CCA/Political arc complaints thread

[Hayden]

This is a thread made with the purpose of getting full transparency regarding people's opinion on the arc in a structured and constructive manner. Server Council will be looking over this thread tomorrow (Sunday) during a planned meeting which we are all so very excited for.

As such, please try to be honest with your opinions, and elaborate where you can. If you feel that there's no player agency, elaborate on why you think that. If you don't want to take part in the arc anymore, elaborate on why that's the case. This is to avoid any misinterpretations on your wording.

Ofcourse, please try to avoid metabait/metagame where possible. And try to be constructive - offer suggestions to fix the concerns you have.

I will be moderating this thread to make sure it stays on track and doesn't turn into a back and forth or devolve into needless hostility.



Also yes I am aware there was a feedback thread sent out but the structuring of those threads are typically ass and they don't allow for any constructive, meaningful conversation between involved parties.

 

[Parsil]

Good morning. I fell sick last night so apologies in advance if my snot filled sinuses make this hard to read.

I will try to paraphrase what I submitted in the google forms document in as constructive of a manner possible, as was requested. As with the rest my fellow loyalist mains, the last thing I want is for this drama to go on any further.

I'll start off with a disclaimer, which is actually quite relevant to the discussion: I haven't played Willard in weeks. Not since the SeCon meeting with the green alien apparition. I've continued my artist work in the MoE on Discord, but have not logged on at all, on either of my three new characters. This makes me less knowledgeable on IC events, but from what I can read in the Discord and surmise based on rumors, arguments and shitposts, it's already a handful.

Instead, I'd like to talk about the structural issues with this political arc. While player actions and/or player agency (or lack thereof) doomed this arc, the issues with it went far beyond Political Group X doing stuff that Political Group Y doesn't like. A month or so before the server re-opened, and I heard through the grapevine that we were going to go back to City 24, it immediately piqued my interest. My first love was City 24 after all. Immediately, I asked: "Oh, cool! Are we finally resetting the timeline, then?". As it turns out, it wasn't. Which already left me puzzled. The reconstruction of City 24 is already an unlikely event, but to lead back to the topic of the CCA, why would the Combine ever bring back their past lackeys to do a job they originally failed at?

I was there when the bombs were crashing down on i24, right next to Orwell. We were being told, and shown, that we had failed. We had disappointed Our Benefactors and those held responsible would be dealt with. Indeed, shortly after Oda broadcasted his last words, a Transhuman Soldier came to pick Orwell up. We heard a short argument, then a couple shots, and then radio silence. It fit the narrative. It made sense. It was, frankly, completely justified in-character. City 24 had fallen off so much, not through foreign meddling, invasion (not counting the antlion arc), no. It rotted away from the inside. And this was fine! It was the last, dying breath of the previous jewel of the west, and we were ready, both IC and OOC, to move to other cities.

This set the precedent for two things:
1. Life is cheap under Combine rule, even for its supporters. This has always been the case, and I got to test it out myself when I tried ending democracy in Terminal 7 a few months later.
2. The Combine, when faced with an issue that their civilian functionaries can't solve, resorts to destroying everything in their path.

The next few maps, even our brief stint in the outlands, were pretty enjoyable. Really, even with some missteps (Yakuza arc just to name the first that sticks out in my mind), I liked the dynamism that the community displayed. Being moved everywhere fit both the story and universe. Then, as I said before, I got my character killed, and took a brief break while I awaited the next map change. My interest in the aforementioned return to 24 quickly peaked after the first announcement, but everything that followed made it just as quickly nosedive down as I found myself, to put it mildly, not enjoying myself at all.

With the relevant background out of the way, let's move on to the current issues we are facing. Let's start off with the simple truth: Orwell's egocentric shenanigans are a tired, uninteresting trope that, along with his character, should've been left in the rubble. The move to Autocracy, especially after the chaos that was "managed democracy" in T7, was a logical move that I actually welcome. But this is not the way to do it. Autocracy doesn't mean you get to act like you're a comic book villain, making everyone wear the same clothes like cheerleaders, take redundant personalistic oaths of loyalty all just because "you're evil". No one is purely evil, not even dictators, real or imagined, and they're certainly not as comically evil as him, or any of the people that supported him.

I mean nothing against Atle when I say this, by the way. I'm sure, in his mind, his character had his reasons to act the way he does (or did, I'm actually not sure if he's dead right now. Again, haven't played in a while). This is how Orwell's actions appear to the regular player. Even if he hadn't been killed in i24 like I assumed, even if the rest of the ministers that make up the City Regency were all reinstated by the relevant authorities, they should not act the way they do. As I had hoped was established with the past arcs, if the Combine finds you a liability, they just kill you. And that's fine! For someone to claw their way back to power after quite honestly "fumbling the bag", especially to one of the (formerly) most important positions in the world, takes a LOT of concessions. And it doesn't look that way at all. Sitting in my first and only SeCon session, seeing people rail against each other only to then vote unanimously in favor of The Regime, doesn't make me intrigued. It doesn't make the political atmosphere interesting. It doesn't make for a good environment to proselytize in. It makes me bored. It makes me wish that we weren't in City 24 at all, or at the very least, we had some fresh leadership, with new narratives to bring to LoyalistRP. And while this last sentence was regarding the characters and not the players behind them, the issues in this arc stem from the entire OOC circumstances that spawned it.

