I feel the need to establish some ground rules. Despite the popular theory that I am some kind of wrathful daemonic Muse, in fact I think you'll find me quite reasonable, but we need to get a few things straight for the game to continue.
Wednesday Evening GMTI work Thursdays, Fridays and alternate Wednesdays. I need to get up early on a Thursday.
Some of you are in the UK. You know what time 9pm is
Except for about one week in the spring on the extreme East Coast, the USA is a minimum of 5 hours behind this time. This means that when it is 8pm for me, it is 3pm for you, or to clarify your 6pm is about 11 pm for me.
A GM post takes a minimum of 2 hours. That means that I need to start at 9pm at the latest to get a decent night's sleep. This is USA time 4pm or maybe earlier.
Simply put, if your post is not in by
Wednesday at 9 (preferably 8 ) GMT not any other timezone then it is too late. If I have to wait "just half an hour more" then I get half an hour less sleep and I don't think that is fair to ask. I have a pretty tightly scheduled week. I am sure I am not the only one, but that's why the gap between posts is 7 days.
If I miss my scheduled time, it is often another week before I can post, and this only frustrates the people who have posted, as well as me.
If You Can't PostSometimes work is busy, sometimes there are exams, sometimes a person does not feel well or there is a family crisis. I have always been accepting of this and I'm not about to make unreasonable demands that anyone put their lives on hold for a game. Occasionally, I myself have one of those things go wrong, so I understand how it can be. But when you signed up for this game, it was on the understanding that, barring exceptional circumstances, you would be posting once a week.
If you cannot post, please use this thread to let me and everyone else know. Please do not rely on catching me in chat. I do not spend half as much time as I used to there, because since my last bout of serious modding much of the enjoyment of chat has gone for me. This is a separate issue, but it is not likely to change in time for you to be able to always catch me in chat any more. I am sometimes on Skype, but it uses so much bandwidth on my rather poor internet connection that I don't use it very often. Here really is the best place to catch me, because it's a rare day that I don't check my emails and I have the board set to notify me.
Alternatively, you can PM me here if you wish to keep something private and I will just tell people that you cannot post this week. I always look at my PMs because secretly I have a fear that it will be one of the Big Mods telling me I'm banned for life. Or to knock it off with the guinea pigs.
If the problem is that you can't get to the site or don't have internet, that's a hard one to crack. But I am happy to give people my phone number if that will help (for texting, calls are expensive) as it is on my CV and my CV is already public. Anyway, I don't think you are serial killers. I can also supply my off-site email if the problem is that you can't get on here but still have 'net.
If You Don't Want To PostPerhaps you think the game is too political / violent / not political enough / there's not enough sex, drugs and rock and roll / not enough shooting / you have gone off Dark Eldar and want to play Guard. You just bought a new cassowary and training it is taking up all your spare time. It's just ... meh.
If you don't want to play, yes that will make me sad but I'm a big girl, I can deal with it. I would rather someone drop out than play because they feel they have to. I only want people who want to be here, to be here :)There is a small waiting list of people who want to play, so if you don't want to play, perhaps someone else can have your seat? For my own preference I want to keep you all, but mine is not the only preference that needs to be considered and if the time has come to stop, then you can stop. This is not a cult
Roleplaying SoupThere are currently 5 of you, and every character has something to contribute which is unique. This is a group which I've enjoyed GMing for very much. So now I'm going to talk about soup.
If one is making soup, one can still make it without the carrots, yes, but it won't taste the same. One can leave out the onions as well, but keep leaving out ingredients and pretty soon all you have is hot water.
I already worry that I am putting too many words into people's mouths and making them take actions they wouldn't take. If I have to NPC someone, this is only going to be more likely and it will tend to distance you from your character. For this reason I dislike playing someone's character for them unless I have to. Dried coriander is never as good as fresh. I can't be you as well as you can.
For the most part we've had consistent posting as well as a lot of good, strong characterisation. I have no issues with the quality of people's roleplaying! The only thing I want to ask in addition is that you make sure that your post has something that someone else can work with, either the GM, or someone else (for example, you are having an in-character conversation). This helps to avoid me making ersatz minestrone of you.
Ideally, I don't want to move to GM posting once everyone has posted, as I feel that this would probably end the game. I have seen this happen before. No game has currently ever made it to the end on this site, after all. I don't want that to be a 100% record. If people need a longer interval between posts, let me know and I'll see what we can all sort out.
Thank you all for the time, effort and characterful interaction you've put into this game. I have been enjoying it very much, and I'd like to see it continue!
TL:DRI want to facilitate getting this game back on track.
For this to work, everyone needs to post as themselves, every week
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask, here or in PM.
If anyone wants more contact details, please PM me.
If anyone else is hungry now, feel free to post your favourite soup recipe
- Malys
Subject: Re: To Rise Above the Fall - Out of Character 
Tue Jul 09 2013, 14:56
