out of my character

[Mystearia]

ok i normally don't complain about silly things but this has been a slight issue the past few times i've been on en world...especially tonight i've noticed that when i first got on there were seven maybe eight people on enworld... at least four of them were either Busy or away status.. and at least two more were just sitting in the lounge, i'm not gonna name names but is it common for people to just sit there and do nothing for three to four hours at a time?
now i know i'm gonna get responses like they just observe the isrp and thats fine and dandy, but it's a pain in the arse when you have ten people online and eight of them are in the lounge and the rest are AFK, now if this arguement isn't clear enough for anyone. i'm sorry, if ya can't read it quickly sorry bout that too... if you just dont care what i'm saying read another post by someone else, just dont complain about my punctuation or writing style. oh and if yer gonna tell me to get over it or just leave... well it doesn't matter what you say now does it?
i'm a pissy little man aren't i?

[Magi_Trelian]

Relax. No one should tell you to go away.

Yes, it's common for certain people to stay in the Lounge for hours at a time without playing.

The "busy" or "away" problem is more curious. I haven't seen that many AFK at any given time myself, but yes, it can happen.

If you want to find out who might be active (it won't help with the busy/away-ness), you can use this link:

http://www.enworld.org/isrp/chat/index.php

Up at the top right is a link to "who's in the chat?" that will list users by rooms without you needing to log in first.

[Ghaelun HammerFrost]

i have to agree with mystearia..whats the point really in coming on en world if you are going to not do anything. it is quite ridiculous to just be there for no apparent reason and not even interact.

[Mortonia]

Some people (and I am thinking of one person in particular) come into the lounge and wait, because they are waiting for a particular person to come online. It's not that they hate any of the rest of us, but that particular character happens to be involved in a storyline that takes place outside the normal environs of the public ISRP rooms. Since there's no good explanation for the character to bounce back and forth, they wait in the lounge.

What I find highly ironic is that you come out and essentially call these people stupid for doing this when you don't even know why they're doing it. Just because the reason isn't apparent to you doesn't mean there isn't a reason.

As for the AFK/Busy issue - hey, life happens. As a parent of three, I get up and down regularly while I role-play. The people I RP with know this, and understand it.

You are obviously not one of those people.

The point is, you are once again criticizing folks without bothering to even consider their side of the story. You just came in here and flew off the handle. We're all very sorry that our role-play habits are inconvenient for you. Well, ok we're probably not, but it sounds nice anyway.

[Lonanae]

I admit I often come online and sit in the lounge with an AFK sign. I have a reason and my reason is that I wait for another certain character because they are not always on MSN and I am not as well and if I'm in the lounge they'll see that I am online and come play. My character is involved, as Mortonia said about another character, in a different area than what is already there and so I wait to play.

I'm not trying to be rude to anyone by placing the AFK symbol but I also have a child and life does happen and when it does you must tend. Those I RP with also understand this, as Mortonia said once again. You can always just look over your messenger list, if you have one, and see who will play with you if you want to play so badly. This is the only post I'll post.

[Zackori Kaji]

Well I can see why some people would just sit around and wait. But that in itself brings up an old problem that was sorta addressed and certainly ranted about that people seem to be rping in little clicks of sorts. The thing that people still sorta do that I have seen, just siting around Waiting for Certain people and do not participate with the others around the site. Correct me if I am wrong but thats just my observation.

[Mystearia]

Mortonia i know that not everyone is 18 years old like myself... and i also know that some have busier lives than others... but the whole thing is that there is no explainable reason short of needing to go to the hospital or haveing a sick child ect to be AFK for more than 20-30 minutes... now thats just a rough guess but i myself cannot be away or afk more than 15min because enworld kicks me off if i seem to go over that limit. and as zackori pointed out people come to play with friends more than they come to play with new people. the clicks have been the downfall of many good stories because certian characters were involved in a few too many story lines.
and thank you trelian for the help...

oh and thank you to those who posted... it was much less agitateing than when i was speaking on ghaeluns post earlier this month

[Willow_Calypso]

Originally Posted by Zackori Kaji

Well I can see why some people would just sit around and wait. But that in itself brings up an old problem that was sorta addressed and certainly ranted about that people seem to be rping in little clicks of sorts. The thing that people still sorta do that I have seen, just siting around Waiting for Certain people and do not participate with the others around the site. Correct me if I am wrong but thats just my observation.

