Inclusive RP - what does it mean to you?

[triaddraykin]

A lot of great things have been said here, but there is one topic that I would like to touch. Often times we play quiet or ambivalent characters don't talk much or want to get involved in other peoples issues. What I have to say, is please emote this.

Not typing anything is ignoring another player, but emoting that you are ignoring them lets the player know that you, as a player, see them, or you read what they typed. Some of my most memorable moments of RP I have shared has been two shy PCs just awkwardly emoting at each other without a single word said between them.

Even short and simple emotes are a fantastic way to say, from one player to another, "I see you, and am open to RP with you."

*ignores the lass across the way spouting all that awesome advice*

[D4wN]

Over the years I have played I have learned this more and more. While in the beginning I thought there was merit to -some- OOC collaboration, specially due to time zones, I have come to see the damage this causes including any cliqueness and unfair advantages. Now I use Discord to share pictures of my dog, memes and banter idly with people or for record keeping (cause I have the memory of a gold fish) and keep everything IC. I echo what others have said, keep OOC to a minimum, you won't feel the stress of toxicity all that much either. It's honestly changed a lot for me and enhanced my enjoyment of the game significantly.

[perseid]

Over the years I have played I have learned this more and more. While in the beginning I thought there was merit to -some- OOC collaboration, specially due to time zones, I have come to see the damage this causes including any cliqueness and unfair advantages. Now I use Discord to share pictures of my dog, memes and banter idly with people or for record keeping (cause I have the memory of a gold fish) and keep everything IC. I echo what others have said, keep OOC to a minimum, you won't feel the stress of toxicity all that much either. It's honestly changed a lot for me and enhanced my enjoyment of the game significantly.

This mirrors my own experiences a lot and I think that, even if the ultimate decision is to keep on as normal, reflecting on the dynamics ooc coordination might be having on a character or faction's rp can be extremely valuable. Something I've observed myself for example is that too much ooc time setting can result not only in a lack of spontaneous opportunities but it also risks characters who don't participate in things like Discord becoming second class citizens within a faction. Not intentionally but simply because suddenly most people are on the same page almost instantly and so things like ig notices come to be viewed more as chores for the ig-only players rather than as rp considerations.

To the same end, too much scheduling can also lead to scenarios where to get anything meaningful done people are almost obligated to reach out oocly simply because maybe too much time is already oocly scheduled for a character and thus while they might be 'available' they're in truth bouncing between pre-planned scenarios which they in turn might not even be able to back out of because some people might view cancellations as a sign of ooc disregard.

Keeping as much as possible ic can be tedious and I know it's too late to put the genie back in the bottle as far as chat apps but I strongly agree with the sentiment that there's a lot to be gained from just keeping as much as possible purely ic and reflecting on if some things that are currently being coordinated oocly really need to be.

[Rei_Jin]

Speaking as someone involved with multiple factions, the big challenge for scheduling is timezone differences.

There are tools on the internet for minimising the risks, so that everyone can see the time of an event calculated to their local time, but these don't have an in game option.

Yes, when things are organised OOC, they should also be organised IC, but unless you put in a raft of timezone information in an OOC fashion, people just won't be able to get it right consistently.

And it's important to have faction events scheduled from time to time so that people have the opportunity to engage with others within the faction whom they might otherwise not see, and to, through that, build a greater sense of community.

Even before Discord, we used forums and IRC to be able to communicate effectively, and if we didn't have those things? I don't doubt we'd go to email or phonecalls/sms/other social media options.

Note though, that the purpose of these is to GENERATE inclusive RP, not to exclude people, so it's important we use said systems well.

[Seven Sons of Sin]

Ask a lot of questions, never leave someone behind, recklessly abuse Speedies to include people, always engage with the person most quiet, engage with descriptions and weird things people emote, always remember that you're remembered by your relationships not by your deeds.