I'm saddened that I had to make this post. Really, I am. I'm not one to complain on the forums, Discord, or at all. I like to keep things IC and have deliberately avoided OOC drama anywhere, even for things that I helped cause (see Farmouth Coup and consequences). I have stayed in this community, and its loyalist scene, for almost four years now. I've stayed here and not moved on to other things because Willard makes me feel stuff that no other roleplay server or community has ever managed to do: make me feel humanity itself. And this arc did not feel human. It felt like tired, outdated tropes being dragged back into the main server out of desperation, trying so hard to make a flawed concept work, and as expected, failing miserably.

In conclusion, and to really drive the point home:

The current CCA Arc is uncharacteristic of the Combine and its Loyalist supporters. It hinges on flawed, contradictive lore and locations, and is generally unfun to participate, navigate and/or spectate in.

I hope I've come off as constructive in this post. I genuinely and with a heavy heart wish for all this to end. I hate drama and I hate stirring it, and I'm glad this post and the google forms poll exists to make our opinions heard.

Thank you for reading. Hail Breen. And get me out of this city.

 

[CreekMando]

It's evident that this arc was made to hinge around Orwell.

So, what now?

 

[dubik15]

My main complaint is that all these new chars who were made only a few months back get a bunch of high ranking positions while others who have been around for a very long time don't.

 

[HOKI]

Not a big fan of political arcs because of how exclusionary they can be; they put the focus on high-tier loyalist/CCA RP, in turn neglecting citizens (for the most part). Moreover, I saw snippets of arguments saying that some things are set in stone to happen regardless of player input, which I think its not cool, but maybe it's changed.

No point in reiterating what Parsil already said. I agree with most of their points. I think something new has to be done, and that it has to focus on the citizens, rather than high-tier loyalists and CCA.

 

[ItsLiam]

To start out this entire unnecessary yapping session from me, I'd like to first put in a disclaimer. Disclaimer: In no way am I attacking anyone, this is all meant to be taken as criticism that can be used to enhance people's Roleplay experience. I hope you all understand that my views are from my own perspective, and from those I talk closely to.

Now, with that out of the way:

The CCA Arc and its failings for the common Citizen. From the perspective of a citizen, one that logs on Willard, could be within Tier-1 to Tier-3, has no real 'loyalty' to either side and just want to Roleplay out as a neutral faction, there is absolutely nothing within this arc that actually enhances their Roleplay. There is nothing going on for them, all they know is that things are happening, they don't see anything, they don't 'meet' any important figures, and they don't get to engage with anything. Sure, you can use the argument that these people chose to be neutral, that they didn't have these 'wild ideas' that those local characters did have and that they chose to stay out of the loop. However, this is just tone deaf in so many ways. People who have been around for a long time, and played a citizen character have had months, if not years of character development going into their character. They would not randomly have these crazy political ideas, and have these characters that are centered around this specific arc that was trying to be made. The arc has failed to include an important part of Willard into its core, and that is the fact that characters are made through months of development, not through writing an application from an out of character perspective. I understand the point the people in the arc are trying to make, that these characters (Meta-Dynamists & Hyper-Republicans) have had these things, not handed to them, but given through their extensive work. However, this is just another part of these characters being made especially for this, with nothing else in mind. We saw how this all failed, when (I hope we can all agree on this) the meta-dynamists used a throwaway character from a friend of theirs to assassinate a political adversary. We saw how this all failed when these characters have nothing else going for them besides their political views. Nobody has any attachment to them, nobody really cares about them, and why? Because they are simply not memorable characters to people, because they don't interact with anyone other than the 'main figures' of this arc, the CCA. What, in my opinion, made my own character so strong in the political scene, is the fact that he has been around for about a year now, has made meaningful friendships with characters, he has been around every kind of person, and has tried to do things. This made my character memorable to people, people would rally behind my character because he has had months, if not years of development with others. Other characters like this include Emiyo Marcum, Michael Yards, Eleanor Marchand, Jonathan Douglas, all of these characters have been around for years, with Emiyo for about 5+ now, and Douglas about 3.​ The arc did nothing to make something for these people, for example. For the people who have had to deal with so much things for such a long time. Sure, you can say that; 'Hey, we all tried to make something for you, see how your character (Watima Nakata) is easily able to become Chairman, and see how RedHot's character (Emiyo Marcum) became Vice Administrator), but once again, you're being tone-deaf. This brings me to my next point:

