Saint Joseph School

Once again, I'm going to take my "In Character" hat off to post the following:

Having read so many different and wonderful pieces of fiction here on the boards, and I myself in the middle of writing some for future submission, I would like to cover a problem we might start running into; Character ownership and control.

We all want to see our characters thrive and flourish, and at the same time include others in our misadventures posted here on the forums. However, it is critically important to know the boundries on which we can write about other characters. Specifically, other Player Characters.

So, for that reason, I propose using this thread as a means to let all others know what they should be doing if they want to include your character in their fiction. Post your character name, limitations of use, and important miscellaneous information that other writers should know about when writing about your character (even NPCs you've created). If you'd like, use the following template to get started!

Name: <Insert Character Name Here>
Character Type: <PC/NPC>
Permission for others to use your character in St. Joes Forum fiction? <Yes/No/Ask First>
How to contact me for questions/permission: <Email/Private Message/etc.>
Other Limitations: <Write in here any areas of fiction which you would not like to have your character written about, situations you would rather not have others go into, or any comments you'd like to give to other writers.>

As a side note, we should probably get a mirror of this post put up in the Bloodvine Academy also. If Floribunda sees this and approves, she should pass it along to her mom.

Name: Annie Dromida
Character Type: PC (Player Character)
Permission for others to use your character in St. Joes Forum fiction? Yes
How to contact me for questions/permission: Private Message
Other Limitations: I'm more than happy to answer any questions about Annie to anyone who wants to write about her. I ask that nobody writes about Annie's Father except as a passing comment, because that is a story I am trying to develop myself. Also, please ask to use information about Annie's species in any fiction you write. Thank you!

Name: Pookie
Character Type: NPC (Annie's Pet)
Permission for others to use your character in St. Joes Forum fiction? Yes, with limitations
How to contact me for questions/permission: Private Message
Other Limitations: Pookie is strange, alien, and cute (at least, he/she/it is to Annie). However, only Annie knows what Pookie is. Feel free to ascribe whatever you want to Pookie, just please don't try to explain him. Explanation ruins the charm of Pookie!

I think the form may be a little unnecessary. If you put it in the form, I think nearly everyone will select "ask first"... Which is just as good as saying that if you are going to express ownership over someone else's character, you need to ask them.

And partially, I think it is common sense. Including someone in a story, or recounting something they said in game, is simply not the same as saying that they stole your wallet so you broke their windshield.

The rules for character interaction still revolve around the RP contract; the same aggreement that allows two students to date needs to be the same as the arrangement that must be made for two characters to fight.

Plus, the only real problem I see is, let's say someone answers "yes" to the permission question. No one is going to be able to list everything they don't want you writing about.

I think it's probably best to just always talk about it. As Jaygo is fond of saying, "communication is the key."

Plus, as we have established, not everyone checks the forum. And maybe we want to include those people in the fiction, which would again mean you need to find them in game and ask them about it.

Anyway, this is starting to sound like a rant, and it isn't supposed to.

Sorry.

<smile>

I hear you Mimi. If you feel this is an unneeded thread, then please delete away.

No, I am prepared to get overruled if that is what people want.

I would just rather encourage communications and the free exchange of ideas between players, rather than have people fill out forms when they join the SG.

Understood

As Mimi has pointed out, this is optional if you want to put permissions on here. Think of it as more of a "Student Story Directory" rather than forms to be filed before any writing can happen. As Mimi (and Jaygo) has pointed out, communication is key when using other characters.

As Jaygo is fond of saying, "communication is the key."

wow Mimi.. just throwing my name all over the forums, huh.