Sapphire Ambassadors

As stated in the topic, Don't Be a Jerk.

Seriously.

Yes, a character can be a jerk. That happens. That's to be expected. But players should not be jerks.

Sometimes, folks're jerks without meaning to be or realizing that what they're doing is jerk behavior. Give folks the benefit of the doubt--once.

If another player notes to you that you, the player, are being a jerk, stop it. Apologize, work not to do it again, and play on.

If another player is being a jerk, please note it to the player, give 'em a chance to fix it. If it's not resolved, flag it to GM attention. One of us will handle it.

If you're worried you, the player, are being a jerk, reach out and check on it. If your character is or needs to be a jerk, reach out and let folks know. That there's conflict among characters is fine, but help keep the game a game. The real world has enough suck in it without folks adding to it.

Thank you.

I liked GB's summary here. I didn't want to have to add to it, since in some games (which will not be called out) the GMs warned players to the point of it seemingly like they were personally offended by the existence of players, and about to snap.

However.

We haven't even opened the board to the public yet, and we've already got people (who shall not be named) breaking this primary rule.

How you may ask?

Waaaay back in the day there was the board, and that was it. All the OOC chatter was here, and a dedicated mod team could police it...heck, they could read every single post that happened.

But as the population has grown and social media has exploded, there's a bonazana of ways for people to be jerks to another. Facebook, discord, tik-tok and more, there's never been more ways to reach out and be a jerk to someone. And it's simply impossible for a two member gm team to police literally every outlet where someone might be a jerk at.

Now, back when I was first a player, I didn't understand the harm in venting, especially if it was done behind someone's back where they couldn't see it. Why shouldn't I rail against this other delegation in clan chat? It makes me feel better, and it shows I'm engaged and care about the game, right? But as was explained to me long ago, all the negativity, including all the negativity that you cannot see, eventually finds it's way to the GMs and builds up there. And has been shown before, the combined negativity will eventually break a game.

So to avoid that, please don't be a jerk to people. If you don't like an event, don't participate in it. If you don't like someone's character OR their player or their previous characters, avoid them as best you can. Do NOT harass them, either to their face, or "behind their back" online wherever you think you can do that and get away with it...because you can't, it will find it's way to the GMs eventually.

And it doesn't matter if you've been with us since OD opened his first game, before that, or if this is your first game ever. IF we find out that you are negatively impacting someone's fun by bieng a jerk to them or their character (barring legitimate IC beef of course, rokugan IS a samurai drama after all), we're gonna have to boot you (after a fair investigation). Because as a GM it's our duty to make sure this is an environment where people CAN have fun (Can't guarantee the fun itself, but the environment most definitely)

So shout your negativity from your front porch if you must, but keep it off our board and off the net, or we'll have to keep you off the board. I do not want to go around banning people, but if they're negatively affecting the game, I have to.

Game On!

The longer version:

Just so we're clear, we don't expect you to police each other. Ideally, you can reach out and communicate your differences with each other and come to a peaceful resolution without the necessity of invoking the GMs. But the GMs ARE here for you if such arrangements cannot be made.

Do try to remember that when someone reaches out to you with their concerns about something you've said/done, do not just dismiss them out of hand. We're all here to cooperatively tell a story and if one of your storytelling collaborators has some notes for you, being willing to take them and consider your actions. Just because something doesn't bother you, doesn't mean it doesn't bother someone else. Your fun should not have to come at the expensive of someone else's fun.

And as stated before, the GMs are here to be the final arbiters. We have a responsibility for ensuring a safe environment where everyone CAN have fun (can't guarantee that they WILL, but they CAN). Please work with us and with each other to ensure this is a great final game for the Naishou-verse.

Game on!