How a scripted story is bad for any engagement. Since we all know this entire arc is scripted, anything we do in the meantime of this arc will only make us a bigger target for when, inevitably, the 'old guard' returns back to their powers, through whatever means. Why should we, from an OOC standpoint, want to involve ourselves in this arc when we know anything we will do will just be a 'bigger mess for the new Administration to clean up'. You're basically saying that, sure, currently we can have fun, we can do this-that-this-that, whatever... However, no matter what you do, it doesn't matter, because in the end it will all be undone. The more you do, will only make you a bigger target because it will be more annoying to clean up. It is absolutely demotivating, and may I even say heart-breaking to hear from the writers of this arc that it just doesn't matter, nothing we do matter, and we simply have to deal with it. For example, I try to make points about this arc, and how I disagree with it, and I instantly get threatened with a perm-ban from the Discord. Or people are just being dicks to me, and saying it's all an 'Echo-Chamber'. I'm not going to further engage in any of this, but just know that it's all just contributing to a less-than-fortunate situation for anyone involved. I've already decided to step away from Political Roleplay from an OOC perspective considering what has been going on. I can't enjoy it in any way knowing that my efforts are futile, because the writers of this arc have decided we need to get from point A, to point B, and that's it. We can take 500 de-routes, sure, but we will get to point B no matter what. The Half-Life 2 universe is an amazing piece of fiction, made by the industries most gifted writers, and we are wasting everything that was made, every piece of story knotted together by the writers of this beautiful game, on making a political arc with a singular outcome. I'm sorry that I'm being harsh here, but it is absolutely sad to see that some of the community's most gifted writers were bullied away, only for this to come out of it.

Was going to write more but I got so insanely demotivated by something happening that I decided to post this. TLDR: use chatgpt or smth

 

[Atom]

What liam said is true. I'm not into the scene but it's clear something is gonna happen scripted and it will all be back like it was. I want it to be actually player controlled.

 

[Processed_Grain]

As a core proponent of this Arc, I think it's important for me to get my two cents in here. I'll keep it at least somewhat short and try my best not to attack any players.

Now, I'd like to say first that, compared to a lot of other people here, my experience in political roleplay is comparatively lesser. I got my first taste of the political scene back in I24, a far different place to start compared to the people who've been dabbling in it since the Futurist movement was still kicking. So, to me at least, this whole 'Orwell Fascist Autocracy' thing seemed like a much bigger breath of fresh air than what some others might have thought. So keep that in mind.

With that out of the way I'd like to start with a statement that many would consider controversial;

The Average Citizen Doesn't Want To Interact With A Arc

Everyone talks about how "Arcs fail because they don't involve the citizenry enough", however you'd be hard-pressed to find a solution that doesn't involve some vague answer such as "Let the players make it themselves" Some people are complaining because the Arc simply has a script, and isn't 100% player made. However.

If you looked at the average player from Tier-0 to Tier-4, you'd find that about 75% do not actually care for any prevailing narratives. They do not care for giving roleplay to others, instead, caring about Social Credits, Workshifts, Rations, and Status. These people do not make their own roleplay, they simply adapt to the environment, reacting as things happen and choosing the side that gets them closer to whatever goal they're looking for. This is the natural state of most roleplay on the server without intervention. You cannot keep the 'Citizen' solely in mind in these things. It's more complicated then that.

Some of these aforementioned players got mad during this Arc because the Metadynamists and Hyper-Republicans were quote unquote "Handed power out of nowhere" using "Characters specifically made for this." They clamor, saying that they should have been given an inn into power instead.

My rebuttal?

Why didn't you do so instead?

And then it hit me.

You did. Because we made you.

In my time as the leader of the Metadynamist Forum, I quickly came to realize that, even when given the prompt to, the average player will not interact with an Arc. They prefer to stagnate. They do not take risks. If given the choice, they'd rather be a clerk in some shop on Victory Street with a blue armband until the literal end of time.

At any point, could a member of the Civil Workers Party take initiative and try talking to the Administration, Marcum to do more politicking and get more power, or for Stephanie Roberts to come out of the blue with plans of a whole new political project since they seem so keen on throwing out any idea of a script and relying solely on 'Player Agency'.

But they didn't.

It was up to us, and our small, Metadynamik ''Schizo Quest Crypto-Fascist Group Number 314'' to give this Arc some agency. So we did it using the only method we knew how. Antagonize.

We made the Metadynamist Forum the most aggressive political movement on the server. We forcefully annexed the Imperial Ascension Binder and made all of their old members de-facto political prisoners. We had every new Metadynamist put their name on a contract that signed away their political rights to Leonard Reiter. We tricked Orwell into giving us a blank check to make the 'Everyman Provision' so we could harass political opposition and 'keep an eye' on the Hyper-Republicans, hiring citizens off of the street with promises of future political gain and getting them involved with the Arc.

If you want to convince some nobody to interact with an Arc, you need to punch them in the face. You need to evict them from their comfort zone and make them act in self-preservation. The majority of players cannot be trusted to have 'Player Agency' or to make their own roleplay. That, is why we are here, to help them along from the upper-echelons of power.

I must also add that, for all the flak he gets for his role Orwell did succeed in this too. While I'm not personally a fan of the lore implications, cliché nature, and the whole "City 13 hate" dynamic which many are ready to put to rest, he did actually get people to start doing things.

By all accounts? This worked. We succeeded in making neutral, level headed characters into yelling "LEONARD REITER IS A CRIMINAL" in the middle of Security Council meetings. People who normally never would have interacted with politics suddenly were die-hard Hyper-Republicans or Coalitionists.

Up until the Administrator Elections, this Arc was, in my opinion, well played out. Things were happening and I think we did a pretty good job given the conditions.