[Lurch]

This is getting repetitive, but I'm gonna echo others with stuff that I've found to work for myself:

• Ask about other people's characters, how they're doing, where they've been, when applicable.
• Compliment or comment their wardrobe, statements, manners and other actions, when applicable.
• Don't be afraid to show emotion, including awkwardness, shame or embarrassment, or have your character be moved by big dramatic moments, when applicable.
• Listen to the other characters' stories, and resist the urge to interject in the middle with those of your own, potentially cutting theirs off. Emote active listening in between long expositions to signal the other player that you're still present and interested in what they're saying. You will get your chance to respond, but it's better to be patient.
• Don't try to hog the spotlight, especially in a big group setting. It gets difficult and frustrating to try to follow the thread of a conversation if 3-4 characters are all competing for the group's attention with lengthy lines of dialogue, each going in a different direction.
• Allow your characters the chance to be convinced by the other party in a dispute, debate or moral dilemma, even if you the player think they're in the wrong. Allow your characters to be fooled by clever ploys, to reward cleverness from other players.
• Propose ideas and suggestions to people in a way that gives them graceful outs if they are not in the mood to participate or if they have to bounce IRL, or whatever.
• If you play a silent or outwardly stoic or a socially awkward character, do these things using non-verbal cues, dropping hints as to what your character is thinking and how they're feeling internally, even as they might try to suppress or hide it in front of others.

You can get very far by just being curious and unafraid to ask things. Most people love to talk about themselves (or in this case, their characters), and they will feel validated when their epic tales and funny jokes and incisive comments have the intended effect on your character. The coolest characters and coolest players are those who don't try to force things to be one way or to one-up the other person with their own story.

I would advise you to take some notes in your Journal to remember names and details in case you're forgetful. I'm personally terrible with names, so it helps a lot once I meet someone again after a long time has passed, I can reference names that they mentioned in a prior conversation.

[Borin Drakkmurl]

Come up with a character concept that you know you will have a lot of fun playing.

Then make it 100% about providing fun for others.

This dichotomy alone will help tremendously.

On Arelith, if you don't play to win, you usualy end up on top, as far as quality rp goes.

[Peachoo]

It took me a lot of time to actually figure out how to do it properly, and I'm still learning. But here we go.

I strongly feel, in a nutshell, that inclusive rp means to support the rp of others.

What I mean by this is that instead of focusing on obtaining titles/power/authority or following your own story arch, that you try to instead set other characters up for success.

While its okay to get these things ig, often times, if you're focused on those two things... other people around you aren't going to have fun and will likely not join you in the things you want to do.

Being inclusive means reaching out and rping with people you normally wouldn't- and may not even like oocly. It means trying to include different groups in the dm events you're apart of. It means helping other characters with their own story archs, or character goals first.

One of the best examples of people who practice this form of supportive rp really well is Ilphaeryl Xunviir/Charon's Claw.

If you were a new drow in the underdark, you could go to Mama Xunviir and ask to be a retainer. She would then provide you with literally all the space you need, fixtures, supplies, gear, money and political rp to actually get your ideas/goals off the ground and get things into motion. Instead of making this retainership about her pc or a way to boss pcs around, Ilphaeryl did everything ic to support these retainers goals and this allowed for numerous xunviir characters to flourish and have their time in the 'spot light' per say. She even rewarded successful retainers with ig events, gifts, and other stuff that I won't go into.

Even though she mostly focused on supporting other characters, Ilphaeryl was still able to do her own story arch and story on her own time. Basically, you can still have rp about your story, but the priority should be other people so long as you're trying to be inclusive.

You don't have to be a matron of a house to mirror that sort of support in rp, there are other ways to do it. I am not the best at explaining it, but I feel this is the most inclusive thing you can ever do with other people other than just involving them in dm events.

Support your community both ic and ooc! We're all here to have fun. The more the merrier as they say.

