Archived Bad Rp'ing: /nick Privilege Removed

[eman1000]

As a Regalian Guard, I have seen the good, bad, and ugly of RP'ing.

The good:
- Conversing with the nobles
- Having a chat with a bartender over a pint of ale

The bad:
- "Good" vampires
- "Bad RP'er punches all three guards in the face simultaneously and escapes unscathed"

The ugly:
- Vampires, caught and convicted, teleporting away from their prison cells
- god RP'ing in general

Right after expressing my frusteration to Dr. Fong following a vampire teleporting away to avoid execution, I had an idea; what if server staff (particularly lore staff) had the ability to remove the /nick feature from bad RP'rs (temporary or permenent)? Here is why I think this would be a great solution:

- It does not punish or restrict the player in any aspects except RP

- Other RP'rs will be much less inclined to engage in RP with said offender (lack of a nickname is a sign of inexperience, reguardless), thus improving the quality of Massivecraft's RP by avoiding bad experiences with bad RP'rs all together

- It will encourage players to RP fairly

Ideas such as a "blacklist" have floated around for months, however that idea isn't very plausible, and at first glance, a player cannot tell if someone is or is not blacklisted, and may unknowingly engage in RP with them anyway. Now you ask, what are criteria for losing the /nick privilege? And how can they be reported, other than by staff?

Criteria:

- Obvious and repeated god RP, despite warnings

- Disruptive behavior commited in character

- Other criteria, as determined by staff

Ideas for reporting:

- New appeal section, where screenshots can be posted

- Idea: Allowing Regalian Guards and Crimsons to fill out a book & quill describing what exactly happened, and leaving it to staff discretion whether or not to take action. My reason behind allowing guards to talk directly with the staff is this: Any guard or crimson who passes the application has experience and reputation RP'ing, and I would argue, are much more trustworthy. More importantly however, guards are the butt of more god RP'ing than nearly any other grouping of people in Regalia.

If this is technically possible, I think it would make a huge positive impact in Regalia, and even more so for guards, who are frankly tired of only having 1/10 people refrain from teleporting away during an arrest. Please consider this idea, and comment with any questions, comments, feedback, etc!

 

[Smexitalian]

I remember when I was guard, all of the god RP... Especially in the tavern, it was a nightmare(the guards couldn't enter it without ending up in a large brawl). There really needs to be some type of punishment for repeated God RPing as some people actually enjoy doing it to troll the guards making their jobs harder and ruining RP in Regalia.
So, I support the premise of this suggestion.

 

[5devildragon]

I like the idea, but i think that before that happens both sides of the story should be heard, because sometimes i run into ridiculous Meta-Gamers and they always deny it, it makes me ridiculously mad so i make it fair and let my nerves bring out my meta

 

[Noctus]

Brilliant idea.

 

[Mecharic]

Me Gusta!

 

[BittaBoBittoBa]

While your thinking is wishful, taking away a nick command won't put much a dent in bad Roleplay.

Since they're bad roleplayers, they won't give two craps about it. And they won't be any less annoying.

 

[Ryciera]

I feel like this would set a tone on our server that would be detrimental. Yes, I hate troll roleplayers as much as the next, but it seems very domineering and judgemental to take away privileges from someone (even something as small as a nickname) for something like that. Bad roleplayers should not be 'branded' in my opinion.

 

[Tahmas]

How would removing the /nick feature stop someone from bad/ugly rping? Surely they could simple still walk around and do so with their username? Sure, more people would tend to ignore them but the actions are still the same. Rather than punishing bad rpers, why not teach them to be better?

If someone is being 'bad' at roleplay, rather than punishing them, stop, and tell them that what they are doing is unlore compatible, and if they continue, you will ignore them and move on. If they begin to be disruptive, a /jail is the perfect punishment. If they stop, and ask more of the Lore, link them to these pages and tell them to read through and research up on the lore.