And this is where the problem starts to arise.

The Problem

I'm going to ignore Orwell (Be honest, you could replace him with any other Autocratic 'Regent' character and it'd make no difference) and focus on the loyalist side exclusively.

If you want an Arc that revolves exclusively around City Politics, you need a very strong political scene.

Willard does not have that right now.

Willard, has a Collaborators Party filled 3/4's with people who are only there for the OOC status of being a Tier-4. Willard has a Collaborators Party made up of nepotism and sheer self-importance. Willard has a Collaborators Party filled with people who, have openly stated they do not care for political roleplay.

And so, when you give said people the chance to guarantee their safety and to wipe their opposition off the map, as was the case with the election of Rajko, you end up back at Square One, where the Arc is now.

Aftermath Stagnation. The 'Good Guys' won with an overwhelming vote, and the majority of the voters are now too scared to do anything because they're afraid of reprisal from Orwell since he'll apparently get back into power at some point (No clue on how they're gonna pull that off, especially considering the fact his only 'supporters' were killed on the day of the C.A. Elections).

Solution?

I'm not on the ground myself anymore ever since my death, however, I suppose I have a few "General Ideas" on how to do something like this better in the future.

• The Head-Ministry needs to take a more hands-on, while also non-scripted approach. While on one hand, this whole weird Rajko-pseudo-administration that's also going to end in a month sucks. Your everyday loyalist cannot be trusted to take initiative. The people upstairs need to find a way to strike a balance.
  
  
• The Security Council needs much higher, possibly OOC-upheld standards in regards to who joins. Too many people of poor quality who treat it like a social club manage to get in. This could very well be an IC issue but, again, you could say that about anything else here.
  
  
• More cohesive thought put in regarding the lore implications of Arcs like these. Parsil put it best.

Someone else in the thread suggested we move away from political Arcs due to their 'exclusionary' nature. The problem here is that the more you generalize an Arc for the whole server, the more generalized and less in-depth it gets. Nobody wants another Infestation/Antlion Arc.

I think, if done right, a CCA Arc can be extremely interesting, and provide more capacity for player made roleplay than any other kind of "Arc".

Thoughts

Kudos to the people who managed to keep this Arc interesting despite everything. Including @Curbalas who, is just about the last player standing in government with an actual plan to make something happen.

Maybe I'll be UnPKed just as I recommended with Vivienne. Maybe not. (By the way, she's in 'Recovery' for 8 gunshots in the back of the head. I have a bit of a problem regarding anyone who believes that you can half-ass this kind of thing. You either take it as it is, or void it all. No in-betweens.)

I tried speaking out all my concerns in a constructive manner in this post. I will edit this after I wake up. Thank you for reading.

TLDR? Wipe the slate clean.

 

[ramen]

I don’t think we allowed Orwell to be comically evil enough, and he was ousted too soon.

My 2 cents

 

[Processed_Grain]

I don’t think we allowed Orwell to be comically evil enough, and he was ousted too soon.

My 2 cents

For what was attempted to be portrayed as a draconian fascistic rule on Orwell's part, he didn't really offer up much resistance before Rajko was made Administrator.

 

[ItsLiam]

Blaming the playerbase instead of the arc is not a way to go. I find it absolutely sad to see that people are blaming the failings of this arc onto the playerbase, or more specifically, the every day citizen. It is incredibly easy to sit here, from your perspective and say that people don't want to get themselves involved. Let's take a step back in time, to Terminal Seven for example. Funnily enough, there wasn't anything of an arc, there wasn't really anything planned out, and we just had players in control of everything. Me, and about everyone that was a loyalist was massively involved with the political scene, because we were fighting against characters who we've known for a long time, and who we have been around for a while. We care/hate these characters for development that lasted months. @MrMindBlow played an incredible antagonist in Noah Majors, a character that had been around ever since i24. @JustDanny played a great Chairman who was clearly acting as an opposition to Majors. My own character was heavily involved with the Chairman, and was going to run for Chairman after Docht was gone, or be a vice. The IAF had candidates lined up, ideas lined up, etc. Everyone was involved because everything was involving the characters who had been here for a long while. It's easy for you to say you got yourself involved, because you made a character specifically for 1 thing, and 1 thing only. These character who have been around for years, have reasons behind things they do. They are more cautious, think things through more, have reasons to suspect certain things, to do certain things. However, all of the characters that were made for C24 specifically, were made for 1 thing, and 1 thing only. It's incredibly easy to just play a character for a singular purpose, and nothing else. This arc has its clear failings, because it's made by people who do not play as the common citizen, who do not play as the normal T2 who doesn't feel like getting politically involved, but don't want to be a slummer either. The people in charge of this arc only know about their own things, and can't put themselves out of that position, in someone else's shoes. I find it comically demotivating to see so many people in charge of writing the arc, or dealing with it, agree react with someone basically saying 'Oh, blame the playerbase, not the arc'. If dozens, and dozens of players hold the sentiment that this arc can't include them, or they do not like the arc, it's not a playerbase issue, it's the issue of the arc.

