Explaining the "downtime" thread..
Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 1:21 am
The Downtime thread is often abused or at least used incorrectly and I can understand why. It's been a long time since I started the thread and I believe I had a topic in General that explained it back then. Most of you weren't around for the events that started the thread.
This is the situation. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
There was a ruler ingame named Eristeaus who ruled an upstart kingdom named Marshikar. The player of Eristeaus, we'll say his name is Darrek, had a very busy personal life and often couldn't keep up with the average Illarion player who is much younger and has less obligations, and so he couldn't always be around to rule his kingdom, have meetings, answer questions, and other things that rulers must do.
Players reacted in a way that was natural but ultimately unfair: they improvised. At first it was "I'll make sure that Eristeaus gets your message, but he's been so busy lately" but when that excuse started to wear "Eristeaus couldn't show up to this meeting, I fear. He's come down with a terrible illness" and eventually "Eristeaus has been nowhere to be found of late! Between you and me, we're talking about launching a coup for Marshikar!"
How was that unfair? Well, people were playing Eristeaus' character for him, so he no longer got to make decisions about his character, and even worse, he would have to improvise and play along with what other people decided his character has been up to, and sometimes those things were contradictory!
People often forget this is a game and they expect more out of people than what they can give and the stress started to build, and games shouldn't be stressful. So I invented the Downtime thread.
You see, downtime is a concept I took from tabletop rp: the idea that your character continues to exist between gaming sessions. Good rpers consider this and can use this in interesting ways, developing their characters in new directions by what they experience between sessions. I think in the original thread I gave the example of a down-on-his-luck detective who always has a story about some painful encounter that happened between game sessions.
That being said, your character continues to exist when you can't play them, and the downtime thread is your chance to describe in in-character rp detail what your character is doing while you're away. Now it can include a reason why your character isn't answering his mail or interacting, but it doesn't have to. If you say your character is still about town chasing ladies around, you can say that, and other players don't have a right to act as if your character is doing anything but (within reason). It's your character: you decide what they're doing and no one else has a right to say otherwise.
Have fun with it, but please don't just post an ooc note about how you're away and leave. Better yet, leave the ooc for the ooc boards.
This is the situation. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
There was a ruler ingame named Eristeaus who ruled an upstart kingdom named Marshikar. The player of Eristeaus, we'll say his name is Darrek, had a very busy personal life and often couldn't keep up with the average Illarion player who is much younger and has less obligations, and so he couldn't always be around to rule his kingdom, have meetings, answer questions, and other things that rulers must do.
Players reacted in a way that was natural but ultimately unfair: they improvised. At first it was "I'll make sure that Eristeaus gets your message, but he's been so busy lately" but when that excuse started to wear "Eristeaus couldn't show up to this meeting, I fear. He's come down with a terrible illness" and eventually "Eristeaus has been nowhere to be found of late! Between you and me, we're talking about launching a coup for Marshikar!"
How was that unfair? Well, people were playing Eristeaus' character for him, so he no longer got to make decisions about his character, and even worse, he would have to improvise and play along with what other people decided his character has been up to, and sometimes those things were contradictory!
People often forget this is a game and they expect more out of people than what they can give and the stress started to build, and games shouldn't be stressful. So I invented the Downtime thread.
You see, downtime is a concept I took from tabletop rp: the idea that your character continues to exist between gaming sessions. Good rpers consider this and can use this in interesting ways, developing their characters in new directions by what they experience between sessions. I think in the original thread I gave the example of a down-on-his-luck detective who always has a story about some painful encounter that happened between game sessions.
That being said, your character continues to exist when you can't play them, and the downtime thread is your chance to describe in in-character rp detail what your character is doing while you're away. Now it can include a reason why your character isn't answering his mail or interacting, but it doesn't have to. If you say your character is still about town chasing ladies around, you can say that, and other players don't have a right to act as if your character is doing anything but (within reason). It's your character: you decide what they're doing and no one else has a right to say otherwise.
Have fun with it, but please don't just post an ooc note about how you're away and leave. Better yet, leave the ooc for the ooc boards.
