On the Snark Levels In Channel

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Nymphetamine
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Joined: Thu May 10, 2012 1:09 pm
Preferred Title: Marog the Destroyer
Characters: Aezra
Azalia Stygian
Eliya Almakira al-Fasaad
Ianesene
Isabelle Auxerre
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Rix
Senkessa Silak-Dekhal
Siraz'jah Av'Zathrak
Location: Seattle, WA

On the Snark Levels In Channel

Post by Nymphetamine »

The op team has noticed over the last several weeks that there's been an increase in the snark levels going on in both the IC and the OOC channel. In the IC channel, this has mostly been shown in examples of "purple snark", which we'll get into in just a bit. In the OOC channel, this has been player hostilities towards one another, aggressive corrections or assertions, and commentary about various characters. Both Alex and I are well aware that we've been contributing to that, and are sorry for doing so.

The OOC channel is easier to handle: Knock it off. Be nice. Be polite. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it in the OOC channel. Take it to PMs, to another channel, to your Facebook, wherever you want, but keep it out of the channel. Respect the request to cease your behaviour when it comes from another player. We're all adults here, let's behave like them and treat everyone with a basic respect.

The ops will be correcting the snarky behaviour going forward.

Regarding the IC channel and "purple snark": This is a bit more difficult. There was a discussion about this in the OOC a week or so ago, but the message was confused. So allow me to clear things up.

Character thoughts are a part of roleplay. What a character thinks or assumes about another character, the setting, the tavern, et cetera is an opinion, it is not fact. It can also be difficult for another character to react to, so while it serves a purpose as to enlighten the other players to how that character is thinking, it's ultimately nothing that they can do anything with unless the first character is displaying those thoughts in some way. A glance over, a thoughtful hmmm, a sigh, a gesture, et cetera. These are things that a character can react to.

What we're calling "purple snark" are character thoughts or beliefs that do nothing but exemplify that character's disdain or criticisms for another character. They are presented in a manner that makes it impossible for the other player to respond to. They're all internal monologue that the receiving character has no access to. They literally cannot do anything in response except maybe write some of their own purple snark.

This behaviour has become a lot more prevalent over the last few months and we're going to attempt to put a stop to it by messaging the player.
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