 

[Processed_Grain]

I find it absolutely sad to see that people are blaming the failings of this arc onto the playerbase, or more specifically, the every day citizen. It is incredibly easy to sit here, from your perspective and say that people don't want to get themselves involved. Let's take a step back in time, to Terminal Seven for example. Funnily enough, there wasn't anything of an arc, there wasn't really anything planned out, and we just had players in control of everything. Me, and about everyone that was a loyalist was massively involved with the political scene, because we were fighting against characters who we've known for a long time, and who we have been around for a while. We care/hate these characters for development that lasted months. @@MrMindBlow played an incredible antagonist in Noah Majors, a character that had been around ever since i24. @@JustDanny played a great Chairman who was clearly acting as an opposition to Majors. My own character was heavily involved with the Chairman, and was going to run for Chairman after Docht was gone, or be a vice. The IAF had candidates lined up, ideas lined up, etc. Everyone was involved because everything was involving the characters who had been here for a long while.

Where was the "normal T2" involved in this? Why didn't those same players try doing anything like that this time, especially considering how much room there was for them to try and do so?

I find it comical that so many people are willing to blame this arc's shortcomings on "Not giving players more agency to interact" when those same people had no initiative to act in the first place (At least not anymore if Terminal 7 really played out as said).

While this arc had a few problems to be sure, to solely blame the people who made it instead of the underlying problem is shortsighted.

 

[Muho]

As a core proponent of this Arc, I think it's important for me to get my two cents in here. I'll keep it at least somewhat short and try my best not to attack any players.

Now, I'd like to say first that, compared to a lot of other people here, my experience in political roleplay is comparatively lesser. I got my first taste of the political scene back in I24, a far different place to start compared to the people who've been dabbling in it since the Futurist movement was still kicking. So, to me at least, this whole 'Orwell Fascist Autocracy' thing seemed like a much bigger breath of fresh air than what some others might have thought. So keep that in mind.

With that out of the way I'd like to start with a statement that many would consider controversial;

The Average Citizen Doesn't Want To Interact With A Arc

Everyone talks about how "Arcs fail because they don't involve the citizenry enough", however you'd be hard-pressed to find a solution that doesn't involve some vague answer such as "Let the players make it themselves" Some people are complaining because the Arc simply has a script, and isn't 100% player made. However.

If you looked at the average player from Tier-0 to Tier-4, you'd find that about 75% do not actually care for any prevailing narratives. They do not care for giving roleplay to others, instead, caring about Social Credits, Workshifts, Rations, and Status. These people do not make their own roleplay, they simply adapt to the environment, reacting as things happen and choosing the side that gets them closer to whatever goal they're looking for. This is the natural state of most roleplay on the server without intervention. You cannot keep the 'Citizen' solely in mind in these things. It's more complicated then that.

Some of these aforementioned players got mad during this Arc because the Metadynamists and Hyper-Republicans were quote unquote "Handed power out of nowhere" using "Characters specifically made for this." They clamor, saying that they should have been given an inn into power instead.

My rebuttal?

Why didn't you do so instead?

And then it hit me.

You did. Because we made you.

In my time as the leader of the Metadynamist Forum, I quickly came to realize that, even when given the prompt to, the average player will not interact with an Arc. They prefer to stagnate. They do not take risks. If given the choice, they'd rather be a clerk in some shop on Victory Street with a blue armband until the literal end of time.

At any point, could a member of the Civil Workers Party take initiative and try talking to the Administration, Marcum to do more politicking and get more power, or for Stephanie Roberts to come out of the blue with plans of a whole new political project since they seem so keen on throwing out any idea of a script and relying solely on 'Player Agency'.

But they didn't.

It was up to us, and our small, Metadynamik ''Schizo Quest Crypto-Fascist Group Number 314'' to give this Arc some agency. So we did it using the only method we knew how. Antagonize.

We made the Metadynamist Forum the most aggressive political movement on the server. We forcefully annexed the Imperial Ascension Binder and made all of their old members de-facto political prisoners. We had every new Metadynamist put their name on a contract that signed away their political rights to Leonard Reiter. We tricked Orwell into giving us a blank check to make the 'Everyman Provision' so we could harass political opposition and 'keep an eye' on the Hyper-Republicans, hiring citizens off of the street with promises of future political gain and getting them involved with the Arc.

If you want to convince some nobody to interact with an Arc, you need to punch them in the face. You need to evict them from their comfort zone and make them act in self-preservation. The majority of players cannot be trusted to have 'Player Agency' or to make their own roleplay. That, is why we are here, to help them along from the upper-echelons of power.

I must also add that, for all the flak he gets for his role Orwell did succeed in this too. While I'm not personally a fan of the lore implications, cliché nature, and the whole "City 13 hate" dynamic which many are ready to put to rest, he did actually get people to start doing things.

By all accounts? This worked. We succeeded in making neutral, level headed characters into yelling "LEONARD REITER IS A CRIMINAL" in the middle of Security Council meetings. People who normally never would have interacted with politics suddenly were die-hard Hyper-Republicans or Coalitionists.

Up until the Administrator Elections, this Arc was, in my opinion, well played out. Things were happening and I think we did a pretty good job given the conditions.

And this is where the problem starts to arise.

