NationStates Jolt Archive

The creation of a third RP forum in which Out of Character matters (technology, realism, designing militaries, economies, and the like) has been suggested before.

Assuming that such a forum is possible, would you like to see one?

(Mods: I'm posting this thread here as many RP players don't frequent the other forums, and so might miss it.)

I don't really think it matters. Either way is fine with me.

I think the II and NS forums do the job of an OOC forum perfectly well, in my opinion.

If it were there, I'd probably use it once or twice a year, because I tend to poke my nose into anything that's going. But the current discussion in the Moderation forum on whether General needs to be split seems to suggest that it's difficult to get an extra forum from Jolt.

Personally, OOC posts at the start of a reply or TGs to individuals do the job adequately for me. Another friend uses MSN a lot. In one region where I have a puppet, they use the Invisionfree boards and have discussion threads, RP threads and information threads, which works really well.

I'd rather see Forum 7 make a comeback, personally.

I think it would be a very good idea - I really hate seeing OOC in a IC thread -

having ooc threads to discuss stuff in an RP is a much better thing -
but too many ooc threads clutter the rp forum
having them seperate would be better

Could perhaps a sub forum be created? I know several boards where they have sub forums attached to the main forum.

If it were there, I'd probably use it once or twice a year, because I tend to poke my nose into anything that's going. But the current discussion in the Moderation forum on whether General needs to be split seems to suggest that it's difficult to get an extra forum from Jolt.

Hmm.. Can you point me to that discussion - I don't see it. (And why would it be in Moderation, not Technical? That just seems odd.)

It is my understanding, from the last time that this came up, that it could be done fairly easily, but that the mods didn't have time when it was suggested and that the question would be considered later.

Personally, OOC posts at the start of a reply or TGs to individuals do the job adequately for me. Another friend uses MSN a lot. In one region where I have a puppet, they use the Invisionfree boards and have discussion threads, RP threads and information threads, which works really well.

Well, alot of people don't want OOC cluttering up their RPs. And a number of things (like those listed above) can't be done by TG or IRC/IM, and probably shouldn't clutter up RP threads.
Especially the "How do I do XYZ?" threads that pop up pretty frequently.
Plus, most of the stickies in NS and all the stickies in II would be better placed in an OOC forum, leaving more room for RP stuff.

Here's the addy for the Moderation thread:

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=408935

However, I'm not sure whether I saw the discussion abt the difficulty of starting a new forum in this thread or in a similar one in, I think, General (though it's also been coming up in UN debate threads).

I manage OK with TGs, as I said, but I can see why you don't like OOC comments in RP posts. I try to keep them to one-liners or put them in itals or double-space between them and the IC post. Even so, it does interrupt the flow of a thread (particularly if you're RPing telepaths, where italics are conventional for thought messages).

I don't know enough abt the mechanics of NS to phrase this next bit properly. I've been wondering if it would be possible to put something like a Sticky at the top of each page of posts that would say, "OOC comments HERE", with the HERE being clickable so that it would take you to an OOC thread. (Which would still leave the problem of OOC threads cluttering up the forums.)

I've seen a couple of really competently run RPs in which the originator explains in the first post what the background of the story is, gives general ideas of where it's going and then lets it run, posting IC-ly where necessary to introduce twists or eliminate bottlenecks. But that demands a level of competence most of us don't have and I'd hate to see the fun of starting your own thread, or of letting one run to hell and gone, restricted.

Are there any Really Old Players out there who remember how it was done in the dear dead days beyond recall?

Here's the addy for the Moderation thread:

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=408935

However, I'm not sure whether I saw the discussion abt the difficulty of starting a new forum in this thread or in a similar one in, I think, General (though it's also been coming up in UN debate threads).

Thanks.

Changes to the forum heirarchy require the intervention of a Jolt Administrator. I can't speak for the Jolt Admins, but I anticipate that they will deny such a request on the grounds there are already boards for Chat, Serious Discussions, general humour, spam, and the various child forums of the Jolt non-gaming forums and that NationStates players can already post to those boards.