• http://www.massivecraft.com/lore
• http://forums.massivecraft.com/categories/95/

Although I hate trolls and people who refuse to adhere to any form of compatible lore, often they are simply confused and need guidance rather than punishment. However sometimes they are disruptive and deserve punishment, and as such a /warn, /jail and /ban system would come into place.
Good idea though, and it's great to see people trying to come up with ways of making roleplay easier, nicer and more fun. ^^

 

[HydraLana]

They must be branded and cast into public ridicule! They must isolated and slowly killed from the inside by knowing that no one wants to RP with them! This is an excellent idea, so evil and cruel I wish I had thought of it myself. I am dead serious with my opinion, burn, babies, burn!

​

 

[DankeeYankee]

If this pulls through, the tavern will be completely empty...

 

[eman1000]

Ryciera

Tom1804

You both have very good points, and I completely agree that there is a difference between a bad RP'er and a consciously bad and disruptive RP'er. I believe taking away a nickname for truly disruptive roll players could really benefit Regalia, especially guards. If nothing else, I simply want to know whether or not it's worth engaging in RP with a would be criminal.

If you still do not see the value in this, perhaps think of it on a smaller scale: keep this form of punishment reserved strictly for repeat god RP'ing that can often ruin an experience for everyone involved.

I know you fear this idea is tyranical, and too harsh on players that simply do not know better, but the few that DO know better are the ones causing the most trouble!

And one last point; this punishment already is very leniant (similar RP servers will ban for disruptive or god RP), but you can make it even less strict if you so desire. Take away their /nick for 24 hours; they learn their lesson, but it does not inhibit gameplay otherwise.

 

[FCCarnilord]

Removing /nick can seem like a genius idea but lets face it..
Everyone STARTS roleplay, and they may not be the best. The first time I roleplayed, it was a horrendous God roleplay, as well as meta roleplaying.
However, when I began to learn more, I started to be more experienced, and enjoyed the fact that you only look like a bad roleplayer when you do so.
If this was the case then, if I had my /nick removed (even thought it didn't exist then) I would feel terrible for the fact I messed up. Not just because that's the point, but its like teaching a math class how to do something, and if they mess up, you take their pencil away for a day.
It just doesn't seem entirely constructive, most learn by trial and error.
I would have lost interest in Massivecraft moons ago if this happened to me, because im getting punishment for something ghat takes time and learning. Im not getting punished for messing up notes on my cello, am I?
~Nuetral stance.

 

[eman1000]

Toxiclord

How new a player is to the server can also be taken into consideration before remoiving the /nick ability.
As I said in reply to Ryciera and Tom1804, this should be reserved specifically for players who continously RP in a disruptive manor, despite warnings and explanations of what they did wrong. Many times, those players are I am all for helping out new players; I certainly did not learn the ins and outs of RP instantly.

 

[FCCarnilord]

eman1000 well if they are trolling, you don't remove the nick just so you can see their username still trolling, you mute them. I still dont agree to this idea.

 

[Xskill]

Well... it's sort of a bad idea to punish people for bad roleplay. It starts off as punishment, but eventually it will become restrictive and degrade into forcing our ideas of roleplay onto other people. That is not what we want. While we want things to be compliant, we cannot punish people unless they are being disruptive.

Basically how it goes is that 'bad' roleplayers will start off being generally bad. They'll hang around the tavern, sometimes be vampires, having terrible skins and such. They'll get themselves into trouble for the hell of it, and generally being loud mouth attention whores. That's the point, they're out for attention. Keep that in mind.

As a guard or a 'good' roleplayer, you cannot force your ideals onto people. You cannot force roleplay onto others without their consent, even as a guard. They can of course, unwittingly give their consent by committing crimes, but you cannot force someone to follow you to jail under suspicions, or you getting forced to go to the tavern. Everyone has the choice to not roleplay and just ignore it. That includes you.

If someone is a 'bad' roleplayer, you cannot punish them directly. You ignore them with extreme prejudice. Eventually these same people will grow less offensive, and begin to pick up on people's roleplay. They'll use proper names, speak properly and not try to stab people out of the blue. It's a slow process, but I've seen it happen.

To be honest, as a writer, I find the notion of punishing someone for bad roleplay almost sickening. It's like telling someone that their writing is so crap, they can never hold a pen again. It's counter intuitive to creativity as it will breed an oppressive air over Regalia.

