S
Stinky Rags
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Similarly to the title and after being seduced by Mullin, I'm posting my suggestion here regarding the current systems in place here at Willard when it comes to the RPG systems.
In my opinion, they're massively overtuned, massively abundant, easily abused and a crippler for genuine Roleplay, especially in the realms of the CMU/CWU, and Resistances, and I shall explain this best I can with my three hours slept brain.
Roleplay Game elements in any RP setting can be quite the enhancer for immersion and character investment; if we think of games like Skyrim, Fallout or MMORPGs like WoW, SWTOR or Guild Wars, generally the idea of building up a character from scratch is an intensely enjoyable thing, and it's likely what got a lot of us into roleplay in the first place; investment into any system will breed investment in the whatever the system is pushing, in an RPG it is your character, and you grow with them, therefore establishing emotional attachments to them and the characters they love and meet along the way.
Roleplay itself is, as obviously ya'll are aware, something quite a bit different. In an RPG it is common to start as the weakest of the weak; the newbie, the fattiest of all the fats, which is how the game can progress and create an investment as you choose how your character grows. In Roleplay though, we have the freedom of choice, expression and goals; we can roleplay a youthful scamp that hasn't so much as set foot properly into the harsh adult world, or we can roleplay a gruff, middle-aged man who's seen it all - and has the experience, therefore, to boot.
Willard Network's current problem, for me, is that your character: Their backstory, their experiences, their knowledge... it doesn't matter as much as I believe it should, not least in comparison to the current skill system.
To share my own experiences with my own character-- Kelly, my Irish former-drunk, has a brief, although impressive background in academic attainment. Making sure to adhere to lore and timelines as best I could I've clearly drafted that she has had an MIT education; a bachelors degree, pointedly in the fields of engineering, and later mechanical engineering. From such a prestigious academic estate as well as the woman's clear interest in engineering through both backstory and roleplay, one may think she'd be the perfect candidate for -- as an example, a rebel group. A sudden trip to the Outlands may require a car to be fixed, and Kelly would be a fantastic choice; it'd allow the character to flourish in the fields I wanted to specialise her in, as well as make her a character that is necessary to a group, instead of being there merely to hold an MP7 and shoot at the OTA that fly in to ambush us from observer. Alternatively, she might be a member of the CEC, and with her well-established grasp of engineering be able to quickly craft items necessary to prevent some sort of city outage with aid of her work colleagues.
This is how roleplay should be to me, however, it isn't quite there yet for us on the server.
As of right now, Kelly would not be given the opportunity realistically to work on a car for a resistance, she would not be an excellent addition to any engineering team for the Combine. Why? Her Crafting Stat is too Low. Yep, her crafting stat is too low; disregarding the character's backstory, In-game experiences and anything else, due to an OOC system, she is effectively barred from roleplay (Albeit NOT officially), but any group wanting to progress will want the highest crafters, the highest stats... this makes roleplay more of a monopoly, based on people that spend too much time farming things rather than roleplaying and developing a character. It is actually because of this reason, as well as others that I'll explain, that I effectively gave up on trying to make Kelly an engineer here on Willard, and instead focus on more passive things she has experience in, but not in abundance - like the CMU.
To me it's quite baffling; if I developed a character that was a scientist - at the top of my head, a theoretical physicist. Or perhaps a bio-scientist. They actually... aren't one; their background and character experiences don't matter at all, what would matter is their crafting stat, or their medical stat. I do find it quite amusing that to be a scientist here we need to rummage through bins and break down empty cans of what was once breen's water. Come on.
I also note that to be a decent doctor you need to really buff up your medicine skills. Even if your character is a literal doctor, and literally attended medical school and performed surgery on Prince Charles you still can't use a med kit, that is actually insane. I am aware this is changing at some point, but my point still stands -- there is a clear focus on OOC attributes than anything IC, or established through roleplay. This is more akin to Dark RP than anything else.
With such an emphasis on attributes and skills, it's made attribute whoring a genuine problem in the server. It's visible, public, and very off-putting to newcomers who may want to try out the community.
