Inquirers Questions

[Shabanna]

It has been a while since I had something I felt strong enough about to post. But recently I have experienced something a bit frustrating and thought I would come to the boards with it.

I have a char who inquired a faith more than a year and a half ago. I honestly ICLY wanted her to interact with people of the faith and learn about it.. rather than oocly study the faith... and then go apply. There are followers of the faith and while the FM of this faith is QUITE *M.I.A* there were members of the faith that logged and the Imm, though busy has been about here and there. SO... my char does an inquire... and a re-inquire... and I wait ...this char of mine has been on the inquirer list for over a year... ignored for the most part. Mind you... this is a char whom I log frequently not one of those closet ones that I log once in a blue moon. ALL along not a SOUL from the faith tries to contact her or rp with her in ANYway.

Then...recently... a char who had not been inquiring for very long was welcomed heartily into hopeful status with an rp that was imm assisted. Please do not get me wrong... this is not a whine.. that I want an Imm run rp. ( frankly I am happy to rp with mortals ... lol) It is a little curious to me...that a char who has been waiting for over a year... can not even get someone to really rp about faith. As a result of this I have a rather bad taste in my mouth about the situation. But I am a grown up and will acknowledge here on the forums ...and move on ....

Now...I am assuming the other RP happened by application... but .. should I HAVE to apply for an rp from a faith that is strong with many members? Is it that people do not take inquirers seriously? If that is the case then why have the faith inquire at all?

I will be honest, I don't really care for the faith system as it is. It is very frought with the feeling of a "good ole boy" network. I have seen more than one faith fill the top ranks with an FMs best buddies while those who are on a person's "bad side" linger at the bottom of the list as newbs for all eternity. So this simply added to my

My point in this? Well it is NOT to simply come and whine and gripe... though I admit it feels good to say something about it. My point is to ask others DO you look at your faith list when you log and try to make rp with those who are seeking your faith? I have done it as Banna I will log and see someone seeking the faith or someone new and I try to sort of find them ICly. Is it alright to contact someone via tells and say I heard from the priests at the temple that you were seeking the faith? or is that prohibited... since you would not know them? how do we handle inquirers icly when the fm is M.I.A. ? AND... for future reference should I put in apps for RP when I want to have a real faith inquiry RP?

"inquiring minds wanna know!"

Banna.

[Kirkus]

I think Shabanna raises some good questions there at the end of her post. I wholeheartedly feel your pain Banna, but in a reverse kind of way. I jump on as my work/school schedule allows and immediately check the faith list and the the who list. But for quite some time I never see anyone on. I would love to keep the hopefuls hopeful but I never see them.

I think this is where the boards can come into play a little more. I think with inquirers and hopefuls they should pm the upper echelon of the faith with rp dates and times. And vice verse of course. I think in the past there was a short lived conversation about having an area on the board for each faith where we could discuss individual faith issues and schedule rp, but it was quickly shot down due to the size it would require. Perhaps just a post in the faith area would be enough.

[Harroghty]

I agree with Kirkus' solution. I have, in the past, approached this problem a number of ways. I was very fortunate as a new player to have the best case (in my opinion) scenario. I had a very responsive deity and faith and was able to role-play the interest and have the interest acknowledged by both parties.
Since then, I am better equipped now with knowledge of the game and am familiar with the forums. I was prepared to deal with a less active faith and simply sent the faith manager a PM explaining who I was and where I wanted to go. We made a date and began role-play. I was fortunate (again) to have an accomodating faith manager.
So, all that to say again, I agree with Kirkus. It is easy to arrange a meeting out of character via PM or the forums. If you just arrange a time to be on and happen to run into the faith member at a popular temple or shrine, that's your in and I feel like it's well within the bounds of what is "in-character".
I do still like the idea of a forum option. If a whole category isn't an option, then perhaps just a topic in the "Faith" category that explains solutions for this problem so that new players aren't at a loss for what to do about joining the faith they have their heart set on. There are permanent "sticky notes" in a lot of categories and one here might go a long way to helping with this issue.
Cheers!

[Oghma]

(Split this from the original post as that one deals with different issues)
In my experience there are several ways to get in contact when all traditional systems fail:

-We will never ever frown on any application received, we may not accept or approve the application but we will never use it against a player or see it as an insult or slight. We are not mind readers, sometimes we miss things. So you could easily send in an application explaining your situation.

-Prayers are a good way to contact imms about situations like this. If the imm is as active as you say they are, more than likely they check the prayer board very often.

-If you feel slighted ooc by a faith manager or imm for ooc reasons or feel there is far too much favouritism, then please send a complaint in to the complaint email detailing the issues you feel affect you. In my experience though, the imm and admin team works very hard to uphold objectivity since it is only a game that is open to everyone. If there are any issues we strive to work them out.

-Finally, in response to a dislike of the current faith system. I will say that I like this system over previous incarnations. This system allows to some degree complete control of a faith system in absence of imm interaction in almost all cases. The ability to have multiple faith managers or different faith levels also works to that benefit. The few issues we have are easily remedied thanks to the dedicated volunteer staff and the options posted above.

[Nysan]

Taking the stance that this was not a spat of favortism, simply a mindblank moment... This stuff happens. Remember, imms only play imms, irl they are mistake-ridden, accident prone, bumblers like the rest of us. Some things fall through the cracks. Seen times where folks are faithed in days and seen times where folks are faithed in years. *shrug*

Best thing to do is what is suggested here:

1. Send PM via the forums to players of imms and faith members of the faith you are after.
2. Active imms read prayer boards (usually), so praying never hurts (once in a while, don't spam).
3. Application email. In my experience, if it is taking "too long" or you have taken an extended break and want to renew a young character's faith trip, emails work wonders.

Communication doesn't hurt here. Not going to get a strike simply cause you want to keep informed. (Well, unless you start cussing people out. )

[Aveline]

I wanted to mention one thing here. I think a lot of people, myself included sometimes are reluctant to send pm's, prayers or applications out of the fear that they will be bothering the person, or that the attempt will be viewed as whining about the process or how long it is taking. I think we all understand that the process can at times be frustrating if you just cannot get in touch with people. Most of us have gone through it. People cannot read minds, and I know that I personally do not mind at all when people have contacted me that way trying to set something up. And I've had to do that a few times myself and no one ever seems bothered by it.

Sometimes it is extremely helpful if someone just takes that initiative to let you know. Do not be worried about bothering someone. Do not spam anyone with a pm a day either. Be considerate and use good judgement and generally everyone will be happy to get back in touch with you and let you know what is going on. They might tell you they are going through some things irl and then you'll know you might need to go ahead and send that application in, or they might make other arrangements for you to get help.

If you don't get a reply, after a reasonable amount of time, then go ahead and send an application. If you happen to be trying to contact one of those people that isn't fond of pm's...well now you know and then you can try another option. No matter what character I am on, I use the 'forum' command quite frequently to check to see if anyone needs any of the girls for something. Also another option is to ICly send a letter. I kind of went off of my point a bit, but basically I just wanted to say not to be scared to use any of these options because you think you are bothering people or that someone will get mad. If you use the good sense you were given and do not abuse it, people aren't going to get upset.