Staff Bits Linking Handles
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@Faraday said in Staff Bits Linking Handles:
@bear_necessities said in Staff Bits Linking Handles:
If you don’t have a handle, you have something to hide, and my brows immediately raise.
As the creator of the handle system, this kind of bothers me. The system was never intended to pressure people into identifying themselves across games. There has been enough stalking, creeping, and other shenanigans in the MU community (and the internet at large) that I don’t think anyone owes anyone else their OOC identity. Ever. Staff included.
That’s why even Ares games have a built-in alternative method for alt tracking that doesn’t require a player handle.
It’s meant to be a fun tool for those who choose to use it. I’m not a fan of it being held against those who don’t.
(Also in practical terms a creeper can just make a new handle, so I’m not sure what it gains you really.)
I never have a handle!
I don’t have anything to hide. It’s just a combination of a) I’m lazy and I don’t really like metaconnections between games, and b) I enjoy being able to have a little bit of a “fresh start” in a new game, where I can settle into a character without people bringing up previous characters.
Opinions may differ, but I don’t believe I’m a problem player–some people might avoid me, for sure, but I’m happy to tell anyone who I was in conversation or whatever, if I remember, but I do like it to be information I choose to share with people as opposed to information that is just automatically linked to me.
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@bear_necessities said in Staff Bits Linking Handles:
As far as staff having a handle, I prefer to play on games where I know the admin. I do think staff alts should be tagged.
I’m 100% on board with this as well.
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@Faraday said in Staff Bits Linking Handles:
@bear_necessities said in Staff Bits Linking Handles:
As far as staff having a handle, I prefer to play on games where I know the admin. I do think staff alts should be tagged.
I’m 100% on board with this as well.
I’m also in full agreement with this as well for staff. If a game is staffed by people I’ve played with before, there is a higher degree of trust given even before fully checking out the game. If I also see people I recognize and have enjoyed playing with in the past also on the game as well, that’s another point to the game as well. Like @bear_necessities mentioned, I also fully understand why some people don’t want to link themselves due to privacy and personal safety reasons. There are pros and cons to linking and not linking, each person will have to weigh them and decide for themselves.
That is also why I always tag my characters with my handle. One, it let’s people know who I am who have played with me before. If they enjoyed RPing with me in the past, chances are I always had a good time since fun RP is usually a two way street. If they didn’t like RPing with me, I don’t take it as a personal slight but it also prevents the other person from wasting their time and feeling disappointed after finding out who I am.
Lastly, it’s also fun to run into people that you haven’t interacted with in a long time who you wouldn’t recognize if they didn’t reach out to you because they recognize your handle or the history of games you’ve played on.
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@bear_necessities said in Staff Bits Linking Handles:
My two cents? If you don’t have a handle, you have something to hide, and my brows immediately raise. I feel that way about everyone, players or admin, but I give players way more grace because I know not everyone wants to slap their handle on right out of the gate and sometimes it’s nice to have a haven alt.
I also don’t link my handle, though I admittedly tend not to play on Ares games very often or very long.
If people want to know who I play, I’m generally willing to tell them – when asked directly. But I want it to be a conversation. I’ve had two different instances of two different men behaving in ways that are genuinely Not Okay that carried on over the course of actual real life years. After that, I’m just not comfortable having that sit out there publicly, oblivious to who may be accessing it. I want to know who’s asking and why. And if the answer is so they can avoid me, then that’s okay, too.
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I prefer Staff disclose their PC alts for a number of reasons.
- It’s a sign of trust. Staff is showing players who they play as, so players can hold those PCs to the same standards staff is expecting from the non-staff players.
- It can help me navigate the tricky social aspects that come up when I have an OOC issue with another PC bit. If that PC bit is a staff member, I would prefer that my request to resolve the issue be taken by a different member of staff to give the issue a third party perspective. If I have an issue with the PC of the headstaffer, then it lets me know that if I can’t resolve the issue, I need to find a new game to play.
- It gives people a good idea of how active the staffers actually are in the game.
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Staff shouldn’t necessarily have their ‘player’ Ares handle connected to a game they’re running. Maybe they don’t want their haters/creepers/etc. knowing that they’re running the Hello Kitty game. However, I do think if they create a new handle for their game, they link THAT handle to whatever PCs they are playing on their game.
People don’t necessarily need to know that Player Catzilla is running Hello Kitty Island but they should know that Staff Bit Dogzilla is linked to PCs Joe Bob and Susie Q.
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@catzilla I agree with the principle, but you don’t need a player handle to link alts on a game. You can do it with tags.
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@bear_necessities said in Staff Bits Linking Handles:
ETA: I would also play anything @tsar made so long as it’s Janitor: the MUSH. I’m still waiting @tsar
We were janitors once!! And you threw it all away!!!
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@Faraday This is good to know! I’ll definitely look into it next time I try build a game.
I do enjoy all the features of Ares but that COFD plug-in got me so confused and I eventually gave up lol.
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Player linking bits I think is a whole topic in and of itself with different ramifications than staff bits. Staff bits have an implied power aspect and control difference.
I don’t even think it’s done for ill will, but it can still be jarring. If you think person X is this cool person that you have been playing with, spawning ideas with, cracking jokes with, and maybe sharing RL information with – and then you find out they are someone else. It’s a trust issue. It doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world, but it can disillusion a person. If that happens, sadly every thing done on either alt becomes suspect. Then it starts the brain worm of what else weren’t they upfront about. These kind of small choices have large and lasting impressions.
As a player, you absolutely have a right to complete privacy for your comfort, protection, or preference. As an admin on a game, you have a bit less. You don’t have to disclose your personal information ever, however, you do have to disclose you are the CEO of the game that others are playing. Like stated before it’s the implied trust part of it.
That’s at least my thoughts, doesn’t mean it’s right, but it’s my opinion.
