I know that "No godmoding" is one of the golden rules of online roleplay, but...here's the dilemma.
Most of us here are casual RP'ers at best, at least at this point in our lives: we used to be serious RP'ers, posting several times a week, until RL caught up to us and we had to start being adults who bring home our own bacon. :-) Unfortunately, what that means is that we're not always up to or able to post frequently, and that sometimes means the person or people we have threads open with get frustrated b/c they want to post and there's nothing for them to post to. To take some recent examples: my job has been hell, resulting in lots of after-hours and weekend work when I would normally RP, and since my job is computer-oriented, it makes me avoid computers like the plague (and, incidentally, RP'ing); Shanna's been having muse trouble (at least in part because of the new semester starting up and her work schedule getting changed).
So...I'm proposing a couple of changes with regards to how posting works.
* Because I'm really only on the site on Sat-Sun weekends, that's why I'm using "weekends" as a measure of OC time. Under normal, everyday circumstances, I think most everyone should be able to post at least once every week, but things happen: you get sick, or you have family come to visit, or (most commonly for me) you have to work, so missing a weekend isn't going to be especially unusual. So that's why I say 2 weekends - that accounts for something coming up one weekend and keeping you from posting.
Does anyone have any overwhelming objections to that?
Most of us here are casual RP'ers at best, at least at this point in our lives: we used to be serious RP'ers, posting several times a week, until RL caught up to us and we had to start being adults who bring home our own bacon. :-) Unfortunately, what that means is that we're not always up to or able to post frequently, and that sometimes means the person or people we have threads open with get frustrated b/c they want to post and there's nothing for them to post to. To take some recent examples: my job has been hell, resulting in lots of after-hours and weekend work when I would normally RP, and since my job is computer-oriented, it makes me avoid computers like the plague (and, incidentally, RP'ing); Shanna's been having muse trouble (at least in part because of the new semester starting up and her work schedule getting changed).
So...I'm proposing a couple of changes with regards to how posting works.
- In any thread, if the "next poster" fails to post for 2 weekends* in a row (excluding time covered by Absence board posts), a thread will be opened in the Rumor Mill board to allow other gamers to suggest things that the "missing" person could say or do in the thread (I think most of us either know each other's characters well enough or are good enough RP'ers to make reasonable suggestions).
- The Rumor Mill thread will be closed at the end of the next weekend; if the "missing" person has not yet posted, the thread will be converted to a poll where other gamers can vote on which suggestion they like best.
- At the end of the next weekend, if the "missing" person still has not posted, Kes will make a post in the thread stating what was voted as the top suggestion and that the "missing" person did/said those things. The other person (or people) in the thread can then continue posting. This is, effectively, godmoding, but I'm trying to keep it to a reasonably limited level.
* Because I'm really only on the site on Sat-Sun weekends, that's why I'm using "weekends" as a measure of OC time. Under normal, everyday circumstances, I think most everyone should be able to post at least once every week, but things happen: you get sick, or you have family come to visit, or (most commonly for me) you have to work, so missing a weekend isn't going to be especially unusual. So that's why I say 2 weekends - that accounts for something coming up one weekend and keeping you from posting.
Does anyone have any overwhelming objections to that?