I'm still looking for a new job, but even if I find a new job I have no idea of knowing what my schedule will be at a new job until I have one. But as you know I haven't been around much either because I'm at work or I'm tired (and usually more than a little angry) from work.

All that aside I've been thinking for a while that we need a few more options for scheduling RP. I'm making this post to see if anyone is interested in and able to do a Late Night RP. I'm thinking maybe one or two nights a week around midnight central time (1 am eastern time.)

Due to the late hour of an "After Dark" weekly or bi-weekly RP there are a couple differences I would suggest. Again these are just suggestions and ideas, I don't even know if anyone can make it to a late RP yet.

1) Because a late nite RP will probably not be able to run as long as other RP sessions I suggest that an agenda be planned on the forum at least 24 hours before the Late RP starts. An agenda can be something as simple as suggesting that we go into Dynamis Xarcabard and farm items for the +2 relic armor magin trials or gather in a city for a crafting circle. Just i think it's important to have a plan of action so that once everyone is on we can get going. I would suggest doing this for all of the RPs but with some of the RP days being back to back that's not always possible. Also it will be easier to do this in the After Dark RP because it's an activity RP that can advance character development but more than likely won't be used to advance any major RP plots.

2) To add a sense of purpose and accomplishment I think using a Late Nite RP as a kind of activity RP would be a good idea. Focus it around doing "jobs" NM hunting, Dynamis, Assault, etc. or even something as simple as farming ingredients to craft certain items. (can farm items that a member can craft into high value products, farm elementals for crystals, then the crafter can put the items on the Auction House and split the profit with all who helped. Or the items can be divided among the participants to be used or sold at a time of their choosing.)

3) Due to the fact that for most of our members that this will be a middle of the night RP I would suggest raising the rating limit from PG-13 to R. I'm not suggesting that all late RPs have to or even should merit a higher rating, I'm just suggesting that the option be available so that if wanted certain side plots can be explored further at a time when they won't take away from the main RP. And I'm saying R not NC-17 graphic sex and or violence still belong in either tells or fiction with a nice disclaimer at the top. But an R ratting would allow for certain topics to be brought up such as Kaolla's abusive childhood and the rape of her mother. I'm sure there are other topics and plots that toe the line between PG-13 and R and a late night RP would be a good time to explore those plots.

4) A late night RP would also be a good time to test out plots. I've had a side plot I've wanted to run for a while and I'm sure others have plots they want to try out. Starting test plots during a late night RP can allow for them to appear in a less obtrusive manner and if they don;t work out they can be dropped without creating a strange hole in the main RP. And if they do seem to be going somewhere interesting they can be brought into other RP times if there is an opportunity. This suggestion might seem to be countering idea 2 but there is no reason that plots can;t be introduced while doing activities or as an activity. All a person would have to do is say on the forums I'd like to try out a plot this week during the Late RP, or I'd like to work on this plot for my character. To which other people attending the RP can say "sure sounds like fun," or even reply with something like "Sorry I was hoping to farm some Dynamis currency this week how about next week?" Actually nothing stopping someone from saying "No I don't like that idea. But I'll be busy next week so if you could please do it then and let me pick for this week I'd appreciate it." I think we're all mature enough to not get offended if not everyone likes all of our ideas.

I think I'll stop this post here for now. The real question is if anyone is interested in doing late night RPs. I think we'll need at least 4 people to make it a scheduled RP, anything less than that and it can still be done but will probably just be a random pickup RP group that can be organized in tells or PMs instead of on the forums.

If you are interested please reply and post what night or nights you think would be a good night for a Late RP. Also I would appreciate any ideas for how a late RP should be run or activities to do during a later RP. A few details on what will be done might get more people interested.

While I'm able to be up at just about any time, there is no way I can commit to regularly attending a midnight RP time. If I'm up and not already in the middle of/committed to doing something, I'd be willing to join. Which honestly, hasn't been often recently and I can't say how that will be in the future. When I run a late night like that on purpose though, it's because I'm playing human alarm clock so -anything- to do during those nights are always welcome.

