What The Fuck Does 'By The Book' mean anyways?

The problem with the phrase 'By The Book' when trying to use it to communicate with people in SL Gor.. is because it means a lot of different things to a lot of different people; so for our purposes.. I will try to define it by the the idiom~

 

"Follows the rules exactly."

 

Well-- a question you may ask is: What are the rules when you're talking about 'By The Book' Gor?

 

There aren't any, honestly. Gor is an organic setting, with a lot of cultures, with a lot of different opinions on beauty, honor, customs, and the specifics of slavery. Honor to a man of Ar is not the same as honor to a man or Torvaldsland, nor a man of the Pani.

 

And certainly not to a Panther Girl.. but? We have some pretty good guides, depending on the character a person chooses to play.

 

Issue: "Kill me! I won't be a slave!"

While a person of Gor who becomes enslaved is dishonored, and loses all respect of their former friends, and family members.. disowned utterly in all social circles, and becomes nothing but the property of the one who's collar they wear ... there are literally *zero* instances of ANY men or women in the Gorean Novels whom have chosen to be KILLED rather then accept being enslaved.

 

Without a single exception, they are enslaved when given the option.

 

Result for the sim: -- It's not By The Book, and is almost completely an Online-ism / Gor Evolved thing.. to prefer dying over being Enslaved. Male or female.

 

Issue: "Women can't weild swords, they're to heavy!"

A gladius - the signiture weapon of a Gorean Warrior - weighs as little as a pound and a half, and Gor has slightly less gravity then Earth. While many people claim women weilding swords is not 'By The Book' -- although there are several examples of women (including) wielding and even seriously injuring men with swords (although with less efficiency and effect then men) -- even in the first book of the series. I'm not saying women should be as strong as men -- they certainly shouldn't be.

 

Result for the sim: -- Women are allowed to weild swords that do LESS then normal damage, making them less effective then men weilding 40% damage swords, keeping the balance of power in men's favor.

 

So when there is a dispute -- this is how it's handled. We look at the facts, we look at the setting's intentions, we look at the setting's various examples.. and we settle upon something that satisfies as many of the examples as possible.