(sorry if I spelled ilphaeryl wrong, it's been a while)

[Khorvale]

While the OP seems to put the onus of inclusivity on players (which isn't necessarily wrong, though I'd argue the OP argument is maybe more about collaborative storytelling and roleplaying with people rather than at them, than inclusion as such but they certainly overlap and also, semantics); as a neuro-spicy person (most of us probably are I suspect), my major peeve concerning inclusivity on Arelith is actually the FOIG principle:

To me, it seems a massively excluding and rather patronising principle, that the only way to find like-minded people to play with, players with matching time-zones, interesting faction/group concepts or even just knowledge of the historical or political landscape of the game world your character is supposed to already exist in, is to make a character in the game and then discover the socio-political landscape they've existed in for years. It seems kind of backwards, doesn't it?
It boggles the mind, to be honest, in part because being a new player means you won't necessarily have the tools to acquire the information in game anyway, which can lead to a circle of 'uninformed newbie doesn't play to expected standards because they don't know anything so the established players avoid interacting with them, which leads to uninformed newbie not having the information required to improve their play which means the established players avoid playing with them which leads to'... I think you get where I'm going with this.
And yes, there's probably plenty of "I was an uninformed newbie once but look at me now!" stories but I bet for every one of those, there's probably ten, if not many more, untold stories of players who struggled and failed to get past the gate and ended up leaving.

I assume it's based on some decades-past meta-gaming conflict but the end result, for me at least, is that I tend to make characters that aren't really connected to the game world as such because I'm not allowed to have the information required to be connected to the game world, by official decree.
That makes for a very narrow approach to character creation as I see it, as plenty of useful information (presumably) is hidden mainly from players with less agency, mental bandwidth or social capital to acquire said information.
It also strikes me that this must inform a very me-focused type of character creation and roleplay, since the only thing an inexperienced player has to work with is their own concept, divested from the game world lore and mythology (other than what is readily available in official FR products of course, but as I understand anything after the Time of Troubles is non-canon on Arelith anyway so that's not even much of an option).

I feel like, to a certain extent, the principle bears some similarity to 'generational wealth', where the 'winners' (established players with social networks that may date back literal, real life decades that also have enough information about the game world to have the toolset to easily seek out anything they might want to get involved in) keep winning, and potentially creates a sort of class divide between established players and new players.

I guess my TL;DR point is that to me it doesn't make a lot of sense to talk about inclusivity solely as a player responsibility, the server (ie: the staff) is also responsible for providing a frame that allows players to create characters and backstories anchored in the game world, and as long as that isn't readily available, I suspect it actively contributes to very me-focused characters which seems detrimental to the inclusivity concept the OP is addressing.

And yes, I am aware I sort of mashed two different definitions (and maybe more, why not?) of inclusivity together, I'm just special like that

[Xerah]

To me, it seems a massively excluding and rather patronising principle, that the only way to find like-minded people to play with, players with matching time-zones, interesting faction/group concepts or even just knowledge of the historical or political landscape of the game world your character is supposed to already exist in, is to make a character in the game and then discover the socio-political landscape they've existed in for years. It seems kind of backwards, doesn't it?

You're really overblowing this.

Almost all of my characters have been created with no plan of trying to match with anyone. My wizard was created to be an evil Savras follower (because how many of those are out there). In the game, I met people and became the chancellor of Cordor. No one knew they were dealing with a veteran player since I had a new account name. I also had an open call in my first meeting for those who wanted to be involved (and developed a solid group from that). And it worked out great. Not all of my characters are this successful but some are. That's part of the fun.

Can you drop into the location discord (or know from a prior character) and ask "Yo, what time zones do we see brog bros at?" and you'll get an answer. No one will seriously yell at you for FOIG.

We can't give a list of active time zones, factions, etc. because they change far more than other servers. What was a guild on another server 10 years ago, probably still exists now because people there don't delete characters or move on. No always the case here (some still have 10 year old characters, but it's much rarer here).

Find a character concept that works for you. Play in your time zone. See who you meet along the way. See what existing groups you can mesh with. If you want to play something more specific, say a dwarf, ask them when they typically play.

[Ork]

The vast majority of events in game are player-driven which may never reach the ears of the developers/admins. They're not going to be able to keep an up-to-date report on what is or isn't relevent in Arelith.

