[MakeshiftWalrus]

With the addition of the OOC room, we've finally entered the era of being less OOC in public avenues, which is fantastic, and healthy for any role-playing medium. Players now have a dedicated area in which to go about their nonsenes, and OOC fighting, which means it no longer clogs up areas visually.

However, I think the current OOC room is failing in what it set out to accomplish, and I'll explain why:

Problem 1: Nobody Knows

Those of us who were around the days it was created know well, and fine it exists, and that we should use it for all of our shenanigans. The issue is when newer players join, and isn't told. The only reasonable way for people to find it at the moment, is word of mouth from other players, as the method of actually finding the thing slowly gets further, and further away from us. (See: The update notes it was a part of) It isn't even stated in the rules found upon the game's Wikipedia site either, meaning people might unjustly be punished simply for not knowing better.

Problem 2: Where Is It????

These are the direction we're given in the patch notes:



This isn't 100% intuitive though, considering we have a multitude of trees in the general area, and while it isn't necessarily hard to find, you might not initially be able to figure out what exactly this is supposed to mean. Here's the back of the Arena's map.




And for those of you that still don't actually know where the entrance to the OOC room is, it's located here:

 

The inside of the OOC room doesn't actually have any indication it's a room meant purely for OOC-related activities. This, I feel, is the biggest concern with those who might somehow by the stroke of a miracle stumble upon it by sheer accident. There's no on-screen prompt to tell you everything in there is out of character, and there are even things that might suggest that it isn't supposed to be.



Problem 3: Nobody Cares

As it stands, we're slowly reaching the point where more, and more people are gathering regardless of the facilities created, as made evident by the pile-incident we had a month or so ago. Amusing at it was at the time, it also proved to be a start-signal to plenty of other times where people do their goonery in public, and if the trend continues, will only lead to further apathy when it comes to the OOC room. 

Solutions:

- The rules need to be updated to promote clarity of the necessity, and use of this room. Without it, people are going to be slapped unreasonably by the GMs as has been happening ever since it was included.
- The entrance to the OOC room needs to change. Currently, it's too inconvenient to run to, and too difficult for people without the know to find, making them less likely overall to actually use it in the first place. If I could speak my own preference, there would be no physical entrance at all, and an NPC like Tarson would instead teleport you to the indicated area.
- A notice needs to show upon entering the area to immediately inform you of where you are, and that nothing in that area should, or can be considered in-character.

These are my general solutions to the issues I've presented. If anyone else has suggestions, or criticism, I'd be more than happy to hear.