rules for dragging a captive

1. Sheath your weapon
2. rp the leash
3. set to walking

Why we roleplay
(by courtesy of Candy Rockett)

"Angry Role Players lose it big time again!"

"Another Role Playing Group Implodes!"

"IC Role Play and OOC Emotions Collide!"
___________________________________________

Here are our Vendara / Vagabond Group Survey results. The question was "Why do you think/ feel Adults do Role Play?"
A huge thanks to the 48 people who responded to the question. They made 139 different points in their answers.
Their answers can be arranged in the following 5 Groups:

GROUP A. ESCAPE from RL/ SEEKING FREEDOM
57 answers
Points included escape from:
Ill Health
Stress
Guilt
Boredom
Aging
Marriage
Unemployment

GROUP B. SELF FULFILLMENT GROUP
27 answers
Points included
Learning
Raising Self Esteem
Becoming Someone
Stimulating the Mind
Exploring one's own character
Personal Experimentation

GROUP C. IMAGINATIVE GROUP
19 answers
Points included
Creativity
Fantasy

GROUP D. SOCIAL GROUP
12 answers
points included looking for:
Friends
Care
Company
Love

GROUP E. FUN GROUP
11 answers
Answers included seeking:
Excitement
Adventure
Laughter
Thrills

Additional ANSWERS:
9 people mentioned the need to play, and 5 of these made a connection to Childhood.
Single answers included:
Professional interest
Learning a foreign language
Story telling and writing
Making love with multiple partners

_________________________________________________________________

Some thoughts for discussion.

People come to SL Role Play for Multiple Reasons (35% of respondents pointed this out).

For the players involved their reasons may be very serious ones.

The reasons we come to SL RP may be regarded as significant "DRIVERS" at the keyboard feeding into our IC Play.

Players whose OOC Drivers are frustrated in RP, by accident or intentionally, may be expected to leave the RP Group.

We should do our best as players to accommodate other players, (or even to try to understand what drives them).

Explosive misunderstandings can arise between players who are in SL RP for very different reasons (with little overlap in drives).

Ask yourself who you most like, (and who you least like), to RP with. It may help you on reflection to understand where they are coming from. And on reflection to consider again what makes you tick too.

______________________________________________________________________

3 Quotes from Survey Respondents

"Role Play is like a living breathing alternative life."

"Every person still has what little kids do, a need to play."

"I love Role Play."



Love to hear from you with ideas and comments about Role Play
Candy Rockett
Thanks again everyone

our lil sims’ balance sheet

thank you all for your help, Friends and Sisters!
We are happy that you are here with us, that you enjoy with us and for our love and friendship
We opened our sim the 28^th of June and until now we payed

230.200 L$ for our sim, but thanks to your help we got
31.132 L$ for spots on our market and for our bows. My very special thank you to those that helped us, and donated for our sim:

26.576 L$ were kindly donated by

Bee,
Darren
Isalia
Neil
Ladda
Nessa
Alexx
Dina
Areba

thank you so much, dear friends and Sisters!

I m very very grateful

Larah Oh

bored on Gor? how to be a happy Kajira

You all know them and they are legion: Kajirae complaining about being bored.

The reason is that a multitude of people on Gor use the safe environment to test and to enter a submissive role without properly reflecting on the role itself. Education about the role, creativity, and making it a LIFESTYLE are the only lasting ways to shape a stable Dominant/ submissive relationship.

The spiral

It all starts with the descent into submission…what I call the spiral: Spiralling into less and less freedom is a thrilling event for submissives, so the descent into submission starts eventful enough.

However, after some amount of freedom is removed from the sub, a halt in the spiral causes the heated atmosphere to cool down and the submissive reconsiders…depending on the inclination but also on the personal creativity, the submissive suffers because of the limitations of the new situation. That is not bad, it can promote creativity.

Some submissives seek to spiral further into more abusive or restrictive situations to enjoy the spiral again. However every spiral has its end: One day there will be no more abusiveness or no more restriction possible.

