IN REGARDS TO RIVERCLAN HIGH RANKS AND PLOT FINDERS

[dino.]

As someone who’s held two leader ranks in TC, one not as involved as it should have been and one that seriously cranked up engagement after a long chain of previous inactive leaders, I want to throw my two cents in.


Roleplay is supposed to be fluid. That’s the beauty of it. We’re all just here writing about our characters, driving our own stories, and tying our individual creations into a much larger narrative. Throwaways are a part of this. So are member-made plots that include said throwaways. HRs aren’t meant to control every single aspect of their Clan or the others. It’s practically impossible to do that and would be unfair to members even if it were. I imagine it wouldn’t be any fun for anyone if I got to lay down my railroad tracks across others’ and block off any and every plot I personally didn’t feel like experiencing at that moment in time. We aren’t here to micromanage every little thing that happens - we’re here to make sure the Clan’s functioning smoothly, push its story forward, and ensure things remain engaging overall even in the absence of big, over-arcing plots. I personally love seeing what comes out of member-driven storylines and the effects it has on the larger world. Separating “throwaway plots” from the larger narrative would be completely artificial and take away from the experience as a whole.


Holding a Rank takes serious time and dedication. It’s stressful, especially if you’re on the leader side of things. Sometimes it feels like the equivalent of an unpaid part-time job. I have to balance managing OOC systems, driving plots forward, and keeping things relatively engaging at the same time as keeping up with college classes, studying for exams, submitting work, managing real-life relationships and mental health, and remembering to take some time for myself when I get the chance. This is hard for me now even with a history of past HRs; I can imagine just how tough it is for someone who doesn’t because I was there once. I think what tends to be forgotten and just piles more stress on top of things when folks take up the mantle is that the direction of the story isn’t on one person’s shoulders. Again, that’s what’s great about roleplay. One person can’t control every aspect, so take solace in that, embrace it, and roll with what happens. It makes things easier and keeps things fun.


It also feels like there's been an influx in IC statements being taken as OOC comments or opinions, and the impact has been fairly obvious. In-Character opinions do not translate to the roleplayer's - if this were true, I would be openly expressing a healthy amount of dislike for RiverClan and ShadowClan just as Bumblestar does. I love both, Bumble hates them; Glowingpaw can't stand Vulturefang, I love the guy and think he's awesome; Fleckstorm wanted to hunt Cowtuft down and commit murder, I was very sad to see him go. As someone who's been in the WCO community for 7, coming up on 8, years, it's odd and a little disconcerting to see a character's potentially negative thoughts toward another's be taken as a roleplayer's own feelings. Seems like a new thing and I think a good idea would be to take a step back and remind ourselves that this rarely is, if ever, the case.


TLDR; understand that roleplay is meant to fluctuate and HRs aren't supposed to have total control, the job is hella tough and HRs deserve your kindness and patience, and IC opinions do not reflect OOC feelings. We're here to encourage connection and be your open point of entry into the roleplay, not your blockade.

[Snips]

Originally Posted by Beanz

I cometly agree so many people are making plots that aren't really getting fun anymore honestly I hate to see them go I was good friends with frosty and honestly I wish I could speak my mind rn

you can. And I agree, the plots are all just trauma and violence. When I joined (I know that makes me sound old, but thats how much things have changed) plots with TWs were well-made, well-planned, and best of all, rare. We need to fix that now. Whether people realize it or not, HRs are up there with the staff as the heart and soul of WCO. In addition, all this makes people less likely to want to be HRs If the HRs leave because of us, this forum will come crashing down around us. However, dino is right. The thing is, it sometimes seems like the line between IC and OOC is becoming more blurred when it comes to consideration and treatment of HRs.

[taillow]

chiming in here as someone who has also held two high ranks; very time demanding and very time consuming and requires a lot of dedication and commitment. pretty much echoing what dino said here + adding that IC opinions do not, and should never, reflect OOC opinions. being able to separate writing from the writer is crucial, in my opinion, to enjoy any kind of literature (not just roleplaying!)

all in all, always be kind to others and express empathy, patience, and understanding to everyone you meet + especially the high ranks who put so so so much of their love and dedication into maintaining a wonderful and engaging storyline

[Faith.]

sending love and respekt to all hrs, and giving them good luck vibes bcs I'm almost 99% pawsitive there will end up beinf a war >.<

[JellyMoons]

@dino. Just wanted to say, that was brilliantly put.

[Fish]

 

Originally Posted by dino.

Roleplay is supposed to be fluid. That’s the beauty of it. We’re all just here writing about our characters, driving our own stories, and tying our individual creations into a much larger narrative. Throwaways are a part of this. So are member-made plots that include said throwaways. HRs aren’t meant to control every single aspect of their Clan or the others. It’s practically impossible to do that and would be unfair to members even if it were. I imagine it wouldn’t be any fun for anyone if I got to lay down my railroad tracks across others’ and block off any and every plot I personally didn’t feel like experiencing at that moment in time. We aren’t here to micromanage every little thing that happens - we’re here to make sure the Clan’s functioning smoothly, push its story forward, and ensure things remain engaging overall even in the absence of big, over-arcing plots. I personally love seeing what comes out of member-driven storylines and the effects it has on the larger world. Separating “throwaway plots” from the larger narrative would be completely artificial and take away from the experience as a whole.

