A. Would you like to be a part of it"

B. How do you feel about this character being an antagonist to Bristle and the world of RhyDin"

C. What would you like to see in it?

D. Have you any polite, constructive criticism to offer me that might better everyone's enjoyment' A. No thank you.

B. Uninterested.

C. N/A

D. The reg flags were already shown with the usage of Power Gaming. Personally, seeing it posted in chat that BC members were targets of this storyline even after it was publicly posted by the Mods that such a thing wasn't true / recognized was somewhat disheartening. Even made me question if I wanted to be apart of the organization.

Not to say your storyline or those involved are something to dislike. You and those who played in the storyline should do what you want to as long as it isn't stepping on anyone's toes.

My character is engaged to an instructor at BC Academy, any SL that will have an effect him will have one on her as well. So, here is my two bits:

A. Would you like to be a part of it"

No, not particularly, but should my RP/writing partner choose to acknowledge this SL, I will trust his judgment.

B. How do you feel about this character being an antagonist to Bristle and the world of RhyDin"

It's not the character, per se, that I have taken issue with; it is your method of presenting him.

C. What would you like to see in it"

D. Have you any polite, constructive criticism to offer me that might better everyone's enjoyment'

I'm not sure how politely this will be perceived.

I suggest that you review the results of some of global SLs where some players used similar tactics of taking over the world and attempted to force things on characters or other players. Some parts, particularly toward the end, of Scarred might good place to start.

I further suggest that you review how your profile is written:

This for instance:

(Author's note: This response to the aura is NOT optional to those in his direct vicinity unless such is agreed upon prior to the roleplay or he intentionally masks it. If you've a reason for why it wouldn't affect you, just bring me to the side for an OOC chat. We'll work something out for ya. ^_^)

You do not seem to be understanding that it's not you that gets the choice in that matter. The player of the other character decides what happens, therefore it is optional to them. Your approval or permission is not required. That was previously quoted from the forum guidelines. However, it's all right here.

{Disclaimer: You are free not to roleplay with this character, if you so choose. If you decide to, chances are that if you enter a campaign he's currently in and you aren't his target, he will ensnare you through means few can defend against, and you will casually tossed aside. He is meant to be the endgame adversary of a chosen array of characters that may extend to the whole of RhyDin by the conclusion of his story arc. He's pretty much broken as he is right now. There's a reason for this, of course. If you do not wish to be powergamed through your interaction of the character, avoid him. Generally speaking, though, I will ask you before I do something otherwise considered unfair. Regardless, you have been warned.}

You have taking the route of "To play is to consent." That is not an acceptable method of play in this forum. Simply because one of my characters acknowledges the fact that yours is standing across the room or attempts to engage in conversation with him does not ever give you the right to powergame.

However, this does not mean I seek to destroy anything by the end of this. I merely wished to provide a way for the lot of you who are interested to band together against a common major threat for the sake of the world your characters live in. Powergaming is there only to such a point that you wouldn't necessarily be able to defeat him on your own without assistance. The assistance of the whole of Crios" That's pretty heady stuff. The characters even I have gathered wouldn't necessarily be able to take down a mighty force like that. Of course, a villain that isn't potent above others in some way isn't particularly threatening, is he? Such is why the disclaimer is there.

You are well within your rights to determine if, how, and who might kill off your character, that is not powergaming that is setting the boundaries for your own character. That, however, is not how the disclaimer reads to me. The disclaimer reads as though you have the right to determine what happens to someone else's character.

By not fully discussing this SL with the players involved with Bristle Crios beforehand and acting on assumptions, you disregarded the prime directive of the Dragon's Mark forum, respect for one's fellow players. You also placed some of those players in the position of being mistrusted because until Fiona and Miranda posted regarding this SL, I doubt I was the only wondering who had allowed that SL in a group that is otherwise known for cooperative play.

edited to correct spelling 14 May 2013

As Ebon pointed out, these SL comments were mistakenly posted in the "Funny Quotes? OOC thread. The related posts have been moved to protect the integrity of the quotes thread at the original poster's request. In the future, we kindly ask that all OOC communications be placed in their appropriate threads, most and foremost, the Official Bristle Crios OOC thread. Now that discussion of this SL has begun here, I hope we can leave it here so all responses can be focused in one place to eliminate confusion.

Thank you so much to everyone who has already commented on their concerns for the The Avatar of Eternity SL and we welcome more of your comments on the subject. Those with characters affiliated with Bristle Crios, as well as those who do not, all have an equal voice here and we appreciate all comments regarding the matter. Every response is making an impact.

For more personal or private comments, questions, or concerns, please Private Message Miranda Branson or Fiona ONeill.

Now, no one in particular is to be targeted by this assault, as I had envisioned the first battle to take place in the forest protecting the place. Subsequent battles would take place away from the safety of Crios in order to keep up that feeling of safety that I'm sure everyone here enjoys. I respect this place and many of the people inhabiting it due to how much fun it is to play with the people I have encountered in Live-Roleplay. To those of you who felt threatened on an OOC level, do not fret. Your characters would NOT be harmed unless you 1. showed interest in participating, 2. provided to me a wish for your character to be killed or otherwise harmed during the whole of the campaign, and 3. gave me a good, plausible reason to do so. Again, this is only for those interested in the conflict as it is. I know several here who would vouch for me on this one, I'm sure.

