Fellowship of the Witching Hour OOC Thread (Full)

[Dlsharrock]

Just to clear up confusion officially:

The turn sequence remains. At present this is Kookalouris, greenstar, Dire Lemming, Lucean, Keeper. You may break sequence to post OOC comments, but your comments should be kept in an SBLOCK unless it's something that might be detrimental to the group if anyone overlooked it (this will usually only apply to my OOC comments about game mechanics, stuff like that). IC comments should be reserved for your turn in the sequence.

Players may post as often as they like whenever they like (ie, any time of the day or night) *within the constraints of the sequence*.

Players should try to post at least once within 48hrs of their previous IC post.

If players can't post within 48hrs of their previous IC post, they should use OOC:BRB so they don't hold up the game.

If players will be away for more than 48hrs and know in advance and won't have internet access, they should let me or the group know so we can carry on without them.

If players know they won't be able to post 24hrs after their last IC post, there is no compulsion for them to let me or the group know, nor is there an obligation for them to use OOC:BRB or tell the group to continue without them. They may, however, do any of these things if they feel they want to and, more crucially, their investigator isn't playing a vital role in the current adventure. If a player takes 48hrs to post, other players should try to be patient. We play at the rate of the slowest player, not the fastest, which keeps things fair and ensures players who have lots of RL to deal with don't come back to lots of IC and OOC posts they need to read through before they can join in again- a sure fire recipe (IME) for a player to become bogged down and drop out.

Players may not use OOC:BRB if they just don't have anything groundbreaking to post. You should always try to post something, even if it's just 'Fubar picks his nose distractedly while events unfold' (please don't post that ). Some kind of contribution is expected from all players in each sequential round. This ensures nobody hogs the limelight and everybody gets a fair opportunity to influence the direction of the game. OOC:BRB should only be used if you have some RL issue to contend with but have quick access to the internet. No matter how pushed for time you are, you have time to write OOC:BRB and hit submit.

Any confusions, questions, comments, suggestions please let me know, preferably in this thread.

 

[Dlsharrock]

And now, on an in-game note:

A brief history of Arkham. (Common knowledge of Arkham, history every player would likely know, at least in part)

For further reading on the history of Arkham Massachusetts and the regions thereabouts, please consult your local library archives. Arkham Public Library (630 Marsh Street, NE corner of Marsh at Hyde) is open from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday except on public holidays (archives available with prior appointment). The library is closed on Saturday and Sunday. The university library is open to the public from 10am to 4pm Monday to Saturday. Only students may use the library's study and research facilities.

Arkham was founded at the mouth of the Miskatonic River in 1626 by a company of fishermen from Cape Ann led by Roger Sextant, and incorporated in 1629. Sextant vanished at sea during a mysterious storm in 1630 and was later supplanted by John Endemast, a governor assigned by the Massachusetts State Authority. Arkham originally included much of the North Shore of New England, including Marblehead, Beverly, Kingsport, Peabody, Martin's Bay, Boynton and Falcon Point.

In 1649 a delusional Dorothy Talbye was hanged for murdering her husband, as at the time Massachusetts's common law made no distinction between insanity (or mental illness) and criminal behavior. Thereafter came the famous Salem witch trials, most of the accused in that debacle coming from nearby Salem Village which would later be absorbed by Arkham to become part of its Southern District.

One of the most widely known aspects of Arkham and Salem Village are these histories, which started with Anise, Dorothy, Abigail and Betty Talbye (daughters of Dorothy) and their friends dabbling with a collection of occultist artefacts discovered in the attic of a Salem orphanage. A succession of mysterious and terrifying calamities befell the authorities of Salem and North Arkham and John Endemast was killed, his body horribly mutilated and suspended from the high crenulations of the then town hall. The sisters were blamed, though they refuted all accusations and maintained their own innocence to the end.

The sisters were burned by the Witch Finder General in 1654. Sent by the Massachusetts State, he roused the inhabitants of then Salem to march on all suspected practicioners of witchcraft within the area. The mob surmounted the ridge where High Street now stands and razed to the ground several houses thought to be home to friends of the Talbye sisters. In the light of the subsequent fires, the sisters themselves were plucked from their hiding places, hanged from trees by their throats and flayed alive. The stronger of the four, Anise and Abigail, survived their ordeal, but were later decapitated, their heads buried in shallow graves while their bodies were added as fuel to the smouldering pyres.

Thereafter mystery and occultism became a byword for Salem and its name was abandoned by God-fearing residents who preferred to call themselves members of the Arkham community. Thus did Salem Village become South Arkham and the legend of the Salem Witch Trials become engraved in New England memory.