Honestly, I fundamentally disagree with this here. It goes against the whole point of what I was trying to say here. I am not saying you cannot roleplay plot finders. I am not saying that HR are going to control every little aspect of every little plot of every little rp. What I was trying to say here was that plots that have short live fights on boarders and only have cats that were made for the sole purpose of dying to that plot and are brand new otherwise shouldn't have such an impact. No throwing every tiny little thing in the face of the HRs. Blaming every little thing on them. Harassing them on every little thing. When all the characters had only been made a day, maybe, prior from dying.

If we want long lasting rps we should do these things with characters that truly matter, it will have much more of an impact and would lessen the constant onslaught of hate coming towards a single leader. Which has been happening.

[Astraea]

My yap session

I know a few of are new but riverclan has always been some type of chaos thats the fun in my opinion about wco you really dont know whats gonna happen!

Riverclan has always been the clan with no stable high ranks and its been like that for the 3-4 ish years i've been on wco. Thats purely just hows it been. Saying that high ranks weren't ready for their position are half baked lies. As dino said, making a good high ranks thats time, and I think they would know seeing as they've had 2 leader highranks.

It's also very stressful! Because they have to go through spreadsheets every 2 weeks to find out whos not been active. If patrols are complete, if they enough of herbs. Theres alot that goes on behind the scenes that normal members really dont know or think about! Please try to be considerate of these things before fully attacking a person because they dont "seem like a good hr" theyre under alot of pressure put on by us the members to be successful, and productive, while being a highrank!

And if you want to have a character who hates a leader/deputy/hr etc. Go for it! Just remember to be respectful of the hr and the person roleplaying them! They are humans too!!


I love WCO and would prefer if personal hate stayed off it <3 love yall seriously!

[Fish]

I think you guys are misunderstanding me here. I am not saying high ranks aren't ready for their roles?

[BEAR.]

Hi, former RiverClan leader here. Prior to Lionstorm, we didn't have much in terms of a unified roleplay experience - it was a lot like the Private Roleplays area where things were isolated.

I think it's important to remember high ranks can and should delegate tasks too! Sometimes, life does get in the way of ensuring a smooth sail and that's why "social ranks" are included in our roleplay. Lionhearts, Hornets, Enforcers-- these were positions made with encouraging engagement in mind and spreading out duties so they feel less overwhelming! You can also offer to help regardless of rank! Issuing patrols, handling problems, etc. does help take pressure off high ranks.

Part of why throwaways are created are to fuel engagement. It could be because people feel there isn't enough actively going on, maybe they're just bored and want some chaos. Regardless, recognizing it isn't a high rank's job OOC to control these situations is crucial. You cannot control what everyone does, but you can control how your character handles situations. Communication is key to success, whether it be scheming with other high ranks to navigate tricky binds or using the support of the Clan to back what you do.

For those concerned with the IC opinions, please consider the cards RC played: Larkstar was young to be a leader and very inexperienced, Birdsnow has a bad reputation for a 3 year apprenticeship, and Tansypaw told the Clan-- in front of ThunderClan-- she would not heal them. These are traits that should be concerning to most cats, and while some may not handle it in the best way, the majority of characters do not have ill intent and want to voice their doubts about the direction their Clan is going.

As a leader, I had plenty of cats question/disrespect Lion and go against his wishes. His solution was to smite them, and while that may not be the go-to for every leader being firm on punishments and seeing things through is valuable in keeping things maintainable. As a roleplayer, the only time comments bothered me was when OOC mischaracterized my cat into something he wasn't or didn't do. IC didn't matter to me, it's nothing personal. I strongly agree with Dino's point that if IC is impacting you OOC, you need to take a step back and breathe! For me, I would have been BORED if everyone just went along with what Lion wanted. Give me some SPICE! It gives the Clan so much more flavor and opportunities for conflict and activity.

With that being said, I do agree there has been an abundance of violent plots and would encourage you guys to brainstorm with your local high ranks to change things up! Having the same old, same old does get stale and getting some respite-- even if for just a moment-- might be a nice refresher.

[Faith.]

A high rank, no matter what clan, is usually an amazing member on the site that is picked by the current mods and admin on the site. If that doesn't tell you anything, I don't know what does
HRs worked hard to get where they are, and it's not that they "weren't ready for it" or don't know what they're doing. A lot of problems are actually caused by people being rude, intentionally or not, and throwing their own problems - that them and their characters should be able to deal with- on the ground for other people to solve and fix.

I don't mean to be rude by saying this, and I'm sure no one here is trying to offend anyone. And I'm not saying you can't have different opinions.

It's really easy to hurt someone, like throwing a rock into a lake. But you have to stop and think about how deep that rock can go. Just because these people are the leaders, deputies, or medicine cats of the clans doesn't mean that they don't have to keep every single cat or member in check. We have to be able to manage ourselves to prevent problems like this from rising.

And while the HRs aren't unprepared or inexperienced, they don't have the solution for everything, and they shouldn't have to. Are we not capable human beings with the means to solve problems? I personally don't want to see people fighting each other unless in roleplay, especially not somewhere that people use as a place they can trust people.

Long story short, the high ranks are not completely at fault for this. I won't say they are fully apart from the situation, but they shouldn't have to deal with this giant blame game.