The drawback of spiralling far is the loss in creative possibilities to maintain a role that still remains interesting for the Domme, eg someone who is entirely muted, deaf, blind and immobile has lost most ways to raise any interest in continuing that relationship.

That is the end of the spiral.

Dom and sub will be BORED

What ways do exist in continuing a Dominant/ submissive relationship?

1. Seeking the next spiral.

Subs may leave the spiral then and enter another, or they will leave entirely, disappointed with the situation. Entering another spiral is however not rewarding in the long run, it’s a repetition of things that have been. I went to Pandora and had a peek, surprised I know names there: It’s a spiralling of Goreans that sometimes takes its continuation there.

2. Variations

Bondage situations DO demand a degree of patience of the submissive, even if that is not hard while spiralling. Depending on the nature of the submissive and the creativity of the Domme AND the sub there is a multitude of variations in enjoying each other which can be rewarding for both partners for quite a long time.

3. Aiming for rl

Our very LIVES are roles! use your sl and work on it. If it does not work in sl, it won t in rl, that much is for sure. If your hero is boring in sl, asking for rl all the time I can assure you he will be boring in rl too, asking for another thrill: Dump him.

However I am sorry to say: What works on sl not always works in rl. Be realistic in your expectations: You fell in love with the superhero? Once you move to rl your gorean superhero may be the bald chubby postman living next door: if you took him for his looks you lost. If you took him for his character and for his way to love you, you won t mind and will be the happiest girl in the world!

3. Entering a long lasting relationship

However even varying the theme will not carry a relationship on forever:

There is more needed to make the Dominant/ Submissive relationship to last. Daily life will not be a neverending chain of thrills, Dom and sub get used to their lifestyle, they accept their role and love each other. With the exception of occasional bedroom/ dungeon adventures and larger differences in the roles these partners take there is no real difference to any vanilla relationship from an observers’ point of view.

However, it’s the differences in the roles the partners take in daily life that makes a long lasting Dominant/ submissive relationship rewarding for both: Our modern lives impose more restrictions on us than we are aware of. It is expected of every adult citizen that they take their lives into their hands and that they take responsibility. The desire to be protected, cared for…the desire to be cherished and to be loved, the desire to be admired, pampered, the desire to feel SAFE are easily forgotten.

Both Dom and sub experience their relationship as ‘safer’ than a vanilla relationship, as the visual bonds create the emotion of keeping safe and of being safe, the sub feels cared for in bondage, the dom feels cared for in admiration and in focusing the love of the sub.

There is more to a Dominant/ submissive relationship than only that, but these points can’t be emphasized enough:

Being submissive does NOT mean to be passive! Being Dominant does NOT mean that the bound submissive can be neglected.

Since most partners are not really conscious about the mechanics of their relationship too many of them end prematurely and with disappointment, which is a pity.

It is the very first duty of the sub to be THERE for the Dom, to be seducing, entertaining, loving, caring, admiring, and working hard to make life for the Dom as pleasant as possible.

And it is the very first duty of the Dom to recognize the driving and lasting elements of the relationship: A passive sub is a boring sub! Make her MOVE, make her ACTIVE, make her to come up with ideas and push her into being creative, let her take part in your life and let her be supportive. A well trained sub will not only lift your status: Imagine a polititian without a supportive wife! (that does not mean that polititians wives were subs, but she is quite often good in her role, and she DOES help her husband to be successful: Admiration is contagious!!).

She will also be there for you in good and in bad times, she will be around to organize the party for your victories, she will be around to care for your wounds and grievances when you lose. She will help you to make friends and allies, she will organize your daily life and keep your household, she will take care of a multitude of tasks just to make things easier for you, she will not bother you when you need to focus on your next step and she will be there for you and in your arms when you enjoy what you achieved.

submissiveness is focusing on what used to be defined as the FEMALE role. Its what we miss in our modern society where we are only accepted as equals in male roles: We miss being accepted as equals in our femaleness.

