Nidhogr Fjord
Imperial Ar (opening soon)
Ko-ro-ba (Feorie rebuild- if she's still doing it
)
Tarnwald (after their recent rules update)
Village of Dyval
...
Ok, that's just my little start. I have a goal, and I implore my fellow
RP comrades to hear me out.
If anyone's set foot in GoT, this might sound familiar.
Preface:When I first started to search for sims I'd consider even entering, not knowing a single person, I was horribly disappointed. I did make two or three attempts to go down the rabbit hole and see for myself if the rules really did reflect the RP I was going to find, and sadly I ended up returning to isolation. It was a fluke chance that one day I gave it another shot and ended up in Hartburg {Skip Dawes, Tatsuo Hyun, Cae Writer , Keri Vandeverre} . Awesome, clear rules, beautiful build, a core of players that RPd with you to "feel you out" on top of an application process that really made me think, and taught me a thing or two about my own character and about Gor in general. A detailed explanation of the locale and an arcing storyline that was in play when I arrived. In short, it quickly became my hallmark for how a sim should be managed, and how players should treat eachother.
Then after Hartburg, the search began anew. I never did find a replacement, and Vega and I went off to form House of Seginus. All by ourselves... because we didn't think there was anything out there worth the time.
We were wrong of course. At that time, I now know there were quite a few awesome sims around. And sadly I didn't get to play in any of them. But Search doesn't help one iota. And the BtB label is only a primary filter.. and even then, how many sims tend to drop that label because really it is a worthless marker of anything of significance? Except to distinguish ONE attribute: Femlaws or not.
Now, of course, there are the forums. Until we were looking for advertisement for House of Seginus, I hadn't even heard of the forums, and most of us know that the average Gorean RP'er isn't aware of them either. So.. when I TPd into my first GoT SIM, it felt like every other Gorean sim I had ever been to, except, this huge board that displayed what looked like a network of other SIMs. And so it turns out that if you favor the rules of -this- RP sim, the style, the values, the mission statement. Then here is a list of sims affiliated with this one. Different locales for the same overall theme. How, ingenious...
Plan:
Forget the drama (ok there will always be drama
) a little bit and lets smash our heads together and form an OOC alliance or network of
Authentic Gorean Roleplay SIMs.
I see a big number of us arguing and debating this or that finer detail, but with a calmer head and a mission in mind I trolled the forums and previous debates and I noticed that most of us all want the same thing. Most of us all believe in the same "mission", and there are variances, sure.. but down to the core I think the following are universally agreed upon:
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1. SIM owners can have whatever rules they want, but those rules if they make their SIM public should be clearly written and readily available to any person entering the SIM. All players that then choose to stay have implicitly agreed to the rules.
2. Rules of Engagement should promote OOC equality. There should be a clear understanding that all players, regardless of roles are going to be treated/moderated exactly the same way.
3. The SIM should be faithful to the books. Characters are encouraged to fit the setting authentically. {ie: no warrior fighting wenches, no armed slave girls, Dress code is in place, etc..)
4. SIM moderation promotes IC consequences for IC action, and does not give the initial impression of massive micromanaging of its players. It also promotes and helps to facilitate self moderation. (Encouraging players to speak to eachother if a disagreement about a scene occurs.)
5. In-character laws/code of conduct are not mixed in with the SIM rules of engagement. (ie: expected slave behaviours, FM or Caste duties rosters or OOC obligations, FW dress code violation consequences, if any) The SIM instead promotes player education about their role, can/may provide resources for enabling faithful depictions, but does not prevent or hinder
plausible creative alterations to the norm.
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Points 2 & 3 & 5 are something that can generally be determined by reading the rules and asking a few questions. Number 4 might take a little longer, but the rules typically also make this point pretty clear in the outset.
I am not trying to search for perfect SIMs, I am not attempting to form an elitist clan.
The mission I have in mind is rather simple:
If we can't rely on the label BtB, we need something else. The RP'ers looking for a new place to RP that were like me, need something else.
IF we really are a community, we don't all have to get along but can we at least form a network of like-visioned SIMs so that we start to get an idea of what's really out there. This of course is a better filter then search is, because it takes NO account of traffic. It takes no account of gossip-mongering. It leaves the final judgements up to the player.
FURTHERMORE.. there are a handful of SIMs out there that I know, have outdated rules (not pointing fingers), but the owners would read my list of 5 and completely agree. Sadly however, the rules are what I see first. Perhaps this network formation will encourage current SIM owners who are like-minded to update their rules.
I didn't include anything about raiding etc.. because first and foremost, I care about if a SIM meets this
MINIMUM standard. Meter, no meter, RP style long or short, raids and raid rules all aside.. THIS is, for me at least, a better filter then just BtB or not.
The initial list at the beginning of this post was just my quick list of SIMs I had recently been to or heard of, and that I have actually laid eyes on their rules. It isn't about hearsay, or gossip or "cliques" it's about grabbing their rules and examining them for the existence of these minimum standards.
I am well aware that management styles can influence how rules are applied or not.
I am well aware that sometimes you TP into a SIM and the owners and no moderators are present and you run into a total dick head that ruins your entire visit.. but lets leave more detailed analysis of SIMs for another thread.
The Plan:
I can't do this alone. I need your help.
1. Form an in-world group - open membership.
2. Create/use a forum area where anyone can "vouch" for a SIM and post their rules up for peer-examination. Voting is open to all for X period of time to be included in the network.
3. If a majority of the community agree, the SIM is asked to join the network.
4. Approved SIM's LM and Rules are added to a common board (I can design this and create the board) And SIM owners are asked to display the board at their landing zone. We could also display this board at more common SL Gorean gathering grounds.
5. On the forums we could have a sticky topic (or the like) where updated SIMs & SLurl's are maintained for reference.
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I think its a small thing, won't take too much effort, and yet could help a great deal of people from feeling let down all the time. Search sucks, labels need definition and consistency to be helpful. What say you?
Like?
Dislike?
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Edited to remove Dashel's Folly at owners request.
