Best Of
Re: Player Artwork/Designs?
Shen scoundrel. Serious on my offer for others. Just hit me up with a msg or my wall here.
TNA
7
Re: Player Artwork/Designs?
Got inspired by all this great artwork here!
Working around with some new gigital painting software.
Thought I would try my character again, Jonn, with his weapon and unifrom this time.
Jonogan
8
Re: Requesting: Ban on rape RP, admin transparency, newbie protection
The admin of this game are not law enforcement officials and should not be expected to report as if they are. They are providing a service and have provided plenty of means by which these situations can and should be handled. Just because they were not handled correctly, does not mean we are innundated with it.
Also, the only muds that I know of that have to explicitly describe exactly what types of sexual roleplay are and are not allowed are games that are either made for or highly emphasize sexual roleplay.
What makes more sense is to simply put "any rp that you are not comfortable with is banned". You're going to have to make all rp and pk consent only though because I am quite sure that some people are not comfortable with having someone tie them up and shove a grenade down their throat. That is a skill hard coded into the game. If you draw hard lines in the sand for one sub-group, you better draw them for everyone.
Common sense says that no one is required to participate in any rp they do not want to. If that means not playing the game, so be it.
Now, don't think I am justifying rape at all. I am not. I am trying to advocate against putting so much emphasis on one evil that the perception becomes that Starmourn is some sort of haven for those types of people.
It certainly is NOT.
Also, the only muds that I know of that have to explicitly describe exactly what types of sexual roleplay are and are not allowed are games that are either made for or highly emphasize sexual roleplay.
What makes more sense is to simply put "any rp that you are not comfortable with is banned". You're going to have to make all rp and pk consent only though because I am quite sure that some people are not comfortable with having someone tie them up and shove a grenade down their throat. That is a skill hard coded into the game. If you draw hard lines in the sand for one sub-group, you better draw them for everyone.
Common sense says that no one is required to participate in any rp they do not want to. If that means not playing the game, so be it.
Now, don't think I am justifying rape at all. I am not. I am trying to advocate against putting so much emphasis on one evil that the perception becomes that Starmourn is some sort of haven for those types of people.
It certainly is NOT.
Minion
11
Re: Sexual Harassment Allegations
Players are not Admin, they should not act like them. If there is a IRE rule being broken, talk to an Admin. Period.
You all talk about things that would push newbies away. This forum thread would make someone not want to play. OOC drama is not something that should be here.
These games are about creating and exploring a fictional character (not a self insert) and developing their story in a way that is fun for you, and those you interact with.
If rules are being broken, inform an Admin. They will do something about it.
It's 2019. I think it goes without saying that Rape Rp should not be, and is not tolerated by people. We should all be smarter by now.
You all talk about things that would push newbies away. This forum thread would make someone not want to play. OOC drama is not something that should be here.
These games are about creating and exploring a fictional character (not a self insert) and developing their story in a way that is fun for you, and those you interact with.
If rules are being broken, inform an Admin. They will do something about it.
It's 2019. I think it goes without saying that Rape Rp should not be, and is not tolerated by people. We should all be smarter by now.
Kareli
6
Re: Sexual Harassment Allegations
You know I have sat here debating on how to comment this, yet the main perpetrator repeatedly absolves themselves and continues playing victim when people call them on it. I won't name names, but you know who you are and I suggest you stop and really re-evaluate your personal life if you get joy from making this much drama. I am severely disappointed in this and even more so you use the pretense of fighting for the victims when it is forcibly crammed down their throats in multiple news posts...I don't have anything further to say other than you seriously need to grow up, see a therapist, get some medications, something to help you because evidently what you're doing now is singlehandedly the most awful thing you can do to people in that situation.
Kiara
5
Re: Sexual Harassment Allegations
Hi.
I'm going to say this one more time because the point is being missed in all this rambling.
There is 100% -zero- reason why anyone outside of the person being harassed, the person accused of harassment, and the admin need to be dealing with it.
Keep it off the faction/org channels, keep it out of the news. Otherwise, you are risking impacting survivors of real trauma that did not have a QQ and issue option.
A) If someone is legitimately harassing people in-game, I can personally vouch that the admin -will- handle it. If it's a matter of poor signal reading, they'll get a talking to and if they don't learn, they'll be gone. I speak from experience here.
If someone is legitimately harassing people in-game, PLEASE issue about it. There are circumstances in which you might be stuck in a room with someone (I have been in that situation, even if I qq'd I couldn't escape the room they had taken me too). If this happens and you don't feel comfortable logging in, email the admin about it or poke them on Discord or on the forums or -somewhere-. As critical as I can be of the IRE admin, this is something they take deadly serious and they WILL handle it.
C) Bringing allegations of harassment up as a political tool serves zero productive purposes and actively hurts victims. Please stop. Don't justify it. Don't make excuses for it. Don't tell me about the women leaving the game for it (because see the above two points), just don't.
I've been playing IRE games for over a decade and MUDs/MUSHs/MUXs for far, far longer than that. I'm a survivor fo multiple rounds of sexual abuse and assault. I've been an org leader for longer than a lot of people have played text games. There is -absolutely no scenario- in which this needs to be discussed IC. Full stop. Handle it with the admin. Doing anything else puts people at risk of rehashing real trauma. I'm almost 40 and I've been playing text-games since before AOL was a thing, back when it was a telnet connection. Please don't lecture me about the harassment women who play online games receive.
