peoples ideas as much as you like your own ideas.

Finally, it should be noted that criticising other members in an insulting or distasteful way will never be condoned by staff. You will never, as a member, have permission to insult other active members in public posts. You may by all means complain about a member in a PM to staff (Complaining about members to other members over PM will not be tolerated) and the matter will be dealt with accordingly.

Indeed. Badmouthing people in open forum on Scififur.net is the quickest way to be banned from Scififur.net.

As for discussing other members poor behavior in PM, though, I think it is fair to say that this should be allowed. Sometimes when a member isn't certain about what to do about a disruptive member but they don't want to get the person in trouble with staff, some folks just need a sounding board to discuss what would be the best coarse of action. However, badmouthing other people in PMs is definitely a no-no. The reason being, is these sorts of things tend to spill out onto the forums, and more importantly, all it does is feed fuel to an already bad situation.

If you aren't certain about what to do, please contact a member of staff. There is nothing written in stone that says because you complain about a member disrupting your roleplay, that that member is going to automatically get into trouble. Staff will definitely ask the member what is going on, and likely pass along the request of the member who complained. If the member complies with the wishes of the member, then as far as staff will be concerned, the matter will be closed. Just as importantly, staff will ask all who is concerned what is going on - in order to be fair to everyone.

I feel bad because it happened in one of my threads

Nah. Nothing to it, Samantha. Part of the human (or heh, furry) condition, is that we live and learn.



Happy roleplaying, everyone.

Also, if you aren't sure about contacting staff, my PM inbox is always open, too. Feel free to drop me a note, anytime.

[Dusty]

Yep. And for those who ARE new we will continue to add chapters to our RP guide. I'm thinking our next one will be on the relationships between GM's and players, but if you all have suggestions feel free to tell me or Reaper! We're here for you!