For the rating thing… I'm hesitant. To plead my case, I'm going to use sex as a benchmark (since violence is just too varied to use effectively), and under the assumption that while no current member would push the far boundary, we can't predict future members behavior.
– In the movies, rated R still allows for showing sex, as long as genitalia and area surrounding penetration isn't shown (as long as someone's butt, legs, or strategically placed piece of furniture, fruit, or prop is in the way, it's allowed). There is also a possibility of a sort of an undeserved/unexpected reputation that the LS could get by saying we have that rating for "Late Night RP" – if someone was just glancing through, and not giving a full read on the concept, that can almost instantly translate into a statement of "OMG they have midnight ERP!". ToV and ToH are affiliated, and ToH is at least partially affiliated with FFXIV's Roleplay Coalition. It's easier to avoid bad press altogether than try to repair a smeared reputation.
– "PG" puts a cap and expectation on behavior and topics that's not so open to interpretation. The topics you've specifically brought up Kao (mother's rape and abuse growing up) can be covered under a PG-17 rating. Again, using sex as the benchmark, if someone were to push PG-17 to it's far boundary we'd be dealing with "heavy third base". Not something I'd want to see in the shell, but I'd be far less offended to log into a petting session that than two people going at it with a metaphorical censorship bar covering their crotches.
– Back on SwC, we had a couple rough weeks in the RP channel when the wording of "for mature roleplayers" was misinterpreted to mean "ERP welcome in channel". It wasn't pretty. If "mature" can be misconstrued like that, then rated R is just begging to be abused.

Everything else seems fine though.

I'm in and available for Friday and Saturday at around midnight PST. I'll help out where I can.

I agree on the sex thing completely. In that direction as far as I personally would want to see that go even with a quote on quote R rating would be maybe a mention of nudity with mention of body shape but no details. And it would also have to have some kind of important plot reason for being mentioned, revelation of a telling scar, or announcing a new level of openness and intimacy between two characters without any description of the actual act or even even foreplay since I doubt anyone wants to watch that, or even RP it out since that's all kinds of awkweird. Acknowledging that two characters are intimate could be an important plot point since it will affect behavior but yea details are best left out. What I meant by R is that should such an event occur IC it would be the equivalent of a few passionate kisses then fading to black during or immediately after disrobing. While that could technically still be called PG-13 I really don't know how such a scene would be received if it happened during the "normal" RP. And this is what I would call an extreme case a one time only scene to note the advancement of a relationship, not a repeat scene since one time can be sweet but watching it over again just gets weird. Either way I don't think an entire RP should ever focus on the romance subplots. They're by their very nature exclusive since i doubt anyone is RPing romancing multiple partners lol, They have their place and can be an important part of character development, but focusing on them too much can leave other players feeling left out.

As for the schedule thing, anyone would be welcome to join of course. I would however like a kind of planning committee of 4 or more to set the times and plan the agenda. If I know that 3 other people are planning to get on I'll get on too, if however I'd just be logging on and hopping someone is around and wanting to do something most nights I'd probably find something else to do after work.

I'm in and available for Friday and Saturday at around midnight PST. I'll help out where I can.SinFlux

Midnight Pacific is 2 am Central (my time) 3 am Eastern. On most nights i could only be on myself between midnight central and 4 am central so if we went by my availability you'd be joining about half way through. I have however been having Sunday off a lot lately and when I do I like to stay up Saturday night doing something since I'm usually so stressed from working Saturday that I can't sleep. It's why I'm either late to or sleeping through Sunday RP all the time. Also since the main RP meets around noon Sunday a Saturday night RP probably isn't the best idea unless we have a group of 4 that can't make Sunday RP or don't need sleep.

As for Friday Nights it'd only be a 2-3 hour RP or will have people switching in and out depending on when if anyone else can be on Friday nights. It's a place to start but it depends on if anyone else posts and what they post.

