State of RP (General and Factions)

[Medi]

Topic/subject: General State of RP
Whom it may concern: General Server with some factions such as MOP.
Summary: TLDR: The administration is promoting a negative-feedback loop of gameplay that comes off as self-defeating to the player-base, especially those who have already dedicated time and effort to the server. This has gotten to the point that numerous players have begun asking: "Why bother?" and drawn down on their hours or plan on leaving entirely. "RP it out" and "Claw your way back up" are the half-hearted statements given in reply that seem to suggest a lack of care or a lack of understanding how the player base will handle this OOCly. If I am going to get kicked over and over again to the point I make zero progress at any time, seriously- "Why bother?"
In depth analysis of the issue:
Please note that this complaint will mention or refer to a few people specifically but this is intended to be a general complaint about the state of RP that is being perpetuated by the Admins / Faction Leads. This isn't meant to be a direct criticism against any one person, rather a complaint on the overall direction that things seems to be trending and how it's not healthy for the server.


I'd like to make it very clear that I understand that HL / HL2 is centered in a dark, dystopian alternative reality where an oppressive force has settled on Earth and that it's meant to be bleak and somewhat punishing. I say that because I fully acknowledge what this game is supposed to be and I think that definition is often used as a basis of misunderstanding or an outright excuse for some of what we're seeing.

As of late there is a reoccurring motif that the players "aren't suffering enough" and that we need to be constantly kicked down over and over again so that we have something to "climb back too". The issue is that these kicks are becoming more and more frequent to the point that I, and a number of other players, are starting to ask: "Why should we bother?" Why should I invest hours of my life when the admins can decide at any point that because something happened that my character has no relationship too: I'm getting punished and set back. On the other hand, even if my character does make a minor slip-up, it's treated as a major issue instead to justify further kicking down. Meanwhile, those at the very top who are administrators holding key positions can flagrantly do far, far worse in open public in direct contradiction to the Combine and there's Zero repercussions. Not even Breen could get away with some of the stuff that's being pulled and yet it's the guys in the middle and the bottom that are being kicked.

Established players have earned their seats and have dedicated a lot of time and effort to get where they are but they're the apparent center focus of getting rolled down the hill at current in favor of new players who, with little to no effort, can surpass them with relative ease. Once again, if all my effort can be invalidated so quickly and easily with or without my input, why bother?

While it's important to "rattle the cage" and make sure that players have something to progress toward, the act of constantly punishing and kicking players down does not "make good RP". The act of punishing players for roleplaying (as seen in instances where civil protection are punished for "fraternization" for issuing verbal warnings and corrective actions instead of just beating someone and moving on- because that's great RP) doesn't come across as intend that "oh, you didn't do it by-the-book so we're punishing you for that" it comes across as: "If you're not perfectly in line with our image we're going to catch you and punish you for it." In one of my conversations with a faction lead on this topic I was told: "You need to be sneaky and try to get away with things then and roll with the punches that you're dealt." Why are characters being encouraged to constantly break the "rules" just to even remotely do their jobs little less something that they're not supposed to do? Just because I dislike someone or the decisions they make, apparently my recourse is that I have to get auths to PK them?

Even outside of that specific instance we've seen repeated attacks by the administration on the Ministry of Progress. Despite the discord server that this took place in being an "Official Server" for Willard, not everyone has access to it so I'll refrain from positing direct commentary from it. It's been made clear that the vision for the MOP was that we're supposed to be "Evil Scientists" despite whatever morals our characters are supposed to have despite us also getting a lot of people who ICly and OOCly criticize the MOP for when they were doing edgy / evil things, thus further creating rifts and issues. The issues with the MOP have gotten to the point that it's been made ICly clear that, despite literally getting tasks from the Benefactors themselves, no one gives two shits about what the MOP wants to accomplish both ICly and OOCly. The MOP has been repeatedly told "No" and "Hold on indefinitely" any time we're attempting to do something significant, meanwhile the CMU and CWU can just march right on ahead if they want to do something that has any amount of significance with the server. At the same time, attempting to do some of our "low priority" projects has resulted in a LOT of pushback from Admins, CPs, Workers, etc. These projects, by design, are supposed to promote RP by including other factions so that we're out of the labs and interacting with people. Instead, we're constantly shut down because the MOP has the lowest priority of any ministry to the point that we have to basically beg our minister to intervene on a regular basis to just let us get things done.

