[Xanth]

Wow, it's been a while since I've had to do something this serious, but it seems that some of our members are under the impression that EF has a strict posting order (where character A posts, then B, then C, then A, then B, then C, then A, ad infinitum).

This is not the case.

EF has no posting order. We never have. In fact, it's been our experience in this game that posting orders actually slow down and kill threads, so we've never enforced such an order.

We also have a blanket godmodding rule, whereby anyone who has taken more than three days to post in a thread can be gently sidelined (or removed altogether if the participants are sure the player won't be posting soon) so that a thread can continue.

Most members never use the blanket GM, and most of us wait politely for members to post. This is fine, and the respect you guys have for each other is what makes EF such an awesome, friendly community. However, in some cases, waiting kills a thread (and can help to make a character inactive - especially if that character has to wait in all of their current threads) and this is why we have the blanket GM rule and no posting order.

So this is just to clarify, as there's been a bit of confusion over this and I don't want there to be any hurt feelings.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to post.

[Chenoan]

read and understood

[Txelu]

Thanks for the reminder, Ems! I'm sure it'll make everyone feel more comfortable about posting. I know because I always felt guilty about skipping people. ;

I have a question tho -- what a thread "requires" a character? Or if two characters have been heavily interacting... it would be weird and difficult to sideline one of them in such a case.

Thanks

[Xanth]

In those cases, you push the big red button that says "panic" on it.

No, but seriously, you're not alone in finding it awkward, and it really comes down to personal judgement. ^^ We have this rule as an option, but it's not mandatory - if you're happy to wait, then it's okay to wait.

Since we removed the thread limit, you can really wait as long as you like, but if someone is inactive long enough to be moved to the Missing group, and certainly if they're retired (or they're gone long enough to threaten your own character, assuming you can't just hop into another thread to keep them active), then it's often better to move on than to wait. You don't need to godmod them out if you're uncomfortable with that and the thread can't continue without them; you could always leave the thread yourself to end it a bit more naturally. That way, if that person comes back later you can talk about doing another thread to follow up, but you wouldn't have that unfinished thread hanging around if they didn't come back.

That kind of thing is partially why we introduced Limbo, as well. If you're stuck in a stalled thread while a member's away, and you don't want to end it, then you can have it limbo'd and take it up to finish it when they return.

[Txelu]

Ooo, okay! Thanks so much for clearing that up, Ems !