I agree on the sex thing completely. In that direction as far as I personally would want to see that go even with a quote on quote R rating would be maybe a mention of nudity with mention of body shape but no details. And it would also have to have some kind of important plot reason for being mentioned, revelation of a telling scar, or announcing a new level of openness and intimacy between two characters without any description of the actual act or even even foreplay since I doubt anyone wants to watch that, or even RP it out since that's all kinds of awkweird. Acknowledging that two characters are intimate could be an important plot point since it will affect behavior but yea details are best left out. What I meant by R is that should such an event occur IC it would be the equivalent of a few passionate kisses then fading to black during or immediately after disrobing. While that could technically still be called PG-13 I really don't know how such a scene would be received if it happened during the "normal" RP. And this is what I would call an extreme case a one time only scene to note the advancement of a relationship, not a repeat scene since one time can be sweet but watching it over again just gets weird. Either way I don't think an entire RP should ever focus on the romance subplots. They're by their very nature exclusive since i doubt anyone is RPing romancing multiple partners lol, They have their place and can be an important part of character development, but focusing on them too much can leave other players feeling left out.Kaolla

Ah ah, alright. I get what you mean now. You weren't proposing that we bring the rating up to R, just proposing an environment that the far boundary of PG-13 (kissing and then fade to black, since by age 13 the technical/scientific aspects of how babies are made are being taught in health class) can be brought up and not be disruptive or hugely embarrassing.

Heh, and this is why I often argue wording on things. Would it be possible for you to edit your OP and clarify? Seeing that "rated R" really does cast that section into a very, VERY different light, and it'll keep others from jumping on you about it (in case they don't decide to read down through the other posts).

A 'late night RP' option I think would be good. More activity equals more activity, no? There are a couple considerations that I want to put out there though, however.

Firstly, this isn't something that I'd be able to participate in. Either between my job or graduate school which is coming up, staying up past midnight is something that will either be impossible or ill-advised. It may happen here and there once I'm in school, depends on my work load, but my schedule shouldn't all-out slaughter my RP attendance. Still, 'extra' things like this may be harder for me to pull off.

Regarding the 'PG-13' rating…

We're adults, and I know we are. When I say this is a PG-13 RP, I mostly mean that we try to dodge certain things that people would find offensive, which primarily means overly descriptive accounts of violence (blood for the sake of having more blood) and descriptive sexual acts. Examples like what Kaolla gave regarding her character's abusive past, I still consider that within the PG-13 rating. Serious, even dark topics of conversation aren't really what I'm targeting with the rating. Granted, should these topics come up, we wouldn't want to use it as a way to start talking in super detail about things like rape. If and only because we don't know the real life backgrounds of our current members and members we'll be getting in the future, and such topics may speak to awful real life experiences they may have had.

With regards to how descriptive we should get regarding a character's physical appearance, I think it really depends. I don't think nudity itself is something that's a problem. But we shouldn't be RPing out… for example, long descriptions about how certain body parts look (or how BIG certain parts are…). Saying something like, your character's body looks fit and rounded in the right areas, is one thing. Beyond that… it gets kinda ish.

Likewise, when talking about romance, there's a big difference between something like this…

*Avina leans in and starts to kiss Kenjii passionately*

…and the alternative, several lines of text explaining just how she is kissing him, where her hands are, and generating a lot of description and detail regarding the kiss. That's something that I think is bound to make people uncomfortable.

Again though, this all pertains to things happening in the shell. Should someone want to go deeper into that sort of stuff; by all means, but please keep it to /tell and /party.

*Avina leans in and starts to kiss Kenjii passionately*

Should someone want to go deeper into that sort of stuff; by all means, but please keep it to /tell and /party.Avina

Possibly with someone else…!

For now I won't be able to make a late night RP even though it was my idea. Nothing stopping people from doing this without me but my work schedule just got worse so I don't have the time any more right now.