The Problem

I'm going to ignore Orwell (Be honest, you could replace him with any other Autocratic 'Regent' character and it'd make no difference) and focus on the loyalist side exclusively.

If you want an Arc that revolves exclusively around City Politics, you need a very strong political scene.

Willard does not have that right now.

Willard, has a Collaborators Party filled 3/4's with people who are only there for the OOC status of being a Tier-4. Willard has a Collaborators Party made up of nepotism and sheer self-importance. Willard has a Collaborators Party filled with people who, have openly stated they do not care for political roleplay.

And so, when you give said people the chance to guarantee their safety and to wipe their opposition off the map, as was the case with the election of Rajko, you end up back at Square One, where the Arc is now.

Aftermath Stagnation. The 'Good Guys' won with an overwhelming vote, and the majority of the voters are now too scared to do anything because they're afraid of reprisal from Orwell since he'll apparently get back into power at some point (No clue on how they're gonna pull that off, especially considering the fact his only 'supporters' were killed on the day of the C.A. Elections).

Solution?

I'm not on the ground myself anymore ever since my death, however, I suppose I have a few "General Ideas" on how to do something like this better in the future.

• The Head-Ministry needs to take a more hands-on, while also non-scripted approach. While on one hand, this whole weird Rajko-pseudo-administration that's also going to end in a month sucks. Your everyday loyalist cannot be trusted to take initiative. The people upstairs need to find a way to strike a balance.
  
  
• The Security Council needs much higher, possibly OOC-upheld standards in regards to who joins. Too many people of poor quality who treat it like a social club manage to get in. This could very well be an IC issue but, again, you could say that about anything else here.
  
  
• More cohesive thought put in regarding the lore implications of Arcs like these. Parsil put it best.

Someone else in the thread suggested we move away from political Arcs due to their 'exclusionary' nature. The problem here is that the more you generalize an Arc for the whole server, the more generalized and less in-depth it gets. Nobody wants another Infestation/Antlion Arc.

I think, if done right, a CCA Arc can be extremely interesting, and provide more capacity for player made roleplay than any other kind of "Arc".

Thoughts

Kudos to the people who managed to keep this Arc interesting despite everything. Including @Curbalas who, is just about the last player standing in government with an actual plan to make something happen.

Maybe I'll be UnPKed just as I recommended with Vivienne. Maybe not. (By the way, she's in 'Recovery' for 8 gunshots in the back of the head. I have a bit of a problem regarding anyone who believes that you can half-ass this kind of thing. You either take it as it is, or void it all. No in-betweens.)

I tried speaking out all my concerns in a constructive manner in this post. I will edit this after I wake up. Thank you for reading.

TLDR? Wipe the slate clean.

nepotism goes hand in hand with politics cuh, same as you would give power to the metadynamists once you had the power. It is all a big game... and I PLAYED THESE GAMES BEFOREEEEE! You either GAME or you get OUTGAMED, which means GAME OVER! Or does it? Never stop! Be the GAME, make the GAME your own.

 

[Processed_Grain]

nepotism goes hand in hand with politics cuh, same as you would give power to the metadynamists once you had the power. It is all a big game... and I PLAYED THESE GAMES BEFOREEEEE! You either GAME or you get OUTGAMED, which means GAME OVER! Or does it? Never stop! Be the GAME, make the GAME your own.

....What?

 

[Muho]

As a german, I want to give my MUSTARD on this topic. Give the ball a kick, let it ROLL... See where it stops and stagnates, where it takes turns. KICK IT AGAIN. Until the goal is reached. Will it be a perfect goal? NO, you are not Messi. But you tried, everyone cheers, the main goal was the GOAL. Reaching the goal, the balls journey, that's the enjoyable part.

 

[ItsLiam]

Where was the "normal T2" involved in this? Why didn't those same players try doing anything like that this time, especially considering how much room there was for them to try and do so? As someone who was just a normal T0 when Terminal-7 started, I can speak from experience that my character was widely involved in a lot of things. Why? Because Terminal-7 didn't have a specific overlying arc that kept everyone occupied with things they clearly want nothing to do with, considering it's all scripted. People roleplayed, people came together and created these groups. Everything was done organically, and not with these OOC applications that people filled in for their political groups. T7's map was maybe not the greatest for roleplay, but it sure as hell did enhance city rp, and everything in it. Currently, C24 is doing absolutely nothing for City RP, and everything is only for these esteemed CCA characters and their clique of 8. This is incredibly damaging for the health of the server, as I have seen 1 occasion where the normal citizen could be involved, and that was yesterday. The Event Runners should start making expeditions for citizens, for loyalists, things that we had more than enough of in the past, and are missing out on now. Ironically so, the last time citizens actually had an expedition was during I-24, which was ran by, funnily enough, Reece, the same person involved in writing this arc. I find it comical that so many people are willing to blame this arc's shortcomings on "Not giving players more agency to interact" when those same people had no initiative to act in the first place (At least not anymore if Terminal 7 really played out as said). While this arc had a few shortcomings, to solely blame the people who made it instead of the underlying problem is shortsighted. Because, as I've stated if you read what I said. These characters are not made with a singular purpose. People make their characters for a variable of reasons, for many different reasons. You guys made your characters for the political roleplay only, and nothing else. Do not dare to blame others, or the playerbase as they did not get T4 handed to them on a silver platter after making an OOC application and saying they will be politically involved. These people have played their character for time, put actual hours into making their character get where they are, and have reasons behind doing what they do. Sure, you guys have your reasons too. You want to enhance roleplay, whatever. All of these things are good. However, you fail to notice the most important thing in all of Roleplay, and that is the enjoyability of the common citizen. In no way has this arc brought any enjoyment to anyone. Not from an OOC perspective, not from an IC perspective. To directly quote Divine; All 4 of these people do not want to be given their position, or fight for it, as they do not feel like they can bring any change into a scripted arc. Everything that they will do will only make them a bigger target, PK-able by default or simply make them lose their life. It's incredibly sad to see long-standing players of the server, long-standing characters and people who just overall have been around for a while be so pushed to their limits, that they choose to not get themselves involved from an OOC perspective, because of this arc. This arc is a failure, and to blame the player base is incredibly damaging to everyone involved.

