I've got a question for you...

Alright, guys. Here we go: It has come to my attention that some of you might be interested in the possibility of an IRC based chatroom where you all could carry out "speed RPs" or have just a place to chat IC for a little bit of fun on the side.

I'm going to contain a poll with this thread so I can see what you guys think, so go ahead and let me know with a click of a button and a few words as to WHY.

Well I've never participated in a "speed RP" before, but if it brings more activity to the IRC channel(s) then I'm up for it.

I have voted "Yes", but I am also aware of the following from past experience with IRC channels:

Speed RPs are, often-times but not always, difficult to moderate and control. Like a thread, there needs to be a presence of authority like a thread-author, and there also needs to be a moderator of the community that has direct access to the IRC with little road blocks. These moderators, I would recommend, should also be moderators of the site's community already, and not appointed moderators specifically for the IRC. This gives more accountability. I've seen what happens when "Mods" and "OPs" are on entirely differently pages.

But as I said, if it brings people into the IRC side of FOG, then let's give it a whirl. That "Chat Room" button has been up there forever, but there is always little activity. No one is, of course, obligated to join an IRC conversation, but if it's not used at all, then what's the point? Don't let it become Amtrak! XD Use it!

I've voted 'yes'.

I've participated in such 'speed rps' via MSN, and they are very much enjoyable. It gives you situations that wouldn't normally be plausible in a normal roleplay. It's also a way to get ideas flowing and a better sense of your characters.

Very much a 'yes'.

I have never done a "speed role-play" before. However, I am up to giving anything new a shot.

I dunno, I guess it'd allow me to see more possibilities, so I see few downfalls to the possibility of a new channel.

I voted "Yes."
It's a good way to relax and have fun, doing more of what you love best.
Sure it's easy to spiral out of control; depends on the crowd. Role-playing, as opposed to "let's see who can godmode the best," should be our default mode. xD Hopefully, though, people will be respectful and go with the flow, even if it does turn into an arena of demigods.

Even though I prefer slower role plays like those via threads, I think that speed-role plays could be beneficial to the growth and variety of FoG. I know that Misery, for one, more often deals with speed role plays than thread ones.

I think it could be fun if I was to give it a try.

I vote "yes."

The most I've ever done in this manner was more of an in-character discussion... like two friends sitting somewhere and having a chat. Not much different from a normal IRC conversation really, aside from being in character, of course. xD

Anyway, I personally don't much care either way but voted 'yes' because it could be an interesting thing to have.

Not sure I see the point of this. I can understand the purpose of having a channel where players can speak to one another IC, but having a channel for speed RPs is pretty worthless. By merit of their style, a speed RP would consist of posts being made in rapid succession between all participants of the roleplay. That being the case, it would be nearly impossible to have more than one speed roleplay taking place in a single chat room at any one time.

It seems much more feasible to, instead, explain to the users how they can go about creating a new chat room on the DarkMyst server, in which they could host their own RP. You can create a new room without actually registering it in the case of a very short-term roleplay, or you can register the room and assign operator status via ChanServ in the case of a long-lasting roleplay. Obviously such projects would be an individual undertaking, and I don't believe site staff (or any other staff) need to be appointed for moderation, as IRC roleplays are not within our jurisdiction unless they occur within our site's registered chat rooms.

All that said, I voted no, because you lumped two very different questions into one poll, and I feel better objecting with an explanation than supporting the conglomerate of two suggestions, which would undoubtedly be glossed over with a generalized yes.

I support the idea of a chat room, moderated by site staff, where players can chat in-character.

I do not support the idea of a registered chat room for speed roleplays, for the reasons I've stated above.

Moderation of a chat room would be a difficult task. There aren't enough of us to be on all the time, and scheduling it would probably be a pain.

The point isn't to role-play seriously. At least how I see it. The point is to relax and play your character in an unlikely situation, meeting characters he or she probably never would otherwise. Maybe go on a little impromptu adventure together.

Just a place to relax and go with the flow, but specifically and exclusively In Character, as opposed to Out of Character.

I can't tell if you're referring to the IC chat room or the Speed RP room.

Regardless, moderating that room would be no different than moderating the FOG chat room, so I'm not sure I understand your point there. I'm not saying we should have anyone scheduled. I'm just saying that moderators should be appointed so that, when they are in the chat room, they can ensure that no inappropriate conduct worms its way into our community. Seems pretty simple to me.

Besides, I already said I agreed with the idea of an IC chat channel, and I realize what they're for. My objections were toward the Speed RP channel, because (as noted above), it seems entirely pointless.

Ohh, I see. I must have been thinking that they were one and the same.

Edit:
Weiss, they ARE one and the same. It's just a little confusing how it's worded at the top.

If that's the case then the idea seems even less feasible. If you have people Speed RPing and attempting to carry on IC chats at the same time, it would be even worse. As I stated above, it would already be near-impossible to have multiple Speed RPs occurring in the same chat room. Throwing in random IC chatter would be completely impossible.

As I said, I think the idea of a chat room for IC chat is great. For Speed RPs, I think we should simply provide a thread with detailed instructions on how to create a chat room on IRC. It really isn't that hard. Getting logged into IRC is incredibly simple (especially if you just use the Chat Room link at the top of the forum page), and from there it's just a matter of typing "/join #<room name>" without the quotes or brackets and without any spaces in the name.

Since you can be in multiple IRC channels at the same time, having an IC chat and an OOC (regular) chat wouldn't be difficult to keep up with, so I don't see any notable issues there.

Thus, I reiterate: I think the idea of an IC chat is fantastic. It would be something fun that could raise interest levels and give everyone a chance to roleplay together (to some degree) in a lighthearted environment.

I don't, however, think that a room for Speed RPs is a very good idea at all, much less combining that room and the IC chat room into one.

I believe that I agree with Weiss. I can register a channel for just IC talk and link it in the topic, but people can definitely create their own rooms if they want to do speed RPs.

Could we please get instructions on how to create a chatroom? I'd love to make one for Emoria: The World Builder Project...but I'm not chat savvy and I don't really know how to use the thing!

It can definitely be done! Either myself or Weiss could write one up and get Fate to Sticky it for us

You have to sticky it? I'm confused...

I thought the chatroom was a seperate thing that you go into and type the room name up, like Weiss described?

I think he meant they were going to make a thread with the information and have Fate sticky that thread. Not sticky a chat. =3

Ok I was wondering...it is not necessary to sticky the info, I'd rather put it in the first post of the Emoria: Information thread. Just to keep things neat and tidy.

Well, I'm sure there will be others who could benefit from knowing how it's done, and because they were planning to do it anyway, making the topic sticky makes everyone happy. ^^_^^

I voted Yes too, because I've participate in speed RPs before and enjoyed them immensely. They nice little short stories I use to get to know someone's style with and have a relaxing bit of story-telling to do.

I' don't know if I'd use it for plain chat as that has many options out there from IMing to Mibbit.