OOC Actions

[Thaelis]

Was just wondering, is there a ruling on whether all actions are considered IC?

Like, if I bump into a LG Wizard and they are running around with a summoned Demon, but they say "No, my character is LG! I just summoned it because no one was around!" am I obliged to RP as not having seen it? Or can I RP out any consequences, like PvP or reporting them to the authorities?

(I guess in the case of PvP an RP-out still applies, but I can attack and kill the summons without permission/RP-out right? Or am I misunderstanding the rules?)

Thanks!

[JustAnotherGuy]

My opinion on this, is you are RPing ICly whenever you are logged in, unless you are in an OOC area, like the nexus.

You cannot be LG and perform evil acts, even if no one sees. Because you are still IC, and also, you never know who is around to see anyway. If I were a DM, and saw a supposed LG toon summon a demon/devil, I'd give them evil points, even if no other toons are around.

Now, if you have the AFK tag over your head, I'd give a bit of leeway. Perhaps they are testing out mechanics. But if they are abusing the tag, like xp grinding for instance, then no. They are IC.

[Svabodnik]

If it's not with someone using an AFK tag for Quality of Life OoC use (such as Grey Orcs on the surface entering Baldur's Gate or another race-restricted area without a disguise to be able use the vendors/quest givers), or the set of actions were distinctly discussed as being OoC prior to being performed (I occasionally test mechanics with another player without either one throwing up the tag after the discussion, but then it's usually done in an otherwise empty zone), then it's in-game, as far as I'm concerned.

That's just my personal take on it, however. The specific citation from the General Server Rules is rather loose in the options for potential interpretation:

With a loose interpretation, 'grinding monsters' is part of a potential consideration for OoC behavior. Though this should be followed with the caveat at the start of the post:

Given this particular example, I would personally prefer the rules to be further clarified. My personal 'gut feeling' is that such actions are fair to be treated as IC.

[JustAnotherGuy]

To me, the OOC portion of that is the "Grinding monsters for xp" not the how you do it. Because in reality, most adventurers wouldn't head out to an xvart village, slaughter the whole village, then wait for more. So the action of grinding monsters is OOC. But if you're summoning things a a goodly aligned toon wouldn't summon, then you're ICly breaking your alignment.

Similarly, it's hard to ICly justify heading to the same dungeons over and over again to get loot. So that's handwaved as being OOCly IC, if that makes sense. However, what your toon does while grinding is all IC.

That's my own interpretation of the rules, anyway.

[Hoihe]

I've once ran into paladins partying with a necromancer that had their undead summons out.

When ICly confronted, I was called an elitist OOC afterwards by one of the players involved.

My take is essentially congruent with Svabodnik's.

[Asmodea]

I am a general believer that trying to bludgeon other players with the rules is going to lead to woe. I once accidently cast Greater Ruin on someone because I sneezed and punishing people for how they want to grind doesn't help them or you.

I'd just mention to the player in question that him running around with a demon makes your immersion harder and if you want try to convince him RPing about it might be more fun than ignoring it.

Trying to force any of that will just make them and you unhappy in the end.

[EasternCheesE]

The issue is that many players forget/lazy to put their AFK sign on when they grind in relaxed state.
I got into such situations several times before, so when they say "Oh, it's OOC demon for grinding", i just either joined OOC grind (that could become IC grind if we can handle stuff without that evil summon etc), or i went further as if i met noone.

Well, having specific "OOC" tag to be togglable is nice. So others can see person is not AFK, but doesn't want any RP right now.

[Thaelis]

Ok it seems that there isn't really a consensus on this. I suppose after all is said and done I don't want to trample on anyone else's fun by making their LG character infamous/wanted, so if I see them doing it I will ask if it is IC or not before reacting.

Also it depends on the situation. If a Necromancer and Paladin were teaming up in the starting Graveyard I'd almost certainly ignore it, because they could easily be the only two low-level characters online, and would have a high chance of death on their own. If it were two epic level characters I would treat it differently.

[selhan]

And that my folks is the problem with this gingerbread Rp/ooc that's been goin about. I myself was grouped with a Necromancer unwillingly, I rp the whole damn thing even tho I knew the person was just loot/grinding. And when we came upon another group I stayed in IC the whole damn time, with solid rp to avoid affiliations with the necromancer.

Surfacer's running in the underdark encounters a drow and be like "Just ooc exploring " Pfft sorry game over if im the drow. Same with UD players on the surface in non Duchal areas, I wont care if your lost. The rp better be damn good to avoid conflict (ignorant of the rules is no excuse) if you goofed/slip/had an oops moment oh well, get creative. Seriously disappointed and tired with these gingerbread fruity half an half ic/ooc rp.

