Decline in RP Standards | Inappropriate RP

[MazuzaM]

GOOD EVENING LADS WHO ARE READING THIS

Have you perhaps noticed, especially if you are a long standing player in your community, that the server seriousness and Roleplay standards are going down the bin?

Does your experience even less dystopian than what it used to be? I will list every issue with the majority of the Factions as I witnessed first hand:

Citizens:
This is a mixed pot, there's some people who roleplay accordingly but it's a minority in confront to what I have seen.

- There is absolutely no sense or recognition of the situation you are in (20+ years of constant slavery, labour and malnutrition) and people tend to act the way they would in real life, directly breaking the rules under the FailRP Section

"------------- A character's / behaviour and view of the world should match the scale and sense of the world they're living in, not real life."

Civil Protection:
I'm sorry to say this, as a Civpro main, I am afraid that this faction is the one that had the biggest decline in RP Standards, there are so many problems in my opinion and others:

- Metrocops feel like high school bullies, there is no real surgical protocol to follow to interact with Citizens or preserve conversations in public. I feel Starboat bait is part of this problem.

- The idea of a kind Metrocop (Which is overdone) should be rarely done and more punished by Command. No, I'm not saying that your cop should be a sadic that finds pleasure in hurting other people, but keep in mind you passed years of indocrination no matter what if your character chooses a path in the Civil Protection, they should be displayed more surgically rather than some 70s cop in Brooklyn.

ESPECIALLY the problem resides with some Rank Leaders, they recieve the same Memory replacement as Transhumans, the guide clearly states that they should be feared yet they act like some cool coaches for the units and fail to make you feel oppressed.

Resistance:
I've also played the Resistance, RP Hubs are enjoyable but the problem still lingers with inappropriate Roleplay for characters as they are:
- Self Proclaimed Warriors and fearless fighers
- Semi Serious Minges who only play to S2K (Fewer minority)

Before you say ha ha here's the fun police, no, there's ways of enjoying Roleplay by doing it accordingly, this is what Willard HL2RP should be, not a sitcom of silly jokes and corny actions to get on the Starboard.

 

[Parsil]

With the listed issues, what solutions do you propose?

Warns. Bans. There's been a dozen of these kinds of threads being made but all's being proposed is to shoot the messenger without solving the root cause. It's called FailRP, and if people don't stop failing at roleplaying, then they oughta be taught a lesson.

 

[Lab]

Warns. Bans. There's been a dozen of these kinds of threads being made but all's being proposed is to shoot the messenger without solving the root cause. It's called FailRP, and if people don't stop failing at roleplaying, then they oughta be taught a lesson.

The issues with bans is that it's subjective. There's no hard-and-fast criteria for discriminating silliness from failRP. And frankly, the recent incident in August where 2 players were banned suddenly and publicly for something rather innocuous, was overzealous, and uncalled for. This should not happen again.

You can gently massage people away from doing something and others will follow suit. Authoritarian practices are to be used sparingly, as it can engender a mistrust or lack of confidence in the playerbase, which is the last thing we want.

 

[Omega]

The issues with bans is that it's subjective. You can gently massage people away from doing something and others will follow suit. The recent incident in August where 2 players got banned suddenly and publicly for something rather innocuous comes to mind.

Those bans made me nervous to even attempt any kind of classy romanceRP (NOT Urey-ism)

 

[MazuzaM]

With the listed issues, what solutions do you propose?

Raising awareness for starters, people need to realize that this is not appropriate RP.

 

[Wraygun]

Rant incoming. The problem you bring up has been a constant thing throughout the years. The problem is that people want to be 'unique'. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, however most cops are portraying cop-citizen interactions in the wrong way possible, and complain how they're caught.

No, your cop is not unique just because they spew starboard bait 24/7.
No, your cop is not unique by going around and offering cream tarts to citizens.
No, your cop is not unique because they're expressing themselves humanely in public.


These cops are breaking whatever remains of the faction's image and I'm doing my best to crack down on this as much as possible. If it was up to me, I think we need to start dewhitelisting people for bad roleplay, rather than just call everything an "ic issue". Thankfully, there will be new changes made, and I'm actually optimistic about the long-term prospects.