Generally there is no large difference of a Dominant/ submissive relationship to any other: It’s just the symbolisms and it’s the part behind the closed bedroom doors that is different.

All these bedroom games, pain, humiliation, bondage, restriction of various forms are expressions of sexuality. They may be fun and be vital part of a relationship. But they are not THE relationship. Never forget that. It was my Partner who taught me that.

Now why enter a Dominant/ submissive relationship at all if there is so much emphasis on the similarities to vanilla?

Because it’s much more rewarding: The wealth of strong emotions, the number of variations are without comparison. The well defined roles of the partners can make the relationship stable and happy. But don t set your expectations too high: Our sexuality is not our life, its just part of it.

Just remember to avoid the trap: A dominant/ submissive relationship is NOT an Active /passive relationship! CREATE your roles, make it FIT to who you really are, be honest with yourself and your partner, talk!

And again, we are vanilla: Who mows the lawn? NOT! ME! who washes the dishes?...sighs…ok,ok…I will…eeeps…

If you remember THAT always, I am positive that you will find love and joys beyond imagination in a bdsm related partnership!

INVALID !!!!

"You are defeated", said I.
He looked at me, fury in his eyes.
"No", said he, and stood. "You jumped. INVALID!!!!"
- Pewpewer of Gor, page 59

Now and then…we do have drama…our gor is vastly over- regulated…

Players

weapons need to be tested on 500 gorean sims, to make sure no one cheats, but cheats happen, not only with faster bows, but also with home- made meters…
Whoever can script, scripts. Scripting a home made meter is easier than scripting a bow. Again, that shall not mean that everyone being able to script produces cheats…but in every herd there is a black sheep.

there are run enhancers…
there are people jumping…
there are people using gestures to speeden the efficiency up…
there are people being tp ed in…
and people tp eing out…
there are invalid birds and valid birds..
there are invalid shields and valid shields…
there are phantom settings…
there are people flying…
there are people clicking without rp…be it kills or be it lockpicking doors
there are people shooting through prims by splash effects

then there are limits:

not to be bound by slaves (how is that technically done? hey may I bind you? no sorry, only certain people may do that)
rp bans of people, groups, sims
and a multitude of others

then there are whiners:

they whine about EVERYTHING, as a strategy, like
your binding roleplay was too short, I had lag, was still rezzing, not here yet long enough, you jumped, your whatever is invalid, you used this, you ran too fast, you had helpers, you sent a bird, you used a gesture, you shot through a prim…

and they reset, or tp out
all these whines only mean ONE thing: I should have won, that’s the fixed concept for all of my battles

the role of males whiners:

Whining is often the sad side of a female majority on gor pampering the few men to feel welcome. Men are scarce and missing everywhere. As a result some men strut around with egos bursting sky- high: If such an ego is chipped at by loosing a battle, whining is only the most logical consequence. And these whiners are right: First we seduce them into staying and enjoying and telling them they are superheroes, surrounding them with willing kajirae, enhancing their abilities with meter settings and rules, and then we WIN????

Disappointment is unavoidable.

We are unaware of the male world: While a Taluna disguises and sneaks into a city, aware she will be caught and collared for even a minimal rule infraction, maybe coming back, proud she survived, a male gorean struts in, shouts for someone to cater for his wishes immediately, demands a house and a kajira, demands a position of rank, is offered all of this and takes his time to decide if the house is good enough and if he should not demand a better one.

Admins

and then there are ‘admins’ and ‘mods’:Some of these are impeding roleplay just as much as any roleplayer, sometimes it’s a member of the wider group that is involved that is pushing hard to make his or her own group winning.

I want your lockpicking/ grappling/ swimming/ binding rp, you use a blade but should only use a spear and so on…
all that in the middle of battle, as a means to impede ongoing roleplay for one party.

Cheaters

Players cheat
Limits cheat
Whiners cheat and try to shift results by argueing
Admins cheat by impeding ongoing roleplay single sidedly and by nit-picking about issues that have no impact on the result of the combative roleplay

In this melting pot, proper roleplay is impossible. Whiners do hope it will not be possible. Admins hope to be acknowledged by their own people, Players hope their own cheats won t be noticed.