If a LG is seen summoning undead my question is , 1, how you sure they LG cause he/she said so? Na huh sorry partner a character can lie, and they dont have to roll for another player. If my character sees a paladin or anyone for that matter summoning undeads, I will always act on it. I may not openly start drama and conflict, but do know I am ic getting your whole physical description, and I MAY simply speak about you to someone else who might be interested. SO if your caught playing with the dead, you should be thinking about weather to let a witness live or die or even ensure they dont talk about what they seen. That is rp. Not this ((OH hey whats up like my zombie bro? Just messing around ooc looting)) *Days later* (( He aint see nothing cause it was OOC))

[JustAnotherGuy]

The simple answer is really, "Just be IC". You don't know who's watching, who's looking, or if a sneak might be about. And if there becomes a distinction with, "Oh, x only happened OOCly", then everyone who saw anything then has the burden of trying to remember what they know and what they don't, ICly. And then all it takes is for one person to not know it was OOC, and mention it to someone else IC. Then sorry. Whether or not it was OOC or not, it's IC now. So, to avoid your own headache, and headaches for anyone else, the simple answer is "Play your character at all times".

There are "accidents" that happen, as Asmodea said. If someone accidentally casts a spell, and then says "oops, ignore that", then that's fine and totally understandable. I personally have used wands on my action bar on people. Accidents happen. And many times, it's actually easier to ignore them rather than try to come up with an IC excuse as to why someone is suddenly invisible. It's like misclicking. If my toon suddenly runs off because I misclick, I ignore it, and assume everyone else does, too.

But things done on purpose, like running around with a summon, it's easier for everyone involved if you keep it all IC. Otherwise the person doing it is just asking for headaches.

[Louvaine]

I assume Nexus is OOC. Everything else I would treat as IC.

[ajcolt]

If the player wasn't using the summon in RP and not using it to slaughter an area. Remind them to throw up the AFK tag. There is no reason to press an issue for a single instance. If it happens repeatedly, then I'd just okay it with DM team first.

If the individual was grinding with whatever, IMO, it's IC. It'd be a situation to situation moment to press it. D&D is a cooperative game and in roleplay cooperation (and communication) are key. If a person is not roleplaying themselves or used meta information in anyway to get there, certainly do not press it. Cheating to expose borderline or questionable IC action is one of the worst forms of cheating as a person is cheating to gain an advantage in roleplay.

Good wizards and foolishly good wizards do summon things from lower planes on occasion. It a mildly evil and axiom corruption. How that might appear socially by NPCs or other players PCs is case by case and subject to interpretation.

In this particular situation, I'd probably communicate my intent to roleplay it and go from there. In most cases it would not necessitate more then a 1 point alignment shift (if that) in one way or another mechanically.

[EasternCheesE]

I'd treat anyone running around with "AFK sign" as OOC and "they are not here". In perfect world, where people don't forget it, everyone without AFK sign are IC.

[Steve]

For a role-play Server, regardless of being medium, low or high, any actions IG using the AFK tag as some sort of license to grind, loot or gain whatever from the IG,IC world, should not be permitted.

AFK Grinding IS NOT allowed, as per General Server Rules.

And, alignments are an OOC aspect that guides RP, just as we don’t RP in game emotes such as “Surely, I will join your adventuring group, as I wield a 38 attack bonus and that should allow me to crit those Orcs on a regular basis....”. You dig?

I realize there exists this unspoken allowance for Gray Orcs or known evil PCs to access BG for the Quests, but even that is bogus and should be specifically ruled out of existence.

[athornforyourheart]

I am a general believer that trying to bludgeon other players with the rules is going to lead to woe. I once accidently cast Greater Ruin on someone because I sneezed and punishing people for how they want to grind doesn't help them or you.

I'd just mention to the player in question that him running around with a demon makes your immersion harder and if you want try to convince him RPing about it might be more fun than ignoring it.

Trying to force any of that will just make them and you unhappy in the end.

Out of all the responses. I back this one.

Unless we’re just meant to argue it. In that case, my argument parallels this response. Seriously, it’s just a game... some people aren’t always playing for immersion. They finally got to put their kids to sleep and have some time to kill. You can kindly tell them that’s it’s probably gonna confuse people and maybe they shouldn’t do it if they are serious about rp and their character or... you can hassle them just enough to make them go play ffxiv or whatever other game you kids are playing these days. One less on the server count that already hits 4 or 5 players at dead hours.

TLDR: it’s not that serious if the player isn’t on the same lvl of Rp you are on. Go punch a tree if you need the urge to pvp. Take the moment to educate via tells than reprimand through actions.