At the same time, we're being told that some of our more significant attempts at projects that could generate entire expeditions and are the culmination of a lot of IC and OOC work don't matter. More and more attempts to get the MOP to do something are shut down while it's been made known to me that there was an attempt to put more issues on the faction for apparently no reason other than to have the faction fall apart.

Meanwhile, I don't feel like I need to point out all the issues with what has recently happened with the loyalists but that was another poorly timed kick that's basically trying to push players to generate grievances and be rebels. Why does the administration seem to bent on telling me to "RP" but at the same time continually pushes my character away from the RP I want. At the same time making it seem like they want to force us to be rebels? Where is my player agency? "Go with the flow of the RP or get kicked in the teeth more" is not agency, that's being narratively railroaded.

Suggestion for improvement: These administrative practices need to be identified and modified if not entirely removed. Those who are attempting to push down factions need to give clarity as to their expectations and make them reasonable, not just try to kill off the faction. Please stop trying to paradoxically "Generate RP" and at the same time kill RP at the same time with these "Kick them in the teeth constantly" measures. It makes people not want to play, not "rebel" or "Try again".

 

[NanCi_]

damn... guy just fixed all of MOPs issues in one go. A lot of potential to do some experimental testing on people due to the radiation. (Chopping arms off and giving them lucky block drugs).

 

[Medi]

Right I think we're all getting a little hyper-focused on one aspect of a much larger complaint but I see a few reoccurring arguments being brought up which seem to be entirely missing the point or just not reading what's being posted so I'll quickly bullet point some things:

1. The larger issues with the server are measured in the constant face kicking being issued out by the larger people at the top who, through attrition and not just one single action, continually push the player-base down over and over again to the point it invalidates their own IC agenda. As it was posted earlier, the reason why the sweep of loyalists, for example, was so broad is because it "Helped clean house" and will apparently help locate the loyalists that actually want to be there... Like the ones who bothered to show up for the meeting in the first place? We keep asking people to claw their way back up, over and over and over again so that they can just touch the same spot they were in and then we're wondering why they stop bothering all of the sudden. In this specific example, I am not saying that parts of the party shouldn't have been cut off but if you're going to literally hack apart the loyalist party, don't expect the participation to be strong because it leaves the impression of: "Oh, I can get blamed and removed even if I am doing everything correctly and then I get fucked over."

At the same time, there is little to no consequence for those who hold seats at the higher ends of the table. The argument that was brought to me by an admin was: "Oh, you didn't like what they did? Go get rogue auths or something". Because the upward mobility is so limited and that freedom of RP is so factually narrow that I have to go "rogue" to have something ICly change is ridiculous. Hell, even if I do assassinate a character that player who I killed will just make a new character in the same position while my character that I actually worked for will get PKed and thus change nothing. I understand that this is supposed to be a narrative story but in the grand economy of things, why would any character be motivated to take that action if they're aware it will do literally nothing. All the while, the fact that certain characters seem to get pass after pass after pass while sitting higher up despite the stuff that they do more than deserving a bullet makes it seem like: Ah, consequences for me but not for thee so why bother even trying to go after someone if I'll just get fucked over instead.

2. The MOP is but one faction of issues but it is a faction that is mired by red-tape and low morale. This has been stated before but I think this needs to get pushed forward again: The progress of the MOP is not measured in hours or even days but weeks and more likely months. The Balance with that is supposed to be that the MOP is tasked with introducing new technology and concepts to the server. The things we want to do are constantly kicked back or given roadblocks, even in the case of the sewer beast where we were specifically told to play second fiddle to the CWU and our attempts to work with them were usually met with: "Management is busy but we will let them know you came by" followed by zero follow up to the point we finally start doing our own thing because no one is willing to interact with us but will still accuse the MOP of just wanting to "do our own thing".

damn... guy just fixed all of MOPs issues in one go. A lot of potential to do some experimental testing on people due to the radiation. (Chopping arms off and giving them lucky block drugs).

