Comments by Quinttin at the Servi/Slave Conference

[13:56:30] Quinttin: As was said, Mardrakus asked me to be here because, unfortunately, he is traveling. His time has been limited the past month or so because he oversees part of his state's emergency disaster response and has been dealing with preparation and aftermath of hurricane damage.

[13:56:37] Quinttin: I have also been off for a couple months. I tore my rotator cuff and have been in a type of sling that makes the keyboard extra challenging - but am working myself back in.

[13:56:49] Quinttin: But I wanted to also add something to Mardrakus' notecard, from my perspective, addressing slave RP more generally, speaking as an experienced RPer who came to Romanum partly to hoping to find and build slave RP.

[13:57:19] Quinttin: I came to be here as a slave as the result of a personal challenge with Mardrakus. It was that that brought me to Romanum. I would not have likely RPed as a slave or possibly even have come here, otherwise. My guess is that the majority of rp couples in SL come together like this; whether Dominus/Servus or any other sort of pair: They meet at some event or other, discover something in common and then follow through on it.

[13:57:37] Quinttin: I apologize for the length of my remarks but at least they are pretyped for you )

[13:57:53] Quinttin: In my case, I thought (and still think) it would be fun to RP something along the lines of a Roman gladiator - strong and dominant, but enslaved nevertheless. That is what interested me.

[13:58:35] Quinttin: Of course there are a lot of ways to RP a slave, they may be dominant or submissive, eager to please or interested in being made to obey. Some of us are interested in RP, for others this is more of a social setting or even a sort of dating. But I agree with the thrust of Mardrakus' note that people decide these things for themselves and that any one idea on how to train or what to train would miss a large swath of other potentially good RPers, not to mention the logistical issues that arise with different schedules and time zones. No matter what the group may decide, its hard to imagine a kennel being staffed and ready to shepherd a prospective slave 24/7.

[13:58:51] Quinttin: I do have some ideas to share with you in a moment taht might help along these lines, but first I wanted to mention something else that is related and underlies

[13:59:32] Quinttin: When I first got here, I was surprised to encounter some hostility towards my playing a slave as I did. I was told by some, even, that slavery was not appreciated or encouraged at Romanum. I was told more than once to remove my collar to attend events, even in one case, by a senator. All of this was a bit discouraging to a newcomer. aside form Cassius excellent point about wanting to participate in something immidiately

[13:59:53] Quinttin: So my first observation would be that there should be no question but that in Romanum, slavery RP is encouraged. IMO It should also be a given that there is more than one way to play a slave. So long as a person is trying to do something that fits into the framework of Romanum, there can be more than one sort of servus.

[14:00:04] Quinttin: My second observation is that, there are not enough events designed to encourage Slave RP and introduce those that want to play slaves with those that might want to RP owning them. Here are some things have seen work at other sims:

[14:00:21] Quinttin: - Short term Slave auctions

[14:00:29] Quinttin: - Slave/servis hunts (participating servi wear a armband and try to hide, Dominus's hunt them, steal form each other, gather them up to a central place for points). These sorts of things can build camaraderie among the slaves and dominus alike

[14:00:38] Quinttin: - Pit fights for slaves where winners might have their way with losers as a prize. Or there could be events where Domini and servis spar against one another before a crowd for bragging rights or other prizes ( Ty and I have discussed this at some length and I am willing to help train slaves if we can get enough interest),

[14:00:53] Quinttin: - Pit fights for slaves where winners might have their way with losers as a prize. Or there could be events where Domini and servis spar against one another before a crowd for bragging rights or other prizes ( Ty and I have discussed this at some length and I am willing to help train slaves if we can get enough interest),

[14:01:25] Quinttin: - the formation of slave " houses" that offer specialized slave training around specific events - like your Baccus festivals for example, but there could also be houses organized to support gladiatorial or domestic events as well.

[14:03:07] Quinttin: My last thought is that we really dont have any idea if a system like the matching system works to link up Domini and servi. Ideally probably it would work with more support, and in conjunction with an overall consensus about acceptable dominus and sevrus roles, and maybe most important, events that make it seem fun to participate. If you went with the " house" idea, you could have the slaver act as a sort of Coordinator of the various ideas taht peoepl might have around events and festivals and other interests... the idea would be that someone woudl help organize these efforts to make a coherent whole