Backstory Guidelines & Policy

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Navi
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Re: Backstory Guidelines & Policy

Post by Navi »

If the inclusion of disabled characters makes players uncomfortable because they don't know how to react to such individuals in their RP, then that is probably something that should be addressed independently. The policy seems to be set in place to prevent players from making light of serious conditions. It might come across as someone thinking it would be cool, but then representing it ignorantly. I.E. a gimmick. One example I could see is someone playing a blind character and having them turn into a version of Daredevil or something because they saw the movie a long time ago, and did no other research.
As has been pointed out and acknowledged by many individuals in this thread, Rias is a very empathetic person. I sincerely doubt he added this policy without deep considerations to all sides. I do not think it is fair to make fringe case arguments against the policy. Policies are not perfect, and Rias stated that the blanket application of the policy was to prevent loopholes that players might find to get around it, hence the check list provided. The check list itself spells out the reasoning for this policy pretty well in my opinion, regardless of other people's feelings on the matter.
wander without wanting, thrust into lands unknown. the shadows shift and change, and the worlds with them.
I'm not a soldier but I'm fighting
Can you hear me through the silence?
I won't give up 'cause there will be a day
We'll meet again
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Ansarian
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Re: Backstory Guidelines & Policy

Post by Ansarian »

Ephemeralis wrote: Wed Mar 08, 2023 11:52 am The better response to this would have been to include a singular clause informing the user of the administration's expressly reserved right to deny particular backstories or character concepts that they do not approve of for whatever reason, and to require players to alter or stop playing them if this is deemed necessary.
Staff reserves the right to make judgment calls on all of the above. Not being aware of any of the above, or policies not being specifically written out at the time of a character's creation, is a regrettable circumstance but will still require either some retcon fixes to the backstory or a retiring of the offending character if a retcon seems unacceptable for whatever reason. The lore will not be altered to accommodate divergent backstories.
This is already clearly defined in the policy.
tulpa
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Re: Backstory Guidelines & Policy

Post by tulpa »

My embarrassment and general feeling of nausea is pretty much compounded at this point in the thread, but I think the conversation was probably a necessary one.

Rias' comment about professional consultation being necessary, and impossible to guarantee here, has been the key take-away for me, though there are other salient points. It is really important and part of the reason for my discomfort is not feeling adequately informed, either by experience or sufficient training. Some of the heavier allusions to significant mental distress I had thought about pursuing I am going to adjust somewhat, especially with those suggested questions in mind, and now that my nerves have settled a little, I don't think it will detract from my overall enjoyment or the potential to explore my character's story. I really haven't decided about the stutter, which does feel relatively inoccuous, but to be honest I'm pretty exhausted. Baby steps.

I do sympathise with those of you whose confidence in their characters and their RPing has taken a bit of a knock. I also think Tessa's point about needing to have adequate representation for disabled people in games is critically important and I will not apologise for alluding to that in the first instance, but I will reiterate that moderation concerns are really significant and those representations could do with being very carefully constructed indeed (not least, also positively received by people who have the conditions we might purport to represent). A player could be forgiven for not having the necessary resources and I think it's just better not to make the attempt at all than to risk harm.
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Maina
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Re: Backstory Guidelines & Policy

Post by Maina »

Long over-due. COGG has a shockingly high amount of "disabled" characters compared to any other game I've played, for whatever reason. When I play, I find myself avoiding public group RP because there is always one there. Of the ones I've encountered, they range from uncomfortable representations to total jokes at best and outright offensive at worst. Of course, I haven't encountered all of them, but the track record is poor enough that I'm glad this policy is being put in place.

As mentioned, representation matters. As also mentioned, this is a live game people go to for escapism, not to be confronted by other players wearing disabilities like Halloween costumes that they play around in and take off as it pleases. It's incredibly distasteful, and can't really be tasteful without the editors/sensitivity readers/etc that are used in other media. I'm glad it's now explicitly against policy.

Representation would be better served through NPCs who can be more carefully researched and depicted in a more controlled manner, if more representation is something staff would like to pursue. It doesn't belong in player hands.

And no, "my friends with X disability like it so it's fine" is not a justifications. Not all people are the same. Your friends being okay with it doesn't mean you won't offend or even hurt someone else with the disability.

And that's not even touching on the mechanical considerations as listed. If you are playing a blind character, for example, that is on you to not act on things your character sees mechanically but not in-character, and you are then asking every single person you encounter to trust that you will not abuse that meta-knowledge, as the mechanics do not match the roleplay. The purpose of mechanics is to arbitrate roleplay fairly, but this cannot be done if the mechanics do not exist to support the roleplay.

