Conquest of the Horde

Greetings.

It has come to my mind a player is having one of his characters rape people. I'm not offensive, I'm not blaming the IC action, because it's possible, and in said environment actually pretty common place.

Where the problem is lies OOCly.

You'll notice rape is one of those topics you can't really speak of. And while I agree, I'd love to point something. Two of my friends were not given clear warnings as of what would the RP contain. And, keep in mind there are kids, and sensitive persons out here. It's not a dystopian roleplay place. There IS stuff which can relate directly to the players themselves, especially in rape (because I will be opposed that death is far worse than rape -- one might have been confronted to sexual or simply physical abuse, while getting owned by a demon is already something more relative); and some people are also not mature to properly handle such stuff.

The preventive part. If a player is forcing any action you aren't feeling comfortable with - tell them OOCly, politely, and if they continue, void the RP and fade to black. Please show common sense. Only void to black for stuff that IS touchy. I'm sorry, but getting killed isn't, so long a proper character warning was given, or your character did something utterly stupid.

If you are one of those players owning a raping character (or just any hardcore guy that would inflict lots of pain and could potentially OOCly harm people) - give out character warnings. That's what they're made for. Tell your victim s/he might enter a potentially critical situation, and ask them if they're fine with it.


The curative part. If you have found yourself in such a situation (once again don't act stupid, this should remain exceptional), and have something to complain - you haven't faded to black, you've been OOCly threatened with cheating, or something - and I will quote Draknir there : Post a complaint immediately after having checked with said player. Perhaps they aren't meaning any harm and are just in their roleplay. But if they troll you, or dismiss you, then report. This is a violation of rather private rules (that's why we on real-life LARPs all have a sheet with character limits, stuff that we don't allow to be done to our characters/our bodies), as well as a dirty kick to Rule 1 - the famous OOC respect rule.


Once again. I don't have anything against IC raping. I don't have anything against the characters I am thinking about. It's just, have common sense, think that other people are not mature, are overly sensitive, and/or do not wish to roleplay such stuff. And most of all, show respect. And it's not because one person was anyways OOCly fine with it, that anyone was like that. I have two friends, on which I'm basing my whole rant, who aren't, and have decided to skip mid-RP (they shouldn't have to leave the RP just because you decided so.)


PS - Happily enough this isn't a widespread trend, and most likely your character will never have such an encounter. Yet there's a small chance. And by rape you can substitute stuff like, for instance, mutilation, over maiming, truly degrading stuff, and so on.

PS - The title seemed offensive. I changed it.

I actually never seen someone force it OOCly, and I do believe it'd be impossible to force OOCly, though it is pretty much possible to make others uncomfortable about it.

In all I would say so long as everyone's keeping it private it's none of our business. It'll mostly be the business of the people in the rp, and any GMs if they report. What concerns me however is people OOCly hating on IC rape because it's sensitive, when both parties consented to it. I do remember someone saying they wanted to perma-kill rapist characters as an example.

I'm not OOCly hating them. I just know there have been people hurt by an uncomfortable situation, and on a place like CotH where respect is the prime tenet, it should be frowned upon.

I don't care, as I said, about what people do in private -- so long they are consenting. And too often people feel compelled to fuel the RP and end up uneased and hurt.

Does this not go under character warning?

I'm just gonna repeat what I said on Chat:


I've NEVER heard of people doing this at all, and other GMs I've consulted have been equally clueless. If you know someone who has been forcing uncomfortable or disturbing RP on someone, or if you've witnessed an incident happen with no character warning given, REPORT IT.

This sort of thing is unacceptable.

Rape is something that both parties must be COMPLETELY agreed upon with. If you force it on someone ICly, it's a very heavy repercussion if they come with a warning flag to us. It's a very sensitive issue with a lot of people here, myself included, and i'm going to just say this; If you're doing something like this without both parties agreeing to it completely, if you're not going to like what comes after you when the banhammer is lifted and placed on our shoulders.

This should also be time to note that giving out character warnings and someone not seeing them isn't a green light to go around doing anything you'd like, nor are they a free pass for being the devil in the heartlands.

Anyone, at any time, can simply remove themselves from an RP, unless they forced themselves into repercussions, such as fighting with guards or doing something illegal themselves. It is not metagaming, it is protection of themselves and their freedom to RP and not have to worry about something as disgusting as their character being raped. We are not here to lay out the darkest fantasies of anyone here wishing to procure them.

Ah, yes. Seeing as you're talking about Shadovarn...

I will state first that everything done was with the consent of both parties. Not once has the RP occured without me asking -multiple- times about it, whether they were okay with it or not. I know the rules about this and if someone so much as -hints- they don't want the RP or actions against their characters, it simply doesn't happen.

I've noticed that the people uncomfortable with it are those not involved. In fact, most of the rage is all OOC from people who heard of it from others. The one's involved in the RP seemed fine enough with it, and I haven't heard anything from them.

Do I really need to say anything regarding this? Seconding what Binkle said.

Eh, only problem I have with this is people that use it for sympathy instead of character growth. I think we're all mature enough on here with our CWs. Perhaps some miscommunication happened?

Yeah, for once we agree. What probably happened is someone "No one can RP that it is sick! I'll beat the **** out of the person who did it."... well I'll leave that quote anonymous. But if you know the person, you'll probably recognise his words. Anyway that's how it spread to this level me thinks. This is the guy who blocked me for RPing female characters when I am a boy and spread rumours that I cyber... when I rarely even get into a situation close to IC romance any more.

Just remember, be aware that you can get major chinese whisper effect online, so be careful on what you do and don't take seriously.

Here's my two cents.

I think that this should be something people can engage in, because it is after all a rp server. But the rest of us shouldn't have to hear about it. Ever. Note how the topic of rape is deeply frowned on in the chat channels. There's a reason it is.

Before anyone else says anything, I'd like to point out that this is one of those topics which is very sensitive to a lot of people, who may or may not have had bad experiences in their lives. This touches on a much more personal level than just killing one another. Should we make that demographic uncomfortable and unhappy because others enjoy that kind of roleplaying? We should be extending them the same courtesy we show to everyone else under the CotH rules.

I'm not a squeamish person. Not by a long shot, and I think anyone who knows my job can vouch for me. But I've found that more than once, I've wanted to just seal off my roleplaying to make sure I'd never have to hear about or witness anything like it.

Sadly enough, I was not specifically referring to Shadovarn. I do see you guys can't bother to read the whole topic, but at least I've brought the rank, and the GMs' answers are good enough for newbies to the server to read and understand.

If you had bothered to read, I wrote twice I wasn't saying that roleplaying such acts was sick and should be banned.

My point is; if you are being forced into such acts ICly, be sure to revolt. Your RP and OOC limits are your own.

I think what we're trying to say is that you're speaking on an issue that hasn't happened yet. No one's been forced into rape rp just for the sake of making the rp go. If anything most rp like that is planned and coordinated between the parties.

I did read your entire post.
What I was stating had to do with the OOC communication of people, particularly those of non-participants. The only way this ever became an issue is because non-participants spread the word, and it became widespread enough for there to be controversy. In that sense, I think what I said was pretty relevant.

Regarding the OOC part, the usual chat rules apply to the situation. We can't regulate what people say in private channels, but we can make sure the discussions don't extend to the public ones.

Well, to me rape is almost crossing the line in rp, even if both parties agree to it. I understand some things happen in life, but ICly some things should just be left alone.