To OOC or not to OOC, that is the Question

Thanks Brenda! That makes it all suddenly make sense, ha!

I'm never out of character. My character just changes from minute to minute, but I'm always me. To quote They Might be Giants:

Just be you.
Be what you're like.
Be like yourself.

These are the words I live by -- SL and RL.

-Atashi

I'll pass the thanks to Johan. he got in ahead of me.

Sorry Johan -- for some reason I completely blanked on your post, maybe I scrolled past it.

Thanks Brenda for pointing that out!

-Atashi

Don't want to be accused of exclusion.

OOC=Out Of Character. If you're roleplaying and you say something OOC, it's usually put in double quotes: ((Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this son of York))

Shakespeare is OOC for me.

It's an interesting discussion. I think the OP got his question answered. Teen Grid for the child and play whatever you want. I try to fit in wherever I am. I'm normally me, exactly like me in RL, but a better dancer and better hair...and I can fly, which ROCKS. But if I go to a RP sim, I do my best to create a character and stay in it. I'm not good at that, because I tend to go off on tangents, and if I see an opportunity to run with something, I usually do. Funny, goofy and bizarre don't usually fit in with very serious RP, but if you find an area where people are just having a good time with RP and don't take themselves seriously, then it can be a blast. You just need people who can adapt quickly, see the humor in a situation and play along. There's room for you to be whatever you feel like being on any given day.

My only warning. If you go to the Tombstone sim dressed like a Sioux Warrior and tell people that you are a Haida exchange student to the Sioux Nation visiting Navajo relatives, they won't get it. If you tell them that you're half Sioux, half Haida because your mom got around and you're just staying with the Sioux so you can ingratiate yourself to your grandfather and inherit the family fortune, it gets worse.

What a great analysis!

I do find that I'm mostly #2, but I'll be more RL with people once I get to know them. And my SL pesonality isn't all that different from me, other than the usual physical attributes.

If someone asks where I'm from, I'll usually answer something like east coast, the northeast or New England. It's not like I consider it a huge secret, but most people figure out from vague answers that I'm not amenable to a ton of personal questions from strangers.

Are they particularly dense then in Tombstone? Even this halfling found that funny!

I bet when ever you're seen approaching a medieval RP area, they dust off the Jester outfit ready.

I'll use OOC often, because it's necessary to understand it if you're going to participate in any sort of roleplaying. (And not all roleplaying is the hardcore sort, with life histories and detailed universe.) If I'm talking to a newbie, I'll write something such as "out of character (OOC)" the first time, and then use OOC.

On the other hand, I'll always write "base note" or "original poster". That's because a significant number of threads are started by relative newbies. I don't like to bombard them with a lot of abbreviations, particular ones that refer to them.

An excellent observation and idea, thankyou.

OOC communication is always necessary to some degree as in:

((Phone - back in a moment))

or

((I have to log in a few minutes))

But otherwise - where am I from? Fornax. And I have a nice shop and office in Hyades, drop by some time. Oh, and as for age, I've just turned 1.

No, and I didn't push to hard when they got all silent. In my defense, the saloon which was supposed to be set in an 1800's Western town had line dancing balls and a picture of Toby Keith. I just don't think they knew what to make of me. They weren't actually unfriendly. I've only had a couple experiences where someone acted really upset when I went sideways on them. There are places where people take a nice laidback approach to RP and everyone tries to stay in character, but just lets the storyline develop around them and goes with it. That kind of RP can be a lot of fun because you don't have all the rules to deal with. If I have to deal with rules and strict structures I spend my time afraid that I'm going to screw up and say the wrong thing and that's just no fun.

i just say "I'm from planet Earth, where are you from?" and they typically say "the moon" or some other astronomical reference, we laff and move along. if they don't let it go at that, i ignore them. it's no one's business where i am from beyond my planet.

Well, I didn't think I'd spark THAT much interest, but I'm fascinated with virtual worlds. SL is certainly more than the killfest that most seem to be. That the content is player (subscriber? citizen? inhabitant? inmate?) made makes it all the more fascinating. I've dabbled in Entropia but once again the focus on pvp battle disinterests me. How many times do you have to gank your buddy before it gets old?

Yeah I know I was a little flippant with my response (ie, "the beach!", but one such person was holding a gun that looked vaguely phallic and was nearly as large as he was, and demanded if I had seen so-and-so like I knew who he was referring to, at that point I wasn't sure if I could even be killed or not. So that hasn't exactly been my pat answer to everyone.

I learned long ago to respect the presence of virtual avatars as representative of real individuals by being on the receiving end of many an abusive players. I didn't appreciate it when others felt they could intrude on my gameplay simply because they could, so why should I follow their example? That kind of respect for others comes with age and you have to figure it out for yourself. Although I have known teenagers that act more mature than some adults, and vice versa.

There's been times where I've had to be quite diplomatic in SWG, once I was arranging a live event with a developer in-game when a player decided he was going to game bash on that developer while I was making arrangements. Some quick thinking and fast talking got the guy to back off and I got the arrangements made, fortunately.

Tombstone, eh? That I've got to see, but I'm going to have to lose my beach bum before I go there. I'm having a heck of a time finding good boots for males, and I don't think they'd like my flip-flops.

EDIT: for the OOC deprived, I've added a note the OP (original post) lol (laugh out loud).

