This is something that I've been thinking about for a while now, and was highlighted recently by some recent examples of something that I think illustrate my point.

The first, kudos to Scarab, is the introduction of centaurs. While "something" was announced OOC via the forums, I really really like the use of the log board and the gechos for conveying the start of centaur season. Not only was the change announced in an IC way, but the logs actually convey useful IC information and give those who will be playing a centaur a good start on why they are here, where they came from, etc. etc.

The second, and this is something I've expressed dissatisfaction with before, is that I was looking at the facebook page today (something I try to do but don't do often as facebook is ####ing evil) and noticed that Bear is now covering dedication sphere as well. Firstly, I think that is awesome and from my limited understanding of her religion, seems to fit right in. But where is the IC explanation? Where are the gechos explaining it? Why wasn't it announced on the official forum?

Third, Skeeta. I consider this one of the best characters of all time, not because they were a great pker, or even a great rper of their own character, but rather because Skeeta helped bring the game to life in a way that I don't think any character before has ever done. The increase in IC info being distributed was fantastic. I actually got to find out things my characters cared about in-game. 9 times out of 10, this info is something I more often find out from the forums or logs or whatever.

Fourth, Cyradia/Marcatis. What happened IC, to these gods? Are they dead? From what? Are they simply gone? To where? What happens to their followers (if any)? What I'm saying is, I realize the forum drama was crazy, and people weren't really focusing on the IC stuff, but it was still an opportunity to tell a story. Maybe Marcatis (OG?) and Cyradia (CE?) do an epic throwdown god style and annihilate each other.

What I'm seeing, but probably failing to convey, is that the majority of the culture of CF exists outside of the game on forums. It seems no wonder to me then that people struggle to stay IC, or don't feel as engrossed as they might otherwise be. Even something simple like looting was essentially an IC consequence born from a change in the OOC culture of the CF community. I we, as a community, have the opportunity to push back. And while player steps can be slightly more difficult to define, I think the Imms have some easy wins to help build up the IC, in game, CF culture. Something like Scarab's posting the gechos to the log board is a good example of making the information available to those who weren't logged in (which I assume is the point of essentially the entire announcements board) but presenting it in a manner that lends itself toward in-game culture/discussion, instead of OOC forum discussion.

It has been lamented that in this day and age, keeping IC things IC is nearly impossible. Too many other forms of communication. However, there are, in my opinion (which is of course the only correct one), steps we can all take to improve our in-game culture and make it a more rich and enjoyable experience for everyone.

tl;dr Scarab is awesome. I want to see all gechos going to the log board and all major changes to game (new skills, deleted gods, etc.) have an IC explanation.

I completely agree with you.

The ooc forums are a double edged sword. On one hand, they make it easier to stay IC because you can openly discuss some game mechanics issues with other players on the forums in a way you can't do IC (e.g., is my templar mid thrust lagging you one round or two?, or "how much minus strength did you get from my level 40 warrior's artery?"). It also lets people interact, hook up, whatever without having to go ooc for a couple hours in game. (I don't know how often people meet now, but it used to be pretty common 10+ years ago.)

On the flip side, there is so much that can be done IC that people take to the forums instead. It's like, they lack the PK skills or patience to resolve things in the game so the next best thing is to just have it out on Dios. I remember saying something just like this a couple years ago and then Amberion responded by hiring a bard to make an in game note offering to pay people 100 gold everytime they killed a PC that pissed off Amberion. That is sooooo much better than just character assassinating someone on the forums. The IMMs can help out but this really starts with everyone's mortal characters. We all have to make an effort to leave things in the game whenever we log out if them and deal with #### in character with whatever means are at that character's disposal. There are some people who literally cannot do this - they can't enjoy CF unless they approach it as a teamspeak-type online game, and they get pissed by challenges when they don't have walkthroughs/easy solutions on hand. But I think there is something to the immersiveness of playing a character that draws people to CF, and if everyone could commit to keeping IC #### IC, we might all have a little more fun. I'll try to think of some specific suggestions when I'm not on my iPhone.

Which was good, because I lost all my gold gambling just 2 days later or so. hehehe


But yeah, I agree with this, much more could be handled IC.

I'm down. Some cheat rings will still go on for a while, but #### em they will quit eventually.

it's like season 2 of Game of Thrones is imminent, or something.

I can comment to some of this. The change to Baer's religion is small, subtle, and something handled completely IC. Baer will explain it to anyone (appropriate) who asks and is just RP'ing it out day by day. It's been a long-evolving change that's recently come to a head. That said, it's nothing that flashy, and I did not think it something really deserving of any global echos. I have title'd someone IC about it and am leaving it to the players mostly to RP it out. In this sense, I actually am doing the opposite of what you're requesting, leaving it (FB aside) completely in game. I will keep your request in mind though for future changes, but for this one it just didn't fit.

Marcatis is still very much alive and there btw. Not sure where you got the idea that he was gone.

I'm bad with knowing which gods are which other gods... And generally bad with names. Cyradia had some sort of god alt right? That's who I was talking about.

Editted to add: Also, I like the idea of keeping a sphere change IC, but it *feels* like something where a god would be gaining power or changing in some fundamental, force of nature, way, so it seems like something that everyone in Thera would feel, even if they don't know exactly how spheres work in an IC way (or do they? I've never been clear on that).

otherwise known as Marc, is on almost every day from 7 am to 4 pm central time. He just isn't one prone to interact with his cabal or be visible. Most of the time he is on I think he is focused on his real life work but is on as a game administrator for coverage.

He's a good guy just isn't proactive in interactions like other imms might be.

gechos aren't the only way to communicate IC. Skeeta may be dead, but bard's are not. I'm sure many of them would jump to announce something Baerinika wanted sent out. Plus if those stupid notes were filled with useful stuff, it might mean that they'd start tricking us into reading their ####ty poetry. :)