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20:18, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Invite a Player through Rmail.

Posted by Yeled
Yeled
member, 2 posts
Sun 15 Jun 2014
at 19:52
  • msg #1

Invite a Player through Rmail

This may be a dumb question, but the implications of getting it wrong seem severe so I thought I'd ask before I made a crucial rules mistake.

I want to invite a friend from a game I play in to a new game I'm running.  I would like to do so through rmail.  Is this ok?

I ask because it specifically says that advertising games through rmail is a crime punished my deletion of my account.  I certainly don't want that to happen.  Is this what is meant by advertising, or is inviting one player ok?
prophacyks
member, 200 posts
Sun 15 Jun 2014
at 19:58
  • msg #2

Re: Invite a Player through Rmail

From my understanding, if it is just to a friend you are saying hey hi thought you might be interested that is ok.

The rules is set up more for, you not to go and spam people with your game meaning taking a bunch of names and just sending it out to them. That is a big no no.

I know I am on other sites, where people will just randomly PM you to write something with them. It is usually pretty annoying especially when they don't like taking no for an answer.
bigbadron
moderator, 14426 posts
He's big, he's bad,
but mostly he's Ron.
Sun 15 Jun 2014
at 20:02

Re: Invite a Player through Rmail

That would be about right - inviting one person that you know should not be a problem.
Yeled
member, 3 posts
Sun 15 Jun 2014
at 20:50
  • msg #4

Re: Invite a Player through Rmail

Thanks!

I'm being paranoid, I guess...but better safe than sorry.
This message was last edited by the user at 20:50, Sun 15 June 2014.
facemaker329
member, 6400 posts
Gaming for over 30
years, and counting!
Mon 16 Jun 2014
at 00:40
  • msg #5

Re: Invite a Player through Rmail

I certainly hope it's not a problem...the last three games I've joined have been because someone rMailed me to offer me a slot in their game (and they weren't even people I knew from any of my other games, just people who'd seen stuff that I had written in the Community Chat forum and liked what I had to say and/or how I said it and thought I'd be a good fit for their game).
Eco Cola
member, 249 posts
Mon 16 Jun 2014
at 00:41
  • msg #6

Re: Invite a Player through Rmail

From what i gather it's ok if you do it with friends, or someone who clearly expresses interest in a game that fits yours, or something along the lines of that, it's not OK to just randomly message people saying "Hey! i have this game..."
steelsmiter
member, 925 posts
GURPS, FFd6, Pathfinder
NO FREEFORM!
Mon 16 Jun 2014
at 02:27
  • msg #7

Re: Invite a Player through Rmail

prophacyks:
I know I am on other sites, where people will just randomly PM you to write something with them. It is usually pretty annoying especially when they don't like taking no for an answer.

I have had people do that to me on the one other RP site I'm actually on. My response to them is usually something along the lines of "write what with you?". Thing is, they'll pretty much tell me right there if they've articulated an idea. Typically if they haven't I don't bother, and I'll let them know that they've wasted my time. On the other hand, if they have ideas, or they express interest in a specific idea I've written about, I'll usually try them out. That doesn't particularly apply to the OP's queries though, so I'll just say "If you want to invite someone, be sure you don't do it in an annoying way and they probably won' report you".
kouk
member, 416 posts
Mon 16 Jun 2014
at 03:16
  • msg #8

Re: Invite a Player through Rmail

In the past, I've gone with something like, "Hey, it's me from that game we're both in. I'm in another game I think you would like, but don't want to hit you with an unsolicited game advertisement. Would you like to hear more about it?"

I'm not sure how close that is in itself an unsolicited game advertisement.
Jarodemo
member, 570 posts
Vestibulum nescio latine.
Mon 16 Jun 2014
at 05:00
  • msg #9

Re: Invite a Player through Rmail

I suspect the rule is there to prevent abuse by someone spamming dozens of random players to gather interest in a game. Inviting individually selected players because A) you have played with them before, or B) you have seen them post in forums and like the look of their writing style, is probably going to be okay.
facemaker329
member, 6401 posts
Gaming for over 30
years, and counting!
Thu 19 Jun 2014
at 03:29
  • msg #10

Re: Invite a Player through Rmail

Yes, people have abused the rMail option and spammed about games, before.

The most recent case of it that I recall, I found highly amusing because the first person, besides myself, that I heard about having received the spam mail was BBR.  Call it a crazy notion, but if you're gonna violate site policy and spam people about your game, I think it's a generally sound notion to at least make sure you don't have any moderators on your spam list first...*grin*

And the few 'cold contacts' I've had from people have all been something along the lines of 'I know we don't play in any games together or anything, but I've seen your posts in CC and think you'd fit in well with the group I'm putting together.  If you're not interested, let me know and I'll drop the matter right there."  I generally at least ask a couple of follow-up questions to something like that...like, what kind of game are you running...but most of them have been pretty accurate in their thinking that I might like the game, because I'm still in them (and the one or two whose games just didn't appeal to me did, in fact, drop the issue as soon as I said 'thanks but no thanks'.)

I don't consider it harrassment if someone specifically thinks I might be a good addition to their game and wants to ask if I'd be willing to give it a shot.  If someone is just trawling for more/new players, however, that's not kosher.  It's the difference, to me, between receiving a hand-written postcard asking for a new penpal and getting a photocopied note asking you to please respond.  I won't necessarily reply to the postcard...but I'm certainly going to think about it longer than I will the photocopy, which will promptly go in the trash.
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