Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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A New Outlook on IC and OOC

Nyxie

【夢狐】
I originally began writing this genuinely believing I was going to leave for good - that it would be the last thing I ever wrote here, but then I had the epiphany and oddly enough, it made me feel okay with staying.

My experience being on this site started off great... then I agitated a few people (mostly the staff heh) and it was 'ehhhh'... then I stopped doing that and it was better... then I started defending Circe Savan and it was a nightmare, LOL... but finally something funny happened. I stopped surrounding myself in drama, and the more I did, the more I noticed everyone else's around them. We all like to think highly of our individual selves, but the truth is we as a species are bound to hypocrisy. We all slip up some time, and that's what makes us unique.

I've learned something. There is no difference between the IC and the OOC. You can't separate the two. For a long time, I thought one should always strive to keep that distinction, but then something changed that. Throughout the course of their characters' lives and experiences, I watched people genuinely feel sad, feel glad, be patriotic, commune with similarly-minded others, rival each other, simply going over general human interactions. I realized that the difference was a complete illusion; that we're all human, that this is just a game and we only play because we - the human behind every character - have fun being that character for a while. Separating the IC from the OOC means separating the fun from the game, and thus no one would play. There's not a single soul out there, not even I, that can claim they didn't cause a little strife, deter someone or themselves from something, or bend the rules of their character a little for the sole sake of the experience not diminishing for everyone else.

Every time you see a thread and feel as though you want to join it - that's OOC.

Every time you make a new item and pick an image that looks the best - that's OOC.

Every time you kill or injure another's character and they become gloomy or vengeful - that's OOC.

Every time you back up someone for an Invasion or Skirmish because you saw they needed the help - that's OOC.

Roleplay is absolutely, purely and substantially driven and based by the OOC. We are not our characters and we never will be. We only simulate them, but we do so in our way in our time. Human interaction is what makes any of it possible. The merits are ours. The consequences are ours. Some of us are less affected, and that's only because we decided to put up with great risk in search of even greater experiences. That doesn't leave anyone above or below anyone else. It's just what makes us all different, even though we're all driven by the same thing.
 

Sralkai Kearraa

Guest
S
I've always described it as the OOC Bias: we'rr all subject to OOC actions even when heavily involved in IC proceedings. You explained it beautifully.
 
This post made me realize and admit something... Every time something bad happens to Lilith, I feel bad. Every time something good happens to her, I feel good. And every time I hate a character, I hate the person behind the character, though I understand it's just a game and that the person RPd with their character, not with themselves. :D
 

Veevleigh

Pink Perfumed Slicer Waif
I'm new here obviously, but I've RP'd before, and I don't quite find this. When something bad happens to my character, if it creates a good story or good (IC!) drama, I tend to actually love it. If somebody hates my character and has a really good rivalry with me, I usually really get on with that writer, because I enjoy building an IC drama. And when my character is hurt IC and wants revenge, on an OOC level, I just enjoy the story and want to see what happens.

That's not to say there's a clear link between OOC and IC for me still, because I write what I enjoy (otherwise, what would be the point?), so my OOC enjoyments impact my IC actions, but I do tend to feel a separation of some sort between myself and my character. I don't link myself to my character's situation or emotional state.
 

Jsc

Disney's Princess
*does his best Neo voice*

"There is no IC or OOC. There is only dudes behind a computer screen. Whoa." :D
 
This! This is what I piss people off with the most! Haha.

When I'm on Racket I'm Racket. My 'inbox' is the holo pad I see him half heartlessly tossing around his filthy smoke stained cockpit.

When I'm on A'donari I see the messages in my box as someone speaking to me through Jedi electronic based means or while moving at random through the Temple.


Makes it much, much more fun for me. I don't like turning off my characters until I sign out.
@[member="Ashelotte Saybin"]
 

Nyxie

【夢狐】
Shush, @[member="Circe Savan"], I've also learned never to join an Open thread with you in it ever again. xD
I'm kidding....
Mostly. ._.

@[member="Racket"] I once tried that on another site, but I got looked at like I had five heads, haha.
Hmm. Actually, I like that idea. Color code them so people know when/what is character-me and what is just me as a writer. It would end a lot of the silliness I've been facing lately.

@[member="Darth Malificete"] Good point, though I can't say I know what it's like to judge someone by their character alone. It works the other way around too. A person might dislike or might avoid a character because they 'hate' or dislike that character's writer. That's fine because no one can force another to write, but my point is, that is OOC. If Lilith was walking down the street in real life, and she came across such a character, do you think realistically she could just say "Well, I don't like them so I'm going to not exist right now," heh? Luckily no one has a gun to our head and we have the ability to choose which of our characters' experiences we want to see.


I guess it's kinda like a balance and everyone has to find theirs. How much on the OOC level are you willing to control your character's life for the sake of fun and story content, and how often you're willing to pursue something a little more than you would yourself for the sake of character continuity. Lean too much on IC and it gets too tenuous and difficult to write for or with. Lean too much on OOC and it becomes less about the character and too much about the writer. Finding a balance is finding a good, healthy harmony.
 

Nyxie

【夢狐】
Yeahhh... then again, you're (Racket) probably already used to being looked at as though you have five heads, aren't you. xD
 
OOC and IC can mix, but there is a difference between being happy when things go well for your character and taking things personally. If you ever find yourself becoming vindictive because of IC reasons, that's a sign that you need to take a break, find some friends and get a beer or two.
 
Carrying on from my last point, I find that I don't blur IC and OOC as much as you might. For example, the other day I made an open challenge for a duel and Ket Van Derveld accepted. OOC I was stoked, because I've never written with Ket before and think IC he kicks ass. IC, however, Alen's going to have a bad day and he knows it. Didn't affect me OOCly at all. After Ket's done whooping Alen I'm not going to be butthurt about it, just grateful to have been able to write an awesome story.
 

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