EDIT 2: Ok, I've checked Teen Second Life, and it looks like it simply directs you to the standard Second Life signup but filters you by birthdate, which leads me to my original question, should I consider this a second account or my son's first account? He'll have his own email but the billing is going to be through the same credit card and of course the household info is going to be the same. I'm SO confused. The TSL site is setup with the assumption that the parent doesn't play SL...YET! I'm going with the assumption that it's considered a second account.

Resident

And your son's account on the Teen Grid would be independent. You can use the same payment information, if necessary, but accounts do not officially 'link.' For example, I have a main and two alts and they're all considered independent accounts by LL.

When I set up my teen's account, we did it as a separate account (his first, not my second), using the same CC as I used. I forget how we did it exactly - I think there was a page for him to sign up, and then a page where I had to give CC or phone info and verify that he was my teen and it was okay with me for him to play SL on the teen grid.

Now, this was way back in March, so I could be misremembering.

Ok, I'm not sure you ever got an answer to this part of your OP ;-P



The $9.95 charge for second accounts is no more. It appears there is no longer a limit on alternate accounts, either.

I would recommend using a different email address for your son to help keep offline info sorted (inventory offers, group announcements, offline IMs, etc), but it is my understanding that either the same or a different email is fine with LL. Just make sure you use correct household information.

Alrighty, I'll just have him set up his own account as if I'd never set one up, then. I've already got an email box set up for everyone in my family, they just haven't used them. My wife is something of a luddite, but she loves her some ebay though. Charms is her thing. I have to set up the payment system and ebay account, then she's good to go from there.

I can't wait to see what my son does with this, he's been trying to do stuff with paper and colored pen/pencils that I just shake my head over how much easier it would be to do it on a computer and printing it out. Paper models and stuff, but he enjoys it, he was trying to do that 3d glasses stuff the other night when they had some shows on the cartoon network.

He's just beginning to grasp the concept of doing this kind of thing in virtual reality, he's got the idea of texture wrapping pretty well since I've been trying to walk him through the basics. SL is going to be great for him to learn about how to do it and have fun at the same time.

It's funny because Oryx is pretty much an extension of who I am, except with better clothes and a way better job, but my Alt avatar tends to be a little bit of a wild child: much more amenable to questionable situations and RP stuff. It's like I can divorce my own personality from hers much more easily than I can from Oryx's. Oryx has become me and I have become Oryx. It's very strange.

If someone asks me where I'm from, I say "The US" and leave it at that. I'm not paranoid, I just don't feel that it's relevant to SL in any way, shape or form. I don't even consider it OOC; it's just completely not important.

There are a gajillion RP sims out there. Everything from Tombstone to Midieval to Star Wars (yes, Star Wars) to Gor to Superheroes and vampires and everything in between.

hah - Oryx. I read that as Medieval Star Wars.

Forsooth, Jim, I am but a simple doctor, and verily, this man has shuffled off his mortal coil.

Wait. That's Medieval Star Trek. Dang.

My avatar is a somewhat bipolar overworked and stressed lawyer......... LOL So I am always in character.

what is the minimum age limit for the teen grid?
my step son has been watching me play off and on and would like to try his own char, but I explained he can not do so on the one where I play as that is adults only

but never had the need to know the minimum age for teen, anyone know?
(I am thinking 13 but could be wrong)

What an awesome thread!

/me throws in .02

I view Klipang as a more refined and much better looking version of the RL person who drives him. At first he was a completely different entity, but as Oryx says, I think he has become me and I have become him.

I fall mostly into #2 with some time in #3.. Like you I have been around in the virtual worlds... Also UO from '97, and SWG.. In those games I was one of the more serious role players.. Here I tend to be just myself with my good friends, and even talk about RL things with them.. But strangers get a bit of a chilly response to any RL question... My 1st page reads... "Yes I have one" And that is about as far as I go unless I know someone well.

I am here to just enjoy myself.. Make friends, build and have fun... SL is more like a real "second life" for me. I am in a serious relationship here and my time here is very important to me.. I am pretty much just myself here.. Maybe a bit "larger than life" than my real self, but here you can do things you would not dare to in RL... And you can FLY! create things out of thin air.. Honesty I really love this place, and all the wonderful people I have meet here.

Those that push for RL info get a general.. "I don't bring SL into RL, or RL into SL" That normally stops it. If it does not, and I have had some real jerks about it, I just say sorry, I don't talk about that with strangers, hit the "mute" button, and walk away... I don't need rude people.

There are many, many places to do some serious and not so serious RP here.. I would explore some of them and see what you like... One thing I would suggest is to check peoples profiles BEFORE you talk to them.. That will not only help you understand what "group" they fall in, but by looking at some of their groups you may find some interesting RP places...

I don't think this strange at all. I see a pattern forming. I think a lot of us coming in, with no preconceptions, just face value, have created our avatar as a means for furthering communication. Then as we progress and discover the widening possibilities here, go to create 'others' to explore there.
A generalisation maybe but I'm sure a great number of us have done just this.

Depends on the situation what I will reveal about RL. Most of the time "where are you from?" etc. is only polite conversation when you are interacting with new avis, for example at a club.

Personally I don't care if everyone knows where my RL location is within broad terms. It's not like I am giving out my street address and phone number. Often leads to very interesting discussion.

I am pretty much like myself in SL, except for the teleporting, flying stuff.

There is no twelveteen, I guess you have to consider if your child can square up socially to a 17 year old!