Cliques are normal, especially among older players. We have a tendency to understand the circumstances of unexpected or prolonged AFK due to family, work, or a variety of other things. We play when we have time to play and enjoy playing with people of likeness to us.

Originally Posted by Mystearia

Mortonia i know that not everyone is 18 years old like myself... and i also know that some have busier lives than others... but the whole thing is that there is no explainable reason short of needing to go to the hospital or haveing a sick child ect to be AFK for more than 20-30 minutes... now thats just a rough guess but i myself cannot be away or afk more than 15min because enworld kicks me off if i seem to go over that limit. and as zackori pointed out people come to play with friends more than they come to play with new people. the clicks have been the downfall of many good stories because certian characters were involved in a few too many story lines.
and thank you trelian for the help..

I am slightly offended, because I think it is asinine to try and tell other people what warrants and doesn't warrant a prolonged AFK/AWAY status. There are all sorts of reasons one would need to step away from the computer, especially for those who have spouses and children.

It is opinions like these that the cause a majority of older family-orientated players to form cliques and groups. Flexibility is key to someone who doesn't have a lot of time.

[Bari]

Honestly, I'm 16, and even I know that going to the hospital (or at least the public hospitals here, because they're full of people - and I don't have money to pay a private one) and having a sick child definetly warrant much more than 30 minutes. People don't live, or at least shouldn't live, on the computer. If I had a son with high fewver, that fell asleep, maybe I'd log in. Bu should he wake up in the next fifteen minutes, I'm gonna AFK and keep on with him until I'm absolutely sure there's no need. If I'm playing and my uncle is sick at the hospital, I'm not gonna return in at the very unexcusable least two hours. I know those were just examples on your part... but well, they are definetly not good examples. We live for the real world, and no matter how much we value the people online, the inmediate physical surroundings come first, always.

As a side note, when one posts, one can't just ask people to not answer against one's point of view. That's the idea of public forums: We post, we debate, we come to a conclusion. Personally, and this is not meant as an attack (and if it's taken as so, I'll gladly remove it) I don't see the point in telling people to not-AFK. For as much as some of us would love to, we can't cancel reality. Even if it's for a while. I do understand the aim at disbanding the little RP groups, but you've got to remember that those groups are formed for a reason. And one angry post won't solve it. As for myself, I used to think the same thing, and personally I think those little groups have opened up... to the point I really don't remember if they were there in the first place.

[Willow_Calypso]

Very very well said, Bari! You are wise beyond your years. I applaud you.

[Ruthia]

AFK happens. It is unfortunt and a pain sometimes but it does. Everything from a simple milk spill by the kids, to a phone call from mom, all the way to the bigger more important my child is sick could be a reason for said AFK. People don't go AFK just to irritate those who want to RP with them, because well if that was the case I think a lot less people would RP with them.

Lounge sitters. Yeah that bugs me sometimes too. But honestly I can only think of one character who does it on a regular basis and that character has GOOD reason to. The person said player is trying to catch is only on sparadically and has no messanger. And said player can not bring the character into chat do to obvious dangers for said character without the person around.

Groups. Well yes, they exsist. And many times there are reasons they do. The biggest reason I see and hear is that the group exsist so fufill a storyline. But I want to again point out a suggestion I have EVER time I hear this same complaint.

IF YOU WANT IN THE GROUP OR STORYLINE, THEN WHY DON'T YOU JUST ASK?

I'm sorry, but it really is that simple. The worst that can happen is the person says no right? And when I say ask, I mean OOC. Don't barge in and pretend you already know everything about the character your trying to interact with. I don't know about other people, but I find that annoying. Characters who run up to me and go "Rawr, Ruthia your a *%^& and a *(&* and a dragon so I'm going to kill you!" normally get the reaction of me simply leaving the room.

And I know I know. Some of you are thinking "But Ruthia, this is open ISRP. We shouldn't HAVE to ask." Ok, yes. Your right. You shouldn't have to ask. But, it is polite and it lets the player know you would like to interact. But another thing to point out. This IS open ISRP. Meaning the groups everyone complains about, have the same amount of right to be there as you do.

Well, thats my two cents. You can shoot at me now.