On February 26, 1775, a garrison of patriots stationed on the river raised the drawbridge on North Street, preventing British Colonel Alexander Leslie and his 300 troops from seizing stores and ammunition hidden in North Arkham (the bridge and road are now known as Garrison Street). During the Revolution, the town became a center for privateering. By 1790, Arkham was the sixth largest town in the area and a world famous seaport serving the China trade. Codfish was exported to the West Indies and Europe. Sugar and molasses were imported from the West Indies, tea from China, and pepper from Sumatra. Arkham's ships also visited Africa, Russia, Japan and Australia. During the War of 1812, privateering resumed.

Prosperity would leave the town with a wealth of fine architecture, including Federal style mansions designed by one of America's first architects Samuel Saltonstall, after whom one of Arkham's wealthiest streets is named. In 1941, Arkham's rambling collection of homes and mansions from Colonial America are now the greatest concentrations of notable pre-1900 domestic structures in the United States.

Shipping would decline through the 19th century. Arkham and its silting harbor were increasingly eclipsed by Boston, New York and Innsmouth. Consequently, the town turned to manufacturing. Industries included tanneries, shoe factories and the Naumkeag Powder Mill Company. More than 400 homes burned in the Great Arkham Fire of 1914, leaving 3,500 families homeless from a blaze that began in the Korn Leather Factory. The fire ripped into one part of the city but historical places including Federal Street and City Hall were spared by the fire, leaving much of Arkham's architectural legacy intact.

Today the factory industry is dwindling and unemployment is on the rise. With the onset of world war, conscription seems likely and tensions amid blue collar districts are rising steadily. Murders are on the up, as is petty crime. There also seems to be an increase in mysterious and supernatural occurences in the region.

 

[Dire Lemming]

Hm... witch hunters... Kill them all!!! In the name of Jesus "The Pacifist" Christ!

 

[Dlsharrock]

Ooooh. *Zips lips shut*. Tempting to spill more beans. Very tempting.

Get thee to a library Adam West!

 

[Dlsharrock]

Continuing the OOC converstion in the IC thread:

I mean sure he was right this time but we would have figured it out pretty soon if she was willing to admit it so easily.

With respect, suggestions as to how another player might better have handled a situation, or better roleplayed his/her character, cannot fail to come across as OOC criticism of another player's IC game. It wasn't misconstrued. How would you learn what you need to know about Adam's knowledge of Philip's personality with such an inflamatory out of character remark? The full quote read: 'is this how you intend to play this character? ok, you got lucky this time, but I don't think the way you played Philip was necessary'.

If this was a case of misunderstanding, I would suggest more careful wording in future. Perhaps, if you make it clear you're trying to discern what Adam would and wouldn't know about another player's investigator, or ask the question without tagging on feedback that might be misconstrued. The bottom line is that all players, irrespective of who they are or the character they play, have the right to portray their investigator without fear of disparagement from other players or the Keeper concerning that portrayal.

In my own mind, a PC is a solid, playable PC once he moves off the drawing board and into the game. In the OOC recruitment thread, feedback is welcome I think, and both you and Kook and to a lesser extent Arabella presented their PC ideas in public and welcomed open criticism in order to improve the character. But once the character is in-game, criticism is inappropriate and the player has complete dominion over what his or her PC does. That's just the way it is in my games.

I just wanted to clarify this and I look forward to seeing you back in the game.

 

[Dire Lemming]

Holy crap, I wasn't trying to criticize him, and your continued insistence that I was is becoming offensive. Phillip did something that I as a player lacked the knowledge to respond to correctly in character even though my character would have had it, so I asked a question hoping to gain said knowledge. Why do you have to jump down my throat like this? :\ You do realize that you're calling me a bad player and a lier now don't you?

 

[kookalouris]

After internal debate, I decided to post this...

David, DL;

I don't know either of you very well (and what I do know is filtered through the internet) and so I cannot speak for either of you.

But I can speak for myself.

The frustration I sense between you two is beginning to affect my enjoyment of the game.

It may be that the disagreements between you two are fundamentally unresolvable and I can understand that.

But it would be a shame and to the game's detriment if the disagreements were ultimately resolvable but were not resolved because of miscommunication.

So I ask that each of you preview (and then RE-view ) your posts in the worst possible light before you send them. As you know, there are no non-verbal tones or gentle vocal inflection to soften the cold text.