As if on queue, something like this pops up and literally proves the point of how badly people just don't understand the MOP and want to subjectively claim what is or isn't stupid while having no practical experience with the group itself. Study radiation? Guys, if we wanted to study radiation from another block here's what would happen:

- Start going around with suits and Geiger counters to find radiation hotspots.
- Get stopped and beat by the CPs for wearing radiation suits regardless of pre-approvals.
- We will have zero patients with radiation sickness and if we DO get them, the CMU will come in and yell that we're taking their patients and forbid us from seeing them this has happened multiple times before.
- Attempts to "Study" the radiation will not get fleshed out because no GM will be willing to respond to anything we do thus leaving us to what we interpret from things.
- Get called "stupid" because no one likes the direction or degree of our study, even if its something as simple as anti-radiation pills. In this example, we'd get shit on by the CMU and the Administration who would tell us that oh, this isn't necessary or oh, the only people who need this are in the slums so we're not using this as has happened before.
- Then we're back to the last step of people going: "Man, the MOP only works on stupid shit and never produces anything, why do we have them?"

My end-state is as follows: You can't continually take-take-take on a tone deaf scale and expect players to want to continue to mess around with a broken system that doesn't let them even take a step forward little less "win". There's the idea that people need to be knocked down a peg and pushing people off the ladder, beating them with it, then withholding the ladder for future use.

 

[Ket]

- Get called "stupid" because no one likes the direction or degree of our study, even if its something as simple as anti-radiation pills. In this example, we'd get shit on by the CMU and the Administration who would tell us that oh, this isn't necessary or oh, the only people who need this are in the slums so we're not using this as has happened before.

Please give one example of when the MOP provided a potential scientific research study to the current Administration and it was thrown back in your face please !

 

[Armenian Union]

1. The larger issues with the server are measured in the constant face kicking being issued out by the larger people at the top who, through attrition and not just one single action, continually push the player-base down over and over again to the point it invalidates their own IC agenda. As it was posted earlier, the reason why the sweep of loyalists, for example, was so broad is because it "Helped clean house" and will apparently help locate the loyalists that actually want to be there... Like the ones who bothered to show up for the meeting in the first place? We keep asking people to claw their way back up, over and over and over again so that they can just touch the same spot they were in and then we're wondering why they stop bothering all of the sudden. In this specific example, I am not saying that parts of the party shouldn't have been cut off but if you're going to literally hack apart the loyalist party, don't expect the participation to be strong because it leaves the impression of: "Oh, I can get blamed and removed even if I am doing everything correctly and then I get fucked over."

Hard disagree

I'll be more blunt here.

Perhaps your view of the loyalist community has been obscured by your absence from it. Please point me to a situation where loyalists were given a "face kicking". None of them have; they've all sat very comfortably profiting off of doing nothing, inside the party with their status (Directors excluded). I can sit here and drag a bunch of people's names through the mud, but I'm not going to.

This was a broad purge agreed upon by the relevant people, Administration and such.

Like the ones who bothered to show up for the meeting in the first place?

I didn't realise attending meetings all of a sudden made you a perfect loyalist. Showing up to something that's part of what your job is shouldn't get you a medal.

We keep asking people to claw their way back up

Never happened in the loyalist party, as I've already said, no one in that community has ever experienced that bar like Emiyo Marcum prior to my purge.

In this specific example, I am not saying that parts of the party shouldn't have been cut off but if you're going to literally hack apart the loyalist party, don't expect the participation to be strong

A broad strike was favoured, and it seems to have proven my point that most people do not care to join the party, as I've had zero appeals to rejoin or any act of political manoeuvring to try and get back in. The refusal to roleplay out the consequences is entirely down to you. Just know it's not getting you back into the party.

"Oh, I can get blamed and removed even if I am doing everything correctly and then I get fucked over."

An IC reason had to be given, would you prefer it to be an OOC exchange of "lol goodbye"? It tied in nicely with the events in-game at the time and fit with my character. How you take it is how you take it.

I invite you to discuss this in my DMs if you want to talk about it further or want more explanation.

 

[Medi]

Please give one example of when the MOP provided a potential scientific research study to the current Administration and it was thrown back in your face please !

1. My first research project for a statistical study.
2. The research study about a black goo like substance that was shut down by the GMs not continuing that arc.
3. EXTEL.

 

[Medi]

Hard disagree

I'll be more blunt here.