 

[NanCi_]

T7 was such a good map with a good arc that it left tears in the staff and the player base so they all left Willard to do something else until the next map change. it was so good infact the player count was down to 30 for the average

 

[ford-michigan]

I mean to add onto what liam is saying with players leading arcs. If the map switch did not happen there could have been a big chance of a big MOP arc, just because I kept going at it. Arcs are nice if they are a big background arc that only majorly interferes with normal player stuff once people get behind on it.

 

[Curbalas]

I mean to add onto what liam is saying with players leading arcs. If the map switch did not happen there could have been a big chance of a big MOP arc, just because I kept going at it. Arcs are nice if they are a big background arc that only majorly interferes with normal player stuff once people get behind on it.

Terminal 7 sucked ass, that's why we changed the map.

 

[RedHotGinger]

Alright

Firstly, let me start off this soon-to-be roast with some actually positive remarks, and explanation as to why this arc has proven to be so volatile for many people, myself included.

During what I will call the 'illusionary period' (will explain later on) of this arc - it was genuinely good. Not perfect, perhaps not even great. Willard politics - especially CCA RP - is at the very best of times, obtuse and difficult to approach. However, that's not really at the fault of those running the storyline, its just an inherent reality that any who have attempted to broach such RP know of well.
This period felt as if it was a free-flowing, smoothly In character assortment of cause and effect. Even the very start of it for me, Emiyo being threatened by the council, held really good fun. I even disagree with some on the notion it was distasteful for the 'application event characters' to call for her death and what not. It all felt genuine. Stakes were present, and the story was complex to engage with, but at least approachable in its concept.

Orwell is an evil dick - lets stop him. So we did...or we thought we did. We did a lot of things, only to discover we actually didn't do anything at all. Which, is where the negatives start to shine. The largest of which, by no small mile, I will begin with...

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Player agency and disrespect.
The Arc itself:

So, its no spoiler or meta-tag at this stage to inform that the arc is largely scripted to unfold a particular way, in a particular order in a roughly defined timeframe.

This alone, has turned this arc from something I enjoyed heavily, to an absolute failure of communal storytelling, that has demotivated me from Willard more than anything has in some time.

No matter what actions are taken by players, regardless of their side or respective choices, the event runners/involved staff and leads have long since predetermined how each major plot point will develop. Worse, they've long since decided that no matter what, Orwell will return like old Palpatine himself, somehow. At best, the choices made in this arc are temporary wriggling's, soon to be corrected and undone by an inevitable outcome none could have resisted. With its opposition, not killed, but thoroughly beaten down.

This is awful. Truly, the worst idea for an arc we've potentially yet seen, and there is heavy competition in this respect.

Player choice is at the center of enjoyment. Choice defines everything worthwhile that we, as characters on the server, can become and achieve. Assured successes lose all value, for knowing there was no struggle renders the stakes meaningless. Assured failure is a miserable outcome, as you know there was nothing you could ever have truly done to resist such a fate. In either case, you are robbed of the most essential ingredient when defining characters in an RP environment - especially one that relies exclusively on communal storytelling.

Choice.

When we began this arc, we understood the stakes involved, and the risk inherent to it. We considered the odds of going against the established regime. We knew Orwell could win, but it was worth the effort in both story and character development to stand against the vast odds. To see if we could prevent such an outcome. To see if we could change things up.

The difference between 'can' and 'will' is vast.
If someone asks you if you 'can' do something for them, its a request. A polite recommendation that provides an assumed option of refusal, even if undesired.
If someone informs that you 'will' do something, its a demand. An inherently domineering stance that leaves no room for discourse.

This isn't an Arc about how Orwell can win.
It's a story about how Orwell will win.

It's not hard to see why this is an immense disappointment from essentially every angle. Despite the fact that, if anyone should be enjoying this arc, it's me. Now as someone who holds one of the rarest offices ICly as a result of this arc alone. My character has a portrait, presumably power and a central role in the things to come.

