An issue I find annoying is that as a GM I seem to be unable to 'butt in' on existing PM threads without my intervention automatically starting a new thread. (unless I was included from the outset).

I feel this restricts my ability to do my job.

I can understand why you wouldn't want another player to be included in an existing thread - with issues of confidentiality, etc - but I can't see why a GM (who can read it all anyway) can't pass a comment or instruction in a PM thread without disrupting it.

Comments? fixes?

Thanks. :)

Start a new thread?

I know what you're talking about: some players are chatting in PMs and you pop in to make a GM comment, which should leave the PM as it is, but suddenly it has created a new PM thread with you as a participant in the conversation. It has happened to me on occasion and it shouldn't be doing that, so you may have a glitch in your game. I believe this is an issue to take to jase: rmail your game name and the wonky PM thread's title to him and the mods so they can check out the coding on it.

I would agree with Evil's comment to provide Jase with where it's going wrong - because, in my experience, it IS supposed to work like you're describing in the OP, where you can pop in without making a new thread.

The only possible concern that might arise is if you're posting as your main GM character or as an NPC... but I rather doubt it's that.

Yes, that's the problem exactly.

I am included in the thread as an NPC, would that prevent me from making a comment there as GM, do you think?

I'm currently having to make GM comments using my NPC, but fortunately everyone knows that NPC is mine.

If you are making comments under your GM name, it shouldn't make another thread. But where you are introducing another name other then your GM name in. It sees it as another character being included so splits it into another thread.

So if you don't want it to split, then you need to pick your GM name when replying.

Nope, it splits when I try to comment as GM.
The only way I can comment is by using the NPC who was included from the thread's outset.

I'll raise it with the mods, thanks everyone. :)

Actually I think that's perfectly normal - any private message has a list of recipients.  Adding a new person (anybody) to that list has always started a new thread as far as I'm aware.

At least it always has whenever I've done it.

Note that if you are included in the thread as an NPC, the system assumes that you will want to reply with that character, so trying to reply as a different one (ie: the main GM character) counts as adding a new person to the list of recipients.

This is actually a feature, rather than a bug.  It stops you accidentally replying for a character using your GM name, and revealing that the character really belongs to you.
This message was last edited by the user at 09:50, Sun 24 Jan 2016.

Ah, perhaps then it is. If you are not included any other way, say and NPC or another one of your characters. Then it automatically lets you pop in as the GM without a split. I know that at least happens, because I have had to pop into more then enough PM's in my time as a GM for a specific reason.

But if you have a character/NPC already in there, then it assumes that you might have screwed up and splits it because it counts it as another character. I don't think I have done that much in PM's. So may that happens and I never noticed. Though I can see your reasoning for it, it still sounds weird because of the fact that you might want to pop into a PM as a GM and not complicate it.

So we think a GM can't comment as GM in a PM if s/he already has a NPC there, but otherwise can do so?

I'll see if I can find some suitable PMs to test that theory. Thanks.

That is how it should be, that is at least how it worked the last time I was a GM which was several months ago.

Theory tested and proved correct.

So if I have a secret GM character in a private thread, I can't add a comment or break up an argument, or uphold site rules, without revealing my character - or at least revealing that I have such a character in that thread.

Not ideal, but we have what we have, I suppose.

Ok, at least we have a better idea now. Most of my characters people knew who I was, so I never bothered to change to GM because there was no point.

An idea to use instead, is if it is necessary to speak to people as a GM when you have a character in a PM already. Just automatically do a new PM separate from the one they are in, to talk about anything. Not perfect but better then it automatically splitting it off.

Funny, that's what I said at the start of this whole thing!