I still think,the CS tab would be useful. As you say "*multiple pages* of inactive CSs" but those are usually in the midst of even more pages of OOC thread, it would be useful for the GM that does that nice helpful list so that he doesn't have to go through those pages. I mean, I have seen RPs that have been well organized with a thread for JUST Character Sheets. If it's like that being in the tabs wiht OOC and IC seems useful. I would still do the list linking to every CS in the first post of the CS thread but it would be much easier because in those long RPs you get CS well after the story has begun and the OOC is going full throttle with conversation so you really have to tread through it to fish CS.

Shienvien said
What do you mean under consistency? List is consistent all right. And if the GM can't even keep track of who is in the RP, then the RP is doomed anyway (or needs a new GM, at least). I don't think you got me here: I am speaking of literally having *multiple pages* of inactive CSs, some of them too long to fit within the current lettermark-limit for a post. If a slow-paced advanced RP pulls off half a dozen pages of characters, active and inactive mixed, I don't want to see the mess a successful Casual makes. At least make the character sheets tab something more ambiguous, like "info". CS is too specific to be predetermined.

Consistency for where you can find the things.

And multiple pages of inactive sheets all in one place with active ones is better than all the character sheets scattered throughout an OOC (keeping track of who's in the RP isn't the problem; where exactly their sheet is... well, that's a bigger one. 'Make a list' is all well and good, but then you have to deal with the OOC moving whilst the GM isn't on if the CS isn't elsewhere, and if it is then you may as well have another tab.)

We started thinking of a massive project for CS threads yesterday... Not sure if it is even plausible...

Post 1, half-way auto-generated by GM.
Contains CS framework, where some default fields are defined.
Posts in said threadtab utilizing those fields (like name, age, sex, species, alignment) will then have the answer to said field show up in a table at the bottom of that first GM post.
GM could perhaps have a field of his/her own beside names in thread to tag them somehow, or to remove entries from the table.

Is that idea too massive to be workable? or could it have potential?

Raineh Daze said Consistency for where you can the things.

...The list in the first post of the OoC? Also, I don't get how finding the sheets would be a problem if all sheets are linked ... *click*, and the sheet is in front of you. Again, if the GM can't keep up with one's RP enough to even keep one list straight, the GM can't lead the RP, either.

@Ellri: I can't imagine something like that working on a site which cannot even accommodate most of my nation sheets... Given the post character limit is as small as it is now, I have to double-triple post to fit a single nation sheet... Which would in turn create an obvious issue with fields determined for each post.

Shienvien said
Given the post character limit is as small as it is now

Chill out. The limit is 65k characters, which is more than adequate for the typical post. Mahz has addressed this issue before, it's an architecture limit at the moment, and it's hardly a pressing concern. It will likely be fixed in the future, well before any system outlined here comes into being.

I am aware of the limit, Captain Jordan. It is indeed fine with most of the ordinary posts, but *not* nation sheets - therefore, under the current circumstances, applying that specific system intended for *sheets specifically* suggested above won't work. I barely have any nation sheets under 80k characters.

such a list would probably not be compatible (character limit-wise or layout-wise) with the longer entries from any sheet, be they character or nation. It could not, say cover history, but it could certainly cover the entry for sex or say, type of gov't.
For NRPs: It could have fields like name, political system, land area, population, etc., even when it could not effectively use fields like history, culture, army structure, relations, etc.
For regular RPs: It could hold name/sex/species/age/alignment, even as fields like personality/history/justifications/etc. would not really be conveniently compatible.

The idea behind the table concept above was that the majority of such a table would be self-updating.
It would require a bit of tweaking to work right, as well as some thought from the utilizing GM. the result, we imagine, might be somewhat like table in this one, only without the last column. That table doesn't have even close to every detail from the character sheets, but it has the essential bits.

No, such a table system wouldn't be perfect, nor would it be without flaw. But it might be a useful tool for some RPs. If it works for some, it might eventually be improved so that it can work for more. Shooting an idea down because it might not initially work for one specific type of RP is kinda senseless. We often find ourselves supporting ideas we consider good, even when we see no use for the idea for anything we ourselves do.

I am not shooting it down; I am merely saying that there are things which necessarily have to be corrected before this kind of system can be implemented - since at the current state, the remainder of the site's mechanics is bound to break the table-format you suggested up.

I do not oppose new ideas, but I maintain that some additions should be witheld until they can be made work *well*, and furthermore insist that all extras should be opt-out. EVERYTHING which is not IC/OoC thread and plain text ought go be opt-out.

And never forget that fixing a bad system is a much more arduous process than thinking things through before throwing anything new out there.

Its a rough concept only. Not even close to being usable yet. Having the option not to use such a system if it is ever built up, has to be there. Some don't want to use it. Some won't understand such, no matter how well-explained it is.

Not sure why the opposition to a CS tab because you can work around having one...

Why implement a fixed-purpose tab which many RPs don't even need (or at the very least need a lot less than a place where to place all that world and region info to in an organized manner - we don't have an on-site place to do that) when you could instead spend your time working on a system that lets GMs create their own selection of tabs from scratch?

Completely redoing a feature that already carries a load on it is a dozen times harder than doing things correctly to begin with; it's essentially the first law of coding.
The first law of environments? Do not force your users into using stuff they don't feel like using; everything not vital to the most basic functions *has* to be opt-out.

Shienvien said
Why implement a fixed-purpose tab which many RPs don't even need (or at the very least need a lot less than a place where to place all that world and region info to in an organized manner - we don't have an on-site place to do that) when you could instead spend your time working on a system that lets GMs create their own selection of tabs from scratch? Completely redoing a feature that already carries a load on it is a dozen times harder than doing things correctly to begin with; it's essentially the first law of coding. The first law of environments? Do not force your users into using stuff they don't feel like using; everything not vital to the most basic functions *has* to be opt-out.

Thus including the existence of an OOC tab?

Reposting my request for information on where to customize my avvy. I can't find anything. I may be blind and/or an idiot.

Essence said
Reposting my request for information on where to customize my avvy. I can't find anything. I may be blind and/or an idiot.

Where did you change your signature? Check there.

Just go to your profile and click the big edit button next to your name.

go to this link:
http://www.roleplayerguild.com/users/3022/edit

You will find the appropriate location for modifying your avatar there, Essence.

Bless you all. :)

*shakes off the blessing*

Do you have any idea what a blessing like that does to those who are beyond merely being cursed? They HURT!