[Threshold]

How do you, as player and/or administrator, deal with RP attention hogs?

Do you just let them be?

Do you try to talk to them privately about why it might be better to share the spotlight?

Do you even consider this a problem?

I generally think RP attention hogs are a bad thing - more so if they are actually good role players. A good RP environment needs people who are willing to share the spotlight. People need to be willing to participate in a supporting role as well. People who expect to always be the main character alienate people fast, and then the game ends up losing out on their RP contributions.

[Brody]

Originally Posted by Threshold How do you, as player and/or administrator, deal with RP attention hogs? Do you just let them be? Do you try to talk to them privately about why it might be better to share the spotlight? Do you even consider this a problem? I generally think RP attention hogs are a bad thing - more so if they are actually good role players. A good RP environment needs people who are willing to share the spotlight. People need to be willing to participate in a supporting role as well. People who expect to always be the main character alienate people fast, and then the game ends up losing out on their RP contributions.

Good questions. I try to coach them. If coaching doesn't work, the problem tends to solve itself as other players just start ignoring/shunning them. Eventually, they go away.

I agree that it can be unfortunate in the short term when they're driven away, but long-term it might be the best thing for the game to cut its losses and try to find new blood that's less driven to be the center of attention all the time.

[Threshold]

Originally Posted by Brody Good questions. I try to coach them. If coaching doesn't work, the problem tends to solve itself as other players just start ignoring/shunning them. Eventually, they go away.

This is what we do as well. It seems to work... sometimes.

I wish I could figure out a way to deal with this and have a higher success rate. I define success here as:

• The player stops hogging the spotlight.
• The player learns how to be an equally interesting character even in a support or just witness mode.
• The player doesn't quit.

I think there are honestly some people out there who absolutely WILL NOT play a game unless they can be in the spotlight 24/7. Since some of these people actually are decent RPers, you can see why they might have been able to get away with this elsewhere. Those are probably the types that are hopeless and thus you just have to sigh sadly as they eventually drift away.

I wonder if there are people who think players like this are no big deal, and no administrative involvement is needed, necessary, or even desired.

Is it better for the admins to just stay out of it and let it totally take its course in game?

Personally, I think an admin has to always be somewhat involved, and always be aware of things like this going on in his/her/their game. Involved admins are the difference, imho, between a mediocre free-for-all and a quality RP environment.

[Brody]

I agree that admins need to stay involved, especially in an RP-enforced environment, but that's not just because of keeping quality assurance for RP. It's for everything. Got to keep the game's heartbeat going. Schedule events, promote peer recognition activities (like RP +voting), help newbies, and make sure players who are allegedly helping newbies are actually being helpful.

I've taken time off from my games in the past and every time I take a hiatus, things start to slide until I bounce back into active mode again. Even if I'm just around a little at night to handle +staffrequests, talk to admins, work on the latest Wiki-filling drive, I make myself available and make people aware that I've got an eye and an ear to what's going on.

Tends to keep the admins on their toes, too, which helps feed the beast as they schedule their own activities and work on projects to better the MUSHes.

[Threshold]

Originally Posted by Brody I agree that admins need to stay involved, especially in an RP-enforced environment, but that's not just because of keeping quality assurance for RP. It's for everything. Got to keep the game's heartbeat going. Schedule events, promote peer recognition activities (like RP +voting), help newbies, and make sure players who are allegedly helping newbies are actually being helpful.

That is very, very true. Oh how the mice will play when the cat's away... eh?

I'm curious if any other folks have suggestions for dealing with this phenomenon, or examples of how they have dealt with it on their own game.

[Muirdach]

For my part, I just ignore them (publically, sometimes I swear to myself and wish they leave quickly). That's generally the attitude we take towards most things like this - very hands off and just observational for the most part, unless things really get out of hand. It probably helps that we don't have a lot of staff-player interaction like other games do, for example we don't have staff-played deities or much of any kind of "immortal on the ground" behaviour, if staff wish to play with mortals then they play a mortal, for the most part. Instead, we try to give players the tools to run things like that themselves, where possible. As most RP hogs seem to seek staff/imm attention for the most part, this helps to keep things quiet on that front.