Perhaps your view of the loyalist community has been obscured by your absence from it. Please point me to a situation where loyalists were given a "face kicking". None of them have; they've all sat very comfortably profiting off of doing nothing, inside the party with their status (Directors excluded). I can sit here and drag a bunch of people's names through the mud, but I'm not going to.

This was a broad purge agreed upon by the relevant people, Administration and such.


I didn't realise attending meetings all of a sudden made you a perfect loyalist. Showing up to something that's part of what your job is shouldn't get you a medal.

Never happened in the loyalist party, as I've already said, no one in that community has ever experienced that bar like Emiyo Marcum prior to my purge.

A broad strike was favoured, and it seems to have proven my point that most people do not care to join the party, as I've had zero appeals to rejoin or any act of political manoeuvring to try and get back in. The refusal to roleplay out the consequences is entirely down to you. Just know it's not getting you back into the party.

An IC reason had to be given, would you prefer it to be an OOC exchange of "lol goodbye"? It tied in nicely with the events in-game at the time and fit with my character. How you take it is how you take it.

I invite you to discuss this in my DMs if you want to talk about it further or want more explanation.

This complaint puts the loyalist part as a small part of a larger issue, not a soul issue in of itself but I addressed these issues already despite the disagreement. Again, this is a larger picture of the average player- not just the loyalist party.

Though what appeals are you expecting? You just pushed everyone out the door after chewing them out, ICly that doesn't make sense that you'd expect people to come crawling back since you made it clear that "I know you didn't have anything to do with the IC situation I am claiming to kick you out over but..." so the message was clear that you were kicking people out to kick people out. Who in their right mind would expect that you'd suddenly do a 180 and just let people back in if they asked nicely? Where have you made that obvious to anyone? Not here to argue you with you on this point as this isn't the bulk of the argument but I feel like expectations between the top and bottom are entirely askew here which is the point of this whole complaint.

 

[Ket]

1. My first research project for a statistical study.
2. The research study about a black goo like substance that was shut down by the GMs not continuing that arc.
3. EXTEL.

Do you mean Administration in terms of server admins or the actual IC faction representing the top? I'm confused here. If you mean the first, then I suppose I've no idea what you're on about as it never got to me (I'm not important), but if you meant the IC Administrative body then I also have no idea what you mean as it never got to me

 

[Medi]

Do you mean Administration in terms of server admins or the actual IC faction representing the top? I'm confused here. If you mean the first, then I suppose I've no idea what you're on about as it never got to me (I'm not important), but if you meant the IC Administrative body then I also have no idea what you mean as it never got to me

TBH, most of our projects get shut down OOCly first and the few that squeak by, like EXTEL, then get shut down by some entity like the MCP. The statistical study was broached but shot down as being "Not important enough" to my memory.

 

[Armenian Union]

"I know you didn't have anything to do with the IC situation I am claiming to kick you out over but..."

No drive, no want to roleplay.

Like I said, not the whole crutch of your point so my DMs are open if you want to discuss it further.

 

[NanCi_]

Hey medi. I dont want to spoiler you but I joined the MOP maybe a month ago or so. I was paired up to one of the femchars as a junior researcher who was working on tasers. After the first day I kept begging / asking for work , the next time i did see said femchar they said they were busy. A month goes by and im standing next to the only MOP researcher which was zeropants. Its a shame I couldn't join his projects due to my trip to london.

The faction has like 3 guys "active" and the people that you are paired with come on once in a lifetime. Though I gotta be real. Tasers? Why do we need to develop tasers? We have a stunbaton. I don't its that hard that you need a whole MOP research group (or like 2 researchers at most) even touching the case.

"
Start going around with suits and Geiger counters to find radiation hotspots.
- Get stopped and beat by the CPs for wearing radiation suits regardless of pre-approvals.
- We will have zero patients with radiation sickness and if we DO get them, the CMU will come in and yell that we're taking their patients and forbid us from seeing them this has happened multiple times before.
- Attempts to "Study" the radiation will not get fleshed out because no GM will be willing to respond to anything we do thus leaving us to what we interpret from things.
- Get called "stupid" because no one likes the direction or degree of our study, even if its something as simple as anti-radiation pills. In this example, we'd get shit on by the CMU and the Administration who would tell us that oh, this isn't necessary or oh, the only people who need this are in the slums so we're not using this as has happened before.
- Then we're back to the last step of people going: "Man, the MOP only works on stupid shit and never produces anything, why do we have them?""

