This was a very large and thread to try and get through, but I did my best. I was disappointed to read that someone feels all RPs should be done in main. I can think of a couple of examples, because of game mechanics, that this idea does not work. The game mechanics have a set distance where comments can be "heard", which is necessary. But there is also a true life aspect that people talk at different volumes and ambient noise affects hearing. So it is not always appropriate to RP in main.
1) a group or couple of people talking quietly at a table in the taverns will not necessarily be heard by the person standing at the bar.
2) if a site is busy, then not all conversations would be as easily distinguished as simply reading the main chat.
3) people in the rooms in Kada El's would not necessarily be heard by people downstairs and vice versa.
4) sitting in an out of the way area of any map, again, talking quietly and would not necessarily be overheard by someone passing by within 'game mechanics range of hearing.'
5) a couple of characters are having a sensitive/private convo or a romantic picnic in less trafficked area may stop talking when a stranger approaches. So the players might use Guild/Group to convey that the conversation is held at a low volume. (good RPers acknowledge the newcomer, but have a right to IC politely inform the newcomer in main they are having a private conversation. If the newcomer chooses not to leave then things should be handled in an RP way: move away or change the subject. Likewise players should be respectful and act accordingly if they have come up on a private conversation, don't sit/stand with the intent to be annoying or dance on the table or sit on an avatars head.)
Yes, there is a point and purpose for RPing in guild and group, as I hope the above examples have demonstrated.
An unusual use of OOC [but practical]: From time to time to avoid RL operator error [missing something that some typed] and character action, I have been known to let a fellow RPer know that my character did not notice or chose to ignore an action and continue with what my character was doing. And fellow guildmembers occasionally check with me to make sure that I saw the comment/action of their character, because sometimes I miss things.
Otherwise I agree with most of the versions of the 'commandments', but most of those points are all covered in the tutorial.
And is very hard to stay in settings as a character grows because some of the settings are 'hidden' in books throughout Yliakum. Clearly, people that say they know the settings because they read the website, have not found some of the IG books. It is hard to know those books/settings are there unless another player tells you. The volumes that detail DR are a great example, there is a ALOT of necessary information in those that might affect how a player forms their character, but they don't know it until they stumble on it OR someone else tells them. In the meantime they have possibly already done incorrect RP storylines and history. I have, occasionally, directed players in 'tell' toward those books if I come across description or RPs that are grossly outside of settings.
