Rules Violations Reports

[sovereign]

Sage words.

I admit that I'm fairly lazy at reporting other players, including fellow factionites. We have to have rules, that's a given. But I'd rather talk to someone first in game, ask him/her to visit the forums and check the rules, then take screenies and read the sanction reports on the next day.

More often then not, a non-patronizing tone and a few words of advice will do wonders. Yes, this is an rp server, but I get the feeling some folks can get a bit over zealous in how they choose to deal with transgressors. It's a game. A way to blow of steam, indulge your imagination and socialize.

I get no joy in seeing someone punished. Not even the more sociopathic cases.

I think that this 24-hour cooling off period is a good idea. And one that could be extended to all other sanction reports as well.

The 3-word engagement rule? I don't have any particularly intense, dogmatic opinions on this one. Most of my opponents type out a fair amount of text. I personally am not one for writing lengthy sonnets when I have hostiles closing in at 12 k, so I can understand why someone else might feel a bit rushed.

On a final note, my condolences on you father's passing, as well as congratulations on eventually becoming a father yourself. Life and death certainly put things in proper perspective.

I could say this again in different words, but that might detract from the sentiment. I will quietly agree to what has been said here, and add other thoughts from a different angle.

Other players should be your friends, not your enemies. For the most part they are your fellow RPers who play this silly game about spaceships and ridiculously obfuscated diplomacy and have fun with their friends. There are a few rotten eggs to be sure, but a lot of the people that get labeled as such really don't deserve it- for one, the users of capital ships tend to get lumped into the same pile as PvP-abusers, cheaters, and other such 'scum'. I find that particular complaint to be along the lines of the complaint that playing video-games makes you violent- while it is true that violent people play violent videogames, it is far more likely that already violent people search for ways to play that out than it is for people to try and go kill others because they are lead to believe that life works like aforementioned videogames. And don't get me started on those who lump all videogame users into this pile, I for one highly doubt that Hello Kitty Adventures is a leading cause of serial murder. Along similar lines, I find it far more likely to believe that people inclined to sadistically ruin other people's fun are likely to notice the raw damage output of large ships than I do to believe that the majority of people in large ships picked them for the express purpose of mercilessly stomping on those smaller than them.

But I digress. While it may seem that a lot of people on the server are out to destroy harmony and bring suffering to our little world of spaceships, recent events have led me to believe that people are not nearly so cold-hearted as they seem. Innocent ignorance is far more common than malice. It may be hard to do, (I remember a time when I was quite harsh on the dreaded BHG cattlebruisers) but think of what might be going through their heads. If you mention "hey, you aren't supposed to cruise to catch up" and the response is "really?", you should not plant your hand into your face and call the offender bad names and/or report them. There must be some reason why they didn't know that- perhaps they weren't aware of the forums (it does happen), in which case stopping to talk to them for a minute or so is quite likely to turn a potential menace to the server into a pleasant member of the community. That minute will more than likely pay for itself in time that you don't have to spend fleeing from ganks (if the person thought this was a PvP server, for instance), listening to oorp jargon, or other such offenses.

I must cut my mini-essay short due to impending hamburgers, but I strongly believe this server is in better hands if we each take it upon ourselves to treat our fellow spaceship captains as friends rather than competitors, even if we're shooting at each other.

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