Adding a cutoff, is just a nice way of saying that no kids are allowed to be played. And it's something I don't agree with at all, mainly because too many people do it. There is NOTHING wrong with kidchars, or roleplaying kidchars. And I don't think it's the right solution.
Further, I don't think everyone should suffer because of a small number of people. It's not like it's a huge problem, it's a small problem, that can be rectified now if it's done properly without going over board.
Child Characters
Also, Onasaki: my proposal -does- still allow child characters. Anyone could make a character 13 or over, while characters under 13 would be subject to application/whatever other conditions.
It seems reasonable enough to me, though I admit to being motivated by quality control concerns far more than fear that child chars are unpublishable (seriously, I'll kill 'em -- or we could just have it such that child chars, taken into custody and given time for a possible escape, are fade-to-black'd and turned over to IMMs to handle the death). My concern is that playing a child requires a certain level of preparation, understanding of psychology, and roleplaying ability to play well. I think I could even go so far as to argue that, additionally, only a limited subset of legitimate child character types are really appropriate, in terms of adding more to the story than they take away. Vetting RP ability and char concept might not be the worst idea.
That all said, I am assuming none of this would apply to existing chars -- i.e., that we'd only institute this going forward? I will say that I tend to lean toward freedom of char concept... but I'll also say I feel like having children in scenes (in my experience) has frequently led to their being dumbed down/unrealistically handled in such a way as to detract from the story.
It seems reasonable enough to me, though I admit to being motivated by quality control concerns far more than fear that child chars are unpublishable (seriously, I'll kill 'em -- or we could just have it such that child chars, taken into custody and given time for a possible escape, are fade-to-black'd and turned over to IMMs to handle the death). My concern is that playing a child requires a certain level of preparation, understanding of psychology, and roleplaying ability to play well. I think I could even go so far as to argue that, additionally, only a limited subset of legitimate child character types are really appropriate, in terms of adding more to the story than they take away. Vetting RP ability and char concept might not be the worst idea.
That all said, I am assuming none of this would apply to existing chars -- i.e., that we'd only institute this going forward? I will say that I tend to lean toward freedom of char concept... but I'll also say I feel like having children in scenes (in my experience) has frequently led to their being dumbed down/unrealistically handled in such a way as to detract from the story.
That's crap, and you know it dude. RP isn't dumbed down because a kidchar is in the room, or done unrealistically.
Unless you're saying the kidchar in question dumbs down their RP? Which in that case, I can agree, that some people do over-do it. That still doesn't qualify the need for an application, unless someone is really REALLY being stupid about it.
Which, in that case, perhaps the player in question should be subjected to an application, not the entire playerbase.
Unless you're saying the kidchar in question dumbs down their RP? Which in that case, I can agree, that some people do over-do it. That still doesn't qualify the need for an application, unless someone is really REALLY being stupid about it.
Which, in that case, perhaps the player in question should be subjected to an application, not the entire playerbase.
So far, total posts in favor of limiting child chars in favor appear to be 3 in favor, 3 not in favor, and three 'it depends on how we limit'.
In general, I think some limits may be appropriate given the vote. May I see some people's ideas on HOW it ought to be done? So far, we've got the following possibilities:
- applications for character's under 13
- registration of someone responsible for the kid IC
Any other possibilities to table?
In general, I think some limits may be appropriate given the vote. May I see some people's ideas on HOW it ought to be done? So far, we've got the following possibilities:
- applications for character's under 13
- registration of someone responsible for the kid IC
Any other possibilities to table?
-
registerednuisance
- Posts: 45
- Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:47 pm
I can't respond a great deal I'm in a rush for work - let them eat cake! Kids love cake. More later.
I think it should be unrestricted as long as the child player him/herself does not use his char's IC age to OOCly pressure people to let him off without IC consequences for IC actions.
I do think a mindset shift in general is needed - we still live in RL Earth despite the theme being IC Urth, and it is difficult to immerse oneself in the theme so fully that we let go of our RL perceptions/cultural mindsets. And if that cannot happen (ie people are OOCly giving others a hard time for being ICly harsh towards child chars, or most people feel uncomfortable dealing with them, etc), then I suppose it would be best to restrict them.
TL;DR: I'm really an 'anything goes ICly' kind of person; I wouldn't even protest if rape was allowed ICly, really. But I support the decision swaying in favor of the majority cause that's what really matters.
I do think that if the complaints are targeted towards a few existing child chars and their players, however, there would be absolutely no point in enforcing this policy going forward. Those who are going to abuse the concept have already done so, in that case.
I do think a mindset shift in general is needed - we still live in RL Earth despite the theme being IC Urth, and it is difficult to immerse oneself in the theme so fully that we let go of our RL perceptions/cultural mindsets. And if that cannot happen (ie people are OOCly giving others a hard time for being ICly harsh towards child chars, or most people feel uncomfortable dealing with them, etc), then I suppose it would be best to restrict them.
TL;DR: I'm really an 'anything goes ICly' kind of person; I wouldn't even protest if rape was allowed ICly, really. But I support the decision swaying in favor of the majority cause that's what really matters.
I do think that if the complaints are targeted towards a few existing child chars and their players, however, there would be absolutely no point in enforcing this policy going forward. Those who are going to abuse the concept have already done so, in that case.
I think rather than restricting kid chars, they should just be dealt with as you would normally ICly deal with a kid char. If your first instinct is to treat a kid char like an adult when they do something bad then so be it, if it is to be more lenient, as we are in real life, then so be it too. I don't really understand how this has gotten to an OOC degree, personally. As a kid char who was jailed and did get punished for insulting a noble, I don't see what the problem is, I guess, unless people are just hung up on a 'present' mindset rather than a medieval one?
As mentioned earlier, numerous complaints. I didn't get any specifics about what any specific childchar was doing, just more of a random witch about childchars - but 4 separate people in a week tells me all is not well in the childchar arena. I think the vote substantiates that it's not a few squeaky wheels, but a large block of players with concerns or dislikes of it.
In general, I don't want to hamper people's play, and I won't take anyone's existing child char away. I'm not sure if they ought to be application only - that might be a bit too far for me - but I know that I'd like to see some substantive "somebody's ass is on the line if they don't keep their kid in line" just like mine would be IRL, so I personally lean towards requiring a registered guardian or something, even if it is the church, and someone in charge of orphans... but could we get anyone to play that role?
... wasn't someone creating the Sisters of St. Celeste?
In general, I don't want to hamper people's play, and I won't take anyone's existing child char away. I'm not sure if they ought to be application only - that might be a bit too far for me - but I know that I'd like to see some substantive "somebody's ass is on the line if they don't keep their kid in line" just like mine would be IRL, so I personally lean towards requiring a registered guardian or something, even if it is the church, and someone in charge of orphans... but could we get anyone to play that role?
... wasn't someone creating the Sisters of St. Celeste?
-
- Information
-
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 140 guests