September HMD Meme!

[shareenjoyotp]

HMD MEME

Here are the basic rules [and delicious blatant copypasta]!

×) Comment to this post with the journal names (and name names) of characters you play. Alternatively you can also post a link to an already existing HMD in your journal, if that's what you're more comfortable with. THIS MEME IS COMPLETELY VOLUNTARY

×) Constructive

Comments

The MH Mods

[shareenjoyotp]

Why aren't the mods required to meet AC?

We've been asked this question several times over the past two months, so we thought it would probably be a good idea to put the answer up where everyone can see it. In addition, some of our players have suggested straight-up stating this in the rules, so that new players are aware of it when they join, so we'll be doing that shortly.

So the main reason we have a monthly activity check has always been to make sure idle players don't leave their idling characters on the Taken List for months and months, as well as to encourage active players to get their characters out there and be active! We feel that the AC requirements as they are now aren't unreasonable, even for players with busy RL schedules. We've always been flexible when players have had problems meeting AC; maybe too flexible, possibly, but we'd rather err on the side of being too nice rather than being too strict. It's just a game, after all - players have lives, and we understand things come up that can totally mess up a month's activity. If someone wants to play even though they've been having trouble meeting AC, we want to let them try! It's pretty much as simple as that.

Since that's our philosophy for our players, we as mods don't feel it's unreasonable to apply it to ourselves, as well. If we're not routinely meeting AC with our characters each and every month, it's not because we don't want to play, it's because, in the grand scheme of things, life comes first, moderating the community comes second, and playing after that. We've always felt comfortable enough with our castmates that we know they'll let us know if they feel we're squatting, and comfortable with our general playerbase to ping us and let us know if they'd like CR with one of our characters. We also hope that we're approchable enough that players can come up to us and straight up say, "Hey, I'm really interested in playing X, and I've noticed you're not very active with them, so can we work something out?"

So that is what the deal is there. Of course, please feel free to respond to this comment with any other concerns as well!

Re: The MH Mods

[shareenjoyotp]

If someone is apping into a cast and the character they intend to app might be a deal breaker for those currently playing in the cast, would it be possible for the cast to have a say in the app? This would be in the case of dead characters or love interests, for example. I'm talking about cases where fall-out may be extreme and you would have to change the way you've been playing the character in order to accommodate the castmate.

Re: The MH Mods

[congenialsinner]

Definitely! We try to do this as a matter of course anyway...when we're familiar enough with the canon to realize there might be conflicts. Whiiiiich doesn't always happen, So! If there is a reserve or an app for a character you are concerned may adversely affect a character you're already playing in game, please don't hesitate to contact us and let us know. E-mail, PM, IM, whichever method is most comfortable for you.

Re: The MH Mods

[shareenjoyotp]

Different anon here.

I'm not sure I understand. Is what you're saying basically that if someone wants to app a character the cast/past CR/whatever doesn't like for whatever reason, you may not be allowed to app that character?

Re: The MH Mods

[congenialsinner]

Yes and no. Like the OP said, cases where fall-out may be extreme and you would have to change the way you've been playing the character in order to accommodate the castmate.

For example - since I've got this handy! I have no idea how familiar you are with Saiyuki, so here's a quick summary: Hakkai (this character) has a twin sister who died when they were 18. Due to the nature of their relationship (literal twincest and tons of emotional dependency/mindfuckery), the way she died in canon, and his actions leading up to her death, there is a LOT of baggage on his side that, even in canon, he hasn't completely moved beyond. His two years in the game haven't totally helped either, though he has at this point more or less come to terms with her death. If someone were to app her into the game, though, even at this point in his emotional recovery, he would straight up fall apart. I would, as the OP said, totally have to change how I played him as a result of that character suddenly being present. All the progress he's made both in canon and in-game would be voided, and I, personally, wouldn't have any fun playing that scenario out.

So, basically, yes. In an instance like that, where such an addition would so thoroughly affect someone already in-game, we would ask that the player wanting to bring in the conflicting character choose a different character. Of course, we wouldn't simply take the existing player's word out of hand - we would ask them to explain their reasons, at least as thoroughly as I just did in this comment. In my case, I'm pretty sure that anyone familiar enough with Saiyuki canon to want to play Hakkai's sister would also be familiar enough to understand exactly why I might not want to play him off of her.

Re: The MH Mods

[shareenjoyotp]

Anon you replied to.

