Forced RP - It's Okay to Say No

[Fiona Swift]

Forced RP - It's Okay to Say No​

By Fiona Swift & Jaena Shaw​

*Main points in bold blue, aka, an internal TL;DR​

Consent is always required.​

Permas​

Permas can never be forced.
The only person that can kill your character is you.​

Even if circumstances are grim from the game's perspective, such as the graphics are displaying that you took a bullet to the head and then someone declares “they were shot, they’re dead,” it is not them that decides, it is up to you to decide and describe the degree of the injury that your character has sustained.

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You can claim the bullet grazed your head or hit you in the side of the neck, or whatever you like. Perhaps your character gains a nice scar from it so they can tell the story of how they got it at a later time. But under no circumstances should you feel forced to Perma your character based off of the graphic the game displays or a comment someone may have made. Nor should anyone enter your DMs and insist or guilt you to do so.​

A Perma is something to be undertaken with time to think it over, especially if it is your main.

You can always opt to go comatose, and take a day or three to consider if you really want your character to die.

To that same tune, make sure that if you have a character that has taken serious injury, or that the situation would logically require it, that you take it seriously and honour that RP. For example, if your character was in a large gun fight and took multiple bullet wounds, it would be *logical* that the character takes some time to rest and not partake in another gun fight that same day. Or if your character went hunting with friends and got mauled by a bear, they more than likely aren’t going to jump in a canoe or join a boxing match. They’ll take some time to tend to their wounds and regain their strength.​

If you aren’t going to perma after a serious event, give yourself a cooldown period after coming upon a situation like this.

Bench them for 3-7 days, play another character, give time and space for those involved in your conflict to appreciate the impact and let it sink in as well.

In turn, no one can make you feel guilty that they killed their character if you did not put them in a position where they felt they had no choice, as it was ultimately their decision. If someone attempts to emotionally manipulate you in regards to their character's death, tell them that it was their decision and it isn’t your or your character's fault, and if they continue to press the issue, let us know and we will sort it out as it is a form of harassment and toxicity.​

Ex: "She broke his heart, so he was distraught and reckless, so it’s her fault that he did this [insert reckless act] and is dead now!”.​

If you are in a storyline arc with another group and you wish there to be true consequences to actions, both you and the other party must fairly agree to it, you can even lay down consents to unscripted possible outcomes ahead of time. This cannot and should not be a one sided agreement. It cannot be that they must be willing to perma, but you do not. If you wish that the decision to perma not lay at either at your feet, you can both agree that a roll and an agreed upon chart can be used upon any incapacitation.
Ex: Roll a D10
1-5 injuries minor to medium.
6-7 severe injury. 8-9 coma
10-perma/long hiatus.

Note: Permas don’t need to be immediate, it can be terminal injury so the character can have a chance to say goodbye but they would die within a few days of the roll, which can be detailed in /me’s that describe a severe injury hinting to having limited time or clarified in /ooc - I consent to 3 day delayed perma.

Executions
The DOJ and Staff do not force criminals to perma their characters, executions are agreed upon by the player of that character.​

Any time there is an execution on the server, the player of the executed character has either volunteered this option as a sought ending for their character and/or given consent to a judge to sentence their character to death because they themselves consider it a good option.​

If a character breaks out of jail after being sentenced to execution, all that it means is their execution is delayed as the agreement is still in place.​

Administrator+ Exception​

If you -the player- indicate a character is permad, whether it be through /me no pulse or otherwise but are later found playing them again, an Admin, Community Lead or Manager can and will step in once it is brought to their attention. This is really merely an enforcement of honoring the roleplay previously set. After all, this is WildWestRoleplay, not TheyHaveRisenRP. Once a character is perma'd and burial arrangements completed (if any are required), they should be deleted from your character roster as soon as reasonably able and your forum name updated if that character was your forum/discord name.

Note: This "No Forced Perma" rule also applies to mounts and pets.


Body Disposal: Be Considerate
When you murder some unsuspecting cowfella or cowgal in the woods,
do you leave the body or hide it?​

If your character feels the need to hide the body, make sure to remember some key factors: Gunplay ends roleplay and if you bring them to the doctors office so they can recall the interaction, you cannot continue to roleplay with them without consent. Give them room and if they want to re-engage, they will.

If you are going to hide the body, do so in a place that gives them a reasonable option to survive should they choose.

Tossing them off a cliff, into a river, or down a well only served to remove plausible avenues to survival, which puts the player in a difficult position if they do not wish to perma their character. After all, we’d all like to have realistic and believable outcomes for our stories rather than far fetched ones.

It may make sense to your character to dispose of the body in that fashion, but it makes it unpleasant and sometimes unplayable for the other people involved, which is why this is not something one should be doing at all.

Far better alternatives for where to dispose of someone would be bushes near roads, side alleys, maybe on the shoreline within view of an area people ride through.

Allow potential for expansions on the story and a means that they can be found, whether it be by a player or a yokel. You can have their horse hitched visibly nearby and for an even better roleplay experience for all, place scenes that can lead to their body, whether it be a trail of blood, drag marks, heavy footprints, the victims hat, a badge, broken glasses, etc.

Always be considerate of the people that are engaging in a story with you and you’ll find it’s a far better experience for everyone.

