Over time, I've noticed something while playing on EfU, and in Neverwinter Nights in general: people send out a lot of OOC information that could easily be communicated in character. This causes a lot of problems and confusion which could be easily avoided. It also starts a chain reaction of cascading OOC comments that break immersion for anyone not part of the conversation.
To give a common example, let's say you need to go AFK. Perhaps you leveled up, or maybe you need to go outside for a smoke. Whatever the case, instead of saying, "// AFK guys, wait for me," your character could say, "I need to meditate for a moment, my comrades. Please wait here."
It seems like 90% of the time someone gets on the forum or sends me a tell and accuses someone else of poor role-play, it can all be traced back to someone going OOC when an IC conversation about the topic would have been fine. People are needlessly crossing "the fourth wall," when a little imagination would do better.
Before you send someone a tell or type out a sentence that starts with //, ask yourself if there isn't some way your character could say the same thing. Most of the time, there is.
"A moment, my comrades. I need to commune with the divine." // brb mom is on fire
Gentlemen, could you await here for a moment while I ponder the fabulous universe we are living in. I am sure this will not take longer than five minutes and then I have discovered it's secrets. During this time I am not able to respond or react in any way to your questions and possible surprise attacks so please, bear with me.
I get the point Portal Rat is trying to make but people use OOC communication when OOC considerations need to be taken into account (at least, that's why they should be used). I can easily imagine an impatient, crushing half-orc barbarian not ICly caring if somebody says those mediation/communion/etc lines.
An ooc message of something like "//afk" typically means the player needs to go afk right now. I've had times where I've tried to extricate myself from roleplay for ooc reasons only to have the PCs around me continue to argue, cajole, or otherwise detain you from addressing your rl emergency. I think it's fine to do it in those cases where it's absolutely necessary.
Once, my house was on fire. I said "//AFK house on fire" and left to put it out. When I came back, I got the feeling that people were very understanding.
I don't think people care about that kinda stuff. If they do, tell them to chill out.
Edit: Or that your house was on fire.
Yesterday I had an emergency and had to run from my computer. I did not have time to say "Pardon good ser, may I have a few moments to fix my armor before we depart, brave fellows?"
I typed ((BRB RL emergency)) and ran. Has this sort of statement ever actually lead to problems?
RL takes priority. If you have a sec, you should type some IC excuse then quickly add // Gotta go, RL or something like that
Sometimes OOC events intefere with play and in the end, an OOC message is better than none at all. If you need to go afk, then //afk is acceptable. it is an OOC message to denote an OOC event. What it is not is a free reign ticket to all break into temporary OOC chat.
On a side note, when lurking round the server I am noticing that every now and again, inappropriate use of OOC chat for IC events, it is not uncommon for me to see players spouting "//blind" or similar. Although pausing to type "CRIKEY CHAPS MY EYES HAVE STOPPED WORKING" in the middle of a heated battle is awkward, this sucks, hell hotkey some stuff if you have to.
One time back in the underdark this dude typed *fades into the shadows* and logged out. It was very atmospheric and badass.
Quote from: Cluckyx;245574On a side note, when lurking round the server I am noticing that every now and again, inappropriate use of OOC chat for IC events, it is not uncommon for me to see players spouting "//blind" or similar. Although pausing to type "CRIKEY CHAPS MY EYES HAVE STOPPED WORKING" in the middle of a heated battle is awkward, this sucks, hell hotkey some stuff if you have to.
Who doesn't have that hotkeyed?
Quote from: Semli;245575One time back in the underdark this dude typed *fades into the shadows* and logged out. It was very atmospheric and badass.
might have been me. i think i once *goes to sleep* when i logged out
I once went AFK for a freaking tornado, so I'm not just talking about the wild exceptions. I'm also talking about when you send somebody a tell that's like, "Hey I just got this badass bit of DM loot!" There's nothing stopping you from conveying that information in character.
In that thread about Detect Evil, there was an example of someone who said something like "// kick them from the party." That's something else that could have been said IC. It happens a lot.
That isn't the full story. It -was- said ICly, and handled completely in character when said evil people(s) invited themselves along. They stood too close to the npc when the quest was started although being told not to come by the first group who was already there, and the person who said that was reminding the group leader they need to use the widget in order to remove people from the quest. That should have been done in a tell though.
I agree though with the general feel of the thread though. Sometimes you have to just give a random // afk, or a // brb in 3. RL takes priority! Other things like "// heal me" as an example that I've seen could be said ICly. Don't think I've ever seen any accusations of poor rp that have ever stemmed from ooc though. Most people seem to be pretty good at separating IC from OOC.
Ive had enough toaster die on me, on morning sessions of nwn to be well rehearsed in the ""//house on fire brb" Just let OOC be handled in OOC manner, if they are going //Get this potion qued and use this armor, well thats a diffrent story.
Quote from: xXCrystal_Rose;245596Don't think I've ever seen any accusations of poor rp that have ever stemmed from ooc though. Most people seem to be pretty good at separating IC from OOC.
I was probably using too strong a phrase there, but describing the polite dance we all make around one another when our RP is less than stellar would have made that sentence even more convoluted than it already was.
Thanks for clarifying that incident.
Sometimes folks use OOC.
Sometimes it's for stuff outlined in this thread. Sometimes, I just need to make an OOC comment or joke, perhaps to relieve tension or diffuse strong emotion that can come from playing.
OOC comments are useful and have their place. Overuse or passing along of meta information in an exploitative manner should be avoided.
That said, it is nice if people can be mindful of their OOC chatter, if it's something that is meant for only one person, send a tell. If a certain individual makes it known that they prefer to be fully immersed, try to limit it around them.
Different people have different experiences and enjoy EfU in their own way, we should make our best efforts to accommodate.
If you play windowed-mode NWN, you can pre-write things on word, and Ctrl+C the Ctrl+V in the chat bar. This helps making long dialogues faster.
Mind you, if my cat is attacking my headphones threatening to break them or something like that, i'm more likely to type //AFK 1 sec than copy-paste a monlogue
I actually prefer an OOC comment to some random vague stuff about "Meditating" or "He must have fallen asleep standing up with fullplate on and his sword out!". If it's an OOC reason you aren't there denote it as such. I find most of the IC reasons people come up with are worse for immersion as they are usually ridiculous and unbelievable.
I can only reiterate what Divine Intervention said. A quick OOC comment that denotes you as AFK is much more easy to swallow than some awfully constructed 'day dream' scenario.
Also we start this trend things might get confusing, like people not understanding that you went afk, or people thinking you're afk even when you aren't.
Saves a lot of bother. If you type //brb, then it's clear you've not crashed rather than logged out, or you're standing about for no reason. Otherwise, prepare for a lot of IC "GET ON WITH IT!" directed at your char. It's also useful in cases like bugs, accidental attacks and potion use froms misclicks. It's rather difficult to accept "Sorry, saer! I was cleaning my battleaxe and it went off!" or "Help I have been teleported behind this impassible foot wall" if you need a bump. Trying to explain all events whether IC or OOC caused can get wierd.
Some useful translations:
AAAARGH! = //Heal me plz, dying
*flails around blindly* = //blind
*vomits* = //cure plz
Personaly I prefere to know if my co-player is afk or just sitting there lvling up or whatever.