I've got a few topics having to do with RP on the server to discuss. Maybe this warrants a RP meeting, but hopefully a forums discussion will be good enough. We'll see.
The issue of distracted RP(whether by a movie, your roommate, or reddit) has always been a problem with the server. If you're not fully engaged with your character, not only are you losing out on enjoying RP, but everybody around you is also suffering by having to RP with a zombie. If you're the only person in the zone, there's nothing wrong with distracting yourself until others arrive, but once other people are RPing on the server we should all be focusing on IC, even if nobody is directly speaking to your character. If they're bored, maybe they should do something IC to alleviate that boredom, rather than sitting there while you entertain yourself with OOC distractions.
I know that unexpected distractions happen to everybody. Don't feel like you have to force yourself to continue RPing if there's something happening that's taken your mind out of it. Excuse your character to the AFK room until it passes, or even log out for the evening. We've all had to do it, and there's no shame in it. Nobody is going to hate you for having to call it a night when you're not mentally engaged, because when you come back to the RP with your head fully in the game it'll be so much more fulfilling, not only for you but for everybody else involved.
It also came to my attention a few days ago that some people were unsure about whether or not they could teach spells to other students. I'm sorry if there was some confusion about it, because the answer is YES! Yes, absolutely, please do this! I'm always happy to ballpark some DCs(general rule: 13/18 for a "sort of" and "successful cast" respectively for a first year spell, +2 to each DC for each year beyond first) and give advice about which subjects to roll.
My rule on how long it takes to learn the spells is that it takes however long the RP requires, but generally one session for spells that aren't NEWT level. Some spells may take two or even three sessions if your character just isn't getting them, but with rare exceptions you shouldn't require days of effort to learn normal spells. NWN spells can be replicated with blank scrolls without involving a DM, while wand spells will require a DM request to have the spell granted. Don't feel like you're bothering us by making this request, you're really not - we want to see people RPing learning spells! Use that wonderful new dueling hall that Necro built!
And finally, the matter of class attendance. Classes on the server have up to this point been OOCly optional to attend. If your character is enrolled in transfiguration but you really would rather RP them eating dinner instead of coming to class, we haven't taken it ICly that you're not there. As the server numbers continue to drop, the server admins have considered the option to make some classes not OOCly optional. That is, if you're online RPing and your character is enrolled in a class that's being taught, but you're doing something else with them, it will ICly be considered a skipped class.
There's several reasons why we've decided to give this a try. First is that we're RPing a school, and classes are a very important part of your character's life here, so it doesn't make sense to avoid attending them. Second is that DMs work hard to prepare interesting classes, and I'll be honest and say it's a little disheartening to look at the players online list and look at who's in the zone and see that there's people skipping out on what you worked so hard on. And lastly is that this will make it more clear to everybody, DM and PC, whether students are ICly skipping class(troublemakers!) or just would rather be doing something else OOCly.
This won't be for every class, especially not spell classes, and we will always give fair OOC warning that RP will have to be wrapped up(or put in a timebubble to continue later). Also, remember that it's always an option to hop on an alt - don't feel like you have to sit by yourself if your character's girlfriend went off to class, just hop on another character and then switch back when class lets out...or not, if you've found more interesting RP!
I'd just like to wrap up by saying that this stuff isn't directed to any one person in particular, most of it is stuff that we all have to work on. I know we all want to help make the server RP environment better, and I think that working on these things will help to accomplish that goal. See you guys in game!
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