Another reason is that there are always two sides to a coin, and people can spin the same event whichever way they prefer. It's easy for a disgruntled player to honestly believe that their RP was great and that the game staff are just jealous and/or wouldn't know good RP if it bit their collective noses off, or that they're being spied upon and kept down, etc. This can quickly spread through that individual's friends, clan and whatever else. So, while you might be totally in the right to coach/guide and are probably acting for the greater good of the game, it isn't without its problems. Not to say that admins should just put the blinkers on and not care - but we watch and keep close tabs, and only intervene when it is truly necessary. Then I go and play rugby to take out any aggression.

That said, my formative first-year-and-a-bit of mudding was on Threshold, so at least to some degree Aristotle's way did stop me from becoming an RP hog.

[Sanvean]

Making them leaders so they can drive play for other players is an approach that has worked well for us in some cases, but not all.

[Sergeytov]

I suppose my initial question here is: How do we define RP hog?

Is an RP hog someone who gets attention just for walking into a room?

Is an RP hog someone who demands attention just for walking into a room?

Is an RP hog someone who conducts their characters in such a way that it requires attention whenever they are in a room?

Is an RP hog someone who prefers to play in smaller groups where said person will likely receive more individualized attention just on virtue of there being fewer people to split attention between?

Is an RP hog a leader in a faction and thus receives attention whenever brought out on virtue of that?

(Why is it I always want to use 'an' as the article when referring to RP when my language lessons have taught me that it should be 'a?'

Cause if all of those are RPhogdom, then I'm an RP hog and will comment in that way. :>

[Threshold]

Originally Posted by Sergeytov Is an RP hog someone who demands attention just for walking into a room?

This one.

If nobody else is ever allowed to be the center of attention, then that is an RP hog.

[Sergeytov]

Personally my method is to avoid these people in large scenes. The profile I've experienced with most of these players is that they're fueled not by themselves, but by other players. If they're surrounded by their fans there's little I can do about them, as a player. If I must play with them I will often insist they come alone or with a minimal entourage.

An imperfect solution for what Threshold defines as an RP hog, yes, however it saves me as a player strife. That and I've noticed true RP hogs lose support eventually, so it's a matter of waiting some of them out.

[Brody]

*bumped for further discussion*

[Disillusionist]

I love freshly dead threads. They are the most susceptible to my necro-posting habit.

I guess I don't make a huge distinction between plot/NPC-chasers and RPhogs.
Both suffer from center-of-attention-deficit disorder in some form or other.

It's a tightrope walk for admins, I imagine. Partly, you want to reward diligence, character ingenuity and decent RP, giving the benefit of the doubt where possible that it's a character rather than a player trait.

If you have multi-characters for a single account, it's a little easier to distinguish, since every character from a perpetually attention-starved player will behave similarly. "I have entered the room. All kneel, or stop what you are doing, as I ejaculate this scene unto you. I am certain it is more important than what you are doing, as it has now the impeccable virtue of my presence. You're welcome." Exeunt, stage left.
Whaddayagonnado?

Often, I've simply wondered what would happen if an NPC (presuming the interrupted scene has staff involved) said, simply enough, "Try not to talk with your mouth open." And just as easily, I imagine said character doing anything at all possible to make sure the largest text blocks or overtly interruptive actions are theirs, even if their mouth is closed. Oh, wait, I haven't imagined it, I've lived it.

Mostly, the consequences should come IC. I mean, people like that are -annoying-. Treat them as their actions merit. Players can often curb such behavior, over time.

The last thing an admin should do is reward the behavior. A minimal RPA sends a message. If you withhold the RPA, the character may even try harder to snatch that spotlight. Something that runs counter-intuitive in my experience is simply having some plots seek out those that don't seek them first.

I love examples.
In this one, most of the playerbase was in a single location for a staff-hosted event, very similar to a chess tournament. Such a player/character, arriving late, during a game match in which such spam as three paragraphs of comically blathering attention-suction can literally scroll the match player's board off the screen, and did what was typical. Burst into the room with an obviously pre-typed speech, perhaps a page and a half of scroll, and spewed it. It was humorous, no doubt, but disruptive IC and for OOC reasons.
There were several staff-run characters present, and their IC reaction was negligible, although at least four of them had not only the authority to put an end to it, but one might even argue an obligation to do so.

What would you do?

[Threshold]

Originally Posted by Disillusionist What would you do?

Nuke the site from orbit.

It's the only way to be sure.

[Disillusionist]

In ten minutes, this area is going to be a cloud of vapor the size of Nebraska.

I love it.