Potential suggestions to improve Phantom and Character interactions

[chovynz]

This is sparked from the other recent Phantom flame thread. Which...in my opinion failed miserably in it's intent.
I would like to open this as I think this may be a player education issue which keeps arising.
Please no flames. I reserve the right to ask posts to be removed if I think they are going off topic.
I have no problem with disagreements, but if things become personal, I will ask those posts to be deleted or removed.

If you don't want to post, then send me a PM and I'll post your stance/suggestion myself, up for discussion.

Let's keep this positive hey! This is a big background thingybob. Skip to the suggestions section if you don't care about the "Whys"

---------------WHY----------------------------------

I've seen many threads flaming the Phantoms. And Keepers. And SCRA (not so much). And some others. I've accepted the fact that there will always be flame threads, and indeed you can actually learn from them.

However my focus in this thread is not to condemn, nor inflame, nor join in, nor hammer OP's or those who disagree with my stance, or others who criticize these factions, as that is a necessary part of asking questions. My intent of this thread, is to question, to figure out some stuff, to identify things that we can improve on, and make the RP more approachable, cohesive and understandable. Think of it as an advanced feedback thread on these types of factions.

Now.. Keepers are difficult to explain the RP they want, since they are aliens, and use telepathy and images, but also approach things with a different viewpoint. Phantoms, are humans that have been "enlightened." Since they are humans it's easier to communicate with other humans. The things these two have in common is essentially they are terrorists. They have a right to kill you. The do not need any reason, just there there is some roleplay beforehand.

Pilot carrying this ID is a Phantom, who:

• 
  
• Can attack any lawful and unlawful ships at will
  
• Cannot ally with any lawfuls
  
• Cannot demand credits or cargo from traders
  
• Cannot trade or escort traders
  

Pilot carrying this ID is a Nomad, who:

• 
  
• Can attack any ship or station at will
  
• Cannot ally with non-Nomads except for Outcasts
  
• Cannot demand credits or cargo
  
• Cannot land anywhere except Nomad or Wild bases
  

Understanding what appropriate roleplay is, is the part that is tripping people up I believe.
Every encounter by a Phantom (or Keeper) could be an enjoyable one, by all participants.

The first step in being able to enjoy the phantoms interactions is to read about and understand them. While yes, always keep in your mind that they CAN kill you, remember that not every encounter HAS to end up with one of you dead.

I believe one of the contributing factors is people still approach Discovery, as they do the Singleplayer. Lets look at it like this. "Freelancer" Vanilla, created the story, the platform that we work from. The basic guidelines that we use. "Freelancer" Discovery uses the platform that "Freelancer" Vanilla created.

There are a number of important distinctions.

Vanilla is Singleplayer. Discovery is Multiplayer.
Vanilla had one actor. Discovery has over 10,000 actors.
Vanilla, You were a Hero, the main guy who saved the universe. Discovery, You are Joe Blogs. One among many.
Vanilla was the starting point. It had a beginning and an end. Discovery is a separate story - in progress.
Vanilla set the scene. Discovery changes the stage.
Vanilla chapter is closed, finished, with some things left unanswered. Discovery creates whole new stories while trying to answer some of the questions left open.
"Freelancer" Vanilla created the engine of space FPS. "Freelancer" Discovery uses that same engine, but there the similarity stops (or is hindered by the Singleplayer game mechanics).

What is my point there? "Freelancer" Discovery, is a completely different game to "Freelancer" Vanilla.

Understanding that your characters are not more important than other characters can go a long way to helping create the appropriate attitude to enable appropriate RP, when encountering a Phantom/Terrorist/Nomad player. Understanding that your characters are not Heros, that your character can be killed by turning on a lightswitch that is faulty can help. Understanding that your character is just like you, can be hurt and is a fragile as you are.

Human life is so fragile. It can be snuffed out very easily. All it takes is one bullet in the right place. One blade. One hand. One choke. One stab. One train. One car. One pill.

All it takes is one thing in the right place, to kill another human. We are indeed fragile beings.

That is from a "Freelancer" Player's perspective. A human being who plays the game.

---------------WHAT----------------------------------

Communication first off. Communication is essential to people understanding each other. To my mind, there seems to be a communication breakdown, when flames threads are created. Communication happens from both/all parties of an encounter, so when one goes away upset, there is either an accidental communication breakdown (called misunderstanding) or deliberate breakdown (usually called provocation.)

These can come from any quarter, accidental or deliberate. Not enough or inappropriate communication often leads to hostility, and fights.

---------------SUGGESTIONS----------------------------------

I'd like to pull out some things in that thread, that I think are important points.

Communication first off.

Edit: I could make a feedback thread that says to PM me (and is locked), if you believe that will help.

<strike>This may actually help more than you realise. I do suggest you make one, so that people can look in the same place, as the other feedback threads, and see what to do. </strike> I see you have already done so. Good job. Feel free to close it if it gets out of hand. On the other hand leaving it as a place to vent might be helpful.

Faction Status post

While we are on that subject, the Faction Status post (and wiki) might need updating. There is nothing currently mentioned in the Faction Status thread about who to contact in case of emergency/complaint, and as you said the Phantoms have changed somewhat. There are characters that I know are Phantoms that are not yet on the list. Might be an idea to add (oorp) contact details. At least then if they are in there then they have no excuse, because they didn't read.

