Originally Posted by
Just L
I think one of the biggest issues with how the staff act like fun police at times are how they have a very specific vision of what is LRP/MRP/HRP, but refuse to actually give any of these terms a concrete definition. I have brought this up multiple times before, and trying to categorize RP into these tiers is ridiculous.
One example - Hawke Blokkum, he typed out huge emotes all the time, players though it was funny, staff didn't, staff claimed it was 'LRP'. Greg Lauffer types out similarly large messages regardless of the role he is playing, some players enjoy it, some bitch about it. Both are putting EFFORT into their roleplay, which is what matters more than anything else. If you are putting effort in, you are trying to elevate the 'level of roleplay' on the server, regardless of what you are doing being silly or not.
Another example - Bill Sutton was a CE one round, and the MPs and a few other command staff were being exceptionally strict. Bill started shout on the comms about "STATES RIGHTS" and a bunch of stuff that sounded straight out of right-wing propaganda, eventually culminating in a standoff between himself and the MP force in the dorms and bathrooms. He blew himself up with c4 and nearly killed several MPs. Does this technically break the rules? Yeah. Was it fun, funny, and added to the round more than it took away from it? Absolutely. Sure it sucks that the CE is dead, but it's not like MTs or the CE are even important, since I am pretty sure a squad engineer or even a PFC can work the engines. From what I understood, Bill was threatened with a ban or something after that round, and the staff *seemed* to be upset about what he did.
The round itself was total shit and a complete slog, with xenos and marines turtling like crazy, but Bill managed to do something fun that at least made it more interesting than a bog-standard stale round of doing the same things as always.
One important rule that I see often on other servers is that it is COMPLETELY FINE to break the server rules if it results in FUN
See below:
"For experienced users only. Don't quote these at admins. If you're in a position where you need to defend yourself using this, you've done something wrong. This is about the personal freedom and responsibility an experienced player will have when they have the interests of others first.
This is a game that allows a lot of potential for great things to happen, and naturally the rules restrict a lot of that to ensure the minority don't ruin every round for everyone else. If you push the limits in the pursuit of something interesting for reasons other than your own personal entertainment, breaking the rules may be excused to allow for that freedom. This will always be at the admin's discretion of course, but if you want a large amount of freedom to make great things happen, you'll have to take on the responsibility for them. You won't be faulted if they go wrong in ways beyond your control, but this is a difficult line to tread so use it well. It's almost always better to consult an admin on this as they are more equipped to taking on that responsibility.
Everyone has a license to grief to a very limited extent. You can likely get away with borderline antagonistic behaviour (Never random murder, but stealing from the brig and triggering a manhunt, for example) occasionally, but it's when this becomes a frequent occurrence that people get frustrated and admins start to get involved.
Admins may handwave even severely antagonistic or rulebreaking behaviour if they believe it was ultimately beneficial, hilarious or awesome to the round. (F R E E D R O N E) "
This is on the /tg/station wiki, and I think it sums up things very nicely. Yes, you can do stupid shit, yes you can break the rules, and yes you can give orders that are stupid as fuck, as long as it is FUN. An important part is the mention that you should not be faulted for things BEYOND YOUR CONTROL. If you get into a fist fight with another player, he pulls out a knife, stabs you, and you pull out your shotgun and shoot him, him escalating the conflict WAS out of your control. What WAS in your control is your choice to pull out a lethal weapon and blast him.
When admins run 'events' on the server, almost everything in the event is outside of individual players' control, and usually trying to go against the grain of what the admin has planned just gets you yelled at.
The way I see it, most players are afraid of trying to do something dumb (but fun), something interesting, or some new things during the round for fear of a mod or admin looking to get some bans or notes under their belt. That's why we have so many samey COs and a stale meta, though this is also compounded with the game's balance being pretty shit.
This is a very important point, also. I think that the best rounds are ones where players and staff WORK TOGETHER instead of treating one another like opposing forces. See the medal in my signature? That was in a round where the Almayer challenged WY to a game of basketball to stop them from taking over the ship. An admin that was on (I forget which) sent in a deathsquad for the CL, and then the CIC staff challenged them to a basketball game. Well over 30 or 40 people showed up on the ship to watch it, it was a fun time for everyone, and we even got someone to play Space Jam during the match. It was great and everyone had a fun time, and that hardly had anything to do with the standard gameplay of 'go to the colony and shoot xenos'.
What I really want to see is staff and players getting along better. Since staff are in the position of power here, I think they need to take the first step by lightening up a bit and embracing the ridiculous and silly nature of SS13 more, letting dumb shit happen, and encouraging people to do stupid shit (within the rules).
A 'Community Manager' or 'Community Rep' role would help greatly with this, someone elected by the playerbase to represent the majority of players who can communicate with the staff on an equal level, and help the staff get a feel for what the players currently want. With the size of the server, it's the best bet for helping everyone to get along.