NLR Exceptions
If you don't take them to a doctor, but you want them to be able to remember so some storyline aspects continue, you must DM them as soon as possible (within 5 minutes preferably) and give them permission to remember should they wish to and that they do not have to abide the NLR rule if they are not found before a yokel doctor gets them.​

Torture in Any Form
"I'd like to see your consent form please."​

As all members of this community know, since they should be aware of the rules, torture requires consent. It is why the /ooc command exists. One cannot and should not force torture role-play on other people. This ranges from flaying, burning, extended beatings, flooding, etc.

In turn, if you are someone that would not consent to certain things being done to you, you should not be the one doing those things to others. It is a double standard which is inappropriate and begins to look more like powergaming rather than merely having lines you wish not to cross or due to triggers that you are trying to reasonably steer clear of, so be aware of your limits and do not engage RP where your triggers may often arise.

Consent may be sought and communicated through DM’s and/or the /ooc command. If someone is pressing you into a torture situation and is not stopping to get consent, you may prompt them through DM or state /ooc “I do not consent [to being burned alive]. Which will clearly mark the interaction and send a clear message that they should not ignore.

If you are in a conflict RP situation with a group or a long story arc, the parties may exchange lists of things they would be willing to consent to or what they wouldn't be willing to do well in advance if they so choose. (If the community wishes me to make a formal form for this, I can do so.)
Note: This does not give leave for scripting, as scripting is not acceptable. It merely means that the parties exchange with the other side what they are alright with so there is no need to interrupt RP later to ask for consent if something ever comes up. It does not mean that those things have to or ever will come up.

Conflict RP
It's a tango, not a solo show.​

This is the Wild West, conflict is inevitable and should be expected to be a part of characters' lives in varying degrees and frequency depending on their lifestyle. This does not mean that as a civilian you will be exempt from it, nor does it mean as a high conflict character that you must always be immersed in it. After all, variety is the spice of life, as it is with RP

That being said, we should never force people to constantly be at odds with us, particularly once it’s evident that not everyone is enjoying themselves. Roleplay is meant to be enjoyable for all participants, not just one side. Which means that if people aren’t having fun anymore that something has to give so that there can be some type of solution or resolution to the story-line. Whether they got their revenge or grew tired trying to attain it or found peace with themselves, it doesn’t matter. But no one should be forced to rehash the same conflicts over and over, or be hounded forever as that can get excruciatingly tiring and can even be boring for those doing the hounding. If every day you log on your only goal is to hunt a person down, to avoid being hunted or constantly find yourselves having arguments with certain individuals because it’s getting frustrating, it would be the time to suggests that it’s time to back off of that hill.

You should never have multiple characters involved in the same conflict. This risks meta, conflict of interest, and depending as to whether your characters are always coming from the same side and heading after the same people, it can resemble toxicity/harassment and breaches server rules regarding Alts.

If you feel you are being constantly pressed into conflict RP beyond an acceptable threshold, ask the other person if there is an end in sight to this route of roleplay as you'd like to resolve it at some point so the both of you can proceed with your own storylines and character development.
If you would prefer to go through the mediation method, open a ticket and request that the admin team set one up.
If the other players are getting toxic or you feel there is harassment, open a ticket and make staff aware of the situation.

Keep in mind that most conflicts can and should be resolved entirely in character and that arcs are meant to reach an eventual end that satisfies all parties.

Relationship RP
They don't own you.
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This is something I will touch base on in more detail in another post, but for now, I will state:

You are never under any obligation to entertain romanceRP/relationshipRP with any character, just because a character shows interest (persistently or infrequently), or the player reaches out ooc and tries to suggest/request/encourage it. Just because they want you to does not mean you have to comply. Nor are you ever obligated to partake in any ‘extracurricular activities’.

eRP is Not Permitted on the Server in Any Form
If eRP is something you and your RP partner do consent and wish to do, be considerate of other players and log off the server and continue that elsewhere. There are better mediums for that than /me's which won't get you warning points or banned.
A player has no right to try to push you into eRP and doing so constitutes as sexual harassment, whether it's in server or in your DMs. Nor can they try to push you into more descriptive /me's of affection than you feel comfortable with. If all you feel comfortable typing is "/me hug" or "/me kiss", or nothing at all in that regard, it's perfectly fine.
If they are being far more descriptive than you feel comfortable with, it's entirely reasonable for you to ask that they respect your comfort level and tone it down.
Don't be afraid to speak up, as they won't know unless you tell them. ​

Whether your reasons for your decision to deny this are purely due to ic or ooc reasons, or a mixture thereof, you are in your full right to state it is not something you are interested in at that time, with that character/player or ever.

Some of the biggest red flags is when a player displays OOC jealousy, when they won’t take no for an answer or they try to rush/force you into something rather than allow things to develop naturally between the characters, as well as if they try to insist that you spend the majority of your time on the paired character with them.

Your character is not you, just as theirs is not them. The hard line between IC and OOC must always be held. A person should be no more dismayed that you do not wish your character to be part of a relationship with theirs any more than they can be disappointed that someone spelled their name incorrectly on their coffee at Starbucks.

Watch for the flags, and steer clear of those that raise them. If things become problematic, reach out to staff and we will help you. Never be afraid to reach out, we are there to make sure everyone is safe, comfortable and having a good time.

It should go without saying, but all of the above goes both ways - you cannot push these things on others either.


In the end, we’re all here to have a good time building stories and experiencing them together.

So let’s keep it that way you wonderful human beings.
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