None of my characters come from Arelith, because as you said - I'm not connected with the living world enough to make that convincing for me (I doubt other players would care). The truth is that information in this game is earned through roleplay. There's really nothing the developers/admin can do about this other than be in every event that players orchestrate which is an impossible ask.

[Khorvale]

To me, it seems a massively excluding and rather patronising principle, that the only way to find like-minded people to play with, players with matching time-zones, interesting faction/group concepts or even just knowledge of the historical or political landscape of the game world your character is supposed to already exist in, is to make a character in the game and then discover the socio-political landscape they've existed in for years. It seems kind of backwards, doesn't it?

You're really overblowing this.

Almost all of my characters have been created with no plan of trying to match with anyone. My wizard was created to be an evil Savras follower (because how many of those are out there). In the game, I met people and became the chancellor of Cordor. No one knew they were dealing with a veteran player since I had a new account name. I also had an open call in my first meeting for those who wanted to be involved (and developed a solid group from that). And it worked out great. Not all of my characters are this successful but some are. That's part of the fun.

Can you drop into the location discord (or know from a prior character) and ask "Yo, what time zones do we see brog bros at?" and you'll get an answer. No one will seriously yell at you for FOIG.

We can't give a list of active time zones, factions, etc. because they change far more than other servers. What was a guild on another server 10 years ago, probably still exists now because people there don't delete characters or move on. No always the case here (some still have 10 year old characters, but it's much rarer here).

Find a character concept that works for you. Play in your time zone. See who you meet along the way. See what existing groups you can mesh with. If you want to play something more specific, say a dwarf, ask them when they typically play.

Oh hey, the first "I used to be an uninformed newbie but look at me now" story

I guess since you don't agree with my experience that invalidates it completely. Thanks, I'm all fixed now, who knew I just needed someone to tell me to use the tools and methods I just spent a wall of text trying to explain doesn't necessarily work for everyone.

(Sorry for the snark, you're obviously entitled to your opinion but it pretty much seems to be the equivalent of telling a depressed person to 'just be happy' to me).

Edit: BTW I feel like both moving through goal posts a fair bit but maybe (probably) I just didn't explain myself clearly enough

[Asleeponthemoon]

Oh hey, the first "I used to be an uninformed newbie but look at me now" story

I guess since you don't agree with my experience that invalidates it completely. Thanks, I'm all fixed now, who knew I just needed someone to tell me to use the tools and methods I just spent a wall of text trying to explain doesn't necessarily work for everyone.

(Sorry for the snark, you're obviously entitled to your opinion but it pretty much seems to be the equivalent of telling a depressed person to 'just be happy' to me)

I don't think they were saying this, sorry. They didn't really disagree, either, unless I'm reading that way off. They just replied and tried to give helpful answers to some of your points. I didn't find it negative, but I might be wrong?

For the topic, so far I try to create "inclusive roleplay" by talking to everybody, and I mean everybody. I talk to the lowercase guy running around and give him help, I talk to the weird characters, I talk to the cool characters, I talk to the ones that definitely don't have time for my fresh little bard. I talk to the villains when I get a chance to, because the conflict is important for the story. I ask questions and try to get people to go talk to other people with likeminded interests so that they can branch out and meet more characters.

I like hearing back from them in-game when it works out and they get involved in a group or a plot because of it. I don't know if that's the best, but it's working for me right now and is really fun to try and get as many people as I reasonably can involved with my character and other characters outside of her.

I also try to make things special for them. Example: if I am teaching a bard song, I see if I can take them out/send them out to find it in the wild first. If they are really pressed for time or if I don't know where to get the song from in the wild, I sit them aside for at least a little roleplay session, get info about their character, try to have a good scene where it's not just me textwalling them and saying bye. If they're not up for it that's cool too, I'm okay bending for something like that. I hope that it's taken well, because I think it lets others take the experience and add it into their story and the way their character grows. It's also fun for me, and that's important too.

