Normally, I wouldn't ask this...

But, I'm sure this is the appropriate server for such a question.

Say you're orchestrating a roleplay that involves framing someone for a crime of some sort. Is it not the right thing to do to OOCLY ask the person being framed if it's okay to include them in your storyline? Especially in that capacity?

I, personally, think it's bad form to pull someone into your storyline without their consent. Especially when that person's role reflects upon them negatively. What do YOU think, Virtue?

It is proper to ask their permission for involvement in a plot like that IMHO. Shows that you are not trying to god mod.

Absolutely.

Involving anyone into such a situation requires OOC contact, wheather you use them as a villian, or as a hero, or even as a bystander. It's just common sense, and simple respect.

((Yep. It's the proper thing to do.))

Yep. You definitely need to consult with someone before your plot 'does something' to his/her character. Of course, you can warn a person, 'Hey, by venturing into this territory there may be terrible consequences including x, y, and z. So if you don't want that happening to your character, don't involve her in this plot (or in this way).'

It's the proper thing to ask someone OOCly, if their character is going to be featured in a plot. Especially in the example given, that character is now going to be treated differently.

However, it does depend on how well you know the player and how much they trust the "GM" (in this case, the person running the plot).

While you lose the surprise of the framing and the urgent feel in RP, an ounce of OOC Prevention is worth a Pound of OOC Drama.

completely rude to do otherwise really. It'd roughly be like an author writing a short story about another authors characters without consulting them, minus the financial considerations of course.

Absolutely the person who's characters are being involved in a story should be contacted and permission should be asked for before going ahead with the story. This is not the sort of thing that should be sprung on someone without their knowledge and acceptance.

Yep. I'd ask.

Unless person involved has specifically indicated they trust how you would handle their character and even then I'd be very leery.

I have a little different take. If you are featuring them and what the character is doing is completely within their normal character, then you have nothing to worry about. You probably should ask but I don't think it's a big deal if you don't.

Now if what you have their character doing is different than their normal actions, you absolutely should get approval. If someone wanted to us Peterbilt to frame someone for a crime, Pete wouldn't mind and neither would I. But having him rescue a hero or stop a bank robbery, you better explain your reasoning but that boy would rather participate than stop it.


(I should point out that there is a Virtue Peterbilt that is not mine who is a brute on Champion. Just so there is no confusion.)

If you're using someone else's character that you think they would actually interact with the roleplay in any way, you should get their permission to use them. Even if it's not the character's personality, but their looks, you should at least get permission for them (such as if it was a Nemesis Automaton, trying to smear a character's reputation).

However, my opinion is quite different if you're going to be using them in AE. In AE, I think you should at least let them know you're using their character. Not getting permission, mind you. If they outright say "no" to you using them if you have them in your arc, then use a different character.

Say you're orchestrating a roleplay that involves framing someone for a crime of some sort. Is it not the right thing to do to OOCLY ask the person being framed if it's okay to include them in your storyline? Especially in that capacity

It is absolutely imperative you discuss this before hand. Indeed, you will often find that with good roleplayers, that doing so will yield even more interesting creative ideas on how to set up the frame, or what might happen because of it.

The only exception I can think of to this, is if you've spent a long time building trust with the other player. I have a few players that I allow to do just about anything involving my characters, because I know I trust their judgment, and that they will always use that freedom wisely and effectively.

Part of what good RP is - in my opinion - is the development of trust with the other player, to let each other craft a story collaboratively. Actually, its not that far from legitimate theater, because the first thing a new cast often does when they first assemble is a series of trust exercises.

I agree pretty much but it does kind of depend on how it is done.

I for one would LOVE something like this. If I just walked up to observe some RP and it started to look bad for me as far as I am starting to see that I am getting framed, I would be absolutely thrilled with RP like that.

Infact I have searched 5 or 6 MMORPGs for RP like that and never have I found it.

And aren't you an RP hater/griefer??

it's an unfair world.

I never had that in drama class in highschool....though i did learn stage fighting and summoning emotions.

Spartan is not an RP hater. He's just a hater.

(I was part of the short-lived RP static team Spartan started, actually.)

I don't know all the details, but in situations I've RPed in that were similar to what you've described of this one, I've declared the offending storylines non-canon with relation to my characters and acted as though they never happened. Whether or not that's an appropriate response from your perspective depends an awful lot on how positive of a relationship you'd like to maintain with the story's creator and other participants, I suppose. But even when the stories sounded interesting, I didn't want to reward a behavior I found unacceptable by ignoring the discourtesy.

If you explain your displeasure politely, a good player will either provide you a quick backdoor out of the story, or even retcon the story elements that touched on you into having never happened, so there's not any continuity problems with your future interactions. The ability to creatively edit the past is a vital part of what keeps actual comics from collapsing under the weight of decades of accumulated plot convolutions (and occasional periods of just plain bad writing), and it's certainly a valid tool for other forms of storytelling, including interactive ones like roleplaying. If someone intends to run stories in an online setting as though they were the GM, often incorporating players with wildly different goals, levels of commitment to the story, styles of play and maturity levels (generally a far greater variance in all of the above than a typical live gaming group), it's probably one of the first techniques they should learn to use.

I think you need to contact the person at the absolute very least, and not continue with the idea unless you get consent or a least an apathetic "whatever". If your idea is good enough, and they're a good sport and have no objections, you stand an excellent chance of having them play along, which increases the immersion for the other people involved. If you're really lucky, they'll have suggestions on how their character would react/behave/whatever to make it even better or feed your ideas. If they say no, there are enough people playing the game that you can probably find a willing substitute.