[i]Asking Away~[/i]

Out of character communication, or OOC, as it's called around here is probably one of the most important parts of having a successful roleplay. Sure, there is that pre-planning stage of roleplaying when you share ideas and come up with the plot, but throughout the story there will be twists and turns you'll want to discuss with your partner (or partners in a group's case). Sometimes going with the flow might not be the best idea because someone may not like it as much as the other (or others, again I'm a group's case). OOC communication clears out confusion in the story everyone is trying to create. That's another thing. It's more than one person creating this story so that means multiple ideas will be thrown. How would you share those ideas and bring them to life? Well, OOC communication of course! 
Now this communication isn't just for business you know. It's also to get to know who you're roleplaying with. I don't think anyone has roleplayed (roleplay-ed?) with a complete stranger. Normally, we tend to want to get to know the person we decided to share a journey with. In that time, we end up making new friends and then... Well, whatever you do when you make friends. (It's different for everyone and I'll probably off on a tangent.) 
To sum that one up: Everyone gets to share and clarify their ideas, and you make friends that way. 

Oh, and indeed I have kept in contact with others outside of Roleplayer Guild. That would be Skype. I'm in a group roleplay called Midnight Train (It's quite interesting, read up on it sometime in the advanced section-... *ahem*) and the GM, Fox of Spades created a group for us to chat in. It's pretty helpful when we need to let the GM know that we may be out for some time or we have a question. Skype is...quicker to access? More direct? Hm, I don't know how to put that into words... Well, basically what I'm trying to say is that sometimes we may get a faster reply on Skype than on RpG. And often it's used to just relax and chat if we don't want to crowd the OOC too much with random, funny nonsense. The only hinderance I would have to say is timezones. When you learn that your newfound friends live on the opposite side of the world and your night is his/her day, it gets difficult to actually have a conversation. I can't exactly say how to fix it or make it work, but it's not impossible to do. 

And, yeah. That's all I got.