Impact of OOC clans on immersion

I noticed lately, after being a member of two OOC clans for a while, that sometimes it seems like they come at the cost of immersion and roleplay. At first I thought this wasn't really the case because people would still ask questions and things still need to happen in-game sometimes, but over time, I realized that wasn't really what happened. I've noticed lately that when something in-game happens, the first place people react to it is in the OOC clan. "Why did X kill Y?" "What happened to Z?" "lol, this speech is taking too long". Often when something happens, people talk about it OOCly first. When considering fights and raids, people talk about it OOCly first. In-game conversations are secondary. 

I've been curious and just left or turned off OOC clans for a while due to how gossipy and clique-ish they can become, and the amount of in-game conversations that my character has overheard or participated in doesn't really change. People tend to sit in one room and just talk on clans, rarely interacting in-game outside of "events". It's not a personal thing, it's a communal thing. So I got curious about whether this happened all over the game and what other people thought. Obviously right now OOC clans aren't going anywhere, but I wonder what the game would be like without them. Sure, people like having clans to vent in and things like that, but what if instead of venting personal OOC frustration, people vented in-game? I imagine the loss of OOC clans would result in more interaction on every level, but it certainly isn't something that can be forced on the community.

What do other people think? Is this even an issue or are OOC clans healthy for the game?

 i'm a rebel

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Comments

  • AodfionnAodfionn Seattle, WA
    I decided to CLTOFF or quit all of my OOC clans yesterday, and the difference in immersion feels immediate and relieving. It really is used as a primary means of communication, which can be cool when we're all trying to figure out what the proper Canon is for something or just check availability to see if someone's gonna be online later. 

    The downside of that comes with the countless instances where people threw bitch fits or were sincerely just trolling people to be assholes, because they didn't happen to like what was going on IG at the moment, but lacked the drive to address their concerns ICly. This happens constantly, and is the reason I finally snapped and said "deuces" to the whole thing. If I want to talk with people on an OOC level about shit (like @Havyn‌ and our friendly NFL rivalry), I can do that well enough without having to listen to some mouth-breather complain about the 10 minute break from mudsex they had to take to go defend or listen to a sermon. 
    Aurora says, "Are you drunk, Aodfionn?"
  • MelodieMelodie Port Saint Lucie, Florida
    edited January 2015
    I'm definitely at a point where I'm considering making a smaller OOC clan with people I generally enjoy shooting off a bit with (and who are generally more positive and not metagaming/gossiping), and then keeping that and one other (and the other is Aerek's tiny clan) and that's it. TMC, while it has given me many laughs, has gotten to where I tune it out more than enjoy it in recent weeks, and I definitely find myself prone to reacting OOC rather than IC first, which is a bad sign. I haven't quite gotten the motivation to save up 500k for it yet, but I'm getting there quickly.

    The only reason I wouldn't 100% quit is because there are people I can't see IC as much who I genuinely enjoy speaking to.
    And I love too                                                                          Be still, my indelible friend
    That love soon might end                                                         You are unbreaking
    And be known in its aching                                                      Though quaking
    Shown in this shaking                                                             Though crazy
    Lately of my wasteland, baby                                                 That's just wasteland, baby
  • KayeilKayeil Washington State
    I quit all my OOC clans minus a family clan and the small one I run (unless you want to count Beloved ooc clan, SVO, UUC, Gare, and shamans help clan), and Achaea has been a much more positive and less stressful game to play. My clan is generally just lots of joking around or helping each other out, and the rare rant here and there. Much better than the drama and hate clans that do nothing but gossip and constantly argue.
    What doesn't kill you gives you exp.

  • I've noticed the OOC clans certainly hurt my RP, and frequently turn them off. The culture also seems to be to have a lot of insanity in party talks that are aren't focused on a specific task (raid, defense, etc.).  My involvement in both of these seems to come and go. (I find OOC clans amusing when I'm just trying to get a script working, or test and track down The Right Line for something.)

    I have also noticed that lots of people talk IC or otherwise in TELLS.  I bucked this for a while, trying to force more public interaction and occasionally still call people out for it.  However, I feel it's like swimming upstream and likely a loosing battle. Those that do it will continue to, it's the culture. 

    One thing I'm planning to do to mitigate a better immersion is to separate OOC clan chats to some hidden windows.  This will keep it there when I want it, but doesn't interfere with anything when I want to be fully IC. I know several people do this, and I imagine it's a common approach, but figured I'd mention it anyhow just in case some readers haven't considered it.
  • KlendathuKlendathu Eye of the Storm
    I gag all OOC clans in my main window, they're in a tab on in my chat window thingy, it means I can dip in and out depending on what I'm doing, and scroll back easily if there's an interesting topic. Most of it's just drivel, sadly.

