Fairplay vs Roleplay

[chovynz]

Telling people to expect to die in the game is kind of moot. I'm using that as a starting point for what I'm saying. As for learning, well I learned a long time ago that only going after thoughtless, unimaginative PvP makes for a pretty poor experience for all concerned.

I disagree with you there good sir. It seems to me that many of the threads that pop up saying "nerf this," "so unfair", "I want this - i died too much","@$%@$ LN ganked me", "wah wah waaaaaahhhmbulance" are because people are scared of dying in the game. Not as in - their character doesnt like "dying" or their ship exploding, but more that the PLAYER doesnt like to lose, or to have his ship explode. So they cry foul when something "bad" or "unfair" happens, like "dying", and come crying and whining on the forums about it, instead of rolling with the punch and RPing.

Its the first thing they do (and I've done it myself-long ago). Dead. Waaahhh not fair. Whine whine not fair --->Trial by forum.

Dying is a part of this game, but people dont seem to know how to enjoy dying. It doesnt matter if they've been ganked for the nth time. If its not "fun" go somewhere else or log off, but dont come onto the forums saying "I think this isnt fair, they arent RPing properly."

If someone decides it's "fun" to destroy every ship they encounter using a fleet of their own superpowered ships, and "lol" all the way through it, how can you reconcile that with the experience of the victims , who have no fun at all?

You can't. You cannot be responsible for another person's fun. You can have compassaion and give them a chance, but you can't make them have fun. So don't try to make them have fun, just have fun yourself - in whatever situation you find yourself. Having fun doesnt mean you have to be mean and inconsiderate (but again, depending on the circumstances, some RP calls for exactly that.) For instance Mon'star is not one to be joking around with. He HAS a legitimate terrorist ID that allows him to kill anyone he comes across. He still RP's well, but he can kill you for no reason whatsoever. In that case you can still have fun being killed by Mon'star, irrespective of the unfairness that Mon'star used overwhelming force on you. On the other hand, you might be the leader of a huge battle group, and come across a junker in his CSV. Obviously the Junker doesnt stand a chance against your group, but there are a number of things that you can do that are not "fair" but can still be fun for all. 1) you can give him a chance, 2) you can RP a blip on the scanners, 3) You can shoot him out of the water, and other options as your imagination comes up with them. None of those options are "fair", but most of them can be fun in one way or another.

You can't legislate for "fun", but then you can't legislate for good manners, or sportsmanship either. It's not written anywhere that when a player goes down injured in a football match that you put the ball out of play to allow treatment, and then return the ball to the team that had it in possession once play re-starts, but it's an aspect of play that applies in all games: conduct that doesn't bring the game into disrepute.

I think we are saying the same things, but in a different way.

In closing though, I think that being "FAIR" in this game is impossible. Being considerate is definatly possible.
But "Fair" and "Fun" just dont go together, because each of those are subjective to every single person.
You are not responsible for how another person feels or what they do, so stop trying to make them have fun or play fair.
Instead RP in every situation. You make sure YOU are having fun - no matter if you win or lose -, let the other person take care of themselves.

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Seek fun and you shall find it. Seek stuff to Q_Q about and you'll find that, too. I choose to have fun.