*takes a bow and walks off*

[Magi_Apolline]

Originally Posted by Ruthia

IF YOU WANT IN THE GROUP OR STORYLINE, THEN WHY DON'T YOU JUST ASK?

In conjunction to Ruthia's very valid suggestion. Here is the links to IC Groups Reference Thread and the Storyline Reference Thread

[Ruthia]

Another thing I'd like to point out about this whole "group" thing. Are you referring to the little groups like say; Jazzmyn, Jeana, and Jeajea or Ryth and Oriza? If so I wish to point out a reason behind these smaller groups. Some of them were formed because other people won't interact with them. For example every time I've brough Ruthia in, people leave the room or ignore her. There for, why would I WANT to interact with anyone else besides the one person who WILL interact with me?

Plus think of real life. Your in a bar. Five people you don't know walk in. Yes you might glance at them, you may even nod in greeting....but chances are your going to go back to your own group of friends and conversation. It's just how it is.

*shrugs* Again, this is only my two cents..ok maybe I'm up to three or four cents now.

*scampers back to the neither regions of her own mind*

[Ghaelun HammerFrost]

back to the afk/busy issue..more so for afk i would think than the busy..i have family and children as well and i am 40 yrs old....one, if u have a sick child what in the heck are you doing on en world in the first place? i mean seriously a priority check in severly needed in that situation. second, if you know you will be on only for a short time (like 10-15min)due to real life, why log on at all. three, if you are waiting for a particular character to show up, then dont log on till you see that characters name pop up on the list or, go to one of the rooms and at least make an attempt to interact with others while you are waiting..case in point..i have seen one character in particular log on and stay in the lounge doing nothing for 12 full hrs. As far as the bar analogy goes, i dont think(in my opinion) it compares..rping gives you the chance to overcome real life barriers by being something that you are not in real life. so walking up to someone and attempting to talk to them and interact with them is far less stressfull than in real life..if you get rejected, then you can be like.."oh well, thier loss or i didnt like thier character anyways"...it seems to me(once again my opinion), that everyone is far too busy being dark and mysterious to be able to interact with anyone. we all know that most of the charactes presented here dont even come close to the norm they should be. but as in real life, there are exceptions to everything. just because you are used to small groups and like it that way, doesnt mean you cant try new things now and then. you might be suprised. there are alot of storylines and alot of other characters to interact with, dont allow yourself to have tunnel vision just because you are comfortable with what you have..i'm not calling anyone any names or saying they should act a certain way, i just like to voice my opinion on various things like everyone else. what you ultimately decide to do is your choice. but if any of us on this site purposefully avoid, exclude out, or just plain ignore other players simply because we are happy with our "cliche", then there will always be complaints no matter what we try to do to make isrp better. most players are curteous enough to stay out of other peoples conversations or storylines unless invited. but if it comes to the point where a player has to bounce from room to room until someone talks to them or they get a response from someone, dont you think thats a little bit ridiculous?..i do...thanks for listening

[Bari]

Well I have a simple solution, that should keep everybody happy. Next time someone stays too long in the Lounge, just invite them to RP. If they don't want to, well heck, it's a game not a job. They have their own reasons, so, leave them to them. There is no point in making a thread to tell people to stop logging on if they are going to play. Logging on doesn't really affect anybody. If you are curious about why a player stays there all the time, ask him/her personally? (S)He'll answer as (s)he sees fit. And if it bothers one that he gets no answer, then don't mind? They have the right of privacy. "The people deserves to know" is a lie invented by the media.

Now, if the point of this thread is to not-be ignored, it's a different thing. I'd recommend to talk personally and privately with the people that you feel ignore you. Or in any case, make a thread calling them "to talk", but not adressing the whole community.

Just remember, that people are free, or are at least supposed to, and respect it. If you see a problem, then try to provide a solution, but even if it does help to simply make the problem known, this problem in particular is surely already known and has been treated before. I'm not saying that anybody's wrong here. But, what I'm trying to say is, that I see no point in this thread. A good formula to make thread is:

Title

Introduction
General problem description
Hypothethical solution
And a "Do you agree?" or something alike, to end it.

