Won't hiding just perpetuate the hostile environment, in any such case where there are reasons that one would not feel safe with one's characteristics?
I think it depends mostly on who you are and what resources you have. If you have the willpower to fight a hostile environment, that is all well and good. If you do not, however, you are probably more likely to spend a lot of time hiding under furniture (metaphorically, though also perhaps literally). Clearly, you have the required resources; my guess is that in a similar situation, I would not.
...and now I realize amusingly, that this applies to mafia in a mafia game. Mafia can't feel safe openly being themselves! Of course, in this case, it's different, as they DO intend ill to the town...
That would be because in many ways, there is a near-perfect equivalence between the game of Mafia and the generalized social situation. We are always feeling each other out and trying to discover if others agree with our viewpoints. Those who would normally be rejected by society for whatever reason may find themselves playing a never-ending scum game... or, for others, I suppose it's a bit more like being an SK. I don't mean in the "wants to kill everyone" sense. What I mean is that they have a behavior and mindset which seems contrary to the goals and preferences of others, and as such must teach themselves to "act town."
Unfortunately, as good as I may be at playing scum on forums, I utterly suck at blending in IRL >_>
Well, for my part, I would assume that most people are averse to lying. When you have a nickname - for example Vector - you don't claim that that is your name in real life. And internet anonymity does not involve lying about your location - it is simply not revealing it (well, you could lie, but you know what I mean). Thus it may be vastly preferable not to lie and pretend to be male, but simply to refuse to disclose your gender.
The nickname I chose is a heavy distortion of my true characteristics. It shapes the lens through which you see me. You see, Vector sounds male (given the similar sound to the typically masculine name Victor). It informs you as to my interests and mindset: I like mathematics, and I have a horrible habit of ignoring feasibility when attempting to make my way to a goal (since a vector is the combination of magnitude and direction, but not position).
What else might you garner? I like my screen-names to sound like actual names. This further implies that maintaining order and functionality is important to me. I like patterns to be preserved.
We have information streaming from our every pore. Even the most innocent of choices tells others a good deal about us--or a good deal about what we want others to know. Frequently, the choices inform others about things that we don't want them to know. The manner in which we choose not to disclose our location tells others a good deal about us.
Where am I going with this?
Well, those who actively choose not to disclose probably have something to hide. Essentially, the act of non-disclosure provides almost as much (if not more) information than would simply telling everyone (in the case of gender, specifically). As such, the only action that really provides adequate cloaking is a masquerade.
I use singular "they". It sounds fine to me, although other people don't like it so much.
Yeah, it's poor grammar. It's really rather unfortunate that we haven't figured out (non-silly-sounding) gender-neutral singular pronouns in English.
Dude, I usually use terms like guy, man.
I remember getting quite angry in fourth grade or so over my teacher doing this--i.e., saying "hey, guys!" to the entire class. It all seemed nonsensical, as a guy was clearly male and there were clearly females there, as well. I think it was only resolved via some long argument with the teacher in question about proper forms of address.
Both. I almost always choose a female character in games whether it makes a difference or not-that still holds true today. Meanwhile, as of a year ago back, I've used Jacquin (or some varied spelling of such) as my name. 1 1/5 years back I used 'she' to address myself. I didn't 'correct' anyone, but when you see a female name show up, then no one will deem you a 'he' be default.
This might be why I used to seriously suspect that you were a girl. Your speech pattern still sounds somewhat feminine.
*sigh*
I will submit here that I have been known to frequently give female characters male names, and vice versa. There is some part of my brain that says "Why can't I write a story about a girl named Edgar?" or "Sure, name him Maria" (though yes, I know that Maria has traditionally been a male name, as well).
Dunno... the entire gender thing seems a bit odd to me. In cases of utility, I understand why one would choose to display one gender over the other. I suppose there is also a case to be made for which it is more "fun to be." The reason why all this is so important to so many people, however, seems a bit odd to me. Certainly, women are incomprehensible to me. This doesn't mean they need to be treated poorly or really even differently.
Ah, well. I might as well end this here, given that with every paragraph I'm just getting more confused.
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Topic: Beginner's Mafia 7 - Game Setting up (Read 15731 times)