    Tharos, the Announcer of Delos shouts, "It's near the end of the egghunt and I still haven't figured out how to pronounce Clean-dat-hoo."
  • Slightly off-topic note to what @Herenicus said, but I'm often idle in stereotypical AFK places. I am almost never actually AFK though, I just play someone quiet and usually content to observe (for various definitions of content depending on what's being observed, Nim's mood, and the number of pixies bashed so far this year).
  • Hrm im torn on this.

    On the one hand ive found it does break immersion during certain events especially. 

    On the other im way too curious and I love getting to know the people behind the characters too much to turn them off. (Though it probably affects my impression of characters to some degree)

    Feeding them to a seperate window is probably an amazing idea. Now just to find space for it on my UI :smile: 
  • AerekAerek East Tennessee, USA
    While I enjoy getting to know people OOC, I've never liked OOC clans. Especially the big ones, it feels like I start playing a schizophrenic, because suddenly there are these constant voices in my head, distracting me from the serious stuff going on around me. As has been said, I found myself logging in and just sitting for hours bullshitting instead of playing the game. Quitting them or turning them off has always increased my productivity and quality of my roleplay by multiples.
    -- Grounded in but one perspective, what we perceive is an exaggeration of the truth.
  • edited January 2015
    I'm in one OOC clan, at the moment - and it has one other person in it whom I'd consider to be active.  Since I came back in November, neither of us has said a thing on it - I don't even know whether the other person has CLT on.

    Occasionally I miss being able to make a smart-arsed comment when someone says something which amuses me - but if I'm really feeling hilarious and can't contain myself any longer, I tend to send an OOC message to one lucky recipient instead.

    I think small OOC clans, where everyone knows each other reasonably well, can be healthy: it reminds us that we're playing a game with other humans.  The difficulty comes with the sprawling, cross-organisation entities that a few people seem to be members of (and whose notoriety means I don't need to try and remember them).


  • Honestly, I've had P9 cltoff'd like, twice in my entire time in it. Mostly, I troll in there while waiting for crap to happen. But, if it bothers you, cltoff/quit the clans. To me, (Maybe this is due to ADD or my MPD) I can handle the swapping without much issue. (Notice I said much)
  • edited January 2015
    The two worst offenders for breaking immersion, to me, are OOC clans and the forums. I am not in any OOC clans and I try to keep my forum usage to a minimum. I do my best to be IC at all times with people; sometimes I can't, but I try.

    I have found the overall experience much more enjoyable and noticeably quieter.
  • Some OOC clans are definitely 'immersion breaking' if you pay attention to them all the time. Some make the game better because you can talk about game or non-game stuff with people you've made a connection of some kind with while you're doing other things.

    Some clans are notorious whiners/loud-mouth PKers who start into each other the second one sees the other say anything.

    Others are @Mathonwy and me having a random ass conversation for 30 minutes where the topic changes instantly if someone references it to anything else.
    image
    Cascades of quicksilver light streak across the firmament as the celestial voice of Ourania intones, "Oh Jarrod..."

  • Aodfionn said:
    I decided to CLTOFF or quit all of my OOC clans yesterday, and the difference in immersion feels immediate and relieving. It really is used as a primary means of communication, which can be cool when we're all trying to figure out what the proper Canon is for something or just check availability to see if someone's gonna be online later. 

    The downside of that comes with the countless instances where people threw bitch fits or were sincerely just trolling people to be assholes, because they didn't happen to like what was going on IG at the moment, but lacked the drive to address their concerns ICly. This happens constantly, and is the reason I finally snapped and said "deuces" to the whole thing. If I want to talk with people on an OOC level about shit (like @Havyn‌ and our friendly NFL rivalry), I can do that well enough without having to listen to some mouth-breather complain about the 10 minute break from mudsex they had to take to go defend or listen to a sermon. 
    To be fair, that sermon lasted a good 12 minutes.

    image
  • Adet said:
    I'm in one OOC clan, at the moment - and it has one other person in it whom I'd consider to be active.  Since I came back in November, neither of us has said a thing on it - I don't even know whether the other person has CLT on.

    Occasionally I miss being able to make a smart-arsed comment when someone says something which amuses me - but if I'm really feeling hilarious and can't contain myself any longer, I tend to send an OOC message to one lucky recipient instead.