I really need to say that I dislike that solution. In my opinion, which I realize has little bearing on anything as I'm not a mod, people should be able to app whomever they please. If you're not up to dealing with certain castmates, you shouldn't app that character. Choose someone else if you're not willing to take up all the consequences of apping that particular character.

From my point of view, despite the rarity of the situation, if it comes up then Gargleblasted will just be turning away potential players. It isn't fair to say "please app someone else" even if it does negatively affect a castmate. There's no guarantee you'll have a strong muse for another character in the same canon.

It also goes against what is currently stated in the rules: This is a Pan-Anything Game. As in anything goes. OC's, RL Celebrities, etc. etc. You can even play a rock if you'd like. [One Free Internet to anyone who does.] We just ask that, if there's an official request from a copyright holder that his/her characters not be used to roleplay, you honor his/her requests.

You can accept real life celebrities, whose personalities may be fabricated and whose entire life isn't always laid out for us, but you might not accept a character if someone has an issue with them? Again, the responsibility of taking into consideration who else from your canon might app should rest with the person apping into the cast. I don't think it's fair that someone else might be turned away due to the fact someone else got to the game first and became established before a second mun.

I realize it sucks for the mun whose character would be affected, but with the current rules, it sucks for the potential applicant who may not have any idea how deeply their character my affect others. Not everyone IMs potential castmates and gets all buddy-buddy with them before applying.

Please, please reconsider this.

Re: The MH Mods

[congenialsinner]

While I totally agree with you that people definitely should be able to app who they like, as a mod I also have to consider current players who may (or may not!) have very good reasons for requesting an intervention.

If something like this ever happens, there is going to be a lot of discussion amongst all involved parties. Open communication is an absolute necessity and one we will encourage and make sure happens before any final decisions are made. We're not going to say to a potential applicant, 'hey, so-and-so doesn't want to play with your character so you can't app them' we are going to say, 'hey, there are some concerns from existing castmembers about this character and we'd like to get a discussion about potential effects this character might have on the existing cast going.'

Because while our job as mods is to be open and accomodating to new players, it is also our job to look out for the ones already in-game. We're never going to be able to make everyone 100% happy 100% of the time, and unfortunately, in a tough situation like this, it is very likely that at least one person is going to end up unhappy no matter what we do. But we will always do our absolute best to reach a compromise that works for as many people as possible.

Re: The MH Mods

[shareenjoyotp]

But what about the event in which someone who is already in the game finds themselves in the above situation by apping an additional character into another cast? I imagine that the existing cast would get priority over the applicant?

Re: The MH Mods

[congenialsinner]

Not necessarily? I can't say for sure because something like this would always have to be considered on a case-by-case basis.

[shareenjoyotp]

I'm seconding this plea. I realize it's difficult to work with some castmates. I'd hope that people applying for characters with such deep impacts would contact the cast first, or those they'd impact, to ask.

I don't feel it's necessarily your prerogative to say, "We're sorry, our players here in game don't want to deal ICly with the consequences." There are ways to mitigate contact ICly. Have guide issues, have things come up, the ship is freaking gigantor! How any of the PC's currently manage to hook up with each other on the guide is a mystery in and of itself given the refugee and citizen population numbers.

A sandbox is a place for everyone to play. If someone building a castle is going to ruin your castle, find the way to let both build their forts so both can have fun. Excluding someone from playing based on the preference of the other is favoritism, and while this falls under "your game, your rules," it should reflect further in the FAQ, the setting, and the rest if you're going to now make it possible to shoot down potential apps based on only that criteria. "We have someone already in game who doesn't want to deal with the IC fallout."

I know you're mature enough to deal with finding a solution should someone desperately want to play Hakkai's dead incestual mindfudge of a sister here. I trust you're able to work with people finding themselves in a similar situation so that both sides can find a workable compromise. That I feel's fair, and that you can work on a compromise from the start to cut down on fallout, because everyone deserves a chance. Either that, or please get to rewriting the FAQ and relevant information to reflect this shift in mentality, as to not lead people into believing what isn't true.

[congenialsinner]

As you said, even though I'm not a fan of the idea of playing with Hakkai's sister, you're right - I wouldn't simply reject an application for her out of hand because I didn't want to deal with it. I would spend a lot of time discussing the consequences of such an addition with the potential player.

And as I said to the original anon, if such a situation were to come up among our players, we as mods would be facilitating cast discussions and looking for a compromise that will work for everyone.

If it's a big enough concern for a player to come to us before a character is even apped, it's likely to cause problems down the road and would need to be discussed at some point anyway, so it would be best to work out any potential problems before they can arise.