 

[RileyTheRoomba]

View attachment 47344

Rant incoming. The problem you bring up has been a constant thing throughout the years. The problem is that people want to be 'unique'. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, however most cops are portraying cop-citizen interactions in the wrong way possible, and complain how they're caught.

No, your cop is not unique just because they spew starboard bait 24/7.
No, your cop is not unique by going around and offering cream tarts to citizens.
No, your cop is not unique because they're expressing themselves humanely in public.


These cops are breaking whatever remains of the faction's image and I'm doing my best to crack down on this as much as possible. If it was up to me, I think we need to start dewhitelisting people for bad roleplay, rather than just call everything an "ic issue". Thankfully, there will be new changes made, and I'm actually optimistic about the long-term prospects.

Drain the swamp.

 

[melodicwaste]

 

[Cavity]

On the contrary, I think Civil Protection acting this way is totally acceptable and normal. Here's why...

Civil Protection are people too. Yes, they work in law enforcement. Yes, it's a serious job both in our real day-to-day lives and for them in the game. They're exposed to constant danger and violence, and they themselves are contributing to an authoritarian and fascist regime for their own desires. Some of them might not even support their own regime and have merely joined for the benefits associated with the job. Cops need to have freedom and be loose sometimes, otherwise it's the most miserable fucking job on the planet when you are constantly locked in, serious, and under pressure. Who cares if they crack jokes and shit talk in their personal time or between each other? That's what any normal person would do to blow off steam, because you have to remember that Civil Protection are humans who have emotions and different personalities too. And not to be that guy... but if Civil Protection leaders have an issue with this, they need to address it with their officers and set that standard for them in-game. Otherwise, they may face disciplinary action. However, that is entirely an IC problem, as Civil Protection seemingly does not maintain a standard for its officers.

Now, as far as the OTA guy? He shouldn't even be capable of that level of autonomy. They're mindless drones whose purpose is to soldier until they die. They aren't human; they don't have emotions. I think that should be FRP.

 

[BrennenW05]

On the contrary, I think Civil Protection acting this way is totally acceptable and normal. Here's why...

Civil Protection are people too. Yes, they work in law enforcement. Yes, it's a serious job both in our real day-to-day lives and for them in the game. They're exposed to constant danger and violence, and they themselves are contributing to an authoritarian and fascist regime for their own desires. Some of them might not even support their own regime and have merely joined for the benefits associated with the job. Cops need to have freedom and be loose sometimes, otherwise it's the most miserable fucking job on the planet when you are constantly locked in, serious, and under pressure. Who cares if they crack jokes and shit talk in their personal time or between each other? That's what any normal person would do to blow off steam, because you have to remember that Civil Protection are humans who have emotions and different personalities too. And not to be that guy... but if Civil Protection leaders have an issue with this, they need to address it with their officers and set that standard for them in-game. Otherwise, they may face disciplinary action. However, that is entirely an IC problem, as Civil Protection seemingly does not maintain a standard for its officers.

Now, as far as the OTA guy? He shouldn't even be capable of that level of autonomy. They're mindless drones whose purpose is to soldier until they die. They aren't human; they don't have emotions. I think that should be FRP.

OTA do show some emotion in both HL2 and HLA, I.e Snipers yelling Shit when you throw a grenade into their nest, OTA laughing after tricking Alyx, or the ordinal getting visibly angry at Eli in the opening. But yes, that OTA in the screenshot took that way too far.

 

[MazuzaM]

Civil Protection are people too

Civil Protection is formed out Young Adults and Adults who take this chance as a job, therefore you are indocrinated and you follow certain protocols and levels of professionalism in public. Yet I see cops answering like a High School bully rather than engaging with professionalism.

 

[Cavity]

Civil Protection is formed out Young Adults and Adults who take this chance as a job, therefore you are indocrinated and you follow certain protocols and levels of professionalism in public. Yet I see cops answering like a High School bully rather than engaging with professionalism.