All of these things just mean you can't communicate with people or work with people.
CWU on most cases warn CPs of whats happening. If yall start walking around in lead pajamas ofcourse you'll get beat infact you should be beat. okay... if you did get pre approvals report the CPs because you are basically getting bullied for doing the right thing. Black marks do exist though you will probably get shot in the foot for doing so lmao.

If there is something like "radiation sickness studies" or "research" then simply get CPs or even better communicate with the chairman / MCPs or make a legislation about CMUs capabilities during an MOP research trial. If they keep getting in your way you might as well break said doctors legs. Show him some punishment or SOMETHING.

If its not necessary because anti rad pills are a fucking real thing made in Russia (Obviously for thyroids but still).

If you do get called stupid and unnecesary... why not... think about it? If they dont allow Trial A to happen why not have a Trial B thats a false trial to get A inside of B. Idk man maybe its not how that works and being secretive about your doings just dont exist in a evil faction that works for the combines good.

 

[NanCi_]

Also if we will speak about how to roleplay and get MOP with a stronger spine... why not communicate with the chairman and make a bs role that has full power to ignore the other directors when it comes to your case studies. Im just thinkin maybe im retarded maybe im somewhat... maybe a good idea

 

[Medi]

Hey medi. I dont want to spoiler you but I joined the MOP maybe a month ago or so. I was paired up to one of the femchars as a junior researcher who was working on tasers. After the first day I kept begging / asking for work , the next time i did see said femchar they said they were busy. A month goes by and im standing next to the only MOP researcher which was zeropants. Its a shame I couldn't join his projects due to my trip to london.

The faction has like 3 guys "active" and the people that you are paired with come on once in a lifetime. Though I gotta be real. Tasers? Why do we need to develop tasers? We have a stunbaton. I don't its that hard that you need a whole MOP research group (or like 2 researchers at most) even touching the case.

"
Start going around with suits and Geiger counters to find radiation hotspots.
- Get stopped and beat by the CPs for wearing radiation suits regardless of pre-approvals.
- We will have zero patients with radiation sickness and if we DO get them, the CMU will come in and yell that we're taking their patients and forbid us from seeing them this has happened multiple times before.
- Attempts to "Study" the radiation will not get fleshed out because no GM will be willing to respond to anything we do thus leaving us to what we interpret from things.
- Get called "stupid" because no one likes the direction or degree of our study, even if its something as simple as anti-radiation pills. In this example, we'd get shit on by the CMU and the Administration who would tell us that oh, this isn't necessary or oh, the only people who need this are in the slums so we're not using this as has happened before.
- Then we're back to the last step of people going: "Man, the MOP only works on stupid shit and never produces anything, why do we have them?""

All of these things just mean you can't communicate with people or work with people.
CWU on most cases warn CPs of whats happening. If yall start walking around in lead pajamas ofcourse you'll get beat infact you should be beat. okay... if you did get pre approvals report the CPs because you are basically getting bullied for doing the right thing. Black marks do exist though you will probably get shot in the foot for doing so lmao.

If there is something like "radiation sickness studies" or "research" then simply get CPs or even better communicate with the chairman / MCPs or make a legislation about CMUs capabilities during an MOP research trial. If they keep getting in your way you might as well break said doctors legs. Show him some punishment or SOMETHING.

If its not necessary because anti rad pills are a fucking real thing made in Russia (Obviously for thyroids but still).

If you do get called stupid and unnecesary... why not... think about it? If they dont allow Trial A to happen why not have a Trial B thats a false trial to get A inside of B. Idk man maybe its not how that works and being secretive about your doings just dont exist in a evil faction that works for the combines good.

We know how to communicate and we HAVE communicated even to captaincy levels before where we've explained what we're doing, shown the approvals both IC and OOC, but when that captain logs off- then it's a "No harm no foul" to the CPs who in their lane are "doing their jobs" because no one told them that it was all approved. Are we supposed to hand out fliers? We can put in requests letting people know we're doing things but I expect to get SC reduced for "Misuse of a Request Device" more than anything.

