The opening post is literally:
I've been playing in Port-a-Lucine for years now, and one thing that I still have trouble handling are the titles and hwo [sic] to properly address people.
Learning D&D system is nothing to sneeze at, but brings mechanical advantages across the whole board, indipendently from your goals as a player and character.
This to me seems like an artificial, arbitrary, unrealistic, non-canon, barrier to entry. The fact that historical Port players are very gracious in letting things slide is but only a symptom that this is not that important to uphold as a rule as could be any other in the D&D ruleset such as attack rolls, or stealth checks.
I'm not sure how they have trouble handling these things, as it's explicitly stated and outlined in the Guide. Again; Someone else not able to do their homework isn't a cause to lower the standard for the entire class....
...it doesn't take a rocket scientist to gain familiarity with the system of titles, it just takes someone willing to learn them. If they aren't willing to raise themselves up to that standard, or at least try, then I'm not sure if they're making a gainful contribution to the server any more than someone who is unwilling to adequately research their ECL Subrace that they want to play.
That might sound exclusionary, but it's true....It's not complicated. It's really not...
Have a look at this wording. I mean, really look at it. It's the most honest explanation of the reason Port is so divisive.
In this thread: People who have been playing in Port for years, have a ton of French memorized and are fully integrated into its norms, telling people who find it challenging or confusing that it's easy. Whatever happened to putting ourselves in someone else's shoes?
I would encourage people to step back and consider the perspective of those who haven't spent the last 5+ years memorizing lines of French, and how it might feel for others to have a special higher degree of often insider knowledge necessary to RP in an area they are constantly shamed by the mechanics and "high levels get out of Barovia" threads into going to.
I've noticed that for Port regulars, "catching" non-regulars or newcomers making mistakes seems to be an eager past-time, while becoming a lot more lax about enforcing social norms despite NPCs being around. I think it's a mistake and frankly a bit insulting to the rest of the player base to treat the community as if its "standards" are "lower" and people must "be willing to raise themselves to the standard" to engage in a bit of noble RP. When non-Port regulars aren't around, Port regulars start acting just like everyone else.
I don't have an opinion on the titles itself, but this isn't how we should talk about each other just because we are more learning doing something they aren't.
It didn't take five years of being in Port to learn titles, it took me a few days to get the basic understanding, and a month or two of active immersion to get it down patent. My tone derives because I refuse to believe anyone in this community is incapable of understanding the basics of the setting, to such a degree, that it should be dumbed down for their sake. If that isn't their idea of fun roleplay; They're playing the wrong characters, and if they aren't a Noble, the majority of this doesn't even apply to them. Nobles by their nature, sneer and look down on anything that isn't them; If they don't find a reason to trip you up over your usage of titles, all they have to say is that you're of lower breeding and unfit for their presence. They aren't known for their inclusiveness, what with numerous clubs in the setting being exclusive to the Nobility, their big wall in the Savant that separates the poors from the rich, or the utter state of the lower-districts versus the upper. Nobility isn't just a title, or a pat-on-the-back, Nobles are raised from birth into a system of decorum, of secular polity, and the degree this is polarizing for them and the common man is the bedrock of most stories of class wars. Representing a small fraction of that investment by learning a handful of titles, and addresses, is not beyond what could be expected of someone to represent a member of a different social class that cares more about the appearance, and address, than the merit or means.
This isn't Port players being mean. This is pointing out that the mountain that is being made of this molehill is unnecessary. This is why I say there's not a great barrier to entry. If they aren't interested in learning the one-sheet guide, then they can always play a part of a different social class. If they are having trouble learning it, there are a great number of players who are active in Port, who are happy to help you learn it. You can engage in Noble RP, and not fully understand the titleage, but if you want to
play a Noble, there's a standard that should be upheld.