So, unless my guess about the possible reaction of the Jolt Admins is way off (which is possible; I don't personally know them very well), I think we're going to be stuck with one "General" board for a while. (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=8584859&postcount=33)

So it's not a matter of being technically difficult, but one of demonstable need. And that's why I put up the poll, to see if there was enough of a need that we could bring to Jolt. :)


I manage OK with TGs, as I said, but I can see why you don't like OOC comments in RP posts. I try to keep them to one-liners or put them in itals or double-space between them and the IC post. Even so, it does interrupt the flow of a thread (particularly if you're RPing telepaths, where italics are conventional for thought messages).

I don't know enough abt the mechanics of NS to phrase this next bit properly. I've been wondering if it would be possible to put something like a Sticky at the top of each page of posts that would say, "OOC comments HERE", with the HERE being clickable so that it would take you to an OOC thread. (Which would still leave the problem of OOC threads cluttering up the forums.)

I've seen a couple of really competently run RPs in which the originator explains in the first post what the background of the story is, gives general ideas of where it's going and then lets it run, posting IC-ly where necessary to introduce twists or eliminate bottlenecks. But that demands a level of competence most of us don't have and I'd hate to see the fun of starting your own thread, or of letting one run to hell and gone, restricted.

Well, I'm think more of entire threads that are OOC, like these:
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=286344
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=327933
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=408743
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=406548
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=408404
(That last one was a question on RP matters that ended up in gameplay because some people are still confusing that forum with an RP forum. )

Those are all related to RPing, but are certainly not RP.

Are there any Really Old Players out there who remember how it was done in the dear dead days beyond recall?

I've been around long enough (I started in summer 2003, under a slightly different name). :) This had been suggested on the old site (pre-jolt), but was turned down due to server issues. It was again suggested soon after the move to Jolt, but was turned down because the mods were busy with the change over.

So it's not a matter of being technically difficult, but one of demonstable need. And that's why I put up the poll, to see if there was enough of a need that we could bring to Jolt.

*Grasshopper bows to Sensei-san.* I misread the post. Thanks for clearing that up.

Agreed, those OOC threads (national leaders, national capitals) you quote are definitely RP-related. And not available easily on NSWIki -- I just checked.

Damn! Now I know the purpose of the poll I'd like to change my vote from "rarely" to "frequently". I thought it was just another take on the recurrent topic of OOC interrupting IC posts. If a forum with the breadth you're suggesting existed I'd see it as a useful reference tool.

OOC ;)

Pure OOC threads are the exception rather than the rule and there's always a little OOC somewhere in the IC thread as things do go awry.

*Grasshopper bows to Sensei-san.* I misread the post. Thanks for clearing that up.

Agreed, those OOC threads (national leaders, national capitals) you quote are definitely RP-related. And not available easily on NSWIki -- I just checked.

Damn! Now I know the purpose of the poll I'd like to change my vote from "rarely" to "frequently". I thought it was just another take on the recurrent topic of OOC interrupting IC posts. If a forum with the breadth you're suggesting existed I'd see it as a useful reference tool.

Exactly. :D

On principle I'd agree with an OOC roleplay forum, for OOC threads of IC threads, discussion and information threads ['ways to sink a Doujin' and the various information threads such as CSJ's ones] and storefronts to put them all in one place. This would also have the rather desirable effect of making the II forum less bafflingly fast-moving and less spammy, given that the vast majority of any given storefront thread is bumps by the creator to keep it on the first page, which forces everyone else to bump their threads, etc.

Splitting the II forum in half, IMAO, would make it more user-friendly and easier to moderate. The NS forum is comparitively quiet and wouldn't see the same kind of benefit from an OOC RP forum.

On principle I'd agree with an OOC roleplay forum, for OOC threads of IC threads, discussion and information threads ['ways to sink a Doujin' and the various information threads such as CSJ's ones] and storefronts to put them all in one place. This would also have the rather desirable effect of making the II forum less bafflingly fast-moving and less spammy, given that the vast majority of any given storefront thread is bumps by the creator to keep it on the first page, which forces everyone else to bump their threads, etc.

Splitting the II forum in half, IMAO, would make it more user-friendly and easier to moderate. The NS forum is comparitively quiet and wouldn't see the same kind of benefit from an OOC RP forum.

Yea! At least one mod has looked at this and approves. :D