With regard to 'newbies' engaging in sexual behavior - frankly, this is and always will be a stupid complaint on its own. PLENTY of newbies are alts. Most, honestly. The number of truly new new players is low. Even new to IRE players have likely played a MUD. Automatically assuming that someone interacting with newbies means they are engaging in predatory behavior is willful ignorance of this fact. That being said, if there are repeated and ongoing complaints about a player, TELL THE ADMIN. Issue them. Let them review the logs. They can and will.
With regard to non-consensual play, meh. It's really common, as long as people KEEP IT OUT OF PUBLIC SPACES, let people do as they want to do as long as everyone involved is of legal age and consenting.
Whisper campaigns and secret lists and all of that rot are dangerous for the community. They are far too easily prone to vindictive disgruntled ex-RP partners. I'm FIRMLY in the believe victims category when it comes to real-life assault, but when it comes to these text game environments, the amount of false accusations for dramatic effect seems to skyrocket. I've personally had to deal with it entirely too often and every time it's like taking a cheese grater to the eyeball.
All that said, the primary message that I really, really want to get across here is:
Harassment should be handled OOC by the admin and not in-game. Harassment/rape/sexual assault/anything related should NOT be a point of public RP. Full stop. There is no argument that overrides the potential impact of emotional trauma that kind of nonsense can have on victims of assault.
Edit - Also, do not compare sexual assault/harassment in the real world with someone hitting too frequently on a new character. Cuz...wow, I can't even begin to explain how offensive that is.
I'm going to say this one more time because the point is being missed in all this rambling.
There is 100% -zero- reason why anyone outside of the person being harassed, the person accused of harassment, and the admin need to be dealing with it.
Keep it off the faction/org channels, keep it out of the news. Otherwise, you are risking impacting survivors of real trauma that did not have a QQ and issue option.
A) If someone is legitimately harassing people in-game, I can personally vouch that the admin -will- handle it. If it's a matter of poor signal reading, they'll get a talking to and if they don't learn, they'll be gone. I speak from experience here.
If someone is legitimately harassing people in-game, PLEASE issue about it. There are circumstances in which you might be stuck in a room with someone (I have been in that situation, even if I qq'd I couldn't escape the room they had taken me too). If this happens and you don't feel comfortable logging in, email the admin about it or poke them on Discord or on the forums or -somewhere-. As critical as I can be of the IRE admin, this is something they take deadly serious and they WILL handle it. C) Bringing allegations of harassment up as a political tool serves zero productive purposes and actively hurts victims. Please stop. Don't justify it. Don't make excuses for it. Don't tell me about the women leaving the game for it (because see the above two points), just don't.
I've been playing IRE games for over a decade and MUDs/MUSHs/MUXs for far, far longer than that. I'm a survivor fo multiple rounds of sexual abuse and assault. I've been an org leader for longer than a lot of people have played text games. There is -absolutely no scenario- in which this needs to be discussed IC. Full stop. Handle it with the admin. Doing anything else puts people at risk of rehashing real trauma. I'm almost 40 and I've been playing text-games since before AOL was a thing, back when it was a telnet connection. Please don't lecture me about the harassment women who play online games receive.
With regard to 'newbies' engaging in sexual behavior - frankly, this is and always will be a stupid complaint on its own. PLENTY of newbies are alts. Most, honestly. The number of truly new new players is low. Even new to IRE players have likely played a MUD. Automatically assuming that someone interacting with newbies means they are engaging in predatory behavior is willful ignorance of this fact. That being said, if there are repeated and ongoing complaints about a player, TELL THE ADMIN. Issue them. Let them review the logs. They can and will.
With regard to non-consensual play, meh. It's really common, as long as people KEEP IT OUT OF PUBLIC SPACES, let people do as they want to do as long as everyone involved is of legal age and consenting.
Whisper campaigns and secret lists and all of that rot are dangerous for the community. They are far too easily prone to vindictive disgruntled ex-RP partners. I'm FIRMLY in the believe victims category when it comes to real-life assault, but when it comes to these text game environments, the amount of false accusations for dramatic effect seems to skyrocket. I've personally had to deal with it entirely too often and every time it's like taking a cheese grater to the eyeball.
All that said, the primary message that I really, really want to get across here is:
Harassment should be handled OOC by the admin and not in-game. Harassment/rape/sexual assault/anything related should NOT be a point of public RP. Full stop. There is no argument that overrides the potential impact of emotional trauma that kind of nonsense can have on victims of assault.
Edit - Also, do not compare sexual assault/harassment in the real world with someone hitting too frequently on a new character. Cuz...wow, I can't even begin to explain how offensive that is.
Re: Sexual Harassment Allegations
Politely: Go flakk yourself. The admins do not see each issue without context. Our overlords are smarter than that. If someone is making an effort to harass several other players, that's easy to see, easy to deal with. Issue the flakker and get them the hell out of the game. Don't use it as a centerpoint for gigantic IC drama, as that's not healthy for anyone - and will drive away as many people as you are trying to keep: because they are victims themselves, because they do not find that kind of drama engaging or tasteful, or because they support those victims and refuse to take part in forcing them unnecessarily to relive their trauma in what is SUPPOSED to be an escape.Kestrel said:[snipped]
Nykara
9
Re: Sexual Harassment Allegations
I must be the worst female ever but... please don't forget that there are other genders out there - whether IRL or through the character they portray. It's not just females who are sexually harassed. Others - of all genders - might not be as forthcoming of their experiences as others would be. It infuriates me to no end to see above that there should be a blacklist created and sent around to females only -- because none of those creeps on your list might also show interest in another gender, right?
Ani
9