Yes! Something needs to change! I haven’t been here long (started late November), so I don’t know much about WCO specifically, but I have been roleplaying for about 5-6 years. A mix of text and ttrg game roleplaying. I’m also involved in theater and know some stuff about safety in regards to playing out characters.
Emotional Safety Measures
It’s easy to let yourself bleed into your character, so it makes total sense if things said to a character IC still effects the character’s player OOC. Putting “I dont think this, my character does” messages can help with certainy, of course. It’d be nice if we can begin to put messages at the end of our posts if things get hairy, and have it common. If enough people do it, it could spread and become more common. Not in the signature, imo, cus it’s easy to look over.
It’d be nice if we started reaching out and explicitly messaging someone when things get serious. Like, I text my DnD players after big RP sessions and ask if they’re alright, and support them if they aren’t. Even a little “Hey, there’s a lotta people criticizing your character, u good? Ur doing great!” can be so nice. Even if they are alright, it can be nice for reassurance.
Saturation
There’s a lot going on just about all the time. I totally agree with batt, and I’d love to brainstorm some sort of strategy to decrease the amount of things the HRs are dragged into. Maybe asking permission before tagging an HR?
Or we could address the amount of throwaways. Maybe there’s a cooldown on how long you can wait till you can submit a new character. As someone else mentioned, the amount of throwaways allow for more stakes and confrontations as people can and will die. So maybe we can find a balance.
Or, make it so there’s more consequences for killing a throwaway? Or just more work? Not sure, I’m not an expert in moderation.
Tagging Resources
And, I believe having something posted to outline when it is and isn’t appropriate to tag an HR would be helpful. Not hidden in a non-official thread, front and center. It would make things more clear, so there’s less guesswork for new players. And it gives the HRs a resource to defend themself if someone tags them too much. (unless this is already a thing, in which case, oops)
ALSO ALSO @
Sakura. that absolutely sucks, I’m so sorry that happened. It makes complete sense for you to distrust them. I think this is serious enough for its own thread, could you tag me in it?