The Meeting Place - Discussions and so forth

  • Thread starter Thread starter WizO_Reesa
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I'm waiting for some information before I make anymore news postings. It appears China taking over Russia has offended someone yet the story about the car bombing in Tel Aviv had no impact....go fig.

And the story that was deleted had Arnold as president just for you Rajak.
 

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Well I would imagine China taking over Russia would cause a great, great deal more death than a car bombing, given the overwhelming national pride and weapons capabilities of both. And also drastically alters the world map. Doesn't surprise me at all that more people would be upset over that than a bombing. :P
 


Sorry folks. When fictional characters become close to real life people and it messes with real life issues the line between fact and close-to-home fiction becomes much thinner.

We've always had a policy of keeping real life politics, race issues and religious issues off the site as much as possible. Where TMP is involved this becomes... understandably difficult.

Really I need to check with the powers that be. We have to strike a balance...

Unfortunately on the fictional news post that I had to remove, there were enough issues in there that people did have problems with. Russia was one of them (relating to the recent school bombing).

Might I suggest that until I get word on this, more use of groups which would not be likely identified as current day ones? :(

- Pounamu
 

I'm not trying to argue or anything Pou I just wanted to say that first off. I'm just trying to understand the mind set of those that might have been offended.

I saw an actual war and a school bombing as two totally separate events. I actually thought that over carefully to make sure it couldn't be misconstrued as something that is wasn't. A war is not some sick terrorist bombing a school but an all out fight between the armed forces of the nations involved.

As for them getting upset over the change of the world map and the death it can cause.......it is a fictional news report. I've read acclaimed novels where Russia took over the Western Hemisphere, the US took over the world, England, Spain, France and Portugual became the sea powers that they once were and held the rest of the world in a tight noose acting as pirates and numerous other situations. Folks should understand it is fiction pure and simple. Not what anyone wishes(unless you are the lucky man that won the Lottery heh) or hopes might come to pass.

The reason I thought the car bombings might have been too far is that after I made the post there were car bombings in Tel Aviv that wounded many civilians and killed a few civilians and police personnel. I started to alter it or delete that section outright since it mirrored directly the events that were happening today. I thought that would get a big uproar and not some imagined link between two separate occurances.

The reasons I was given and reinstated by Pou in her post had nothing to do with changing of world maps or the deaths of those fighting in the fake war but the death of the students in Russia. My story and that action I don't see how they could be linked. If someone that did find that offensive could please post why they thought the fake news report and the school attack could be linked in some manner I would appreciate it. No this isn't me trying to draw people out for flaming or anything like that. I would like to know what to be thinking about that other players might find offensive or how they link events together.

This is about all I've found that I can do to help with TMP and I want to keep doing it without offending anyone. I have a character concept that has been collecting dust ever since they first announced we would be getting this room. I'd like to play it before my six year old graduates from college, okay he is heading straight for some correctional facility but you get the point.

Pou what other things do you have on your plate that we can help with? I can't draw so don't ask!
 

World News

Japan announced the production of a steam car due to hit show room floors by the middle of next year. These cars are rumored to triple the current miles per gallon rating of even the top competitors while maintaining current horsepower and torque requirements agreed upon by the World Automotive Oversight Commission. Yakamoharu representatives are keeping most information very secret at this time. Though inside sources say the base model will have a price tag of a mere $50,000 US.

Irish Petroleum announced the finding of seven large oil fields near Antartica. The rights to these oil fields are held by the Microsoft Corportation, the mining being performed by Irish Petroleum and McDonald's Distillates. The actual amount of usable oil has yet to be released though Samantha Wayne of McDonald's Distillates was happy to say "this is the largest find in over half a century."

Walters Inc was fined $3.5 billion today following the investigation in their company's business practices. It was proved that Walters Inc used inferior supports in their diamond mines in South Africa which cost the lives of 50 miners 3 years ago. Walters Inc was ordered to pay along with the fines $2.5 billion to the families of the fallen miners.

National News

The President of the United States made a visit to St. Louis, MO to meet with the governors of the states affected by the recent earthquake which has claimed the lives of 2.7 million people. Federal Aid was promised and the Army's Corps of Engineers has been called in from all over the country to help with the reconstruction efforts. Experts say the reconstruction could take up to twenty years due to the vast destruction along the New Madrid fault line.

Presidential nominee Sam Cochran was found dead in his Raleigh, NC estate this afternoon. A neighbor reported hearing multiple gun shots and the sounds of a car crash. Cochran was shot three times at close range by a large caliber revolver. No one has been taken into custody though a red tornado was spray painted on the door of the estate. FBI, CIA and NSA investigators are looking into the prospect of the Red Storm's involvement in this or if this is some piece of evidence left behind to throw pursuers off of their trail. Services are planned for this Sunday for family and friends in his hometown of Greensborough, NC.

Florida Governor Alice Maynard was impeached this morning following investigations of her alleged misappropriation of over $200 mill ear marked for senior citizen programs. Maynard still denies the charges even in the face of federal charges now being placed against her. Lt. Governor Bruce Alberson was sworn into office at 3pm EST today.

