I didn't really want to weigh in on this conversation, because I didn't think I had anything helpful to say... but there you go! Is it helpful? Decide for yourselves.

Weighing in:

1) The message is not meant to admonish, discourage, solve a problem, or any of the above. It's meant to make players pause before they post. We (the mods) still expect to deal with people who "slip up" on a case-by-case, personal basis, as we always do. This message has absolutely no bearing on how or when we moderate people, it's just meant to help us out by reminding players of the IC/OOC split in Banter so we don't have to do it ourselves as frequently.

2) The problem is not cuddlepiles (though they are a part of the problem). The problem is silly behavior turning offensive: stabbing and maiming each other, oral sex, and extended all-consuming snuggle parties are some things that have had to be shut down fairly frequently. The reason this is a problem isn't because mods and CMJ personally dislike it, it's because many players find it upsetting, awkward, or uncomfortable, and log out of Banter, or largely quit the game.

3) This isn't a problem with just a handful of specific players. The nature of this problem, acceptably silly nonsense getting out of hand, is that it happens with loads of people, in loads of situations. Anything can get out of hand, and this is one of the things that gets out of hand very, very often.

4) Re: Den's comment about a) encouraging players who handle problems well without mod intervention, and b) letting players solve their own problems without mod intervention: WE DO. The problem with mods doing things "behind the scenes" is that nobody realizes we're doing it. Whether we're letting a situation play out on its own, encouraging someone for being awesome, or taking the time to privately explain to someone what the problem is and how to better avoid it, the community as a whole doesn't see this (and we're not going to try to showcase it, either).

I didn't really want to weigh in on this conversation, because I didn't think I had anything helpful to say... but there you go! Is it helpful? Decide for yourselves.

So this might be my morning brain "have to put down an idea before it disappears from my head" mind going but I woke up with a thought and had to put it down. Because I want this thread to be constructive.

If this is the issue, it sounds like the issue isn't so much "roleplaying in Banter" but "players being disrespectful to other players and crossing a line." What about changing the last sentence to be something like "Please be respectful to other players and their boundaries when posting." I think something like that might help with other areas where players cross boundaries too (cause it isn't just in emotes that people do this). What do you guys think?