It's just... bad. From every single perspective. I kept my mouth shut because nobody likes "RP police," but I've long found it a mark against COGG that there were so many people wearing "disability" costumes as a character gimmick running around.
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Zombilicious
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Re: Backstory Guidelines & Policy

Post by Zombilicious »

I'm quite pleased to see that this has been put into place. I think a large part of the problem in most disabled characters is that they aren't played by disabled players, and are used primarily as a "character trait" to try and garner interest. I'm also not sure why we're making facetious comments about things that are not disabilities in a knee-jerk reaction to this policy being enacted.

If you are disabled in real life and are upset by this, then I am sorry. Still, if you are not disabled in real life and are upset by this because it "ruins inclusivity" by making it difficult for you to play a concept you are placing for attention, then perhaps you should reconsider your character choices. Your RP should be more than a disability or mental disability suit.

This makes me a lot more comfortable, as it means there won't be poorly portrayed instances of things that make real life harder. This also seems to focus primarily on things that would make it difficult for YOU to engage with the game, or things that would make it difficult for OTHER PLAYERS to engage with you, which is hardly going to be a bad thing. It doesn't eliminate all forms of disability, just the ones that would make survival and engagement less.

I imagine this was a hard choice for the GMs to choose, so maybe we shouldn't be attacking them also.
:verungnr_tentacles: :vodr_trident:
Ephemeralis
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Re: Backstory Guidelines & Policy

Post by Ephemeralis »

At some fundamental juncture, I think detractors towards the idea of playing disabled characters while not disabled themselves will ultimately want to reconsider the notion that roleplaying things that they are not (or not "qualified") is bad or is somehow undesirable, given what roleplay is as a medium, and why people engage in it.
Navi
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Re: Backstory Guidelines & Policy

Post by Navi »

Ultimately, it's about being mindful and respectful of marginalized communities and their experiences. While roleplay can involve playing characters that are different from oneself, it's important to approach those roles with empathy and sensitivity. I think Maina hit it right on the head that such roles should be kept to NPCs that the staff can portray accurately after sufficient research, if they choose to.
wander without wanting, thrust into lands unknown. the shadows shift and change, and the worlds with them.
I'm not a soldier but I'm fighting
Can you hear me through the silence?
I won't give up 'cause there will be a day
We'll meet again
Ephemeralis
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Re: Backstory Guidelines & Policy

Post by Ephemeralis »

Navi wrote: Wed Mar 08, 2023 1:02 pm Ultimately, it's about being mindful and respectful of marginalized communities and their experiences. While roleplay can involve playing characters that are different from oneself, it's important to approach those roles with empathy and sensitivity. I think Maina hit it right on the head that such roles should be kept to NPCs that the staff can portray accurately after sufficient research, if they choose to.
Empathy and sensitivity exemplified foremost by completely eradicating them from the spontaneous player-led narrative by virtue of disallowing characters that identify as such does not seem to really track with this. Why can't players who sufficiently pass muster on the research front be afforded the same case-by-case assessment as the staff, if they're found to be tastefully engaging with these concepts?

There is clearly an element of active discontent regarding how some current players have chosen to embody these concepts in the past, and that is fine and reasonable to address, but I do not think that policing this quite so extensively or aggressively is fundamentally a positive thing. I would certainly not be feeling very emboldened at the moment if I were told that something related to me as a person is a restricted concept like this.
artus
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Re: Backstory Guidelines & Policy

Post by artus »

Out of genuine curiosity since it was recently brought up by a few people: what's the different between well researched players without disability playing a disabled and well researched staff doing the same when they're also not disabled? And does having one disability and playing the other ones they don't have count?
Navi
Posts: 350
Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2020 7:07 am

Re: Backstory Guidelines & Policy

Post by Navi »

I think a response to address majority of your concerns can be found on the fifth post of this thread.
As for the difference between a player and staff portraying a character with a disability, there's not much of one. Obviously, it would be ideal to have someone with said disability play that character. However, one important distinction is agency. Part of the same reason why players can't craft bombs, but perhaps in specific events they are plot points. It's not a likely situation to occur, either way.
wander without wanting, thrust into lands unknown. the shadows shift and change, and the worlds with them.
I'm not a soldier but I'm fighting
Can you hear me through the silence?
I won't give up 'cause there will be a day
We'll meet again
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