Local News

Three men were found dead across the street from the popular night club The Meeting Place. The bodies of these men were taken to county coroners were they were quickly loaded on a plane to an unknown location. Vinnie Giovanni, a patron of The Meeting Place and present at the scene, told reporters "they are the oddest things I've seen......like people but different, ya know? Really long fingers and their heads were shaped.....odd". Mr. Giovanni was taken into custody for questioning by NYPD shortly after making that statement and charged with 3 counts of capital murder. No comment has been made by The Meeting Place at this time.

I took some liberty with that last one since I wasn't sure what the actual stand on aliens is going to be. I somehow see the government trying to keep it "under wraps" so that people don't panic. I know alot of folks would go nuts if they knew aliens were among them, going out buying legal and illegal firearms and munitions, stockpiling food, fuels, trying to hunt down and eradicate "the alien threat to our survival" and things of that nature.

Oh someone do some sports clips. I don't know the terms for soccer and some of the other sports played world wide. I could do some stuff for sports that I know like baseball and football if you guys want to see that kind of stuff. I started to do one where Ireland won the gold in soccer but got halfway through and realized I couldn't bluff my way through it and make it sound decent.

Have fun folks and more to come later. I've been busy moderating some forums and DMing a NWN module along with normal real life issues that have been eating up the majority of my time. Hmm I miss it when I was a kid and my parents did the working and I got to do the playing :D
 

I hate to levy the axe of authority but until we have a resolution on this delicate matter (real world references to politics and religion) I think it would be best to keep the newspaper articles to other subjects (medical breakthroughs, natural disasters, fictional celebrities and companies) and not real life countries, personalities, politics or religion.

I realize TMP is very much 'real life' but I think we can strike a balance here and still maintain our rule against real life religion/politics references. It's far too ripe for conflict and misunderstanding.

I am sure Pounamu will post more once it has finished being discussed with WoTC. Until then feel free to direct any questions to myself and Pounamu (adele@wizo.wizards.com and pounamu@wizo.wizards.com) and keep things off of the boards.
 

Politics

WizO Pounamu:
Sorry folks. When fictional characters become close to real life people and it messes with real life issues the line between fact and close-to-home fiction becomes much thinner.

I said Russia/China was one of the problems. It was certainly the one I got the strongest complaint about.The other problem which I did mention privately and touched on publically is the politics.

Arnold Swartzenegger is no longer just a character in a movie or an actor in Hollywood. He is an actual political figure in the real world. Therefore because of the policy on real world politics, religion and racism, he cannot be used as a political NPC.

Perhaps the car bombings so soon after your other post weren't as offending because the readers were not in some way connected to the victims. If however there had been a story about train hijacking soon after a terrorist bomb in a train station in England or maybe a story about some other real world rival group sucessfully invading the USA someone would again take offence. Unfortunately, how hard something hits someone is often related to how close to home it is. To you it wasn't close to home, to her it was.

The discussion is still going.

In the meanwhile...
Soccer is also known as Football. :P
Football as it is in America is known elsewhere as "grid-iron" and there are very similar games without the wimpy padding :angel: called Rugby. Especially funny is when one grid-iron player in pads and helmet plays rugby with his classmates and is knocked down so hard he has trouble getting up again with those pads in the way. :P

Aliens are known but not really known, if that makes any sense. The public know they exist and have made contact but don't expect to come face to face with them, and the organisations looking after visiting or resident aliens promote "blending in" so as not to scare the public. This includes inside TMP although it is more likely that you find aliens there than any other club in NYC because of the club's connection to a government organisation trying to look after aliens. Publically of course, the club itself is just a club. ;)

- Pounamu
 

Okay no more references of ANY kind to any country, organization or political figures currently in our real world.

Yes yes I know Rugby and Soccer(refuses to call it football since growing up knowing American football as football) are for the tough guys. Though you have to wonder about the power involved when bones are broken while you are wearing protective equipment like pads, neck braces and helmets. I've played Rugby and Football and by FAR I was hit harder and would hit players harder myself when playing Football. Likewise my injuries from Football were more severe. I've heard this explained by experts and those with knowledge of the sports that the human mind will subconsciously restrain the body when no protection is evident. Therefore you put pads, helmet and neck brace on a player and his thoughts of self injury diminish greatly allowing him to ram another person with more power than he would otherwise, in some cases with enough power that if the protection wasn't there death could be very likely.

Sorry had to put that up because anytime I mention American Football someone has to make a comment about Rugby and how Rugby is a real tough guy sport. They are similiar yet different in the way they are played and in the manner they are approached by the players.
 

Right, the decision's in.

Yup, you're right Fen, we are not to have any mentions of "real life" politics nor countries at war, either in the setting stuff or in play. Same with real life organisations such as terrorist groups or religious groups.

This doesn't mean you can't base it on something yourself but in setting info or in play whether chat or boards, direct references shouldn't be blatant and preferably you'd be creative enough to have your own names etc. This allows people to differentiate between IC actions and opinions and OOC opinions, which is where personal offence is.

So for example your character may be a remnant of some cult following but the name isn't something people would link to real cults or religions. Your character may have been affected by an experiment apparently government funded (or covered up), and therefore has a grude against "the president".

Yes, I know this puts a bit of a damper on the realism side, being a modern real life-ish setting. But the Code of Conduct is still in effect, we must take that into account.

And yes, it means I have to edit the previous posts to take this into account. Bear with me, if there's stuff back a ways I may miss it initially.

Do we want to set up some NPC big-wigs so that these things aren't later confused, setting-wise?

- Pounamu
 

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