Now, I apologize if this is already a topic of discussion somewhere, I did a scan of some of the dwelling topics here and didn't see anything about it, but anyway, I was wondering if it might be possible to add something like a blacklist to dwellings. I know that we already have a sort of access control using keys and room locks, but it seems like a real hassle to go through if you're looking to keep only one specific person out for any given reason.

Granted, it wouldn't stop them from going and creating another Rookie to get in and bother you, but it'd at least be a start.

Have you tried telling them to keep out?

Well, for the person in question, I started by trying to reach out and get them to participate, sent them a message, told them it was perfectly fine to jump in to the conversation, etc. I just didn't get much of a response. Simply put, it's a specific person who shows up and simply sits there. Watching. They technically aren't doing anything wrong according to the rules, it's just rather creepy is all.

They are not doing anything wrong at all. If your dwelling is unlocked, then it is publicly accessible space, and anyone is entitled to go and read the comments there.

There is no rule that spectators must participate. Indeed, storytelling would be impossible if there were such a rule!

If you don't want spectators, lock the door.

Hrm...
Have you ever considered the possibility that they may want to be friends, but is simply nervous to do so?
I've hung around in NewHome, and have noticed that some Rookies can be rather nervous. Especially around a powerful player.
Some, not all.
I think some of the other ones Chimental probably eats.

Also I have to deal with nervous characters, most of them my own, so that's mostly why I threw this up here.

i know a few people like that, they join forums and such and just read, never post.

maybe it's the same thing here? Don't be too harsh on them, the island is like a magical constantly updating book! Maybe they just like to read, not write.

I, for one, welcome our new creepy, silent overlords.

It's probably the Watcher in some sort of grotesque fleshbag disguise.

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Unofficial Improbable Island out-of-character chat is at irc.foonetic.net, channel #iisland - come on by!

LOL.
That makes perfect sense.

Maybe they're roleplaying deaf-mutes!

And they sure play a mean pinball.

I apologize for that.

I laughed!

Have you ever done any of that in character? If your character turns 'round and says 'Oh Hi there' to the person sitting watching, that kind of forces some kind of response - even if it's to leave (in which case objective achieved - but in a far more friendly manner than blacklisting), or they'll start participating (in which objective achieved with extra Awesome)

And watching how people roleplay is how we learn to roleplay ourselves. I know I got shied away from any RP after my first attempt appeared to piss off people, when all I was trying to do is catch some wild typo gremlins. I keep my roleplaying to the tables in Raven Inn now.

Or, in many cases, how not to roleplay...

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Unofficial Improbable Island out-of-character chat is at irc.foonetic.net, channel #iisland - come on by!

Regarding whether people should or shouldn't "lurk" ... I think, if people want to read quietly and not participate in a scene, it's hard to see why they shouldn't, or why they should be forced (however kindly) into RPing or leaving. Interrupting a scene is an entirely different thing, but simply reading...? Surely, unless a room is locked, then the RP there is intended to be read.

On the matter of addressing lurkers, I do feel quite strongly about this...

When I see names appear in a dwelling where I'm RPing, I never address them in-character unless they RP a comment first. Same goes in outposts. Doesn't matter if I see an earlier comment by someone showing up with the green status-light. I go by what they've written recently. If they've previously said "Person A leaves town", or if their earlier RP does not imply that they're obviously still in town - then as far as I'm concerned, their character is not there until they RP a new comment.

As I see it, interacting with people as if they're there, when they haven't RPd as such, is highly problematic because it deprives the other writer of several choices that should be theirs and theirs only. Namely:

1) Where their character is at that moment in time
Maybe they RPd a dramatic exit, or left their character somewhere else, mid-scene, mid-story, mid-fight, asleep, sick, in the jungle...who knows? Perhaps there wasn't time to complete a plot before they had to go afk, and now they're back and want to catch up on what's happening round the island, but their co-writers aren't around, so the story is in limbo. It is up to them whether they wish to RP their character "out of continuity" or in a way that contradicts something written earlier. But if they don't want to do that, they must still be allowed the freedom as OOC gamers, to wander round the game-world (including unlocked dwellings), silently enjoying other people's writing or exporting chat-logs or whatever. And doing so undisturbed.

2) Whether they are available to write with
Perhaps they're tired, not in the mood, or have very limited time. Perhaps they're feeling shy or not confident. If someone's shy, and chooses not to write because of it, that is their right. Encouraging people to play by being friendly is a good thing. But the first move has to come from them. No-one should be able to decide for another player whether they write a line or not. When I'm addressed in this way, it feels like a line being crossed and I do not like it.

(If this is too much off-topic for the original thread, I'm happy to move this discussion to a new thread of its own. But I would like to open it up for debate, since I see this issue come up quite a lot in RP.)

Spent my first three months just gaming around, figuring out the basics, and occasionally posting but never talking to anyone. Seemed like such an intently RP crowd, and I'd logged in just to fuck around, so I got hopelessly lost in my intimidation of roleplaying wrong warring with my immense enjoyment of what I encountered, and read from the other players, to the point that I had NO idea how to start a conversation.

Until I started going in the CG and Neeip, Amerithe, and Omega took notice of the latest 'No-I'm-not-Arthur-Dent-I'm-just-shuffling-about-in-his-bathrobe' Rook and incuded him, and I slooowly got the feel of the community.

And made a damned fool of myself.

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"Ain't nothin' left to do but smile, smile, smile." -The Grateful Dead

Which, for many people, is the whole point of RP'g - so long as one remembers that it is just ROLEPLAYING - and The Two Rules

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Thank you.

...Or you have a ghost!!!!! I've currently got, if you go by the who's-there, Sessine sitting in the Barikade bein' creepy and watching, and I know for a fact Sessine's not actually there. 'sjust a ghostshellthing! That Skidge uses to prop the door open on windy days! And dresses up in floofy girly tutus!

ETA: Oh, dear. I've started dropping consonants even when not writing as Skidge. I hope I didn't do that in the last cover letter I sent out...

Not that I mind the tutus. Especially not from Skidge -- who can very easily get the real live Sessine to dress up in any silly costume that strikes her fancy, any time she asks. But if he's in the Barikade, he's likely in other places as well. (I've a pretty good idea of which bug it is that's causing this, and it's happened more than once, because I forgot and let it happen.) I do not want ghosts of Sessine to be hanging around bothering people. So, my apologies! (...and I will try to write something to fix it.)

That happened with Zolotisty's name once... I saw her somewhere in an outpost in the Contestant Lists, and then I went in a dwelling and it said she was there... I figured it was because she was a Mod with magical Mod powers of Power..fulness? That or we need to call the ghostbusters.*



*Or He-Man.