In rereading, I felt the need to address this passage, emphasis mine. Again, this is an example of not understanding the following rule/guideline for play in Dragon's Mark. While it is listed under Live RP guidelines, it applies to posted stories as well: Please do not declare actions for other characters without the permission of that character's player. Remember, only you control what happens to your character! No one has the right to declare your character "dead" or insist you delete your screen name unless you have agreed with this outcome beforehand. If you are not sure on whether or not you can or should join in a scene in progress, use the Instant Messaging feature of Flash Chat to check with the players of the character you are wanting your character to interact with. Consider: If someone had planned a wonderful death scene for their character, the player may get a little irate if you arbitrarily have your character jump in and claim their character's life as 'saved'.

The players running Bristle Crios as a setting have the final word on what happens to that place. No one else has the right to tell them that it's destroyed or ruined in any fashion because it facilitates their personal SL. The players using the setting as a backdrop maintain control of their own characters.

This isn't a matter of feeling threatened, this is a matter of lack of consideration by a player that has outright stated they are assuming control of characters that join in. That is not cooperative play. Based on the guidelines in question, it is you that requires permission not the other way around.

In reference to the guideline on joining in, I believe that anyone not wanting others to be involved in a scene should not make it a public one as we play to participate. However, there is a difference between participating and forcing a conclusion/resolution on others.

Behavior like this, an event at Founder's Park in particular, is what has caused the need for disclaimers to be posted regarded behavior at large scale events. "We want to keep the event nonviolent" is a message to the players, not the characters, that they need to put aside their murder, mayhem, and grandstanding RP aside to allow others to enjoy the event. Some people like that sort of thing at their events, some don't. If one person is in charge, it's considered polite to clear something outside of their plans with them. It's much like you have this grand SL planned, Avatar, but aren't getting much help on it or participation because you've coming off as not caring what others think, only your own SL.

Don't take this the wrong way, because I do fully support you and your ideas (I'm a sucker for conflict, as people will undoubtedly know), and I've re-written this twice now to make it look like I am not against it, but rather, trying to offer you advice and a little insight on my experience being the antagonist, since I can see where this is going and the sh|tstorm that has undoubtedly already started to brew over your head. Please don't take what I say to heart. I'm merely trying to help. Which often ends up being another sh|tstorm - but that is besides the point.

I know you mean good intentions when it comes to your SL throughout our conversations in Live Chat, attempting to create conflict and what not with the Avatars, and I know you're looking to expand on the idea machine of your SL by trying to win over the BC members through your OOC posts, by trying to explain your intentions and correct people's misconceptions, but, you need to know something about this site, and its member base. They don't like SLs that involve conflict, unless THEY themselves planned or have consented to the idea behind it (examples being the, RBF Outbreak, Zombie Outbreak, yadda yadda, other site wide events) and or have OOCly agreed with it during the planned stages of its creation through that simple word I hate to echo on some people's posts. Communication.

A vast majority of people on this site, don't like anything outside of their own bubble. Which is completely normal, and they have the right to do so. I do the same thing too.

People don't like the idea of plunging their character into a conflict out of their control, and the "cosmically over powered super being attempting to destroy everything" has been done many times before, and so many people will in general find the idea boring and simply ignore it. I should know. I kinda did that myself one or twice before. Those general ideas just do not fit with their style of playing. Which is also fine.

Babes, I've been in the exact same position you are now to a degree, attempting to create conflict and thereby creating a measure of excitement by being the main antagonist....And I am sure I'm going to get a roll of eyes a mile long from the list of people I've pissed off over the years by posting my voice on this subject, but I worked out a long time ago, that some times your good intentions end up transforming into an ego you do not simply see until it is too late. People will start ignoring you in chat, avoid every word you say in Live Chat like you're not even there, and ignore your forum posts.

I've done exactly what it is your doing now, and I fared no better. My best advice, and I hate to say it, is to have Miranda, or Fio-mun, erase this thread - to which I fully recommend to them both to do since this thread will only mar the Bristle Crios forum board with OOC bullshit, and give up on publicly displaying the idea for people to undoubtedly slate and slander in a heartbeat. You are best off picking out the supporters amongst the rabble, and talk to them, so that you can get the SL off the ground, because I know for a fact the OOCness of this topic has blown out of proportion, defeating the object of what you initially wanted to do, and that was to have fun.

I did not know of this, no. And I understand.

Just a brief comment on my part here. I've been watching and reading this thread for a bit; as I have my own chaotic story line going on that is hosted in the Alchemists Fire folder and like to be aware of moods going on. I believe the simplist mistake most people make when starting many of the antagonistic sl's to get conflict going is starting too large. Perhaps the wiser tactic is start the sl premise with only a handful of willing character participants and build from there. Targeting organizations as a whole from the start, I've noticed is the fastest way to end an any sl from the five years of RDI play I've had.