If you sit on the server in the early hours of the morning there's a chance you'll see quite the spectacle. Bunches of citizens; ones in regular clothes, some in suits, some in bandanas down in the underground - all different in background, all different in walks of life, but what do they all share in common? Running through the city and searching through bags of literal faeces. Seriously, it looks absolutely awful; even if I wasn't rping and just idling, to see so many people running around in a circuit on the map to grind out their crafting skills for a gun is so absurdly obnoxious I've no idea what outlookers think. People that grind out hourly their skills without even so much as a quote of speech to supplement it, just so they can be ahead of the curve - how is this Roleplay?
This sort of system focused so heavily on OOC skills and scripts also causes a lot of drama.
For any Roleplayer worth their salt, a good character death is a good send off; the final chapter to a thrilling tale, and the mature of us will be ready to start a new story with a brand new character, with nothing in their inventory but a suitcase (I wish I was so mature). But to those that value scripts and grinded skills will not take this so pleasantly, and have not taken this so pleasantly. And I UNDERSTAND as to why; if I spent hours upon hours of my life to get my character to a point where they can spawn in guns with the right scripts only to be killed, knowing I had to do it again? I'd be pissed, and I know for a fact I'd try everything to reverse that PK. Furthermore, any items that are stolen, or destroyed, or otherwise lost... but took me so long to make, I'm going to be mad lol. That causes forum posts, that causes discord rage, that causes admin's being called a massive penis - no one wants that. Foster a friendly roleplay environment rather than a cut-throat pseudo capitalist monopoly.
I don't blame those that have done it, however; rather, they were forced into the system. It feels like to progress in Willard you have to submit to that grind.
Which is a turn-off, and for a great many people I imagine. People that put their heart and soul into a character only to be completely bypassed by someone who spent 5 hours every morning combing the skills to beat them in a field; despite, perhaps, the character in question not even having any qualifications. This raises the point on how the hell creating a bunch of flashlights makes you able to create kevlar vests or something, but hey ho. It was made clear that even freeing a Vortigaunt requires skill in crafting; but why? Surely someone who's roleplayed out extensively looking over the biotic shackles, and is, I dunno, a PhD doctorate holder in theoretical engineering surely at a better disposition than Johnathan 'CremeEgg' Bangor who's backstory is they're a rugby player, but just so happens to have 40 crafting, no?
I'd like to reiterate that the skill system isn't a bad thought in itself, but the implementation, the focus and the necessity it has for roleplay makes it unbearable. It should be there to aid roleplay, to offer bonuses in the small margins rather than become this sole focal point of existance.
To me, crafting has always been something you do by the side. You can't create guns, you can't create kevlars, or ammunition, but you could make a hatchet, or a backpack, a uniform. To me, medicine isn't if your character can have the knowledge to use a basic first aid kit, but it's about the effectiveness of your healing during combat situations, or how much your healing does when applying medical items such as medi-gel. Skills should not in my opinion be a gatekeep of roleplay, neither should it be a necessity of it. It should be something on the side, something to passively improve your character instead of being the reason you log on the server. Sincerely, if I wanted to grind out attributes and skills all day I'd log my runescape account again.
A possible remedy of fix is to overhaul what can and can't be used in the system. Additionally to remove all skill barriers and requirements for jobs, items, and events. Either trust your own bloody community to roleplay their character believably or leave it to a /roll. I'd also consider reprimanding players that are attribute whoring; I remember back in the day it used to be a seriously bad thing if you did that, why do we just kinda accept it? It's even worse here as attribute whoring gives genuine boons that can't be beaten by roleplay.
End of rant. I'm sorry if there are any spelling or grammar problems, I am indeed writing this on 3 hours sleep. I'll edit it once I wake up, love u. (I say all of this because I care, not to shit on anyone; I think everyone here wants to see Willard do well!)
P.S
I think it's fucking hilarious that food increases your stats so much. Kelly's a frail, pale ginger, but if she munches on some bread she's throwing an EOW through an apartment complex window.
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