We can talk to whoever we want but the issue of communication isn't just "MOP doesn't talk to people" it's "MOP is low priority to me thus I don't pass on their messages". Additionally, the MOP is the ONE faction that keeps getting kicked back by the administration and MCP behind closed doors. Everyone thinks we're "stupid" and "not doing anything" but meanwhile we're getting oocly told: "No, you're not allowed to do that" and "If you do that in anyway there will be reprocussions".

We're not dumb. We understand how the scientific method works and how to reword things, but when you have MCP icly pushing anything you do down while Admins are OOCly pushing you down, why are you going to do? Tell me and explain to me how we work around these hurdles? I'm aware of Anti-Radiation sickness iodine based tablets and such and the effects of chelation. Doesn't matter what I do or don't know if I am told ICly and OOCly that I can't do it.

Edit: Additional point. We're continually told "No" before or midway through work but we're rarely told WHY it's a no. So there are a bunch of secret criteria that we are supposed to OOCly figure out to make our research work but what is it? No idea.

 

[Eviction Notice]

- Get stopped and beat by the CPs for wearing radiation suits regardless of pre-approvals.

I'm not going to engage with your complaints if you in-turn are going to come out with a shameless strawman about the Civil Protection faction. You ask and if the reasoning isn't completely stupid, you'll get permissions.

You need to remember that the Combine work on a surveillance-state: they can't let someone just wander around in a full hazmat for an unknown reason.

 

[Medi]

I'm not going to engage with your complaints if you in-turn are going to come out with a shameless strawman about the Civil Protection faction. You ask and if the reasoning isn't completely stupid, you'll get permissions.

You need to remember that the Combine work on a surveillance-state: they can't let someone just wander around in a full hazmat for an unknown reason.

See last statement from me. Similar events have happened before with authorization.

 

[Lord Beckett]

Funny how you complain about people killing RP. Remember when MOP members called in Summit 24 to ruin everyone's RP in i24? Hm... curious...

There are many, many reasons people do not like the faction.

 

[TheGamingPlumber]

Funny how you complain about people killing RP. Remember when MOP members called in Summit 24 to ruin everyone's RP in i24? Hm... curious...

There are many, many reasons people do not like the faction.

​

 

[ford-michigan]

I will throw in some stuff because I was in the faction. Sometimes things would just stop, like the sewer arc and all that in the last version of the map. Or with terminal seven after waiting a few weeks I had to ICly go and ask about the zombie project and I got told a response of 'we saw nothing so it is chalked'. I made a hot suit for terminal seven and even made some script versions for CWU, they did not use them at all during the blizzard. The only real progress I got was the repair of the nuclear power plant in terminal seven and part of the drone idea (with the power plant people ICly and OOCly were starting to go with it and make plans), but then we switched maps so it was moot. I then pursued my idea for a research reactor in 24, but then I get the response of it being silly or out of place, even though I know the subject and I had written documents detailing my plans and ideas in full. I also sensed some issues from within, not a complete drag on Cengiz but at times he seemed a bit behind in what I was talking about, but for most of them I got clarification after. Another thing is the structure, we have no visible roster now so we can't check who is on and off, people were hired in mass but I see almost nothing being done, even worse some of the project ideas seem to be filler. I can get soda with chemical stuff for combine things, but then pepper spray... really? That already exists. I feel like a good change would be to reinstate the ideas of Marco with regards to quality and RP engagement over quantity. And a last note to MOP and others, if an idea seems abstract and silly, ask about why it would be a good idea, don't just assume it won't work out and don't try it at all. And if you are having OOC trouble figuring out a subject, ask to understand. And to people making projects with very complicated terms, make some definitions or a summery. Also to Rabbit, if when I was doing stuff you got OOC flak or pushback for it, tell me.

 

[Malic]

I'm still not sure what's silly or out of place about a nuclear reactor. Especially a research reactor. Presumably the problem of local teleportation is one of the Combine still trying to determine the bounds of Earthly reality and its physics. A test reactor (or maybe a particle accelerator of some kind, which could have been a potential detour to this project rather than a wall) could have made great strides in determining how teleportation works.

Honestly the nuclear reactor was peak anyway purely because the conversation pitching it at that one loyalist gathering at Terminal 7 was one of the top 5 funniest Willard conversations I ever got to listen in on, but that's besides the point.

What would happen if you started chucking crystal shards inside a nuclear reactor? Nobody knows!