[Xerah]

Oh hey, the first "I used to be an uninformed newbie but look at me now" story

I guess since you don't agree with my experience that invalidates it completely. Thanks, I'm all fixed now, who knew I just needed someone to tell me to use the tools and methods I just spent a wall of text trying to explain doesn't necessarily work for everyone.

(Sorry for the snark, you're obviously entitled to your opinion but it pretty much seems to be the equivalent of telling a depressed person to 'just be happy' to me).

Edit: BTW I feel like both moving through goal posts a fair bit but maybe (probably) I just didn't explain myself clearly enough

The tone you took in that posts says you’re not sorry for the snark at all, that much is clear. If you responded that way to someone else, I would have removed it.

Some places are different than what you’re used to. This is how they decided to do things here. We don’t have to like everything about it but we have to accept it.

Like you, I wasn’t used to doing things that way but I’ve adapted because I can’t expect somewhere else to bend to my whims. That’s how I adapted, that’s it. Maybe you don’t want to hear other experiences, so be it.

[Marsi]

I guess since you don't agree with my experience that invalidates it completely.

It doesn't seem like you're actually discussing an experience though? It reads more like a theory you've developed, one that others are refuting. You use language like "it strikes me", "it must", "there's probably", "presumably", "the principle", etc. You're not relating an experience of being excluded because you didn't know enough stuff as a new player, rather an expression of frustration that Arelith doesn't (can't) function or document itself the way you think it should.

Like Xerah, I think you're overblowing it. Yes, there's a "pull yourself up by bootstraps" conundrum when starting a new character as a new player. It's not really a big deal though. No-one can predict what the state of the world will be like when their new character reaches maturity, not even a very experienced player. Can having OOC friends able to clue you in help? Definitely. It doesn't lead to prominence or greatness though, usually just a spot as a faction grunt.

The problem I have with how you describe Arelith is that knowing stuff doesn't confer power or status. It's not "lore" the way it might be on a DM-led server. Take Ravenloft for example. If I want to play a Barovian, it's important to know what happened in Barovia within living memory. If I don't read up, I'm liable to have someone IC go "you don't know about xyz? What kind of Barovian are you?". It's really annoying, and one of the reasons I don't play there anymore. Arelith doesn't work like that -- about every single character is from [insert FR region] and they just do whatever they want and sometimes they find success and sometimes they don't. I knew what happened on Arelith ten years ago. I was there for it. It hasn't granted me a red carpet treatment yet, in fact most players don't care what happened a week before their character was rolled, and most characters are <1 IRL year old. History is a bit of curio, something to collect and trade like rare stamps (and I love doing it, don't get me wrong).

It used to be said around here that "DMs were smelt [sic] not felt", and that bad things happen to good adventurers. It's unfortunate that we've stopped transmitting those values, because we get new players confused when the onboarding experience is unlike a more traditionally DM-led, setting-enforced server. The truth is that to succeed on Arelith you have to be self-directed, curious, and unafraid of rejection. Unfortunately that's going to privilege a certain kind of person, but that's just life.

[Khorvale]

Oh hey, the first "I used to be an uninformed newbie but look at me now" story

I guess since you don't agree with my experience that invalidates it completely. Thanks, I'm all fixed now, who knew I just needed someone to tell me to use the tools and methods I just spent a wall of text trying to explain doesn't necessarily work for everyone.

(Sorry for the snark, you're obviously entitled to your opinion but it pretty much seems to be the equivalent of telling a depressed person to 'just be happy' to me).

Edit: BTW I feel like both moving through goal posts a fair bit but maybe (probably) I just didn't explain myself clearly enough

The tone you took in that posts says you’re not sorry for the snark at all, that much is clear. If you responded that way to someone else, I would have removed it.

Some places are different than what you’re used to. This is how they decided to do things here. We don’t have to like everything about it but we have to accept it.