As the conventional effort to solve these issues, we throw some salt into that melting pot and call it

Rules

In a futile effort to make combative roleplay fair, a multitude of rules is set for every sim, depending on their own experience. As a result of that, first time visitors are frequently overstepping them.

Can one stab with a blade underwater?
Can an arrow fly 250 m?
Can anyone jump down 10 m onto a steep slope from a wall and be up unhurt?
Can hills be climbed?
Can a swimmer shoot an arrow?
Can someone self unbind?
Can a dove be used as a carrier pigeon?
Can 20 panthers attack a single mercenary?

The answer to all these questions is YES

frogmen are trained to stab underwater
arrows fly up to 500 m
skiers jump that much every day, and in a fictious world, Silvester Stallone jumps into a tree from a rock 100 metres high
Free Climbers climb bridges, rocks, towers
Treading water and shooting an arrow is no special skill
Being caught by overwhelming numbers is just life. The cat catches the mouse without asking if it is bigger and has claws.

However, rules frequently disallow these skills. Rules define what players are allowed to do. Rules are made to promote certain behaviour, often to enhance defenses of the sims’ residents.

Problems with rules

Rules that can t be enforced

Some rules, like ‘weaker females’ can be enforced by a sim wide meter server setting, some rules, like individual weapon lists can be observed, some rules, like proper roleplay can be proven by chat logs.

Many rules, like no jumping, shooting distance of arrows or using premade gestures cannot be proven in most cases: Someone jumped? The winner says ‘no’, the loser says ‘yes’, bystanding friends join this or that.
The same applies for ‘no birds’ rules: Did the late arrivals stumble in all innocently or has there been some communication involved? Every admin will usually reply to that accusation by statistics: If more than just a few people arrived, it will have been a bird.
Its generally advisable for sims to not use rules that cannot be proven: These are a safe way into drama.

Different Rules between Sims

Sometimes even subtleties in the rules can lead to a discussion. Usually the inhabitant of a sim uses exotic rules in the home- sim as a means to invalidate any intruding. Examples are ‘destriptive emote before using a grapple’. A grapple was set up and emoted. Once it is there, climbing a grapple is a visualized process and the general rule of emoting what cannot be seen is contravened.

Using that rule in combination with an admin staying near to a grapple is a safe way to invalidate every raid. Admins are often USED as cheats.

Doors that are pickable but also need to be roleplayed. If a set of 5 doors in a row is built in, a battle can draw out endlessly as the lag does not permit the doorscript to work properly. In some cases it needs at least 50 min to be done…with an admin supervising if the rules are observed. Again, that is a typical admin abuse.

A typical sim using these means is S., where a resident slavegirl as admin tries to impede battle by sueing even mimimal infractions and the battle is prolonged by a neverending set of doors to be lockpicked and emoted under worst lag conditions.

As a general rule, sims using exotic rules or sims having a wide range of rules to slow down attackers should be avoided. It’s a sign that the sims’ inhabitants prefer not to be raided and will in any case doubt the fairness of the outcome should they lose. That also applies for so called attacker- defender ratios, fixed in the rules.

Recommondations

Despite the very best efforts of admins, cheating can t be fully prevented. However, the focus on cheating with weapons is VASTLY exaggerated: The majority of cheats is done independently of any weapon used.

A sim that is open for combative action needs to emphasise those parts of the rules that are out of the conventional set of rules. A general set of rules for Gorean sims would simplify this task: That way gorean sims only need to post rules that are differing from the general gorean sim rules: Perception of the differences by individual roleplayers would be enhanced. Making rules that are long and hiding individual differences is a cheat by the sim management.

Rules that cannot be proven should be left out: Once rule infractions happen, it’s the admins who have to deal with the ghosts.

Admins should strictly decide result oriented: What impact does a rule infraction have on the outcome? Is it a minor issue or a major change of the course of events that is discussed?