Now, that being said, there are some instances where we do step in. When people become disruptive... After someone has been ignored, told they don't want to be involved, and yet still the people insist, disrupting someone's roleplay because of their selfish desires to roleplay with someone who is not willing, we step in and stop them. Thankfully this is rare.

As a side note, as staff we can set and remove your nicknames but I'm not sure it's possible to code a disable on a player by player basis.

 

[studsonsc]

I don't believe this is the best idea. We all start out bad at role-playing in the beginning. I used to meta-game and god role-play constantly because I didn't know what was so wrong. Then I slowly improved as others showed my how to role-play right. With the guidance of my friends and others that inspired me, I can role-play pretty well at the moment. And it took me six months to get where I am.

I don't believe that would be fair to the newbies the come onto the server. I do think you should explain to them I cannot do that, not just take away a command. It could even chase the newcomers away from the server. It seems unfair to the new players. As Tom1804 stated, it would be easier to explain and if they don't list, /jail works just fine.

 

[eman1000]

Xskill
katiesc

I think the most important fundamental of this idea is that rather than resort to more severe punishments (such as mutings, which affect the player in all aspects of gameplay), this is a less severe and temporary punishment. I can't stress enough, I completely agree it would be sick if this was used on new players or inexperienced RP'ers; Xskill makes a very good point: forcing our standards upon others will definitely not benefit Massivecraft.

Coming back to the starting purpose for all of this, I simply wish there were a way for me to be able to identify repeat offenders that know better, without having to search their name on some long "Blacklist". Perhaps this matter hits home more with me because as a guard, the best and worst comes out of every character when they're being arrested (nine times out of ten, running away unfairly). While this is annoying to me, it is to everyone around me as well, and it can chip away at a truly immersive experience. Anyway, if the cons outweigh the pros, it is definitely in the server's best interest not to implement this!

 

[Xskill]

A blacklist is also a bad idea because instead of allowing for improvement, someone gets stuck in the blacklist and they get stuck in the blacklist. It segregates people and doesn't allow them to be influenced by good roleplayers, because all the good roleplayers will be avoiding them like the plague.

 

[KyleDinny]

I thought of an idea. Basically the concept was not to make a new command with its own branch of commands, this will create too much work omtop of the work already being done by the staff, if we implement it in the /ignore command we can basically get rid of nicknames, and perhaps add a new command that can hide there bodies, so they're not saying "LISTEN 2 ME!!" while jumping in your face.

-EDIT-
If it wasn't clear this would only happen for people who refuse to leave RP when they're asked, not for people unintentially god RPing.

 

[Darknesscrusher]

I disagree with this, people make mistakes. Like this, nobody can learn. With some help, RPing is quite an easy thing to learn.

 

[studsonsc]

I agree fully with Darknesscrusher, I've taught more than one person how to role-play. Sure it was rather harsh on them when I told them to not use smiley faces and text, lol, but they role-played great afterwards.

 

[Shawn]

katiesc Darknesscrusher <--- Agreed.

I don't think we should punish Bad Rp'ers, I mean, yeah it is annoying when someone God Rp's, but sometimes punishments are not the best options... Like Katie said, just teach people. If they don't listen, it is their fault.

 

[eman1000]

Shawn

If they don't listen to instruction and continue to disrupt, it worsens the experience for everyone else. My solution simply allows us to immediately identify and ignore players that were recently "nicked". The person punished will have the chance to improve their RP once the duration of their punishment is up, which could easily be as lenient as an hour

 

[FCCarnilord]

Shawn

If they don't listen to instruction and continue to disrupt, it worsens the experience for everyone else. My solution simply allows us to immediately identify and ignore players that were recently "nicked". The person punished will have the chance to improve their RP once the duration of their punishment is up, which could easily be as lenient as an hour

Click to shrink...

Muting is just as effective so they can think about what they had done instead of give them a chance to run out and grief around and troll other members of the community. But still, you can't improve roleplay when you are punished....
And if you are punished for trying to learn, what kind of influence does it give to the person learning?
I really think this is a more "harsh" idea, and still quite un-needed.

 

[ZeVikingNor]

I retweet katiesc

 

[studsonsc]

I retweet katiesc

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Sheesh this isn't twitter...Who needs those websites anyways...-doesn't have a facebook nor twitter account-