Like you, I wasn’t used to doing things that way but I’ve adapted because I can’t expect somewhere else to bend to my whims. That’s how I adapted, that’s it. Maybe you don’t want to hear other experiences, so be it.

Hey, when I feel I'm being patronized I patronize right back but there's absolutely no hard feelings about it. Sorry if I was being rude, I was running on too little sleep and no medicine but I feel my points are still valid if slightly ranty

I guess since you don't agree with my experience that invalidates it completely.

It doesn't seem like you're actually discussing an experience though? It reads more like a theory you've developed, one that others are refuting. You use language like "it strikes me", "it must", "there's probably", "presumably", "the principle", etc. You're not relating an experience of being excluded because you didn't know enough stuff as a new player, rather an expression of frustration that Arelith doesn't (can't) function or document itself the way you think it should.

Like Xerah, I think you're overblowing it. Yes, there's a "pull yourself up by bootstraps" conundrum when starting a new character as a new player. It's not really a big deal though. No-one can predict what the state of the world will be like when their new character reaches maturity, not even a very experienced player. Can having OOC friends able to clue you in help? Definitely. It doesn't lead to prominence or greatness though, usually just a spot as a faction grunt.

The problem I have with how you describe Arelith is that knowing stuff doesn't confer power or status. It's not "lore" the way it might be on a DM-led server. Take Ravenloft for example. If I want to play a Barovian, it's important to know what happened in Barovia within living memory. If I don't read up, I'm liable to have someone IC go "you don't know about xyz? What kind of Barovian are you?". It's really annoying, and one of the reasons I don't play there anymore. Arelith doesn't work like that -- about every single character is from [insert FR region] and they just do whatever they want and sometimes they find success and sometimes they don't. I knew what happened on Arelith ten years ago. I was there for it. It hasn't granted me a red carpet treatment yet, in fact most players don't care what happened a week before their character was rolled, and most characters are <1 IRL year old. History is a bit of curio, something to collect and trade like rare stamps (and I love doing it, don't get me wrong).

It used to be said around here that "DMs were smelt [sic] not felt", and that bad things happen to good adventurers. It's unfortunate that we've stopped transmitting those values, because we get new players confused when the onboarding experience is unlike a more traditionally DM-led, setting-enforced server. The truth is that to succeed on Arelith you have to be self-directed, curious, and unafraid of rejection. Unfortunately that's going to privilege a certain kind of person, but that's just life.

I've played here before, for a year or so, and it seems that it's mostly the same thing now as far as I can tell. Other than that I just have a terrible habit of littering my writing with vague conditionals, especially when tired

If any of you thought I'm saying this has to be changed we misunderstood each other. What I'm saying is that the issue the OP tries to address is, IMO anyway, systemic and it'll never change to any meaningful degree as long as that isn't addressed, and the complications I've tried to outline is part of that systemic issue. Which is probably why this conversation is more or less the same as it was 3 years ago, and maybe 10 years ago as well?

[MissEvelyn]

One thing we ought to ask, if we are to fully explore this topic, should all roleplay be inclusive?

[In Sorrow We Trust]

OOC inclusivity and IC inclusivity are two different things. It's good form and enjoyable to give others opportunities to participate in your story. It doesn't necessarily mean you have to drag them around with you to everything you're doing.

[magistrasa]

What I'm saying is that the issue the OP tries to address is, IMO anyway, systemic and it'll never change to any meaningful degree as long as that isn't addressed, and the complications I've tried to outline is part of that systemic issue. Which is probably why this conversation is more or less the same as it was 3 years ago, and maybe 10 years ago as well?

I'm sorry, but I very strongly disagree with this perspective, and I really want to encourage everyone to understand why it's an unconstructive stance to take: It detaches oneself from any personal responsibility to their fellow roleplayers. If the issues - assuming they even are "issues" and not simply a style of experience that you don't personally enjoy - are, in fact, "systemic," then that leads to the natural conclusion there's nothing the average roleplayer can do to meaningfully and positively change the environment they play in. It's exactly that kind of nihilistic mindset that creates the kinds of shallow narratives and jaded players that occasionally make this place unbearable.

