Politics

@Mercutio Is there a way to take the survey without supplying personal information by logging in through Fb, etc? Using email requires one to be a member of SharpMUSH.

@Tapewyrm I vaguely remember seeing the name! But I barely remember yesterday so things 20-ish years ago are fuzzy. I don't have a ton of time these days to play (new job, much adulting) but I'll try to swing by on the weekend. It's cool that you all are trying to revive it. Tolkien is still a huge love of mine.

@Tapewyrm Yep, I was Helle in Dale, too. I've had versions of this name for long enough to feel super old about it. Is it the same address as always, or have you all started up a new server?

Great, I'll pass this information along to my friend.

And I assure you that I would never do any such thing for personal entertainment value.

@Ghost FUCK NO. That is creepy and stalkery behavior and fucking disgusting.

If people want nothing to do with someone, be fucking honest and ask for a chance. OR, fucking respect their choices. Consent based on a lie is not consent.

God, I'm just sitting here grossing the fuck out.

No, it's not ethical. And they won't like you after that.

Interactions on online roleplay spaces are largely transactional. People are going to like you for whatever enjoyment you bring to their experience. And they will very quickly dislike you if you destroy their enjoyment. Giving them space for character development, giving them fun stuff to roleplay about, nice writing, making them feel good about themselves, et cetera -- versus getting in the way of their intended plots, disturbing their fun, triggering them, emotionally burdening them in an OOC way, delegitimizing their character concepts in your roleplay, et cetera. They don't usually care about you as a person in real life; at most they are just trying to act ethically themselves while pursuing the enjoyment of a hobby that we share.

If you make them feel bad, that's stuck in their head now. The most respectful thing to do, ethically, is just leave them alone. And if you can't do that, because it's a small hobby... don't bring back the bad feelings to them in any way. Just play quietly and politely. The most ethical way is to be clear about who you are so they can avoid you. The second most ethical way is at least to let the game runner know who you are. The third is to just turn over a new leaf without bringing any attention to it.

Insinuating yourself in others' good graces and then bringing back whatever bad feelings you once caused, in an effort to pad your ego in some imaginary redemption arc, is honestly kind of a very lame plan that will backfire. They will feel betrayed and annoyed. And those are bad feelings, so all you've done is make things worse, because now they have even more bad feelings on top of the old ones.

At least, this is my opinion based of my admittedly not-great understanding of human interactions and basic ethics of integrity.

@Ganymede said in Ethical Question:

@Ghost said in Ethical Question:

IS IT ETHICAL to join a bunch of MUs and embed yourself in roleplay with people who don't like you as a means to repair your relationship with them by being cool with them...and then later reveal it was you all along?

Generally, I don't find myself in such ethical quandaries because I have neither the time nor the inclination to try and convince people who don't like me that I am likeable.

Generally, it's for that reason that I've never moderated an online forum and have never been in a situation where I've trained to maintain my popularity in spite of.

@Ghost said in Ethical Question:

IS IT ETHICAL to join a bunch of MUs and embed yourself in roleplay with people who don't like you as a means to repair your relationship with them by being cool with them...and then later reveal it was you all along?

Generally, I don't find myself in such ethical quandaries because I have neither the time nor the inclination to try and convince people who don't like me that I am likeable.

Question...

IS IT ETHICAL to join a bunch of MUs and embed yourself in roleplay with people who don't like you as a means to repair your relationship with them by being cool with them...and then later reveal it was you all along?

...asking for a friend.

Sort of yes? I've been toying with using the Storypath Ultra system to do a WoD-style game. I'm a big fan of the system and think it could be a good way to give a fresh coat of paint on things while keeping it familiar and comfortable.