[@shylarah]
I've noticed that I didn't respond to your comment about seeing my writing style. As it stands, the couple of role-plays I'm already a part of on this site are about the only examples I have to offer that I consider in a readable state currently.

Anyway, as for the new comments.

[quote=shylarah]
Well if I'm intending to join in the capacity of a ghost (that is, intending to die and die /very/ early) it's a bit unfair not to know what I'll be allowed and not allowed to do, but alright.  ^.^;  Not sure how I could possibly miss it, I mean you practically said it.  O.o
[/quote]
People often miss details, and it just shows you didn't skim read, which is precisely the type of person I'm trying to prevent from joining. No offense to [@CrazyShadowy], obviously. He mentioned skimming before, but it was only the part he'd seen in the hang-out thread which he did that for.

It's not so much that I can't go into what the ghosts can or can't do so much as I'd prefer to bring it up after some of the other elements of this are finalized in discussion. Since you'd more or less be intending on playing in that sort of role, I could probably let you know privately if anything felt like it'd be too much of a spoiler, but I'm honestly too tired right now to think that through at my usual extensiveness. It'd also be unfair to reveal a spoiler about this story before it even starts, so I'd like to avoid that.

[quote=shylarah]
"This sort of thing" is the whole mafia game scenario as an rp.  Or locked in with a murderer...chupacabra, whatever.  It's a good game to play irl, but I've never had an rp of this type go well.  I'm not saying it couldn't, just that I'm biased against such rps, and I don't want to contaminate the enjoyment of others with my predispositions.  Also it'd have to be significantly /better/ than a type of rp that I already love for me to feel like it was worthwhile.  ^.^;;[/quote]
Well, generally speaking being biased or letting past experiences determine an opinion can be dangerous, since I'd probably not even be role-playing on this site at all if I did that -- I make a habit of generally only role-playing with my close circle for a reason. Anyway, not wanting to drag everyone else down is appreciated. I'm not quite sure what you meant by the comparison with the 'type of role-play' you love, or what this 'type of role-play' is, but I'm incredibly picky with role-plays in general so I'm not gonna tell you not to go with preferences. So long as you don't try to dissuade those who are hyped about my idea, it really doesn't matter to me if you like it or not.

As for the whole concept of how this is basically that game being done as a role-play, it's one of the main things drawing most of the people presently here to it. However, I want to emphasize that - if people are reading between all my lines - it should be clear that this role-play has the potential to go far beyond that premise if people play well. Honestly, there's a lot of mysteries to uncover in this role-play, and I actually - to give a minor spoiler that isn't really a spoiler if people are reading between the lines - consider working out the murderer the [i]least[/i] important mystery. It's pretty much what the plot focuses on if everyone isn't getting anywhere.

[quote=shylarah]
Another issue is that I'm a huge fan of plotting and theorizing in the OOC, and...you're discouraging it.  I mean, my characters might not know everything I know, but they might also see things I just don't, and that can be hard to portray without knowing there's somethign to be see.[/quote]
That rule was put in place specifically to prevent people from trying to 'power game'. I'd seriously prefer that no PM discussions go on between people involving uncovering mysteries, and I'll penalize people if their characters suddenly seem to know things or are cooperating with another character without the IC having shown those two characters developing this collaboration. It's the whole 'your characters shouldn't know everything you know', as you put it. I don't trust people enough to believe they'll be mature about this, so I've set up a penalty if I find anyone mixing IC with OOC -- in essence people are punished for bad role-playing.

However, I like what you've said about the [i]other[/i] side of the spectrum -- if you recall our discussion (in the hang-out thread) about one of the reasons why I'm exhaustive with details, I made a point that I believe how much details a role-player gives shouldn't be their decision, but the decision of their role-playing partner. What you just described is precisely [i]why[/i]. It's the responsibility of the role-player to make sure they give their partner every possible detail that could be significant, to [i]ensure[/i] the player knows everything their character can see. I intend to be thorough about making sure anything important that your characters should know about is presented in the room, even if it's only mentioned as a subtle detail (like the breadcrumbs in the opening post), because you [i]should[/i] be looking for these details. It's a mystery story, after all. With that said, why does not talking about things in the OOC cause problems with this? There's a difference between trying to get unfair information OOC that your character shouldn't have, and using the OOC to ask a partner (or the GM) what they meant by a post so you know everything your character's seeing.

[quote=shylarah]
Also any time we have the sort of game where you're encouraged to team up and get rid of other groups I get...uncomfortable.  I mean, we're not directly encouraged to, here, but it invariably happens.  Plus navigating that sort of social situation is a nightmare for me.  x.x[/quote]
In terms of the last part, there's not much I can say to defend it or to help you -- a lot of stories have complex factions and a lot of treachery or moles, and people who want to watch the story have to pay attention to it all or they'll lose track of what's going on. To be perfectly frank with you though, you guys won't be breaking into factions if you're playing this game 'properly', because - as I keep spoiling (yes, it's a spoiler, since I didn't want to spell it out for you and 'The Overview' was meant to be a subtle hint) - you should all actually be working together to solve the [i]real[/i] mysteries, not splitting up into factions (though I'll certainly be trying to [i]make[/i] you *evil grin*). The whole elimination voting thing is a nasty little time limit I've got in place which will systematically wipe you all out overtime and if you fail to make enough progress in time it'll end up killing you all. I didn't want to say this outright, but eh... a few people know already, and swore they wouldn't let this OOC knowledge impact how they behaved IC.

[quote=shylarah]
I figured you might be holding back, as you've said that many rpers around here don't appreciate your level of detail.
[/quote]
Pretty much, and that's why I truly give my thumb up to all the people who do.

[quote=shylarah]
Unfortunately, the requirement of an anime picture for a character is probably not one I can meet, given that you want attention to details.  I have a lot of pictures that are /similar/ to how various ones of my characters might appear on any given day, but pictures that are specifically my character are not easy to come by.  And if I'm making a new character entirely, unless I /start/ with an image, finding one can take me a long time -- plus I get distracted by the pretties and then I have fifty tabs open and where'd the afternoon go?!  @.@[/quote]
While I can't compromise the picture thing for a few reasons, a physical description will also be included in character sheets that will specify ways that the character's appearance might differ to their image provided. There's a multitude of reasons why I want character portraits. I'm planning on actually specifying where everyone currently is at a regular interval by placing their portraits on a map I provide in a hider during my IC posts, for example. Most of the people involved in this role-play are also very drawn to its 'anime-ish' nature and this immersion could be weakened without an image of the character. If you don't want to use an entirely new character (I'm not forcing you to, just for the record -- wasn't in the rules, after all), which would allow you to build them around a picture, then we'd need to find a way to balance the need for a portrait with how you're imagining the character. Believe me, I know this feeling. I'll usually only use images (that I didn't draw) for characters that aren't part of 'Guardian Ascension'.

[quote=shylarah]
OH.  And upon reading through a second time more thoroughly (I admit I was a bit distracted the first time) I think I know the spoiler tag.  ^.^  Hee~  *wriggles but says nothing*
[/quote]
I like how you're scrutinizing the details. Nevertheless, yeah, if you're onto something then keep it quiet or I'll use duct tape. There's a lot of people who don't want any of this spoiled, from what I can tell.