First, when it comes to rewards and IC punishment, I do no think anyone, Cyradia included, has made a case that these are being made on a player as opposed to character basis. In fact, Cyradia's "cornerstone" example of unequal rewards, her character Venphoria, is an undisputed example of rewarding on a character as opposed to player basis. Cyradia even admits the IMM had no idea who Venphoria's player was, and was merely trying to provide an IC reward to a character that sucked in PK, had a horrible range, but top-notch RP. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think everyone agrees crappy PK characters with good RP dealing with crappy odds (like Venphoria) should have the opportunity for small rewards. As long as it is on a character basis, which that admittedly was.

Second, I am not sure if you heroimmed, but it is a lonely and awkward process sitting around in one room for hours at a time. Again, using Cyradia's examples in her thread, you can see at least one high level IMM (her) intentionally made no effort to learn new heroimm's names or engage with them on a human level to make them feel welcome and acknowledged unless they were useful to her. (note: I am not criticizing this style of management, in fact it is relatively common to large, very successful, law firms in the US, for example. I'm just saying her thread and response to Balta paints a picture.). This new situation is compounded by the fact you are no longer able to communicate on Dios or other channels where you used to talk about things CF related, and your real life family and friends don't want to hear about "the black screen," as my wife calls it (for example, I used to post on Dios 2-3 times a day). So your CF communications are restricted to one outlet: that room.

Your main connection with the imms sitting around in that room willing to talk to you and learn your name at that early point is active characters and players.

On some level I do not think there is a harm to allow some variation of the comment Cyradia is talking about amongst heroimms - because it is an ice breaker and you are no longer in a capacity to influence the game. I suspect Cyradia's example is one of those instances. Similarly, I think Nep's comment in Mochi's pbf is another example of a harmless comment that obviously had no impact.

Obviously it becomes problematic the moment that speculation influences IC interactions with a character, or creates an environment where OOC negativity surrounds a character - but that is not being alleged here.

Anyway, based on what Twist said, restrictions on speculating re: active characters like the ones used on Dios are already being enforced with renewed attention. I just would like to think that we can all recognize, respect, and appreciate the value of entertaining and open conversation where it does not potentially impact a character. This is a game, and one that benefits by making it fun for everyone involved, including heroimms.