Yet, the simple fact that I know nothing I actually do will truly matter, completely atomizes any enthusiasm I once has for this arc, or the position my character is currently in. I do not exaggerate when I say, I only feel that my character is trapped in the position they're occupying. Incapable of leaving without significant damage to their story. Incapable of staying due to my complete lack of interest in carrying on someone's personal Orwell fiction.

Why didn't you do so instead?

And then it hit me.

You did. Because we made you.

This is a quote I'm going to be singling out, as I believe it's a mindset that infests some of the writing team, and part of why we've ended up in this position. Hence, I'd like to point out the post below, detailing the entire first 'bit' of this arc. Covering it's happenings and general story progress thus far.

Spoiler: Link to post

Thread 'UNEXPECTED VICTORY - CITY 24/13'

Feb 21, 2025

Spoiler: Music

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Orwell, like a fanatic, continued to spew propaganda about his regime as well the incoming threat that was City 13. Most considered his word as nothing but nonsense, speech that was riddled with madness and conspiracy, creating paranoia among the populace for his own political gain. Though Orwell's regime could be considered more of a dictatorship, nobody defied his law, his word, his power, but a select few began to doubt his position, began to doubt whether or not this man would be suitable to not only...

• Inspector Orlok
• Replies: 0
• Forum: Combine / Faction Archive

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The funny thing about this post, is despite the over week and a half of time, effort and risk plenty of player characters put forth into the arc, not a single one is mentioned even in passing. As far as the event runners seem to be concerned, they don't even exist within the narrative. While its an unfortunate example to use, given its my character and thus can come off as egotistical, I feel the most blatant point in this post lies in the Vice Administrator role.
Two characters became Vice Administrator (Somehow) after the coup.
Rene and Emiyo. Each a respective left and right hand of the current administration...yet...

You'd be forgiven for not even knowing she existed, along with every other non-event character/staff character who played a part in this event. Not even the CWP or IAP, the only two organically created political parties have a mention.

Which leads me back to the quote above. This very Arc is the perfect example as to why people do not rush eagerly into political RP. It's an old boys club. Only those with proper connections OOC, and heavy-hitting roles that provide them with extended resources have even a chance to make a lasting impact. Even when we normal players DO make an impact, the writers and event runners pass over us like we didn't even exist. As the only focus is on the pieces they move to get to their precious, predetermined ending. Any others, are considered little more than wildcard stage props.

When I first was slated to get the position of VA, the word I can use to describe my personal experience has been 'stifling.' Messages I sent regarding larger plans I could engage in - went entirely ignored. Likely because those I asked were well aware my time was limited, no matter what my character did, she'd not have enough time to see any of it through. Entire orders were made and passed over AP periods, at the behest and approval of OOC parties, without my character ever even being able to so much as set eyes on them.

Plans that were made were sidelined as they were never intended to be apart of the actual ongoing story, which every present character around me rushes towards with a thin veil between IC motivation and OOC direction. Some may disagree, but this is how I look back on my time within this arc, now knowing that all of it was planned ahead.

There are those that try and use the Rajko coup as an example of player agency actually being present. It wasn't originally in the script, after all. Reality is, I dont view it that way. Even the person playing Rajko, who is close to those running the event, still had to ask OOC permission at the last moment to actually tip the arc over slightly. Once more, still not actually changing the final outcome in which Orwell will return.

Some in the staff team or event team try to claim all this drama and bickering wouldn't have happened if only it didn't leak. Two points on that.
1. It always leaks. I highly doubt there is any staff or story document that is truly secure, especially if its one that breeds discontent among the ranks. I don't even get involved in OOC drama often, and I know more about the inner-workings of this arc than some ET members probably do. (Just about everyone does afaik) Whether at the start, the middle, or long after the end - the reality comes out.

The only thing that changes is the impact finding that reality leaves. Learning this entire arc was scripted against us was the biggest rug-pull I've had in Willard since my CM days. As, remember, I genuinely viewed this arc favorably. To such an extent I largely embraced it thinking it would be the final journey of my 4+ year old character.

2. An illusion, is only that, even if undiscovered. The Matrix did not suddenly become real just because people believed it to be. Same with this.

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Far more mild issues, short and sweet cause I am very tired of typing:

1. The politics in Willard are too obtuse, and require far too much OOC effort and time to actual engage with on a serious level. Information is unironically scattered across potentially six or seven forums or sub-forums. Some key information, such as the global-mandate, doesn't even actually exist. You just need to wait and see if it will apply to an idea.
2. The conduct of the Event characters has been potentially subpar. The MDAF have seemingly been very liberal with putting out PK requests on political opponents and we all know what happened to the chairman candidate.
3. Legislation is a pain in the ass. The overreliance on legalize and the sheer fact it's difficult to formulate actually decent proposals that matter without being terrible means the Sec-con desperately needs additional meat on its bones to thrive. Most passed legislation is simply forgotten about.

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Final remarks, as I am dreadfully tired of typing:

I don't want this to come off as me disliking the people behind this OOC. I certainly have a more limited trust in how events are run in Willard now, I will admit that. I still don't consider this personal though. I genuinely hope the arc gets the rework and reconsideration for player agency it desperately needs. I gain nothing from this arc being unfavorable, and have lost quite a bit on that contrary.