Cops are still people, too. A great movie that portrays this is actually "End of Watch," which follows Officers Taylor and Zavala. When they're not working, they're always bullshitting, busting each other's balls, and so on. This is how normal people are, because Civil Protection are people too. If it is concerning to some in the community, there should be a drive for the Civil Protection command staff to set a standard for their officers.

 

[Rabid]

Imo "The faction image!" is a buzzword used to browbeat units who want to actually invite passive and display a little bit of character, instead of driving citizens to not interact with them, which is exactly what happened last time this was pushed.

Yeah you need some sort of standards but those screenshots are no worse than what I've seen coming out of citizens and especially rebels - and its probably more serious than the latter in most cases.

I can guarantee most of the cops in those screenshots have swept and shot rebels, or beaten someone over the head before at least once. Why do the Combine care how I keep the peace so long as I do? Why do my commanding units care about how I keep the peace so long as I do?

 

[MazuzaM]

Cops are still people, too. A great movie that portrays this is actually "End of Watch," which follows Officers Taylor and Zavala. When they're not working, they're always bullshitting, busting each other's balls, and so on. This is how normal people are, because Civil Protection are people too. If it is concerning to some in the community, there should be a drive for the Civil Protection command staff to set a standard for their officers.

Sure when off duty cops are prone to show their personalities, but from your example I can tell that you don't know anything about Civil Protection:

- You compared them to a real life Police Force
- Their behavior should then vary and be less anonimous than they are supposed to be
- Civil Protection is a paramilitary force enstablishing order with oppression, not your average Joe Swanson going around, sure you can show your character and personality but not to the extent of the screenshots I posted, it's ridiculous.

 

[melodicwaste]

Cops are still people, too. A great movie that portrays this is actually "End of Watch," which follows Officers Taylor and Zavala. When they're not working, they're always bullshitting, busting each other's balls, and so on. This is how normal people are, because Civil Protection are people too. If it is concerning to some in the community, there should be a drive for the Civil Protection command staff to set a standard for their officers.

>movie about LA cops
>we're set in a nazi alien dystopia

It's bleak . @RileyTheRoomba

 

[Rabid]

- Civil Protection is a paramilitary force enstablishing order with oppression, not your average Joe Swanson going around, sure you can show your character and personality but not to the extent of the screenshots I posted, it's ridiculous.

I just wanna say that I can understand the concerns and the need to keep some sort of standard but if cops go back to being slapped for fraternising in easily-accessible ways, I genuinely think we'll see a return to the days of old when cops would rather AFK than passive because there was the risk of either some hardass reporting them for it or because they weren't 'allowed' to actually have fun with it.

And that wouldn't really be an improvement imo.

Like you gotta remember, oppression is a slippery slope. Some community members no doubt think returning to the days I mention above would be better because it was more directly 'oppressive' even if people hated it.

 

[Cavity]

Sure when off duty cops are prone to show their personalities, but from your example I can tell that you don't know anything about Civil Protection:

- You compared them to a real life Police Force
- Their behavior should then vary and be less anonimous than they are supposed to be
- Civil Protection is a paramilitary force enstablishing order with oppression, not your average Joe Swanson going around, sure you can show your character and personality but not to the extent of the screenshots I posted, it's ridiculous.

First of all, I didn't compare them to a real-life police force. Second, I know plenty about roleplaying as Civil Protection. You are the one concerned about a problem that doesn't exist. Instead of throwing insults at me, how about I dumb this down for you and highlight it so you can understand.

If you had bothered to read my posts, you would have figured out that the entire point was that Civil Protection is made up of people too. And just because they are cops doesn't mean they always need to be serious, as shown by the examples I provided. People often believe that those in positions of power lose that "human" aspect of themselves when that isn't the case. Do you think soldiers are always serious? Do you think politicians are always serious? Do you think YOU are always serious? Just because these players play a specific faction doesn't mean they need to be gridlocked into a constant, serious, and stressful state.

As a matter of fact, the screenshots you provided show Civil Protection Officers interacting with each other in a joking and unserious manner. You know... how normal people are. And yet you compare absolutely normal behavior and conversations to "immaturity," "unprofessionalism," and "high school behavior." You should consider changing your perspective, or bring up the issue in-character and push for reforms and higher standards within Civil Protection.

