91.7 IC, OOC, and Roleplaying

To roleplay means to play a role. In the context of Starmourn, roleplaying means that you play as your character, similar to acting on a stage or in a film.

Roleplaying is encouraged, but not required, in Starmourn. However, in order to maintain an immersive experience, we expect you to stay in-character (IC) as much as possible and not seek to disrupt other peoples' experience with out-of-character talk.


What's the difference between roleplaying and staying in-character?
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Staying in-character (IC) is mostly about NOT being out-of-character (OOC). Talking about real life, other games, the settings in your MUD client, etc. are all examples of being OOC. Please stay IC on public channels and in public places. You can be OOC in tells or in less public places, as long as the other people around you don't mind.

If you want or need to say something OOC in a public place, please use the OOC command.

example use:
>ooc Did you all watch the Superbowl last night?
[OOC] Me: Did you all watch the Superbowl last night?


Specific places to stay IC
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- shouts/yells
- say/tell
- news posts
- faction tells
- dynasty tells
- crew channels
- some clans

IC/OOC alternatives
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These are by no means exhaustive, and people in Starmourn would no doubt have lots of ways to say these things (and others!). You're never going to get in trouble for accidentally saying the wrong thing (not ooc, anyway! Though obviously don't be purposefully objectionable or we might airlock you) but just be mindful not to break someone's immersion by saying something jarringly OOC in an IC context.

Here are a few in-character alternatives for things that could be deemed OOC.
IC                              | OOC
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MIL (Mindsim Integration Level) | Level
Hunting/getting stronger etc    | Bashing (Might be used IC, but rarely)
MIL+/MIL advanced training etc  | Talents/talent points (though this could be 
                                | used IC anyway. It's just a little more 
                                | thematic this way.)
'The Comms'                     | Any OOC references (the wiki, help files etc)
                                | It's also used as a catch-all for your honors 
                                | entry, or anything else you view on your 
                                | mindsim.
Flogger                         | A type of Starmourn social media, like Twitter
Clogs                           | Blogs/Vlogs etc
MASH (Mindsim Access Stats Hub) | Score
PASH (Public Access Stats Hub)  | Public Honors
Address/Mindsim ID (place)      | Room number
<artifact name>                 | Artifact
<promo item name>               | Promo item
Going to Cryo                   | Logging out
Daydreaming/being mindless      | Going AFK (away from keyboard)


Policies about OOC communication
--------------------------------

We encourage people to get to know each other OOC, but OOC platforms are not avenues for roleplay. To be specific, they are not a place to pursue character development or interaction. Feel free to share logs and quotes if everyone agrees, and feel free to express appreciation for play you enjoyed, but in general, keep IC happenings IC. That means absolutely NO IC mudslinging or interaction on the forums or OOC chat channels, and vice-versa, NO OOC mudslinging because of IC interactions. Please see our HARASSMENT helpfile for more information. If you feel something is harassment, then you're welcome to ISSUE it.

Public Referendums
==================

Public referendums may be called by admin to garner the opinion of the whole playerbase about something. That may be for voting on a contest, feedback on an event, which thing we should work on next, among other things. 

To view any current public referendums the command is REFERENDUMS, and they're marked as PUBLIC.

Voting on public referendums is an OOC act, unless for some reason we state otherwise. 


Notes on publicly voted contests
================================
If you are voting on a contest via referendum, then the whole contest is deemed entirely OOC (usually because your character did not enter, you did). e.g. Your RP reasons for having a shop are probably not that you won a contest - if they are, it wasn't ~this~ contest, because this contest does not exist IC.

We ALL want contests to be fair and based on merit, not on popularity. So attempting to circumvent or twist these rules is very poor showmanship.

Therefore...
- Any mention of the contest in IC settings is inappropriate.
- Any solicitation for votes for your entry may result in a 10% reduction in 
  your score or even disqualification from the contest, depending on the 
  situation.
- If solicited to vote a certain way please ISSUE it, or contact an admin, and 
  remember that nobody will know which way you voted - so it's on you to vote 
  genuinely, rather than tactically.
- Remember in all things, always, that everyone here is here to have fun. 
  Everyone has put themselves out there to enter and face a public vote, and if 
  it were a popularity contest we would call it such (and we would never do 
  that).