Now, even if the conversation were to stay nice and friendly, imagine what happens in a case of one player thinking it is IC and the other thinking it is OOC for an extended period, like an hour? For one, the RP will be completely invalid, and if the player intended to RP, then they may very well become frustrated upon finding out. Likewise, the OOC-er may easily be frustrated by realising that they've been socialising with something nonexistant (a virtual character in a game).

Then also add that in order to infer OOC-ness from the content, you must first have read at least part of the sentence, while with brackets you can skip it immediately, which in turn leaves you with more time to focus on the IC conversation (and vice-versa).

Well, constantly misunderstanding each other? For one hour? Possible, ok, but quite unlikely. Yeah, "How are you, today" has both an IC and OCC meaning, if it's the first thing someone says. As far as I'm concerned, feel free to answer either OOC or IC or something else which is still neutral ("Fine, thank you").  Should you get it wrong, the other player has only to tell you "I meant IC" (which is clearly OCC) and that's all. And anyway, unless you (the player) live in a medieval world, I find it very unlikely the issue is not settled in the first 30 seconds of talking... the more the players/characters involved, the sooner someone will say something clearly IC or OCC.

It's only that I don't fill it disturbing if the IC experience gets interupted, I can switch easily. Don't you do the same? When you click on something, and it takes 3-5 seconds to open the graphical menu, what do you think? "damn lag" or "I must be under someone's spell that slows me down"? Our brain is accepting many, many OOC inputs, still is able to build a virtual world and a virtual mindset.

BTW, you (as forum members) are very careful in distinguishing between the "player" and the "character". Still the forum it's full of references that get it wrong (inside posts written by people who know RP, developers or authors of RP guides, and not by newcomes) and nobody really notices/cares. That's because the difference is so clear in your mind that you get it right even when it's explicitly written wrong! Which is what I mean when I say "You don't need [ ] for OOC".

Last but not least it serves as a constant reminder that IC is encouraged and OOC is, at best, endured.

This again I don't understand. When people are on stage, there are a lot of OOC talks, unless they're actually performing. 95% of the job of an actor is OOC anyway. That's why I stressed the "testing" part. As I see it, it's like preparing a huge play, with actors gathering and sharing ideas. Of course, there's room for a lot of IC action, but even that is just "testing". You can enjoy it, of course. But that's not "it". They're still building the stage, after all.

When some starter areas are done, and people leave then only after they get some experience in RP, and many details are defined, then you can say that's "it". And even then, I'm not frowing on OOC talks expecially when their purpose is improving the RPing. Just like when actors shooting a scene get interrupted by the director, and start (OOCly) talking about the scene. I really doubt De Niro prepends "this is OOC: " everytime he talks to the director... and still everyone, from actors to cameramen, know that's OOC.

Please note that I don't mean that OOC random chats should be allowed, everytime, everywhere. There's MSN for that. That's against the purpose of the game. Players spending most of the time chatting (OOCly), well, are technically keeping game resources busy for nothing. That's an abuse, and should be punished.

Also, when some RP event is on, everybody should try and keep costantly IC, leaving OOC to /tells and such. Think of turning on the "ON AIR" signal. I don't think there's one of those signals in the world that's constantly on. Again, these are only my thoughts on the matter, I don't mean to have anything changed...

*edit*

We aren't just testing the programming.  We're testing and working on what it means to roleplay.  We're finding out what social capital and infrastructure is necessary for roleplaying to take place.  We're also doing things like working out the kinks in the players policy guide, and we're also helping to perfect the Game Master protocols when we step out of line.

I'm sorry, but I don't understand which side you're supporting.
It could be mine: testing "what it means to RP" is OOC activity anyway to me. Of course you need some IC action in order to do that, but that's the instrument, not the goal. That's as long as you're "testing". Once you're "performing", that's another matter.

Think of the stage analogy. You're trying your part, when a light technician arrives and changes a lamp. Feel free to ignore him. How about a newbie popping and saying "Hi, I like this game". Is it so different, on PS? Either ignore him, or go on mixing RP to other players and OOC to the newbie... I really doubt anyone (but the newbie, maybe) would misunderstand what's happening.

Please avoid posting two or more successive posts before others have replied. Just "Modify" your last post to add new information. Thanks! --Karyuu

As an aside, I see no point in not using it when done properly. It just bothers me to see people who can\'t speak without it and attempt to be In Character while using modern English.

I must say I don't get it. Language must be modern English, or it would be impossible to play. Of course you should avoid references to any "modern" object or concept, but that's another matter. While IC you should avoid references to anything that's outside the universe, be it modern or ancient... Think any PS char would ever know anything about dinosaurs? Or egyptian mummies?

Strictly speaking, any kind of English (ancient or modern) is wrong inside the PS world, since there's no England (or America) there. I could use Italian while IC, and it would be just as wrong,

The language is something we (the players, not the characters) agreed upon. It's totally an OOC issue.

Of course if you're good at it, you may try and give your character a trait by consistently using a certain style or accent. If you're playing a nobleman, you'll speak differently from the local bartender. I'm not a native speaker, and very likely will never be able to use a "style". I'll have to stick to plain English.