    I think small OOC clans, where everyone knows each other reasonably well, can be healthy: it reminds us that we're playing a game with other humans.  The difficulty comes with the sprawling, cross-organisation entities that a few people seem to be members of (and whose notoriety means I don't need to try and remember them).


    I do have CLT on, boy. Let the snarkyness commence.

    image
  • Kandra said:
    I think that absolute immersion is crippling to actual immersion, at least in my case. Sometimes you find yourself in a situation where what you are doing can greatly impact another person's enjoyment of the game in a negative way. Personally, if I'm worried about ruining someone's day, I'm going to have issues going through with it. If I suspect someone is out to ruin my day, I'm going to have issues with wanting to play at all. Simply being able to express or understand where each other are on the "this is fun to omg this sucks" scale can do a lot, and there are tons of RP-relevant things that a person who gives half a damn about others wouldn't be able to do if the question of another's enjoyment crept into their head.

    I honestly want to know if people I'm playing with are enjoying or not enjoying, so I'm always open to having an OOC conversation with anyone who approaches me about it, as long as they don't send me tells full of slashes. Pointing out OOC is more startling than the OOC itself in most cases. Just bloody be OOC and I'll figure it out. I usually assume my tells are OOC-acceptable anyway. /minirant

    Kinda ranted about tells instead of clans. Oops. I think avenues of OOC are good for some people, even if others don't care for them. That does include clans, even if I ranted on tells.
    Now I want to send you a tell with nothing but slashes the next time I see you ig. :P
  • HerenicusHerenicus The Western Front
    Still, must suck to watch the time, energy and enthusiasm your org needs being spent debating the merits of a Marvel reboot and then have to listen to some of the same people complain when their orgs are  struggling.
  • CaoimhaenCaoimhaen Targossas
    edited January 2015
    I tried ooc clans and honestly, to me it ruins my ic experience. I like to rp and see what happens in general. Not be distracted about ooc stuff and how hilarious the person thinks this thing is. When I am in the moment, I want to become my character. I agree with you @Tesha. It is irritating when people often pay more attention to ooc clans than ic. I think if you want to talk oocly you should message either or go on Skype. But that's just me. I play to rp. Not to troll or be trolled. Maybe that's fun to some people, but I don't find it fun as I play to get away from real life for a bit. It's like choosing to read a book. You don't want someone constantly interrupting you while you are reading or being forced to read the writer's thoughts about the scene he wrote. I like talking to some people oocly about stuff, but it really depends on if it  is vital or if I like the person oocly. I like to choose when and who and tend to do it rarely.

  • MishgulMishgul Trondheim, Norway
    I have never had any issues with OOC clans ruining my immersion. I can't explain why because I struggle to understand why they would.

    -

    One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important

    As drawn by Shayde
    hic locus est ubi mors gaudet succurrere vitae
  • Sorry for the typos in the prior post (there were a few - right/write, suppor/support and so on. I guess when I'm passionate about something I don't spellcheck well!
  • edited January 2015
    ^ That. It's all the hate speech, slurs, etc that makes most OOC clans a bummer, in my opinion. Plenty of that to go around in real life - I don't sign onto Achaea wanting to be reminded of that bull.

    Edit to clarify that the above comment is not in reference to P9.
  • CaladbolgCaladbolg Campbell County TN
    edited January 2015
    Ic clans are only for mischans from your ooc clans, and for everything else we use skype.

    If ooc clans got removed we would just default to skype..

    If you don't wanna be in an ooc clan by all means turn it off or quit. but there's alot of people who don't exactly want to roleplay on that huge major level that Tesha does, I know I roleplay to the least little bit I can except on special occasions.

    Now im not knocking anyone's roleplay or any of that. but honestly when there's a huge mandatory speech or something going on I do typically go afk and then ask on the ooc clan/skype what happened.

    Also just saying. it's a hell of alot easier saying I went dormant cause xbox one rather than saying. My soul has been sleeping for reasons that involve a box with an x on it.

    Rohai said:
    ^ That. It's all the hate speech, slurs, etc that makes most OOC clans a bummer, in my opinion. Plenty of that to go around in real life - I don't sign onto Achaea wanting to be reminded of that bull.

    Edit to clarify that the above comment is not in reference to P9.
    Just sayin if you don't want to listen to such things quit the clan or turn it off. If it's not normally like that then ask the clan leader to deal with such things.

    P9 Is a little worse on that level than most of my other ooc clans though. Although I personally didn't quit because of hate speech slurs or what not. mostly just Ernam getting old and repetitive.

  • HerenicusHerenicus The Western Front

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