I have held off posting on this issue because I wanted to hear the community out and I wanted voices to be heard before I said something. I have read through the posts and I want to say it is really nice to see a community be able to discuss this sort of thing without rants/raves etc. Well done to all of you on that aspect.
With that said…
It seems some people are forgetting that Layonara is not reality and that it is a fantasy world. They're forgetting that in the D&D setting (really most fantasy settings), racial tension is acceptable, given that each race as a whole has archetypical characteristics that make them good or evil or whatever and each race has had wars (long standing wars) between the other races. Some races just plain hate the other races due to these long standing feuds, and they should be role-played that way.
I do think that a few people are getting too worked up, but at the same time I do understand why they are upset, I really do understand. Some things have been derogatory and been taken from in game/in character to out of game/out of character, which is when things cross the line. Keep this stuff in game and in character via role-playing, it does not belong on the website/public community.
I am not against tension caused by races or classes and I don’t care if it is role-played out in game. If the other player asks for something to end then by all means end the RP, this is a respect thing and every community needs to respect each and every player in that community. Without that mutual respect, and to some degree understanding, no community will survive. I am not saying to stop playing racial tension(s), but use tells to stay in OOC communication with the other player so that both know it is happening for RP reasons.
There will be times on quests that a GM may ask for this sort of thing to not happen, it will usually happen when the GM’s plate is already full running the quest and handling player actions that revolve around that quest. It is not the GM saying to not RP your racial/class tensions but instead he/she is asking you to hold off so that they can keep the quest moving forward.
One thing that is not acceptable in my book is that you do not spit on others in game, even if it is in character, this is not a rule—I just think it takes away from the respect that needs to be shown and I think it crosses the line to a degree. You can spit on the ground at their feet or something like that but I am requesting (not making it a rule mind you—at this time) to not do it to the character personally. This is a respect thing; see my comment above about community respect and our need for that. While it sure does happen in RL and can happen in fantasy worlds I just don’t think it is acceptable for our community. I also strongly urge each of you to choose your words wisely, while I am not going to specifically state they can not be used it should always be with the consent and understanding that it is RP of the other player (via Tells). Words are easily misunderstood and can inflame a community so fast that we may not be able to control things. So again, it is a two way respect street on this one, just use your heads is what I am asking for here. I do not want to make a rule on what can and can not be said, that is just silly in my opinion and likely not very enforceable without bans and I don’t want to do that.
Everybody needs to respect each other in this community. Also understanding though that if you choose to play “evil” racial type characters be prepared to get the racial tension that should be role-played, otherwise don’t play that sort of character.
We have two communities here, in game “fantasy” and an online real-world community (website). These two communities, as a whole, are interlinked and as such actions and behaviors need to be monitored by everybody in the entire community.
The main thing we need to be sure of is that our fun doesn't impede on the fun of other's having fun, this is important to remember.
Remember, if it does not feel right or just feels out of place as it is happening then chances are you are over that line in the sand or at the very least smudging it.
This is not a rule or anything like that, rather it is a request by the team and I to please be sure to use common sense and have respect while role-playing some of the more invasive forms of role-play between races and classes.
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