To me, it seems a massively excluding and rather patronising principle, that the only way to find like-minded people to play with, players with matching time-zones, interesting faction/group concepts or even just knowledge of the historical or political landscape of the game world your character is supposed to already exist in, is to make a character in the game and then discover the socio-political landscape they've existed in for years.

I'm not going to speak towards your original complaints too much because I don't want to make this thread a "let's all dogpile Khorvale" conversation, but your opening statements really express such a fundamental misunderstanding of the server that it, genuinely, boggles the mind. By my reading, you essentially say, "The only way to meet people is to talk to them, and the only way to know things is to learn about them." And that's somehow a complaint, which is concerning given how it's also a plain statement of fact about life and reality. Additionally mind-boggling is the implication that you have yet to realize that every character comes to Arelith from somewhere else in the Forgotten Realms, a place of your choosing that you can study and build a story immersed in the world of the game using resources like source books and wiki articles and the eager participation of our resident lore nerds (contrary to your claims of exclusivity), despite having played on this server for at least a year by your own admission. I genuinely don't know what your expectations are, nor do I understand how you don't recognize the patronizing tone in your own initial post that intended to call out the patronization.

The reason why this conversation hasn't meaningfully evolved in years and years is because roleplay is difficult to do well, and you only get better at it by putting in an earnest effort to improve. You need to care about the community, you need to be genuinely interested in the stories being shared around you, you need to truly want to immerse yourself in the grand narrative that stretches out far beyond your sight. It's hard to tell people how to be a good roleplayer or what habits make an inclusive roleplayer, because that advice can be rotely followed by someone who doesn't really have their heart in it and that will inevitably translate into a lackluster performance. The best piece of advice for becoming a better roleplayer is to simply WANT to become a better roleplayer, and that desire will, over time, form itself into better habits and a considerate attitude and noticeable improvement in quality. What we do is a skill, and it's honed through years of consistent effort. It comes from entering every scene with the thought in the back of your head to elevate the moment and bring intrigue and entertainment to all your fellow players who share in it.

And the thing is, most of the people in this thread, whether participating or only mentioned, have been around long enough to intuitively understand that. The veterans here don't need this conversation, they're engaging because they want to share a helpful perspective for those that might not even have a sense for what good roleplay looks like. Xerah is a fantastic writer who puts a unique voice and soul into every character that makes each persona feel engaging and truly alive, sometimes in alien and unsettling ways. Ilphaeryl Xun'viir's player is one of the most mindful and insightful individuals I've ever interacted with, whose consistency of presence isn't nearly as tiring as so many other seemingly immortal PCs because they know exactly how to contribute to a storyline in a way that elevates the players participating in it and introduces them to new and challenging ideas that are always EXACTLY what that character needs to evolve. D4wn is very well known on the server at this point for the length and complexity of their narratives, as well as their dedication to the characters they play that gives their storylines a sense of stability and consistency that's easy for any roleplayer, new or established, to hop on board and engage with - and, perhaps even more remarkably, they even seem to have a good sense of when and where to let a storyline end, which is honestly one of the most difficult things to understand when you're in the midst of a narrative. I could easily go on, but the point I'm building towards is that all these people are incredible at what they do, and they each have identifiable strengths that other "good roleplayers" might not have. But something that is rarely recognized is that what they're doing is really difficult, and really stressful, and takes a lot of effort to do well even once, let alone consistently. They're not putting on these amazing performances for their own sake. They're doing this for us. They're doing it for you.

If you want to be a better, more engaging, and yes, more inclusive roleplayer, this is exactly the consideration you have to bear in mind: "What am I doing for the people around me?"

Systems and admins and DMs and mechanics have absolutely nothing to do with it.

[-XXX-]

One thing we ought to ask, if we are to fully explore this topic, should all roleplay be inclusive?

Yes, and...

