This post has become more essential due to recent events. No names will ever be named and anyone naming names in this thread will be reported.
Hierarchy (Specifically in an FU faction)
This is a simple concept.
Master > Knight > Apprentice
It's literally that simple. An apprentice does not have the respect and prowess that a Lord does IC, and never will. Same goes for Knights. Just like Generals are above Lieutenants and Lieutenants are above Privates in the armed forces. The General is the leader, Lieutenants help run the rank and file, and Privates are the new guys. Ranks exist for a reason, and they exist to be IC (more on this separation later).
To further explain, here's a scenario:
Johnny the Sith Knight has discovered that the Sith Lords have called a secret meeting. He's been newly Knighted and the new respect and mastery over the Apprentices has gone a bit to his head. He decides he deserves the right to participate in the meeting of Lord's, so he weasels his way in and butts in on their conversation. The Sith Lords are unhappy about a Knight, who wasn't invited to their meeting, speaking up. Johnny, for thinking he's so awesome, gets killed as punishment. Now Johnny is dead. That entitlement he felt isn't working out so well for him.
Now it may work a little different in the Jedi, as the punishment would probably be some form of discipline and not death, but the concept is the same. This concept comes directly from the movies, as we saw in the prequels that the Jedi Masters on the Council did not invite Knights or Padawan's to the meetings unless they were the subject of the meeting. With Sith, who are power hungry and egotistic, they are definitely not going to allow Knights or Apprentices to butt in on a meeting of Lords.
Now this brings me to the next topic:
The Separation of IC and OOC
OOCly, a faction is run by an admin team. It's their job to help arrange things like skirmishes/invasions/rebellions and to keep the forum clean and tidy. It's also their job to enforce the factions rules, which are generally just the Chaos general rules. They value the opinions and ideas of every member, and will never tell someone that they can't do their idea (unless it endangers the entire faction, then they might). If anything, they encourage non-staff to promote thread ideas and help to drive the faction.
ICly, most Force Using factions have a leadership centered around some form of Council/Grandmaster situation. These people obtain the role through IC actions. These IC roles have no power in OOC. Yes, the people holding these positions are sometimes members of faction staff, but the rank itself is IC only. Additionally, just because someone holds this role doesn't mean you have to do what they say. You can chose to ignore their orders and do whatever you want. Ultimately, what you do with your character is entirely up to you, provided you understand that some actions may have negative consequences.
IC and OOC are never the same thing. You should never look at someones IC actions and OOCly want to do something about it, or let someone's OOC actions influence what you do IC. That's breaking immersion and is just poor etiquette.
This separation of the two seems to have become lost on some people recently. ICly not involving you in something that your character would legitimately have no involvement in is not a lack of inclusion, it's simply the reality of the IC world. Like the example above: Johnny wasn't called to the meeting ICly because he is not a Sith Lord and therefore has no standing among the Lords. It's not because the people writing the Lords don't want to RP with him, it's just that in that particular setting he had no business being involved. From an OOC standpoint, even if he'd been allowed to join, his writer would have been bored writing about his character standing around doing nothing.
If you cannot separate your IC from your OOC you are going to struggle on this board, or any board. OOC we encourage you to speak your mind and offer ideas to better your factions, the community, and your experience. IC, you have to earn the right to sit at the big kids table.
Respect is earned, not given.
Hierarchy (Specifically in an FU faction)
This is a simple concept.
Master > Knight > Apprentice
It's literally that simple. An apprentice does not have the respect and prowess that a Lord does IC, and never will. Same goes for Knights. Just like Generals are above Lieutenants and Lieutenants are above Privates in the armed forces. The General is the leader, Lieutenants help run the rank and file, and Privates are the new guys. Ranks exist for a reason, and they exist to be IC (more on this separation later).
To further explain, here's a scenario:
Johnny the Sith Knight has discovered that the Sith Lords have called a secret meeting. He's been newly Knighted and the new respect and mastery over the Apprentices has gone a bit to his head. He decides he deserves the right to participate in the meeting of Lord's, so he weasels his way in and butts in on their conversation. The Sith Lords are unhappy about a Knight, who wasn't invited to their meeting, speaking up. Johnny, for thinking he's so awesome, gets killed as punishment. Now Johnny is dead. That entitlement he felt isn't working out so well for him.
Now it may work a little different in the Jedi, as the punishment would probably be some form of discipline and not death, but the concept is the same. This concept comes directly from the movies, as we saw in the prequels that the Jedi Masters on the Council did not invite Knights or Padawan's to the meetings unless they were the subject of the meeting. With Sith, who are power hungry and egotistic, they are definitely not going to allow Knights or Apprentices to butt in on a meeting of Lords.
Now this brings me to the next topic:
The Separation of IC and OOC
OOCly, a faction is run by an admin team. It's their job to help arrange things like skirmishes/invasions/rebellions and to keep the forum clean and tidy. It's also their job to enforce the factions rules, which are generally just the Chaos general rules. They value the opinions and ideas of every member, and will never tell someone that they can't do their idea (unless it endangers the entire faction, then they might). If anything, they encourage non-staff to promote thread ideas and help to drive the faction.
ICly, most Force Using factions have a leadership centered around some form of Council/Grandmaster situation. These people obtain the role through IC actions. These IC roles have no power in OOC. Yes, the people holding these positions are sometimes members of faction staff, but the rank itself is IC only. Additionally, just because someone holds this role doesn't mean you have to do what they say. You can chose to ignore their orders and do whatever you want. Ultimately, what you do with your character is entirely up to you, provided you understand that some actions may have negative consequences.
IC and OOC are never the same thing. You should never look at someones IC actions and OOCly want to do something about it, or let someone's OOC actions influence what you do IC. That's breaking immersion and is just poor etiquette.
This separation of the two seems to have become lost on some people recently. ICly not involving you in something that your character would legitimately have no involvement in is not a lack of inclusion, it's simply the reality of the IC world. Like the example above: Johnny wasn't called to the meeting ICly because he is not a Sith Lord and therefore has no standing among the Lords. It's not because the people writing the Lords don't want to RP with him, it's just that in that particular setting he had no business being involved. From an OOC standpoint, even if he'd been allowed to join, his writer would have been bored writing about his character standing around doing nothing.
If you cannot separate your IC from your OOC you are going to struggle on this board, or any board. OOC we encourage you to speak your mind and offer ideas to better your factions, the community, and your experience. IC, you have to earn the right to sit at the big kids table.
Respect is earned, not given.