 

[Cavity]

Perhaps the real issue with Civil Protection isn't that they're showing humanity to each other, but rather not showing it to others. If you'd bother to play as a civilian a majority of the time, you'd realize that 90% of the Civil Protection playerbase is made up of brutal assholes who quite literally rob, beat up, torture, and bully people daily.

Can someone tell me how you are ever going to keep a civilian population in support of their government when all that happens is the local Police constantly and unjustifiably rob, kill, torture, beat, harass, and otherwise starve its own population? THAT IS THE UNREALISTIC PART OF HOW CIVIL PROTECTION OPERATES. Because under those circumstances, the civilian population would overthrow the government the next day. Civil Protection needs more players who genuinely assist citizens rather than consistently trying to turn them against the government.

You can argue that "it's a part of the HL2 universe," but that's every day. Every hour. Every week. It becomes unrealistic and ruins the setting because it is unsustainable, turning players away from actually playing as loyalists or citizens in general.

Civil Protection needs a delicate balance between HUMANITY and BRUTALITY.

 

[Parsil]

Willard Community & Server Guidelines (2024 Reformat & Rewrite)​

Section 3​

1.0 - Gameplay Innovation

A character's / behaviour and view of the world should match the scale and sense of the world they're living in, not real life.

Stop pretending you're playing real cops, or pretending people who criticize your silly shitposting are telling you to be robocops.

 

[Rabid]

Perhaps the real issue with Civil Protection isn't that they're showing humanity to each other, but rather to others. If you'd bother to play as a civilian a majority of the time, you'd realize that 90% of the Civil Protection playerbase is made up of brutal assholes who quite literally rob, beat up, torture, and bully people daily.

Can someone tell me how you are ever going to keep a civilian population in support of their government when all that happens is the local Police constantly and unjustifiably rob, kill, torture, beat, harass, and otherwise starve its own population? THAT IS THE UNREALISTIC PART OF HOW CIVIL PROTECTION OPERATES. Because under those circumstances, the civilian population would overthrow the government the next day. Civil Protection needs more players who genuinely assist citizens rather than consistently trying to turn them against the government.

You can argue that "it's a part of the HL2 universe," but that's every day. Every hour. Every week. It becomes unrealistic and ruins the setting because it is unsustainable, turning players away from actually playing as loyalists or citizens in general.

Thank you for bringing this up, actually.

People forget that for the average citizen in HL2, in-setting, it isn't a "game". They don't get to NLR. They've had twenty years of 'real life' occupation where the idea of joining The Resistance means escaping a literal city-wide system of patrols, scanners, cameras and checkpoints where a single mistake can get you beaten to death in an alley or shot in the head for fun. You probably haven't seen a genuine "rebel" ever. You've definately had cops storm your apartment and steal your shit though.

That's just your life.

In Willard HL2RP you can walk two streets over into the slums and there are armed insurgents who shoot cops in the streets every other day. You can never simulate twenty years of actual oppression because, by nature, its a video game and oppression isn't fun to roleplay under.

Civil Protection acting like they do in the games works in the context of the game but becomes, frankly, absolutely stupid in the context of a roleplay server. It crosses the line from realistic to outright unfun, both for the cops and the citizens.

 

[melodicwaste]

These things do not exist in isolation. You can be serious and not be saying cartoonish stuff without just being a one-note character that doesn’t really exhibit any personality. The very complaint raised is the silly said stuff ic that goes beyond just humor in a dark place to bring about a little light.

The complaint isn’t saying you need to beat more people up or be more ‘oppresssive’ , it’s just saying act more like a person who’s living through an active genocide of their own people and are potentially complicit in it.

You are not playing a comic relief character, you are playing a complex human being with thoughts, feelings, emotions, and aspirations, all of which are beaten down upon every day in this new and ever changing reality.

You are surviving off of anti-fatigue rations and pure adrenaline. You have been shot, beaten up, whailed-on, insulted, and nearly killed several times over. You have no humanity and you have no morality. You are inherently ammoral. The mask is your face and you have become your mask. You have become your job.