----------------------------------
From a Phantom perspective, some questions that would good to address or pull apart, to find a solution:

Darthbeck = and in terms of running away form him, i dont metagame. this character has never heard of the phantoms. me running away when i first saw him would be well, meta gaming.

and i will agree that my roleplay could've been better, but it wasent. but i did try and create more, while he did not. "who are you?" to which he replies "i am phantom. i am your death" and continues blasting me. all he seemed to want, was for me to try and run. which when i dident do, he screamed"why are you still sitting there?"

Montezuma/Kukulcan = Personally, i have been asked many times 'why r u shootin me?', every time, you should explain who you are, as the large percentage of people you meet are nubs, and have no clue who you are.

Violette = I don't think alot of Sirius actually knows who or what the Phantoms are...
Hyung = I think people would know, in that word of mouth. Space myths. Bar talks.
Whispers and such.

You're taking the stance that it would be hushed up?
Violette = They're relatively small, and the only mile stone that Sirius saw was the ashes of Planet Cambridge...

I'd see the Phantoms as Myths, Ghosts of space.
Aliens, people wouldn't recognise them at first sight and know exactly what they are...

Heck I bet half the people here don't even know any of the Phantom RP.

<div align="right]This is actually quite a good point I believe. How can the common guy know
about the Phantoms? What are some ways that would be feasible in RP, that could be
considered? I suggested Bars, Myth talk, Boogieman stories. So did Violette. There
have been a number of people that have survived the Phantom encounters. Is there
a to make Phantom backstory more accessible? More understandable? More available?


Is there a way to Roleplay as a Phantom (or Keeper) that lets them know the "victims" are in
mortal danger, without resorting to OORP Discovery Player Knowledge? (or in other cases, if they
really don't know.) I've struck this problem a few times before as a Keeper where someone
didn't know what I was. They literally had not played SP, and had just jumped on Multiplayer.
(I found this out later, at the time I was... perturbed that they didn't know what a nomad was.)

<div align="right]Is there places that could be seeded with ingame rumours, or real information that could tell people who
the phantoms are? Is secretiveness a good way now, with the way the Discovery server has gained
much more people, many of whom don't know anything about the phantoms? (Maybe that "successful encounters with Phantoms" needs to be linked from somewhere? Faction Status Post?)


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From a Freelancer Player perspective, How could I improve the chances of successfully RPing with a terrorist?
Don't play dumb is one. Realise that they can kill you is a good way.
Stop acting like you are already dead?

he did nothing that suggested there was ANY way of my getting out alive. if i had tried to run, he would ahve killed me. given the RP i've had with phantoms before as well, nothing i could've said wouldve stopped him from killing me.

In this case, the Freelancer Player already had an expectation of dying. Yet, beforehand the Freelancer Player stated that the Sirius Character did not know who the Phantoms were. I think that the apathy (to dying) would have shown through to the other Freelancer Player. This case, I believe, was where Out of game knowledge (that the Phantoms will "pewpewkill you" no matter what), influenced the actions of the ingame Sirius Character (who did not know about the Phantoms.)
Trying to avoid being killed (oorply), being apathetic, or just plain dumb ("kill me now because it's too expensive") is not a good way to go about RPing. That's avoidance, not RP.

It is very hard to "unlearn" something when you already know as a Player, something which your character does not. This Out of Game knowledge can very often make situations confusing, and contribute to your side of communication breakdowns. On the other hand it's also bad "common sense" to deliberately not use that knowledge, or assume something that might not actually be true. Case in point, the Phantoms (and Keepers) are not all about the pew pew, I guarantee it to you. You can use the knowledge that you "know", without "metagaming". For instance, as a Player, you know that Phantoms, and Keepers, are terrorists, and can kill anyone at will. You can use this knowledge, to take them seriously, in that they CAN kill you. But that does not mean they WANT to nor that they HAVE to, or WILL do.

<div align="right](No death penalty + can't be bothered = bad combination when faced with a terrorist.)
This is not about making Discovery more realistic, but approaching like that does help.
It will help you ask questions, and interact more. The other day I had an interaction with
3 LN's and 3 LSF's, and I was one Keeper. NOT ONE SHOT WAS FIRED. We had amazing
roleplay, and everyone went away stunned and amazed at the roleplay that developed.
It would ALSO have been totally in roleplay, if we had had a massive furball against one nomad.

The Phantoms are not here, just to kill. Thinking like that will influence your character's actions, and the Player sense of being that the Phantoms will receive from your characters. Thinking like that WILL get your character killed.

How you feel, and how you want to play shines through, quite obviously to the other Player who is interacting with you. Don't let apathy rob you of having great RP, NO MATTER WHO you face, be it Mon'star, Keeper, Phantom, Liberty Navy, or Lolwatting Corsair Capwhore.

<div align="right]Apathy is the real killer here, not the Keepers, or Phantoms. Apathy.
Get rid of it. Approach each encounter with new eyes. What can be learned here?
Focus on your own Roleplay, instead of "what that other person is or is not doing."
You can only ever be responsible for your own Roleplay. You can't force your Roleplay
on others. And yes, Phantoms kill you, that's not forcing their RP on you, that is them
doing exactly as they are supposed to do. Don't want them to kill you? Then talk.
Don't give excuses. Don't give apathy. Role-PLAY.

Have fun. Try to be creative, in your role-PLAY. That'll go further than you realise.

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I kinda got on a soapbox...I feel I needed to get that out. Took me a few hours to write it.:)
I don't think this was necessary since Virus made the feedback thread and stuff is happening
nicely in there. It just seemed such a waste to not post it.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far. I look forward to seeing you ingame.

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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.