Refusal to comply with request to withdraw Character RP

[Yohannes]

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Hi Moderators of NationStates,

I'm not sure what to do here, my apologies if this is not the right place for this. I've requested for my In-Character (IC) work (character's name) to be withdrawn from this thread [ viewtopic.php?f=4&t=475857 ]. This was my post requesting for my In-Character name to be withdrawn from the RP: viewtopic.php?p=36495598#p36495598

The author of the RP (and the Out-of-Character thread) has failed to comply with my explicit request to withdraw/remove completely/do not mention my In-Character (IC) character's name from their thread [ viewtopic.php?p=36486614#p36486614 ], as can be seen here:

Elisabeth Maren Schäfer, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of East Lindblum, Yohannes

The author of the RP also pretended not to know about it (my character, or my request) by trying to contact me by telegram (the proof can be found in my Telegram Inbox), while still mentioning my character name in their thread. I am not sure what to do here.

Thank you

[Kyrusia]

Edit: It saddens me to say this, but after seeing the reply post to my humble request (above), I've decided to delete my In-Character post from the In-Character thread and withdraw my participation from the Montreal Winter Ball. I wish you all the best of luck with the In-Character thread.

I don't see anywhere in this where you "[explicitly] request to withdraw/remove completely/do not mention [your] In-Character (IC) character's name from their thread"; I see you withdrawing from the thread, and making it clear you're not participating further.

I don't see anywhere where you asked the OP to completely excise your character's name. From what I can see, they've removed your character's participation through a strike, otherwise complying with your request. As I can see, you've not asked them at all to outright remove the mere historical mention of you once being a participant in the thread, when your posts indicating as much will clearly remain.

If I've missed an explicit request to "remove completely/do not mention" your character, please quote it. Edit: That said, we're not in the habit of forcing players to go back and remove mere mentions of players, player characters, etc., spare in the event of ongoing harassment - which isn't the case here. From where I sit, the request has been fulfilled, and the OP has done all he is obligated to do.

Beyond this, I, further, see the OP asking for clarification about your post; clarification I am now seeking for one reason (emphasis added):

I'm not reaching that point yet, but I'm reaching the point where I'm feeling a wee bit uncomfortable and unsafe participating here

I see two, mildly humorous notes about your post "citation." Yet you seem to imply through the above that there is something more nefarious afoot - the implication weighted by the specific word "unsafe." If you feel others have committed actions that would make you "unsafe" (in other words: beyond juvenile, minor snark) Moderation would very much like to hear about it.

[Yohannes]

Hi Kyrusia, thank you. My apologies for this, but I’m really unsure how to handle the situation. It’s clear that the opening poster will still keep the [Strikethrough] “Elisabeth Maren Schäfer, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of East Lindblum, Yohannes” in the thread. I don’t want that. Elisabeth Maren Schäfer is my fictional character, not Nouveau Quebecois’ to display without my permission. What do you recommend that I should do now?

[Kyrusia]

Hi Kyrusia, thank you. My apologies for this, but I’m really unsure how to handle the situation. It’s clear that the opening poster will still keep the [Strikethrough] “Elisabeth Maren Schäfer, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of East Lindblum, Yohannes” in the thread. I don’t want that. Elisabeth Maren Schäfer is my fictional character, not Nouveau Quebecois’ to display without my permission. What do you recommend that I should do now?

To quote:

All In-Character things I’ve written on NationStates are open-source/Creative Commons that you can use

That's pretty broad permissions you've given, in your own words, on every single post you've made - and continue to make.

Secondly: they're mentioning you and your character insofar as at the time it was added, you were an intended participant in the roleplay. You withdrew from the roleplay. In response, the OP carried on without any apparent or implied intent to include you in any further capacity in the thread; mentions of you previous to that departure indicate you are no longer participating via a strikethrough. They are not using your characters; they have simply retained a record of public knowledge of your prior participation.

Thirdly, you seem to have indicated merely being present in that thread could or did make you feel "unsafe," and have yet to clarify this matter. This implies that either the players involved or some content contained therein is potentially "unsafe" to be around or participate in proximity to. From the One Stop Rule Shop:

Harassment/Griefing: Harassing/griefing a nation or region because of their words or actions is forbidden regardless - in telegrams, Regional Messageboard (RMB) posts, and on the forums.
*Accusations of misconduct that may bring real world repercussions outside of NationStates do not belong in public spaces on NationStates and will be punished as harassment. Players may post, in general terms, about factual repercussions taken in response (I.e. removal from a region or regional position), but may not go into details or link to material that does.

We are still awaiting clarification with regards to what, precisely, you meant here.

Lastly, my recommendation is to ask whether or not you'd like a second opinion? If so, please indicate such and I will flag down a colleague.

[Yohannes]

All In-Character things I’ve written on NationStates are open-source/Creative Commons that you can use

It means that you can copy my In-Character work on NationStates. For instance, you can copy anything I've written here: viewtopic.php?p=34559288#p34559288

And I would be OK with that.

That doesn't mean, however, that you can use my fictional character and make fun of them by striking through them on your RP list. Keeping someone's character (or someone's name) on your RP when they have said they don't want to be included on your list or be included in your RP is a juvenile act and you know it, Kyrusia. Why are you defending them?

They are not using your characters; they have simply retained a record of public knowledge of your prior participation.

With all due respect (and yes, I respect your judgment), but how can you say this with a straight face? So one day if I roleplay with you and your characters are involved in one of my RP, and you say "I don't want to be included in this thread any longer", I can keep displaying your character and its name so long as I put a Strike through it? Even though you yourself, the author of your work and that character, has said that you don't want me including anything related to your character at all in my thread?

Thirdly, you seem to have indicated merely being present in that thread could or did make you feel "unsafe," and have yet to clarify this matter. This implies that either the players involved or some content contained therein is potentially "unsafe" to be around or participate in proximity to. From the One Stop Rule Shop:

OK, since being diplomatic clearly hasn't worked, I'll just be honest. You want to know why I feel "unsafe"? Because NationStates is full of people with alternate/low-effort/Forum 7 posting accounts who can create an account to harass or troll other players they dislike. I've seen this happened many times and I myself use at least two other NS accounts to post around the forums. When replying to someone's posts on their alternate accounts, players will most likely bring their attitude (towards that person) with them. That includes being snarky and doing whatever they can to annoy other players while playing the line well so they won't get caught by the NationStates Rules

And no, I won't request a second opinion. I respect your judgment but if I have to be honest, I feel let down by this whole thing. You are basically saying, "Other people can do whatever they like with your fictional characters on NationStates, including playing around with their name, even if you don't like it. Too bad." In my humble opinion that is really bad, and it's a huge demotivation for me to continue playing on NationStates knowing other people can do things like that to me

[Kyrusia]

And no, I won't request a second opinion.

We'll continue to enforce the rules as we always have, and judge cases individually; beyond that, I will quote the One Stop Rule Shop regarding rules lawyering:

That said, moderator decisions are not to be taken in bad faith. For instance, if something is ruled to be acceptable, don't turn around and use that ruling to bait another player (e.g. "In this case, I don't think Player 2 intended to be malicious when he described Player 1 as a 'maladjusted rapscallion.'" "Okay. Hey, Player 2! You're a maladjusted rapscallion! Moderator 3 said it's okay to call people that!"). This will never end well for you and it's best to simply leave things be; if you are doing so in an attempt to demonstrate that a moderator decision is wrong, simply file an appeal.

Given your statement above, however, we're done here. iLock.