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The way to understand that statement is that, ICly, one should expect greater flak for ICly decrying a particular type of behavior and then taking part in it.
That seems comprehensible especially as you actually do think a web address underlying an image or link on IGS is content in principle and can therefore always be used to reach IC conclusions (note that in the case of signatures this is problematic because there is no way to define a signature that appears on IGS only). You position is thus that the player in my example simply has to live with the situation.
Which is one view.
However, your remarks do lead me to what I think it the fundamental confusion here: the confusion of actual RP content
with data making the display of such content possible.
As far as I am concerned, web addresses are not content OOC. How they can become content IC eludes me.
This is why I think this is a quite different problem to the 'IC private journal' question. That was a debate about the use of material that everyone agrees is content. Whatever your view on it, you don't deny that an IC private journal is content. The debate there is about whether or not the content is privileged in some way and the limits of the privilege. Different debate to this one.
This is much more fundamental as a disagreement: this is an argument between people who view a class of data as content and those who view that class of data as, rather, infrastructure that points to content.
Those who think that web addresses on IGS are content – whether written out plaintext or underlying images or links seems to be neither here nor there let's notice – think that as content in an IC venue it is fine and dandy to draw IC conclusions from them. This makes sense as a concept but I think it has some unfortunate consequences.
Those who think that web addresses are not content (my own view I must say) don't see that it can be possible IC to draw conclusions from data that is simply not IC. It's not even content OOC. So by what alchemy is it is rendered content IC?
Now, Kazzzi asks me how I feel about the example I gave and asks me how it is different to Jade's RP when the character makes accusations, etc.
First, I don't see web addresses as IC content so I don't think it would be fair to reach a conclusion that the two characters of the player in my example are IC connected using the fact that there is a web address connection between the two.
I've been trying to think if I have ever used such a device IC. I cannot remember doing so and I want to say clearly that if I ever have back in the mists of time then I was wrong to do so. I am as sure as I can be that I haven't though.
I am speaking for myself, I must say, and I actually do play the game of counter-espionage quite a lot. So I am reasonably good at drawing linkages simply by virtue of practice. But I do not use OOC linkages that I come to a view about IC. I've never 'outed' any character that I have come to a near certain (sometimes ironclad certain) view about in terms of their links to another character where those links were OOC. I've never seen the point of it. I came a trifle near the knuckle recently, entirely OOCly, but caught myself in time (bad day probably) and I've also never publicly outed in an OOC venue a specific link between characters that I have divined using OOC information. I have sometimes shared information within a close circle and I feel justified in doing so because I've never seen it abused by anyone in that circle. I don't always do so though. For example, very recently I was taken aback by someone actually telling me who their (very different) RP alt was. It was nice to be trusted and I saw and see no reason to tell anyone else about that.
I would hope people may have noted that I never play the 'clonejack' game. (I find the concept faintly absurd to tell the truth.) If it's absolutely clear IC, I will speak of someone being an 'agent' of someone else (or some such rubric) but it takes a lot for me to do it. I can think of only one recent example where it was all quite clear IC what was going on. I have a dim memory of doing it a couple of times in the past where it was IC clear enough. Anyway, basically, I don't do it casually.
So that's me, people can make of it what they will.
As for Jade. Well, I analyze Jade's IC behaviour as follows:
Jade's character uses an entirely IC assessment of character behaviour coupled with any IC evidence that may exist (presence in-game in certain locations where others may be, or employment histories, or near-simultaneity of neocom activation as a pattern, or whatever it may be) and the character makes a declaration of their opinion.
As far as I know right or wrong, IC, it's all IC. People may regard it as ridiculous or unbelievable or plain irritating at their option but... well, it is all IC. My view is that this is Jade's RP as Jade Constantine.
Jade Constantine and The Cosmopolite are, it may have been noticed, entirely different characters and occasionally the characters exasperate one another. The players are less different in outlook than some people appear to imagine.
Anyway, given my view on web addresses, it's different because Jade is not using as 'evidence' something that I simply can't see as IC content – again, largely because I can't see that it is content
at all.
Z.Sinraali has it right that the two positions at least make sense when stated (they're both comprehensible) and also has it right there is no adjudication here if it's really the case that people are going to differ on it.
I am genuinely somewhat taken aback that a majority of those commenting seem to think that web addresses underlying images and links on IGS, including in signatures, are IC content.
Surely it is clear that this notion is toxic to many different ways of RPing that are nothing to do with subterfuge or the like but just rely on a reasonable IC separation? Isn't it?
Cosmo