The IC/OOC Divide
In just about any RP environment, the question tends to arise of what is in-character(IC) and what is out-of-character(OOC). In a place like this, where IC behavior can have IC consequences, this can be an important distinction, and a source of ongoing confusion.
The official standing of D+X is that your character's history, the whole of their actual biography, is what is in, and ONLY what is in, the various topics (threads) on the various boards (locations and events) plus the applicable entries on a character's Profile page and that page's Subject Tracking Database.
Personal Messages, email, Shouts, Chat, Instant Messaging of whatever brand, all can take place with a given player using the 'voice' of their D+X character - it's not as if we can enforce any kind of prohibition on that if we wished to.
But, as far as the D+X Institute is concerned, whatever 'happens' in such 'venues' is NOT part of your character's story. If it can't be referenced with a link to a post in a thread (or seen in your Profile), it didn't happen to your character.
The reason for this is pretty simple. Within the D+X gameworld, it is absolutely nonsensical for the CHARACTERS to be able to join in such interactions at will (and leave on a whim). Within the D+X gameworld, 'girls' would never have access to computer messaging. Within the D+X gameworld, any number of interactions would be not simply absurd, but impossible (a newly arrived Cats girl talking with ANYONE besides Staff and other Cats girls; a Patron conversing with a schoolgirl; most of Security chatting with anyone without some trouble triggering it).
Inside, there is no Chat, no Shouts, no email, no IM. The CHARACTERS simply are not and can not be doing such things.
Now, by extension, this means that the things that do go on in those alternate media cannot in any way be treated as influencing the actual story lines of the real IC characters. Pie fights in the Shoutbox have absolutely no IC reality. Water balloon wars in Chat are nothing but water balloon wars in Chat.
They don't happen within the D+X gameworld and should never, EVER be referenced in IC threads.
If players WANT to make something that happened or some idea that originated in these places 'character real', they need to come up with a way to play out a thread where that same happening occurs or that idea comes up and then take it from there.
This brings up the question of D+X staff and their authority as it concerns communication outside of threads. Because staff, especially at the more senior levels, have authority within the threads due to their in-game titles and also have OOC authority on the website as forum moderators, it can be confusing to try to tell just in what 'voice' and in what capacity such a person is speaking in these other venues. It is critical that staff recognize that this is so and make sure those you interact with KNOW in what capacity you are writing (i.e. officially and on the record, officially and off the record, unofficial and just as a D+X player chatting, etc.). And if you are communicating with a staff member and are unsure about this, you should ask.
Another necessary consequence of this is that in the matter of moderator action or warning, such is ALWAYS to be recognized as being between a site authority and a player. It is NEVER simply between the authority and a single character ('moderators' are NOT entities WITHIN the D+X gameworld to be able to talk just with characters).
If any member of the D+X staff gives warning about behavior in shouts or chat, you should take that warning to heart. And if you feel you've been unfairly treated by any staffer, you should contact a more senior site staffer. The purpose of this is NOT because we wish to exercise the kind of strict in-game control that the gameworld D+X must have; it's to allow those who've taken on responsibility for the site to keep things safe and civil.