Re: The MH Mods

[themothdies]

Jumping into the convo late here; I was gone all weekend.

While I sort of get your point too, I also think it comes down to a common courtesy for the players who already exist in the game? To go off Kiwi's example, say someone was looking to app Hakkai's sister into the game, imho, it would be common sense to check with the Hakkai's player first? This really stands true for even basic canonmates for me (which is why I try to go out of my way to contact potential reservers, ie; if a Kawakami Bansai reserved), not only to make sure there's good chemistry icly and oocly as well, but just to make sure everything meshes and works and the two players are heading in a direction they both like and are going to have fun with. Bringing back dead characters can be real Trauma Fuel for the ones already in existing, and if you want to bring that sort of plot into the game, shouldn't you check with all the affected characters first? That's not even a standard for MH, that's just a standard for all LJRP.

What I think Kiwi is trying to say is that, if such a situation came up and the player already in the game, ie; her playing Hakkai, isn't down with the "unfun plot", so to say, they would probably suggest the potential apper of Hakkai's Sister to look elsewhere.

Re: The MH Mods

[all_range_mode]

I'm here to make your life harder. :3

No just kidding ilu.

I'll be straight up, I'm a little "Ehhhhhhhhhh" on the whole thing myself. Like I can see both sides of the issue, and both sides do make really good points. Maybe it's something that would be better to have players vote on?

JUST MY TWO CENTS.

+1

[neotitanium]

I'm gonna go with Ryo on the voting compromise. I mean I'd have to deal with a hell of a lot of IC breakdown for Une if someone ever apped Treize but if majority of the cast says yes on it, I'd be more than willing to try a compromise. I like the idea up there on Guide glitching. It could work in a way that his Guide just won't ever sync with hers so she'll never see his posts. It's easy enough to avoid someone on a ship this big. Furthermore, discussions in cast could always be "Yeah, my character won't tell yours he's aboard out of concern that she'll breakdown." Measures like that won't even be necessary if the muns can talk out how to IC-ly have them meet and deal with the fallout with the least brainbreaking impact as possible. I mean there's always handwaving that they met a previous incarnation on the Sif so they're kind of at peace with it? But yeah, like Kiwi said, case to case basis. Depends on the character. For her earlier example of Hakkai, the same solutions might not pan out.

Re: The MH Mods

[leftacreampuff]

I think something got lost in translation with what Kiwi said before, so I think I'll try saying it in a different way for her (she's a-workin' late tonight ;w;)

Basically! What she meant before was that each situation would be considered on a case-by-case basis. I'll use Chihaya here as an example.

Now, if a player were to come and app Kagetsuya, they would be in for a horrrrible surprise considering Chihaya's current mental state because of things a previous Kagetsuya had done. Now, that player may not know what they're getting into, so I would go and PM/IM/carrier pigeon them to let them know and try to work something out.

I can offer to have Chihaya respond in a couple of different ways, but if none of those ways are something the player would want to deal with themselves, I can offer an IC reason for them not to talk-- Guide glitches, blocks, etc. (Personally, I would like to do this by myself, but other people may want to have a mod in the room to help mediate). That would be the peaceful and adult way to do it!

However, in the HIGHLY UNLIKELY event that this hypothetical player goes "No, that's bull, I want these characters to remain in contact, and I think you should deal with it" without offering compromise on their end, I may want to bring a mod into the picture because that would be seriously uncomfortable for me.

This can also go the opposite way-- let's say I'm a complete jerk* and go "No, I don't want to compromise and the only reason why is because I am a jerk and I enjoy doing things jerks do." The mods aren't going to take my side in that case!

It's really hard to put something like this to a vote, because it's a situation that should be handled on a case by case basis no matter what.

Basically, the steps taken here should be taken anytime someone wants to app someone that can have a HUGE impact on another character (dead relatives, jilted lovers, etc.). It's the responsibility of an applicant to give a warning so the player can prepare.

Now, in the case I mentioned above, the potential applicant may not know what they're getting into, so that responsibility is mine. In both cases, it's very possible for one or both people to be complete assholes, so sometimes it's important to have a mod in there to help out!

*8| EASY POTSHOT I KNOW. HUSH.

Re: The MH Mods

[all_range_mode]

THE LOGICS, THEY BURN US.

Okay this sounds totally reasonable and shit. I must have misinterpreted something earlier hurr. IT'S BEEN A LONG DAY.