[Babylon System is the Vampire]

To me, being an inclusive player is being someone that finds ways to involve others in something your character either has going on personally or knows about. And that starts with what's likely the best piece of advice already given in this thread, taking the time to talk to other characters and find out what they are about.

Just some easy examples, and certainly not all inclusive. Let's say you are the mayor of Bendir, and know of a few things going on around the server even if you are only directly involved in half of them.

-If the character you are talking to seems to be itching for a fight, maybe you take the time to introduce them to the paladins fighting the bannites every other day in pvp battles.

-If the character you are talking to seems like more of a social player, but doesn't seem to know anyone, maybe take them to a meeting or whatever and see if that opens doorways for them going forward.

-if the character always seems to be out dungeon crawling, maybe think of inviting them the next time you have a dm event upcoming, since those types of players would probably get the most out of an unpredictable dungeon crawl.

-If the character is always going on about their backstory, and how it led them to arelith because they want to do x, take a little time to listen and maybe recommend other pcs that may know something about what they are trying to do for them to hunt down and talk to next.

-if the character is your natural enemy, don't rush to beat them down at the earliest opportunity. Try and let there be a back and forth before that big epic battle of who's the better build and more skilled clicker. This one is admittedly the hardest in my experience, because you also want to involve others by gathering them on your side, which means you also have to figure out how to get them to slow down icly.

As I mentioned, these examples are not the only options, but they are all things I've seen used on arelith by players that made me say "wow, this person gets it".

[Khorvale]

One thing I'm noticing here is that the entire debate seems mostly premised on being a surface player, which I'm not. I suppose that may account for some confusion

[Xerah]

One thing I'm noticing here is that the entire debate seems mostly premised on being a surface player, which I'm not. I suppose that may account for some confusion

No, people use the surface as an easy example since there are more players there so more people are more likely to understand the references.

Most players don't consider themselves exclusive to one area (be it surface/UD, Cordor/Bendir/etc.). If they do, I'd strongly recommend that they should be moving around and creating characters in other areas/places/factions as that very much helps develop inclusive RP and removes a lot of internal bias.

Xerah is a fantastic writer who puts a unique voice and soul into every character that makes each persona feel engaging and truly alive, sometimes in alien and unsettling ways. Ilphaeryl Xun'viir's player is one of the most mindful and insightful individuals I've ever interacted with, whose consistency of presence isn't nearly as tiring as so many other seemingly immortal PCs because they know exactly how to contribute to a storyline in a way that elevates the players participating in it and introduces them to new and challenging ideas that are always EXACTLY what that character needs to evolve. D4wn is very well known on the server at this point for the length and complexity of their narratives, as well as their dedication to the characters they play that gives their storylines a sense of stability and consistency that's easy for any roleplayer, new or established, to hop on board and engage with - and, perhaps even more remarkably, they even seem to have a good sense of when and where to let a storyline end, which is honestly one of the most difficult things to understand when you're in the midst of a narrative.

Also, this is very kind kudos, Magistrasa, thank you!

[Hadals]

This is a large question with a likely near-infinite amount of good answers, so I'll just answer with a small activity/option that I think anyone can do in most situations towards increasing inclusivity - one that I try to do myself as often as possible.

Sometimes, all that's needed to be inclusive is to give people a voice. Ask someone their opinion on what's going on, spend an extra minute inviting them into the event or conversation, or just greeting them if they come within reasonable conversation distance. People enjoy being heard, and it's a very simple and easy place to start.

[Biolab00]

My personal opinion for Inclusive RP begins with loving your own character and enjoys playing him/her so that the you're immersed in it. When you are immersed in your character, you're generally more thoughtful and make better IC actions.

Edit : And to discouraging response about Dawn's merit to -some- OOC collaboration, specially due to time zones. This is absolutely true. I'll like to highlight that personal chat in Discord between two players and having a Discord group are 2 very different experiences which the latter, defeats alot of possible IC interactions and the charm surrounding it.
Especially the larger faction you ran, the worse that it spirals off.
It's always possible to make collaboration ICly with the use of Message Board wisely.