Allow me to begin by saying that while I wasn't an obvious target of anything, I'd considered filing a Magistrates case on the topic myself. The only reason (apart from being busy with real life) I didn't do so was because I wasn't sure how to since much of this is walking the lines of what is acceptable (in my eyes). This case is going to be as clear as mud, but I hope something comes of it to push people back from that line. (It's like sticking in a "Keep Off the Grass" sign; people are leaning as far over it as they can without actually touching it.)
For the record, I have also been trying to calm things down via OOC letters. I am the "Sean" in the OOC notes. Enri's letter is referring to my concern over the large volume of OOC jokes about the realm name. (I'm aware that many players do not like OOC chatter at all, let alone 5-10 letters in about two hours.) The OOC response to Celestial's letter is referring to an OOC comment I made about the tone.
As I mentioned before I edited this, I have received most of these messages as well and I believe they do a fairly good job of detailing the problem at hand. It's most convenient for me to move through person by person as well:
Jason Elegant:Considering how messy the last case was, I cannot believe he would run right back to pushing the envelope again. The story he presents is a fairly accurate description of the IC events surrounding the Phoenix Empire, but his choice of making his point strikes me as wrong on many levels:
- The poor veiling of the story seems completely inappropriate for a medieval game, especially coming from a former ruler. He may as well be the stereotypical 12-year-old internet gamer. There are much better ways to make exactly the same point without leaving any doubt that this is a IC warning for the current political situation.
- The follow-up to the story makes completely baseless assertions with just as thinly veiled threats against Merlin. Again, there are better ways of suggesting that Silnaria's current path could turn to war.
- The choice of "Hammargays" can be considered offensive to homosexuals. If not, it isn't a stretch to say he intended to use it as an insult against Hammarsett.
Before the Phoenix Empire idea came out, I trusted Jason as a diplomatic savant. Although he didn't write often, he did write well. There has been a drastic change in his style since that situation, typically like the childish writing you see here. His complete disregard for the concern over his letter in the follow-up OOC gives me no faith in his ability to respect others.
Enri Kinsey:Personally, I think Enri is much less at fault here. To me, the jokes on the realm's name are just standard fare and could be lighthearted. (After all, when the Caglian Empire was renamed the Mighty Caglian Empire, they were jokingly referred to as "MiCE".) Where he steps over the line is the assertion of ego in the naming and playing other characters like fiddles. Making such a statement OOC is essentially the same as claiming the rest of us are incapable of choosing to do something else. We all had our reasons for letting the motion pass; the only time when I see such large-scale support is when more players are actively thinking of how it can benefit their character. As Consul, I couldn't pass what I thought were obvious referendums to support without someone making a fuss... and still less than half of the potential votes got cast. Here, the same people would have likely made a fuss, but enough others stepped up to reach majority in less than a few days. Finally, the comment about game mechanics also struck me as off by the simple fact that it was un-solicited: Nobody had said anything about ignoring game mechanics or coming into conflict with them. Why suddenly make that statement when there were perfectly good IC options to try to paint Silnaria as being in rebellion?
Ottar Perkeleet:In-game, his actions haven't been unreasonable (although they have been frustrating) on an IC level. It's known that Ottar (the character) has had a grudge against Merlin for some time, and I could understand a Dictator turning away messages from his least favorite neighbor. Out-of-game, Ottar is represented as Zadar on the forums. He's had some posts that looked suspicious, but I've generally dismissed them due to English not being his native tongue (the posts were usually misspelled or confusing). Recently, however, I've grown more worried; there have been several clearly OOC posts (already copied here) that come very close to personal attacks. There has also been a common theme of inaccurate representations of
in-game events in the
out-of-game forums presented as undeniable truths. It's one thing to joke about how the situation can be twisted (usually the twisting is obvious or stated), but posting it as fact is an attempt to delude those unfamiliar with the situation. After a "board game with friends", you talk about how bad your luck was, etc. because of how things turned out; you don't tell them that the cards were stuck together or the pieces fell off the board when
everybody knows that never happened.
Celestial Fury:Skipping, since the situation is essentially resolved.
Ivore Whiteblood:Skipping; other than that one comment, his animosity has stayed IC.
Virgo Blue Star:Also skipping; his character in Silnaria has had a very different tone from his character in the CE.
Archymond Paxwax:Again, not much here, but it's another OOC assertion that Merlin's player is evil, specifically stating that TH (the player, not the character) would be a scary real-life ruler. It's not likely TH will become a leader of a real country (then again, how can we know that), but the insinuation is that he'd be a cutthroat in the job. Call Merlin evil IC all you want, but don't slap the label on the player as well.
Luthor Forbes:He's in the clear as far as I'm concerned. I intentionally avoided the idea that those kinds of arguments are against the rules in my thread. (Otherwise, I would have put it in Questions and Answers.) I've been on both sides of the issue at various times and I feel like they're both valid views that fall apart with different examples. The infiltrator question is one of those that really is just a matter of opinion: If you are strict about RP and IC, the evidence is not definitive proof as presented by the game mechanics. If you believe that the game mechanics create a "pattern" of inherent character experience, that evidence is clear proof.
That thread was not started solely due to my interactions with Luthor. As I said, I've been on both sides of the fence and the question was lingering on my mind. I tried very hard to avoid making a direct connection to the incident, but was eventually devoid of other examples.
