"Open" Threads

[Nailah Weaver]

Alright, since some people like to label threads that have no planned participants and such with ((Open)) that can sometimes be confusing if others don't, yet the thread is actually meant to be available for whoever wants to join in.

My suggestion is this: If the thread is in a public location then assume it is open unless it's specifically marked as reserved for another character.

I'd also add that dining hall threads and the like (at least mine, don't want to speak for anybody else) generally continue to be open even if another character is already in there, posting. It's a very public place, feel free to join in!

I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks about this since I feel nobody should ever go "Hmm, I want to drop [character] into this scene, but there's already two people talking over lunch, better not disturb them." cause I feel that can inhibit RP and makes the school feel less open and alive. (The threads this doesn't go for tend to be fairly obviously private, imo)

[Miranda Weaver]

A couple of things:
1. It feels like marking threads for specific people is a little flow disruptive if it's in the thread title. Usually if I'm doing a thread with a specific person I've told them "Hey, let's do a thread about X." It even feels like it would be a little weird to put "((Reserved for...))" in the first post, but that could just be because I'm used to putting "((Open))".
2. This may have more to do with my own personal hangups about thread size, but I'd hate to see threads in 'public' places suddenly get large because they're continuously open by convention. I find threads with more than 3 different characters in general to be unwieldy and personally not a lot of fun. It gets worse if you have sub-groups doing different things in the same thread. The obvious exception to this is big fight threads, but even those push it sometimes.

[Nailah Weaver]

Sometimes people aren't in IRC. I mean ultimately it doesn't matter which way we label things (I don't find it particularly intrusive but that's me) as long as we agree on it. I prefer the label in the thread as opposed to the title in any case because you can tiny font it there and make it less intrusive, plus it stays out of the thread listings that way.

I wouldn't expect every open thread to turn into huge ones either, it just sometimes feels like the status quo is "2 people per thread maximum" and that feels kind of clique-ish almost. Like someone takes someone up on a thread and other people sees that almost as an "Occupied" sign.

[Miranda Weaver]

Sometimes people aren't in IRC. I mean ultimately it doesn't matter which way we label things (I don't find it particularly intrusive but that's me) as long as we agree on it. I prefer the label in the thread as opposed to the title in any case because you can tiny font it there and make it less intrusive, plus it stays out of the thread listings that way.

I use PMs as well, but that's mostly a pedantic point. I suppose as long as things are clearly labeled one way or the other, it really doesn't matter.

I wouldn't expect every open thread to turn into huge ones either, it just sometimes feels like the status quo is "2 people per thread maximum" and that feels kind of clique-ish almost. Like someone takes someone up on a thread and other people sees that almost as an "Occupied" sign.

I don't really have a problem with that or even see it as an issue, but that may just be me.

[Veronica Glarette]

I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks about this since I feel nobody should ever go "Hmm, I want to drop [character] into this scene, but there's already two people talking over lunch, better not disturb them." cause I feel that can inhibit RP and makes the school feel less open and alive. (The threads this doesn't go for tend to be fairly obviously private, imo)

From my personal perspective, this is why I don't go into threads that have 2 people talking to one another. Being new to this community, I feel as if I'd be intruding on things when other players or even people of this community have been here for years already and like to RP with each other. Kind of like the 'new kid on the block' bit of feelings, I suppose.

I think maybe the label in the thread may help, actually. But at the same time, I think the feeling of "am I intruding?" would still be there, at least for myself. This is just my personal take on things as someone completely new here both character and rper wise.

[Ryan Gabriel]

I think maybe the label in the thread may help, actually. But at the same time, I think the feeling of "am I intruding?" would still be there, at least for myself. This is just my personal take on things as someone completely new here both character and rper wise.

If threads don't say open, I tend to avoid them, since I don't want to make anyone mad for jumping in when they had someone else in mind.

[Nailah Weaver]

Well, we can just as well flip my suggestion and just remind people to label open threads accordingly if that's what people prefer/already look for. I just wanna make sure we're all on the same page.