@Roz GotchaGotcha. I don't think he's wrong I'm just digesting it.
So last few minutes here's what I thought:
What do people want:
- Roleplay
- To not be cut out of roleplay
- To maintain relevance
What do people really not want
- Characters who 'cheat' but do so in a way that can't be discovered ICly, resulting in no closure to the jilted IC lover and a cake and eat it, too scenario with no ramifications.
- Players who do the above but then get angry OOCly if their 'harem' doesn't comply
So, rolling it around in my head I asked myself how I'd want it. Like @Auspice said I'd been here ICly before with little to no angst, so how I'd want it?
- Not to be kept waiting. If your PC is off doing shenanigans you dont have to okay it through me, but let me know not to wait up and that their absence will be notable ICly. Its not my job to be held on pause while you have TS adventures
- You be cool, I'll be cool. We aren't married. I dont really care why you want the character to do their thing. It's your character. You dont get to control the IC response to your IC decision. I'll keep it IC, but story is what it is
- So long as everyone is respectful and pages dont become laborious pre-marriage counseling nonsense? Cool. I dont need your personal OOC opinions on my style of roleplay and you don't owe me alimony. Game on.
I know i keep coming back to this, though, but I think the huge reason why so much TS is behind closed doors is because there's a deeply personal aspect to it. It's probably always going to be my opinion as to why so many cheating episodes ICly are reacted to like RL cheating and not sex scenes on True Blood. Still, really what people want is to maintain the flow of RP, positive or negative scene-wise, and to not just get left on the side of the road with nothing to RP.
But, having said that, you cant make THE RELATIONSHIP your lifeline to RP. If someone wants out of the IC relationship, they havent ruined your character. I refuse to believe that the entire viability of the character exists because of THAT particular dick. If someone wants out...you gotta let them go.