★ Event (and RP) Etiquette - And why it's important!

Admin-created or player-created; still handy information.
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Vernon
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★ Event (and RP) Etiquette - And why it's important!

Post: # 14697Post Vernon »

Hello hello! It's your friendly neighborhood Staff, here with an important PSA on conduct during events! Lately we've been noticing a few key elements recurring during Events and RP among our players, and we'd like to take this time to formally address some dos and don'ts while RPing on Toro. This will specifically cover events, but please try to apply this in a more general scenario, such as RPing with others idly.

  • During events, try to keep your emotes clean. Don't muddy it up too much with unnecessary info. This applies to the chat as a whole. Characters and DMs cannot ICly act on information your character is thinking, so it's likely best to hold back on comments like:
    Billybob Jr. growls to himself. He knew that Handsome James was lying to him, but he couldn't prove it. As he stared into Handsome James' face, he thought about how much he TRULY despised Handsome James...

    Functionally, all the emote that can be replied to by the Handsome James RPer would just be the first sentence. The growl. The rest was useless filler, and served very little. Not to say you shouldn't put effort into making your emotes detailed, but make sure every word is important to the overall emote. Simply filling out emotes for the sake of making them longer is bad practice.
    -=-
  • Continuing, during events one should be sure to react appropriately to DM emotes. If a DM says something should be affecting your character, then it should be affecting your character. In the event that you disagree with a DM's ruling, politely PM them and try to explain your reasoning. If the DM dictates that your reasoning isn't sufficient, follow the DM's instructions.
    -=-
  • On a similar note, you should also be making sure that your Character is reacting appropriately to IC stimuli as well. If there's an explosion near them, they'd probably not be just "Oh yeah that happens all the time" (unless...I mean unless it genuinely does). While it can feel like there's always something going down in Toro, do remember that the majority of the IC time spent (not just the time spent RPing) things are mostly pretty quaint. Time persists even when your character is not being RPed, and your character will have had to have gone through some serious trauma for things like Noir attacking to not cause them to panic a bit. You typically remove tension from a situation if you just act like Noir taking over Aurelia is just another Tuesday.
    -=-
  • Do not run ahead during events. Stay with the group unless things ICly cause a split. Running ahead only spoils the event, and forces the DM to split their focus. It's not fair to the DM, and it's not fair to the party. Furthermore, if you should run ahead, anything you see by running ahead is to be kept to yourself. Don't share it in OOC chat and spoil it for others. It's incredibly inconsiderate to the DMs and ETs that worked hard on the event, and to the players who have now been robbed of their genuine first reaction.
    -=-
  • Similarly, please keep "Event Predictions" to yourself, or at least a minimum (preferably in private DMs with consenting individuals and out of public chats) if you simply must share how your hilarious prediction of Mewtwo showing up would be. This applies to characters ICly. We've seen people "predict" things that hit borderline meta-ing of information, and it takes away from the impact of our ET work.
    -=-
  • If you feel a DM is missing your emotes, try coloring your name differently. Failing that, please politely message the DM and ask them if everything is okay. I assure you, we're not ignoring you on purpose. Communication and understanding is key, we're often working with a lot of fires whenever we're DMing and things will slip through the cracks.
    -=-
  • On the subject of rolling, do remember that rolling is not mandatory! But this applies to all parties. We expect RPers to be fair in their rolling, and communicate with other roleplayers. Just because you roll does not mean the DM will, or even has to, honor that roll or roll against it. The same applies in reverse though, as you are not (typically) obligated to roll when a DM asks you to. Typically this exception will come from things in the Pokemon move mechanics that aren’t 100%. Move accuracy checks, or secondary effects are two examples.
    -=-
  • Please try to keep a DM from being overwhelmed. Sending out too many emotes, or too many Pokemon out at once would be overwhelming. Try to stick to ONE Pokemon per person in an event, and ask if the DM would be okay with more. Be considerate, because every time we DM combat it’s like a mess of documents and messages for us.

-=-
Above all, be polite. If there is an issue, snide remarks and being all huffy solves nothing, and simply paints a bad picture for yourself. If there's an issue with something, please message the most appropriate ET. Thank you for your time.
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Rosy
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Re: ★ Event (and RP) Etiquette - And why it's important!

Post: # 15993Post Rosy »

I would like to add onto this with an open letter to the community,
Staff, or non-staff DMs- they're are people too, and they are volunteers who dedicate their time into providing events and fun for people. I do not want them to feel discouraged, demotivated, or getting burnt out. We need these volunteers to help drive the server forward, from both server events, and small personal events. Because of this, I request people show their respect during events, and follow these additional guidelines:
  • During an event, please do not derail it by arguing or complaining.
    If you have a concern, please be patient and bring it up after the event. If it is a pressing concern, please PM THEM POLITELY. Please try to follow the DM's rulings though, for sake of event flow, and everybody else.
  • PLEASE PLEASE keep it to PMs.
    Stirring a scene publicly can be incredibly awkward for everybody involved. It creates an unfair pressure on the DM, who is once more, a volunteer. It creates a stress they can carry for the rest of the event as well, rattling them, which also unfairly leaves an impact on the other participants.
  • You are free to leave an event, but a DM can't.
    If you do have issues with an event, you are typically free to leave. A DM cannot though, they are typically going to go through and finish the event for the rest of the people involved. Please do not try to bring up an IC issue of 'well my character' wouldn't leave, it's incredibly rude to impart that selfishness onto the rest of the event. It is RP, figure out a reason, treat it like you have to GO OOCly - there will always be a reasonable excuse, or the DM can help you.
  • The DM has the right to kick someone out of the event, and report it to staff.
    If you seem to be having a rough time, and are causing problems, we will ask you to shape up, or leave. If you fail to, and proceed to cause a scene, the DM will kick you, and report it to staff. Not treating anybody with respect is harassments, which is breaking the rules. Especially when it involves DMs.
  • We can and will hand out Temp Bans, and such fitting punishments.
    This includes such restricting a person's right to personal DMed events, and further punishments. You do not deserve a DM working their hardest, if you can't show them some respect.
I know these were touched on with the original etiquette, but I feel like it's important to especially outline these and give a reminder to players new and old. If it is strongly worded, and you feel like this applies to you or a friend - I am sorry. I care about the people who volunteer their time to the server, and this server can't run without these people. I encourage everybody to try and work for the betterment of the server, for all of our sakes!
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