Weapons lists are not needed. There is an existing GAW list for all of Gor.

Rules are further confusing in that the general guidelines for proper role behaviour are frequently included. That can be an attachment for new players, the main set of rules should give a condensed version of the difference of rules in THIS sim compared to general gorean rules. Sloppily made rules or rules that have no clear outline of differences are a cheat by the sim management.

What is BEHIND all that cheating and the major discussions and drama on gor?

The main reason are sim rules that demand certain times for roleplay IN a given sim as a result of capture roleplay: Captives are asked to remain in the sim for varying times and varying roleplay conditions.

A roleplayer who is ‘captured’ is usually and by rules of many gorean sims requested to stay. Since that reduces a roleplayers options to enjoy other possibilities of sl or sl Gor many roleplayers fight against that restriction viciously, and Sim Owners shoot back by including bans for several options of leaving a roleplay prematurely in their rules:

Bans do not enhance the value of roleplay! They only cause their own drama in threatening roleplayers into staying for unpleasant experiences: Not a good way to promote a sim, not a good way to promote gor, not a good way to promote sl. Bans are an instrument to exclude harmful acts from a sim, like griefing.

A set of Sim rules that leads to low on drama should therefore:

Be concise. Only rules that are out of the conventional rules on Gor belong there. Weapons that can be used other than those on the approved GAW list can be mentioned. Explanations on expectations about certain roles should be an attachment only.

No rules about behaviour that cannot be proven.

No consequences for premature teleporting out of a roleplay: A dedicated roleplayer will not tp out, a roleplayer who cannot live with these consequences will cause drama until the roleplay is ended. In most cases it will be advisable to end the roleplay before drama even begins. As a positive side effect this rule also avoids the need for personal limits that spam every gorean profile.

A roleplayer who frequently tp s out should however be aware that the partners in roleplay are disappointed and should avoid returning for a proper period. That can be expected and in all fairness: The sheer NUMBER of gorean sims allows for a roleplayer to visit a different sim every day without returning to a sim in less than a year. After tpeing out the roleplayer should be asked to not come back for a certain period.

Chapter one of every set of sim rules should be a short summary of the history and background of the environment for proper roleplay,

Chapter two differing rules for this specific sim,

Chapter three the names of Admins and mods to contact if in doubt.

More is less!

Summary

The reason for drama on a sim are the sim rules.
Good rules are concise, they focus on proper roleplay and on exceptions for a given sim, they are free from rules that can t be properly proven. A short note on differing rules from a gorean standard should be given.

Tpeing out of a given roleplay is allowed for without consequences anytime.

As for players, the reason for drama is missing consensuality: Keep it enjoyable for your partners in roleplay and you ll have FUN!

