IC Chatbox

Yeah I wasn't thinking any major plotting, just inter-personal stuff! If there are too many worries surrounding it, I'm down for keeping it AU, or maybe doing a trial run of it for a week?

That would work. I do think it could be integrated if it was just low-key- maybe at times when people are busier or activity is a bit slower it can be put on hold in a way that works IC (teachers jamming the signals or something- like an ongoing struggle for the students to bypass wards etc). Or we could keep a list of players/non-players at any one time- so if you don't want any characters involved in it/ want to focus on threads/ don't have space for more plot development you could put them on that list and move them back when you want. I don't think it's unworkable, just needs to be done right. But if it's more trouble than it's worth then it's not worth the trouble, if that makes sense.

Well you know, we might be able to try it out in different ways. I quite like the idea of making it seem a bit more immersive in all honesty. Also, at one point didn't you do like almost like a gossip girl like blog thread on here Jack? You made that work on site so maybe make the chat room almost a thread?

We did have the blog but it turned into a problem when Jack wasn't running it. Really insulted people and got taken down in a rather... dramatic fashion.

But I do think it's worth just saying, "Yep, for this week it's IC and do what you want" and if it works, then cool. But I'd want to put my characters on that list Alyssa suggested.

EDIT:
The other thing, actually, is this: We already have Discord, where we can do all of our characters at once. In the IC chatbox you'd still have to denote which character said what, because you would need to somehow log into multiple accounts to actually use different characters in the chatbox.

I guess I'm not seeing the purpose of having both of those when we already have one. Unless the purpose is for one to be AU and one to be IC. But regardless, if people don't like them, they should have the right to remove themselves and their characters from play there.

So really the ultimate question is, should we just continue to use the one in discord? Because honestly if it's there we might as well make advantage of it. And no, I agree, people who don't want to take part of it absolutely should have the right to not have to!

I don't think the discord should be the main one because not everyone uses discord. I think it should be on site and either used or not used.

Could I get clarification on the list of characters? My thought was that if your character isn't responding in the chatroom, it means that they're not online or not bothering with it, which I feel like is easy to justify. I think it'll mostly end up creating plotting between the people who like using it, so if you're not able to keep up, it's not like you'd be saddled with plotting you didn't sign up for.

Also I'm ALWAYS down to bring back the blog. I don't remember what happened after I stopped doing it.

I don't know what Addie had in mind, but I meant a list showing if you're fine being involved even when you're not actively posting- so you don't mind being brought up/mentioned in passing/have threads develop from there. Obviously if you post you're involved, but some people might not mind also having character rumours/mentions being used there by others, while other people might want nothing to do with it. But I understand it that's too complicated.

Well, if it clears things up, Selwyn took it over and used it to attack characters and their writers without asking for permission to reference the characters - particularly because they did it as a non-character entity. Like, it was upgraded a "radio show" about any characters, even ones the "host" didn't know. So one time Eli and I were gone for a while and I came back to discover they'd attacked specific characters of ours and of members they didn't like.

I've always had issues with my characters being involved with things like this, particularly when I'm not around, because it tends to derail/affect plots or has the distinct ability to hurt other writers who can't be as active or don't keep up as quickly, who thus can't involve their characters by way of defending them or objecting when things get changed.

Yeah, so just to add- I think there should be a clear communication of preferences. So, for example, something like:
Active Involvement Only
Active & Passive Involvement (profile rumours only)
Active & Passive Involvement (anything goes)

But I realise that can get complicated. So maybe see how it works to start with.

Ahhhh sounds about right.

My idea with the bio of Rumors and Facts is so that you can sort of establish what rumors and facts you're comfortable with characters mentioning. In rp you won't be able to always control what other people think or say and I personally itch for more of that. But we could have a thread where you make clear lines of what other characters wouldn't/shouldn't mention, and then always remove anything in the IC box that doesn't use it, as well as list characters you don't want involved at all.

If this is sounding too much, that's fine! I just remember a time where the IC chatbox worked REALLY well and have been super curious about implementing it again

EDIT: Saw your post as I was writing this, and I like that a lot! I think that could clarify things and also put those Rumor and Facts to good use!