Happy Monday morning!
Yikes - I make it a rule not to post on Sundays, and I always know with this game there'll be a lot to wake up to on Monday morning, but...
Personally, I think it would be soooo great to get all of us in a RL room for a couple of hours. With the SR talent in this bunch, combined with the addition of non-verbals (beyond those smiley face symbols) and maybe some snacks, I am confident we would all resume what would then be the greatest game in PbP history!
So much has happened with this group since the arrival of Kinkerbell and the subsequently sharp acceleration of what had already been a pretty active game - so much happening in terms of the perrenial issues with IC/OOC separation, collaborative storytelling/world-building, group dynamics, and the unique challenges of the PbP medium.
Probably we could all write a book on our opinions, but I'll try to be brief and just weigh in on the two aspects that seem to pertain to myself the most.
1. IC/OOC separation. This is always super hard when the RP strays into conflicts within the party. How many groups have a played with where we are, like, all hardened, anti-social killers, except in our IC dealings with each other, which sound like a yuppie dinner party? This game has been a refreshing break from that.
But the stakes do become high.
The point where it all went south for us, though, and I believe Kinkerbell pointed this out, was where people started telling other people how they ought to IC their characters. That's really to be avoided, I think, especially with a group this advanced, experienced, and committed to role-player/character development.
And then that escalated into talk about what so-and-so's dice could make so-and-so do, and that's a darker road. Personally, I wish the rules would clarify that social skill dice are for interactions with NPCs, and not applicable to PC vs. PC.
Summation: Al is going to be Al. I am happy to be more careful about explaining the reasoning of the things he does OOC if that will help everyone to be cool. But neither I nor anyone should ever feel pressure to have their PC act out of character for themselves to make other players happy, and what is in character for them has to be their decision alone.
2. Post rate
My philosophy on this has always been "No matter how much I post, it does not in any way prevent other players from posting as much as they want to post."
But I do see SK's point.
My rule I think is fine for IC conversations, flashbacks, internal monologues, whatever. But with regard to actions that push the story along, then I can see how things did get pushed along quite rapidly by a minority. (Although constant consensus-building will kill a game just as fast as overly-aggressive posting.)
I think some of us were (well I was) overjoyed to have a game that was moving so quickly and provided so many fun opportunities for action and interaction - such a breath of fresh air from the plodding rate of a lot of PbP games - that we got swept up in it.
There are a number of countermeasures - we should discuss them, but this is getting longer than I wanted already.
Summation: Not sure I am ready to take a self-imposed one-week exile. But as an initial measure, I am happy to slow down on posting actions that drive events forward.
It seems we are now in motion towards the spot where we are going to jump off for the virtual meet, and making that meet is all that Al has his mind set on right now.
FINAL:
This is a GREAT game. And I think all the players in it are great.
ScytheKnight, I really hope you don't go.
Triskavanski, same dude, I hope you will stick with.
And Kinkerbell, now that everyone is airing a lot of this out, I really hope you'll reconsider.
This game suffered from its own awesomeness - I say we don't throw it away, we just concentrate on adjusting it to be more awesome for ALL the players.
Sorry about length.