Oct 18, 2018, 8:06 PM

@ganymede The lack of IC/OOC divide where there really SHOULD be some is, perhaps, at the root of the whole problem. And "If my character loses, I lose" is a cognition that doesn't spring out of nowhere. If you're actually saying as a game policy that social contests between characters will be resolved based on the skills of the players involved, then a loss for a character IS a loss for that player. Assuming they were trying their best to be a slick social maven, they've just been labeled a failure in that endeavor, possibly in a hugely public way on the game. Not their character, but THEM. So it certainly isn't going to help.

There is no absolute IC/OOC divide - ultimately, characters exist because we OOC want them to do so, and they attempt to do things that we OOC want them to do. But that doesn't mean that the entire concept of 'this is a character's skills and abilities' and 'this is a player's skills and abilities' needs to be tossed out.

If you want to cross the IC/OOC divide in a more productive way, then encourage collaboration in social systems, and make it rewarding for players who are perhaps more skilled or savvy regarding social interaction to HELP players who are less so succeed in directing their socially oriented characters.