Based on this thread and what I've seen over the years it seems like the MoP keeps running into walls when they could be running into speedbumps or detours.

I would like for everyone here to at least agree that the north star of this conversation is how best to improve the faction and its connection with the rest of the server.

 

[Kamilisha Haijulikani]

People have or had been complaining that the MOP was not evil enough, that perhaps I need to change how my minister thinks. For this reason I changed the character sitting in the minister position, making them more antagonistic from the word go. After sending two relay messages and barely RPing with this character on the main server, MCP muscle in and demand I see them about insubordination towards the regent. This then lead on to not my character being given threats, but the entire ministry of progress faction at large instead.

Just to give some context: you apparently insulted the Vice-Regent with your minister the day after you first displayed public insubordination and disrespect towards Orwell by dismissing his orders and requesting that he, the City Administrator equivalent, schedule a meeting with you instead if the request was worth fulfilling.

This, and the earlier offence, was perceived as humiliating by the administration since it involved publicly quarrelling with and undermining Orwell's command, positioning him in a difficult position to reply publicly to the detriment of his stature, the city's top official, in front of the Security Council responsible for electing that official. That came across as unacceptable to the administration, who referred the instance to the MCP.

You want an evil faction, yet when confronted with such an idea you elect to send in MCP to kick those ideas down and over escalate the conflict beyond a reasonable scope, further compounding the general upset and disgruntled mindsets of the players within the faction.

The CCA, at least, doesn't mind whether the MOP is evil. You can be the CWU, which is run by regular citizens, while still being morally bankrupt without deliberately being evil. Regardless, that's not the issue here. I don't see how the MCP reprimanding you affects the creativity or ideas of your faction if, by reprimanding, all they did was tell you to listen to Orwell and not embarrass the regime by rejecting Orwell publicly.

From what I understand MCP are there to deal with internal affairs, the internal affairs of civil protection, not the administration.

They, alongside Overwatch, hold the administration accountable while simultaneously legitimizing and enforcing its rule. The alternative in this instance was Overwatch, which realistically would've censored your message before it was transmitted.

I was expecting role play from Orwell or Valente, for them to confront me themselves with their own idea's or threats, not for the MCP to take full control behind the scenes with little to no role play on the main server to back it up.

You disrespected both, so I doubt any of them had the courtesy to address an unruly and insubordinate Minister who should answer to Orwell and Valente, not themselves.

This leads me to question whether or not I want to continue playing an antagonistic character, if the only way you feel a resolution can be found is to send MCP in my direction, or worse overwatch soldiers.

You can play an antagonistic character, but if you're going to be subversive to authority publicly, then you're going to be told off privately to avoid disgracing the Administrator, especially in a hierarchically rigid regime like City Twenty-Four's.

The City Administrator shouldn't need to reproach a rogue and publicly insubordinate minister in person when they have the personnel to do it for them, either. That's Overwatch & the MCP's job.

Having to divest from their duties to address an unruly Minister only detracts from the City Administrator's position as the powerful head of the city, a perception of formidability and authority that doesn't need questioning in character.

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I get this is only a small part of your criticisms, but please understand that this incident was done fully in character for actions your character did that ran contrary to (your) expectations. Taking this to the forums and pinning this as the fault of the MCP, CCA, 'politics, bureaucratic red-tape,' etc., is unnecessary and slightly disparaging because what happened was ultimately due to what slight of words your character spoke repeatedly.

 

[Kamilisha Haijulikani]

Also, the thing that really breaks the MOP (imo) is the lack of devwork and its overambitious, lore-conflicting expectations, something that unfortunately does not meet the reality of our setting and or server with its limited dev-resources and Willard's lore parameters as an HL2RP-based server. At their root, I'm sure a bunch of the MOP's current perceived failures fall into these two categories, with something deemed either too ambitious and conflicting with the server and Half-Life's lore or simply lacking the proper devwork to follow any ambitious ideas through to their end.

Otherwise, it's a research-based faction without any of the results. That's my impression, at least. Regarding the CCA stymying MOP research, no research project outside of the nuclear reactor one and the i24 infestation stuff has ever been brought to my attention as CCA lead, IC or out, so I think any blame on the CCA there is likely misplaced. We've been involved in other incidents, like the aforementioned minister stuff, but nothing that'd actually stymie its research wing or capabilities as a faction.