Larah

An interview with a chronist of Gor

[18:24] Larah Oh: here I am talking to Greta Horngold, Panther of Gor who gathers names and locations of Panther tribes to make a list for everyone for the benefit of a wider choice to roleplay with other tribes: Greta...you are making a gorean chronicle of Panther and Taluna tribes: What is the intention of your work?..*holds the microphone to your lips*
[18:25] Greta Horngold: well, my intention is to improve role play in Gor, get more interaction between tribes, particularly those with little traffic in their sims
[18:26] Greta Horngold: often times one will come online and find nothing happening in your sim, with this list you can at least go out and visit/rp with another tribe
[18:26] Larah Oh: ...so the intention of you gathering these data is to make tribes known in between each other?...who else except panther tribe is intended to receive your publication?
[18:27] Greta Horngold: No one else...I have NO intention of ever giving this to anyone other than a panther or taluna
[18:27] Greta Horngold: I hadn't thought about that, thank you for bringing it up
[18:28] Larah Oh: ...so you bring gorean panthers together...its a wonderful idea...will you make publications of other groups as well, like for example pirate or mercenary groups?
[18:27] Greta Horngold: I hadn't thought about that, thank you for bringing it up
[18:28] Greta Horngold: I will have to make sure when I give a scroll it is known it's for panther and taluna eyes only
[18:29] Greta Horngold: I should do that as well and may
[18:29] Greta Horngold: do one for mercs and outlaws
[18:29] Greta Horngold: maybe cities also
[18:29] Greta Horngold: pirates
[18:29] Larah Oh: ...how many tribes have you found until now, greta and did you encounter something unusual or funny that you would like for our readers to know?
[18:30] Greta Horngold: I think I have 31 on my list, I'm not sure...but I guess the funniest thing is just how much it surprises me is out there
[18:30] Greta Horngold: or how much is out there, how it surprises me
[18:31] Larah Oh: greta...how long are you on gor and what is your impression about the direction our gor moves into?
[18:32] Greta Horngold: I've been in SL for one year (new avi) in Gor for about nine months
[18:32] Greta Horngold: My impression?....thats a tough question
[18:32] Larah Oh: have you encountered any recent changes like for example since the introduction of the adult verification?
[18:33] Greta Horngold: I've seen a drop in people playing, but it seems to be steadily coming back
[18:33] Greta Horngold: On the Gorean meter website it says there are currently approx. 90,000 avis that haven't been used in 14 days or more, that bothers me
[18:34] Larah Oh: ...our gor is multi faceted...yet united in its thriving for good roleplay...you get around, greta...what part does pre- post or past combative roleplay take on our gor in comparison to roleplay that is not directly connected with combative action?
[18:35] Greta Horngold: Hmmm, I think rp is going to improve
[18:36] Larah Oh: so you believe that we have a general tendency that the quality of roleplay improves on our gor?
[18:36] Greta Horngold: the reason is this.....with everyone using radar, mini-maps, turning off alpha, etc. to facilitate combat....everyone is going to tire of combat and get more into interaction at the base role play level...talking
[18:37] Larah Oh: ...now you research Panther tribes...they are unique in that their members are only of one sex: How would you describe the main differences in social interaction in comparison to mixed groups, greta?
[18:38] Greta Horngold: wow...you have some big questions larah...lol
[18:38] Larah Oh: I think these are questions that not everyone has an answer ready to..but it concerns so many of us...thank you greta
[18:38] Greta Horngold: is this a real interview?
[18:39] Greta Horngold: much like the real world, interaction isn't really based on gender, but on people's attitudes toward one another, and the attitudes their charactrs project
[18:40] Greta Horngold: we have naughty and nice on both sides
[18:40] Larah Oh: ...let me ask you something very personal, greta...you are a young modern woman...why are you drawn to gor with its ...uhm...CONSERVATIVE role of women?
[18:43] Greta Horngold: ha!...it's just that reason....isn't everyone's dream to be Ghandi, Joan of Arc, Abraham Lincoln, Cleopatra, whoever, all rolled up in one....and then fight the forces that make everything terrible?
[18:44] Larah Oh: I am impressed by your opinions, Greta...and I thank you very much for this interview...smiles...
[18:44] Greta Horngold: thank you!...that was cool

(c) Cathli Sakai & Larah Oh
this interview was made 2009-10-30

MAMBAS!!!

life in the jungles of Gor is hard. Nature is unforgiving, and the law of eat or be eaten is omnipresent.

Now we have a new species of Predators on Lovers of Gor: Mambas. (see picture: a pregnant Taluna En and an Elder of the dangerous Mambas sneaking around each other in fierce warpose -> note their grim faces and narrowed eyes!)

Fierce they are and proud people…natives of the jungles where we are intruders…and Talunas and Mambas sneak around each other…highly awake…growling and hissing…the leopard does not jump on the snake…we keep our distance…yet they are there…on Mamba island…Tarl, our invincible hero defeated the mambas with ants, marchers…lured into their camp after capturing the Talunas…

can Mambas and Talunas coexist?...one assumption can safely be made though: BEWARE, wanderer of Gor! The dangers in the jungles are manifold!

Cathli&Larah

En of Sa Jerag in the Jungles of Gor