Speaking OOC

[west]

even *looks confused* works, as most people know what a confused face looks like, and can infer from that that they ARE in fact confused. What they're confused about, of course, isn't necessarily obvious, so no *her mention of "commitment" confuses him, and it shows on his face*

[kinvoya]

When chars project their thoughts they are, in essence, speaking to the players rather than interacting with the other chars. The other chars technically can't hear the thoughts and are not supposed to react to them in any way. Therefore, the information is for the players of the chars which, in my opinion, makes it a minor breach.

[The Industriallist]

I would much rather see someone say *furrows his brow* than *a confused look falls upon his face*
You should interpret the emotions from their actions. Like in real life.

Okay, I don't get that. What is wrong with a "confused" look? We all know what confused looks like...hard to describe and furrowing the brow alone could mean ANY NUMBER of things....from anger to confusion to sullenness etc. Confusion involves other expressions than just a brow that are hard to state.

I agree very much with the actions rather than feelings position. But this is a real point...how do you accurately generate the correct facial expression?

[Nick]

Well yeah, *looks confused* isn't that bad, I was just making an example that emoting what you are doing rather than what you are feeling is generally the best way to go.

Just like I'd rather see;
*sits on the ground, with a sad look on her face*
than;
*sits on the ground, sad about the death of her fiancée*

[Genevieve]

so no *her mention of "commitment" confuses him, and it shows on his face*

Ah, but that would imply to me that exactly when she said "commitment" or mentioned it in some fashion, that look came over his face.

[Nick]

so no *her mention of "commitment" confuses him, and it shows on his face*

Ah, but that would imply to me that exactly when she said "commitment" or mentioned it in some fashion, that look came over his face.

Yeah, that kind of annoys me too. When people say they reacted to things that happened while they slept.

[Genevieve]

Yeah, that kind of annoys me too. When people say they reacted to things that happened while they slept.

Okay, so you only act like you heard what happened when you were "awake"?? Problem with this...every time you leave your character for another character or the character page aren't they "asleep"?? I react to things that happened while I was gone, because otherwise my character would never respond to anything. I work all day and come on Cantr for a bit before going to bed. So for only that short period of time my character is supposed to know what it going on? That makes no sense!!

[Nick]

Eh, I didn't word it right. I meant, reacted while they slept, not reacted to things that happened when they slept.

[wichita]

Having a character with a seven word vocabulary (4 names, 3 nouns) it is a challenge not to spell out too much of his thoughts when trying to communicate rather complicated thoughts to other characters. It is worth the challenge of communicating mainly by pointing, well timed hugs, and smiles when someone finely puts forth the effort to understand him.

[Nick]

Having a character with a seven word vocabulary (4 names, 3 nouns) it is a challenge not to spell out too much of his thoughts when trying to communicate rather complicated thoughts to other characters. It is worth the challenge of communicating mainly by pointing, well timed hugs, and smiles when someone finely puts forth the effort to understand him.

Yeah, I've seen characters like this before. Some can do it well, some should stop trying.

[SekoETC]

Expressing thoughts is indeed a message to the PLAYER rather than the character. I've noticed that when dealing with strangers, it's just best to leave that thing out or be prepared to get someone read your thoughts. Sometimes it can be damn hard not to share your mind but nah, what can you do... But in private, expressing thoughts can be a really pretty thing, if it's not something that would require responding.

[Solfius]

I recognise the difficulties in trying to portray all of the non verbal communication involved in conveying emotions.

I think that sticking to what can be seen works best, and I am willing to concede that interpreting the expression into an emotion (so long as it's visible in some way) is fine.

So basically I agree with West

[Revanael]

Dare I point out the obvious? Yes, I think I do.

If the conduct of a player or players is offending you, or they are doing things like this, contact the players department and allow them to deal with it. THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE FOR. Or something. (There's so many of them, someone's got to give them work to do!)

[west]

so no *her mention of "commitment" confuses him, and it shows on his face*

Ah, but that would imply to me that exactly when she said "commitment" or mentioned it in some fashion, that look came over his face.

But how do you know his confusion is at her mention of commitment, is the point? You can say *looks confused*, and that way the characters can INFER that that's what it's about, just like we do in real life.

[Lumin]

In response to the original post, to be honest I dislike people making OOC comments period, unless it's in private to explain things to a newbie, or to clarify typing mistakes that might cause a misunderstanding.

In response to the topic the thread has switched to, my characters are NOT telepathic, and personally I can't stand it when someone starts projecting their thoughts at me. Usually that means I'll just do everything possible not to interact with that person in the future.

*looks confused* might be unoriginal, but it's a hell of a less irritating than *looks confused because of blah blah blah*

Someone telling everyone their thoughts in an emote, well, that just gives me the impression that the player isn't creative enough to express it in another way. (Either that or they're a drama whore, but I won't get into that here...) If it's that damn important than I know exactly what that person is thinking, then they should just stop fooling around with the astericks and come out and say it.

Sorry if this is coming off as harsh, but that's a pet peeve of mine and this thread just struck a nerve. "Show, don't tell." It's the #1 rule in writing and ought to be extended to roleplay, too.