Xalrok Wrote:By submitting this request, you agree that the Development Team reserves the right to decline your RCR and that the Development Team is under no obligation to approve your RCR. The primary reasons that an RCR would be declined are as follows:
1. The RCR is deemed incompatible with Discovery’s narrative. (An example would be if Liberty had attempted to canonize an attack on Leeds before the end of the Gallic war, thereby preventing the planet from being glassed. Players are not expected to know this information, which is why contacting the Development Team first is highly recommended.)
2. The RCR is deemed harmful to gameplay. (Examples include the removal of bases important to gameplay or alteration of diplomacy that may lead to one or more factions declining in activity.)
It is strongly recommended that players consult with the Development Team before proceeding with roleplay that the player intends to request canonization for. The Development Team does not accept any responsibility for wasted time and effort should players decide proceed with extensive, time consuming, ambitious and/or radical roleplay that is subsequently rejected because they did not consult with Development initially to see if it was possible in the first place.
Here's my problem with this situation:
There's no physical need to pre-script major changes years in advance, and no need to stick to such actions as if they're mandatory. Part of the allure to here always was the perception that player actions and efforts would realistically plausibly count towards situations. The irony is laid out in this example, as the mod shoots itself in the foot by not utilizing these situations to drive player activity, and produce more accurate situations that aren't imbalanced by the fact that major changes are decided by a tiny amount of people relative to the players involved.
No one in Liberty would have bothered trying an attack to save Leeds because they already knew it was futile, when that very situation is exactly what people want here. The opportunity to conquer or save a planet and participate in a systemized battle over the issue is exactly the fuel the fire needs here. Closing off so many options beforehand keeps the power in the Dev's hands alright, but wastes so much potential.
If they'd known thing's weren't so locked maybe they would have tried! Maybe a lot more people would have tried. It could have easily been set up, the battles could have been more managed by staff like refs of a game instead of fixed outcome events that everyone has to tip toe around. If things had been different from the start maybe this system would have worked. Within even a system like this, that is the very thing people look for, and instead it's shut out.
In regards to the story, who cares if they had never made it to NL? Or if they never got to 'glass' Leeds? That situation isn't even one that should require 'canonization requests', it should already be set up in advance going into it that all the factions involved have the same equal outlet to try to apply force and make realistic changes. In each situation there was rarely equal opporunity for both sides. The Gauls didn't really have a chance to win, and Bretonia's side never had a chance to save Leeds. Why? What was so romantic about this? We threw away the chance to have a more measured conflict with a more realistic end, a more player desired end, no matter how it went. There's nothing wrong with a story being determined as we go along, it should always be like that here! Or we need extensive systems to pre script everything! Under the battle system I suggested, the war would have had shifting front lines in some place, and stay the same in others, but player activity would have been the driving factor behind the changes, and that would have made for good motivation for the factions involved.
In regards to the RCR's, what we need is an outline for what can be done and what is expected. Maybe it should be broken down into pre determined options so less time goes into things the staff won't tolerate.
~Adding planetary base (adding atmopsheric entry point,docking ring and/or mooring fixture) to a planetary body
~Constructing a shipyard
~Creation of new ships
~Altering (adding/removing) faction MO's (like adding new ship classes to existing ID's, or new capabilities, or 'radical' diplomacy changes)
~Consructing capital ship bases
~Constructing outposts
~Adding systems or parts of systems to faction territory/ZOI, claiming territory, intiating conquests/wars
That's a few to start. Perhaps the team could compile a literal list of options of what will be acceptable, and then in each case a more standardized template could be expected for each situation, and players will know what's an option and what to expect. Then in theory perhaps as well players could simply submit normal player requests to have new options added to the list, which would get a normal staff vote.
But the truth is this system does seem like it will limit actions on the server period. The example given talks about canonizing an attack during a war. Again, that's the sort of thing that, the situation should't even exist unless going into it it will be set up so that the players can do most of that in the game. Adding bases or changing faction lore is a totally different situation than war's or territory conflicts. The very point of a place like this is that we have the technology in the game to make it so more can be determined there. In the case of Leeds, especially when it came to the point of the siege cruisers being put in orbit, they could have simply been given really high HP bars and the factions involved could have actually gotten to work out real plans. If the situation had not been neutered by the dev team from the start, it would have made more sense by that point. Would it have been so terrible if players got motivated to try to save Leeds? And terrible to open it up for a week, let the Gallic side try to defend them, (find a way to make them repairable, we do have repair ships don't we? can't figure out how to make them work on mortal solars?), and let there be a little battle over it. The pre scripted will of the devs loomed over every situation in the Gallic war like a dark cloud. In the future this place could have some epic space wars still, and if they're ever allowed to happen, please consider ditching script and put that same effort into a system to govern a player driven conflict.
Which leads me again to my usual point, that in conjunction with this system, we get a battle system for the war stuff, like capturing stations, territory, planets, etc. With all of the rules about not doing anything to threaten this or that, when is anyone ever going to be able to get 5 people together to capture a station for themselves? Or attack an enemy base at all? Most faction bases could be considerd crucial. I really don't see anyone being able to do much there. As much as this is an RP server, it is also a shooter game, so when it comes to the issues of controlling stations and territory, its crazy not to try to put the work into using the game medium to both generate player activity, guide the roleplay, and let players sort out battle outcomes. If factions knew in advance that the can sort out the desire to capture stations or territory, fight wars over sandbox systems etc, and it was systemized in game, using the actual game, you'd see less requests and more action in game!
I wonder why so many things can't change? Why can't Outcasts go moderate? Why can't a house turn belligerent and wind up at odds with others? Once we know these options would be possible in an organized fashion, I think we'd see some interesting changes here. Otherwise the dev team succeeds in preserving Discovery, but it may also be the root of the stagnation here too. Where are we in 5 years? 10 years? Will we have a server exactly laid out like it is now but with no players left? Or is it insane to consider allowing more 'radical' changes as a way to keep players interested?
If the head of the issue is that there isn't enough staff to do it all, well what's the answer to that? Put out notice that more people with appropriate knowledge/skill are needed to help facilitate changes and keep the ball rolling, and word might spread to the appropriate people who can help. I was on www.mmorpg.com the other day looking around. Someone (thought about doing it myself) from the staff would do well to go there and drop a thread an appropriate forum simply advertizing the game. You see threads there about players looking for mmo's, rpg's, and I'm sure we could find both potential players and helpers in places like that.
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