This thread lacks the Hyphothethical Solution, hence, it's foreseeable that many people, if not all, will just disregard it as a "whine" or a "rant", and even if it's wrong of them, they cannot be blamed for it, it's natural. Some people, who have had to deal with many supposed "whines" are simply tired of them, and will, when a thread doesn't fill these standard procedures, simply ignore it and say to "get over with", because, if the starter doesn't provide a solution, a base, how are the others supposed to? If they were, they would have started their own threads. Sometimes, this "tired people" might blurt out rather harsh answers like "well then leave" or "go away", but they probably don't mean it, and, even if it's silent, should be forgiven.
Grammar and punctuation are not something people want to pester others with, but it's actually a good trick for the thread-starter to attract positive attention. It's not something one should be blamed for, but it is recomendable nonetheless. There is a problem with grammar and that is, that for some of us, or at least me, it might be hard to read in typos, because english is my second tongue, and sometimes, when I see a mispelled word (even if it's just by one letter!) I get stuck in there and am generally quite unable to sort it out.

I might have bounced really out of topic with this answer, but I'm just trying to provide a guideline of sorts, for possible conflicts to be avoided in the future. It's by no means a "scold" (who am I to do that?) or an order (again, I am no one to do that) but a suggestion (as I -am- someone to do that, being part of the community.)

[Willow_Calypso]

I think the sick child example has been taken out of context. Most players with children RP when their children are otherwise busy and don't serve as a distraction, though like most parents are accustom to there are situations that will arise and a child becomes a distraction. Something as simple as the child in question wakes up abruptly or gets an upset stomach. So calling someone priorities into question is quite rude when it comes to the care of their children. When not an active person in their household, tossing a subjective opinion around like that will be greeted with hostility. Expect some serious backlash.

There is no mandate saying how long someone can or cannot sit in the lounge. It simply isn't against the rules. There is also no rule saying a player has to play with other people. It is their option. Respect it. Don't try to board-bully them into interacting with players/characters they don't want to interact with.

Interruption arise. No one consciously logs on with the intent to go AWAY/AFK. It happens. The reasons vary. Normally the people who do so inform the other characters/players they're involved with it. The only issue I can logically see is if the character/player they're interacting with has a problem with it. If they don't and are willing to wait, then leave these said people alone. They're not hurting or disrupting anyone.

Some people enjoy their RP to have an air of realism. It fulfills whatever expectation they have. It doesn't necessarily have to be the same expectations as someone else. Some people may not want to play a character that is a social butterfly.

People can't be forced into acknowledging other characters. Throwing large message board tantrums only strengthens a players desire to avoid certain type of players (I am speaking from personal experience here). Complaints are perfectly welcome and gladly argued out. But realize that being combative about something is different then being passionate about it.

[Mayu Amakura]

*sigh* I'm siding with Willow on this matter. Things happen, that just draw us away from the computer, it happens. It isn't something we want to just do. and as for the children thing, wouldn't know, not a parent. I have an immature little brother though, does that count?

But, back onto my rant.. it seems the more I log onto the boards to see what is up, the more I see this constant bickering about what people don't like, what they think should be different. All we can do, my friends, is try to make a difference ourselves, instead of ranting on in the boards and having it do nothing but offend and catch people in the wrong way. You see? I have issues as well that involve ISRP, but I realized a long time ago that bringing them here onto the boards always either 1. Makes everyone all fidgety and rowdy or 2. Makes me look like a fool in the end. So I've learned not to bring them up anymore, and just try by myself to see what I can do to change it.. Mysteria.. I suggest you do the same.

[Zeren]

Haha...okay this is just ridiculous.

What exactly are you suggesting, Mystearia and Ghaelun? Should we eliminate people's right to stay in the lounge and walk away from the computer? Should we eleminate people's right to choose whom they interact with? I don't know about the rest of you but it sounds just a wee bit nazi-ish to me!

Best thing to do, you two, is address a problem politely and directly and offer solutions. When you realize that your solutions are more like those being provided closed-minded dictators you realize your problem...well...I think I've made my point.

I don't understand why this is even being discussed when there is no real fair answer for it.

[Bari]

Exactly what I was trying to say.

[Mayu Amakura]

Originally Posted by Zeren

Haha...okay this is just ridiculous.

I don't know about the rest of you but it sounds just a wee bit nazi-ish to me!

O_O Hai Zeren!