In addition, please interpret other posts in the best possible light. Remember anger and resentment can so easily be undeniably expressed that an unclear post is probably the most well-meant of all possible interpretations.

Rather than dwell on past actions (or possibly the unprovable motives behind them), we might phrase suggestions in the form of "In the future, maybe we could do this instead of that (for one possible example)."

I hope everyone here understands what I am trying to achieve in this post. In my earnestness to get my point across, I may have verged on insulting patronization and presumption. If so, I apologize for not having the scapel-edged communication skills I feel the game needs right now.

Remember frustration is merely enthusiasm misdirected. Take it from a GM who has had games die of apathy, I envy the arguments I'm seeing. If all this post does is to aim some of that frustration my way, even that will be something.

But I hope this post does at least a little more than that.

More than ever, feedback is welcome.

Gerry

 

[Dlsharrock]

Kook- your measured words are welcome, of course, and as always.

I have only respect for all players, and began all my potentially controversial OOC messages with 'with due respect' to reflect this and *hopefully* convey a friendly, if discursive tone. It is hard to put tone across in text, and even harder to address difficult issues without instigating an argument. To further embellish, and eradicate any misunderstanding of tone, I posted my previous message as a request that Dire explain *how* I have misconstrued his message if this is the case. I had no underlying intentions or any reason to imply insulting behaviour.

Personally, I gave very careful consideration to all my wording, and especially more so after I realised Dire was misinterpreting my messages as insults in previous parts of this OOC thread.

I am sorry if this is spoiling your enjoyment of the game. It is probably no surprise to you that this is also spoiling my own enjoyment. All I really want to do is play the game.

But as Keeper/GM I feel it *is* my responsibility to enact my role if I feel the comfort of players in my game is being compromised - not a stance taken by all Keepers, but one I have always maintained both in forums and tabletop games. That comfort may be compromised temporarily by discourse like this, but in the long run players will feel more comfortable if they know the rules of play are being upheld.

So I *will* speak out against open aggression, as I have done. If the aggression is centred on me, I will speak out not just for my sake but to clarify that it's not acceptable in my game, so players in my game can feel comfortable that they will not face such aggression themselves. This was primarily my reason for the first instant Dire and I 'had words'.

This second instant I felt again that I needed to defend the rights of players. Had Lucean directed exactly the same message against Dire, I would have posted exactly the same reaction. Bottom line.

So, going back and reviewing my messages, and those of Dire lemming, I feel there are three possible reasons why we've reached the point we've reached. 1) I'm a very softly spoken and, IMownO, gentle person. I am not surrounded by aggression, nor do I encounter it very often, so I'm not used to it. On forums and in games I actively avoid it. So perhaps Dire's way of approaching things jars with me and my first reaction is to misinterpret and over-react. I'm willing to step out of my subjectivity for a moment and accept that this may be the case. 2) I was fully justified in my reaction and the reason Dire and I have had cause to discuss difficulties on two occassions is that Dire is deliberately overstepping the mark then refusing to accept that he has done, moreover he then continues to refute any wrongdoing by closing down debate with flames 3) I have a grudge against Dire Lemming and wish to use the game to assassinate his character at every opportunity.

Realistically, one seems most likely to me. In which case I am willing to accept that I may have misinterpreted Dire's intentions, and apologise if my own reaction was misconstrued as some attempt to make out that Dire was a 'liar' or a 'bad player'. At this point, provided Dire agrees, a digital hand shake and an 'agree to disagree' is probably in order.

However, right at this very instant, the ball is in Dire's court. His previous post is the second time since this game began and only the third time in my entire 20 year span of gameplay, that I have met with open hostility from a player, and I don't like it. As far as I am concerned, I am currently considering asking Dire to leave the game, though I reserve my decision until I hear what Dire has to say pertaining to the previous paragraph.

 

[greenstar]

From my point of view DL did ask if Phillip was always that rude which was insulting to the player. But I think asking DL to leave the game is drastic. Next time have Adam ask that IC DL if that was the problem.

 

[Dlsharrock]

Greenstar: I have no intention of asking Dire to leave the game because of the dispute regarding Lucean's PC, that *would* be drastic and completely unecessary. I am *considering* asking him to leave because I'm not prepared to have disagreements result in flames in my game (be that with me, or between players). IMHO anything can be resolved if we discuss it with clarity and aforethought.

I hope that clarifies my standpoint.

I fervantly hope Dire chooses to accept the digital handshake proferred, but if not, I see no other option. I have no compunction to play with somebody who sees unrestrained hostility and bad language as an acceptable way to respond to a delicate issue in an OOC thread.