[Serious] Addressing and Solving the problems of Synergy

[Jagger]

This is a [Serious] post about some of the consistent problems SynergyRP has been facing. It is hurting the server and its community members.

Attention All Synergy Roleplay Community Members.

(Please spread this around, Its important that all see this).

It is about time we actually do something about it. No more complaining about problems and not putting the effort towards fixing those problems. We need get up and make some changes so we can improve the community. Leave your egos at the door and bring only your open minds. Staff, players, resigned members, all come forth and participate. 

I made a shitpost-y but semi-serious rant about the issues on the server here:

 

The post has gained a high amount of attention by the community. Everyone from new members to even Head Admins and Overseers approaching me in agreement of my post. So, since some of the staff and members asked me to make a serious post addressing the issue in a more serious manner. So lets begin.

 

1. Roleplay

Premise: The roleplay on the server is severely lacking. Recently some noticeable members such as Punda, Apache, Cipher, Zomb, and more have been making a push for more fun roleplay scenarios. However, the player base still fails to put consistent and mutual effort into the roleplay. This leads to conflicts with immersion, failrp, drama, and more. We need the players to engage more in roleplay, instead of treating the game like a 'Call of Duty'. 
 

Solutions: With the recent roleplay scenarios that people have been trying, I see it has been successful.

1) Promote more roleplay. (Server-wide, battalion-specified, creativity such as murder mystery, etc.)

2) Add a  'Roleplay Tutorial' on the forums (I have a document I can use for this covering mechanics, tips, tricks, terms such as metagaming and how not to do it, etc. )

3) Make the roleplay more interesting. (Black Ops, battalion only missions, in-depth roleplay, etc)

Players: You have many options to roleplay than you realize. Patrol duty, training drills, PT, passive roleplay, equipment/ship maintenance, Lore trivia, server wide classes, the options are limitless. Just be creative and explore.

Conclusion: This solutions should influence the server to engage more with roleplay. Roleplay your character as someone else than yourself. Put in a cool voice and pretend to be something else. Interact more with players, immerse yourself more, have a fun time. If it works, why not?

2. Staff Abuse

Premise: A fair amount of staff members misuse their powers for self-benefit/toxicity. I've personally seen staff members activate God-mode in events and sims, randomly freeze players and leave them like that, noclipping inappropriately, jailing the server, phys-gunning people around, the list goes on.

STAFF MEMBERS; IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO NOT ABUSE YOUR POWER. YOU SHOULDN'T NEED SOMEONE TO WATCH YOU 24/7 TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE NOT MISBEHAVING. 

Solution: Personally I don't have any great ideas. The only thing I can think of is random staff shadowing, checking logs, having staff and non-staff record more often. Call out staff abusing however be careful of instigators or drama starters from both sides.

3. Immersion/FailRP/Metagaming

Premise: Event jobs speaking OOC, using poor speech (Count Dooku: I'm here to fuck you bois up), fail rping, lack of immersion and actual roleplay within events. In addition to players metagaming hardcore, asking permission to get JTs to scout the top of the venator after the GM/GH asks for event jobs. Or when Deathwatch are trying to regroup at hangar bay 2 on secure comms but a trooper runs straight there and opens fire immediately. 

Solutions:

1) Immersion: Act more strict with event jobs. Encourage them to engage more with roleplay and less just shooting up, to pay attention to the situation. Go in-depth with the character their playing, follow their speech patterns, make sure their actions make sense. If an event job is minging, blacklist them. Try to set the event jobs up for good roleplay scenarios, its the GM's/GH's responsiblity to make the event fun for the event jobs as well. Make a good story for both sides to experience.

2) FailRP: Not much can be done about it, just make sure you're on top of it. Do as you usually do.

3) Metagaming: Warn players and event jobs of metagaming. Give a short explanation and why it is bad. For example, it ruins the story and immersion of the event, or delays something, or even causes it to stop abruptly. If you see someone consistently metagame, call them out on it. If they continue to metagame, kick them out of the server/ban for 10-30 minutes when they metagame.

4. Drama

Premise: Waste of everyone's time and actually hurts the server entirely. People make cause drama for power moves, to scapegoat, to gain revenge, to troll, or even just because they are bored. Its petty and should have little tolerance.

Solution: Shut it down as fast as possible, try to pay attention to all sides and seek the truth. Find evidence. Call people out if they are lying or trying to start unnecessary conflict. Band together as a server to identify those of us who are good people, and who are here to only cause trouble. If its a power-play, make sure you remove that person from any kind of power and end it. If you are guilty of this, I politely ask you to stop indefinitely. We all have lives, some more eventful than others, but regardless we should not regard each other as materialistic gain, but rather as human beings. People who escape life to just have fun. Leave your drama and egos at the door.

5. Victimizing/Social Justice

Premise: I've seen a lot of people inconsiderately complain about all sorts of problems. An example of this is someone complaining how boring the server is, and consistently pandering for events. It is annoying and stresses people out. Some people believe they deserve to be served and pampered, with all their desires met with satisfaction and leave little room for error, while in no way/shape/or form contributing to the community in a positive way. These people only get on to complain and have nothing good to say, even when things go well.

Solution: If you are one of these people, I politely ask you to stop and grow up. This behavior is unacceptable and isn't beneficial to anyone. Some people work hard to provide what we have here today, sacrificing time, money, and energy. Be considerate and thank those around you. On the same coin, the flip side is you need to learn how to let things go. How to take criticism yet maintain a proper demeanor. Try to be accepting and strive for self-improvement. Be kind to others and yourself. 

Golden Solution: If you are not enjoying the experience, then leave peacefully. If you think you can help and improve how things are, go for it.

 

I humbly ask everyone to consider the contents of this post and derive an educational response to this. Voice your opinion and share you ideas on how to solve these problems. I ask every single on of you to do so, no matter your status. Be neutral, conduct constructive criticism, discuss solutions and avoid creating problems. Most importantly, be respectful. Thank you.

- Jagger

(Community Member of Synergy Roleplay)

 

 

[Jagger]

I'm going to bed as I have to wake up in 5 hours for college. I'm also tired and sleepy so I might have missed a few things that someone can address and point out.

However when I get the chance, I will reply to comments down below. I hope as a community we can come together to address these problems. Spread the word. Lets get some Synergy going. 

Edited September 13, 2017 by Jagger

[Fido™]

as you say murder mystery that gives me a good idea for an event i cand do ship wide... might do it when i come back from my LOA.... be prepared

[BlackMamba]

@Jagger knowing you for a long time I know you're great at RP. I would love to sit with you and think about drills/roleplay situations or just listen to your ideas to help you push it forward.

-212th Batt. Commander Cody/BlackMamba

[Ccmonty]

+1 LISTEN TO THIS MAN!

[Kobalt]

Huge +1, I think there defiantly needs to be more incentive to actually RP during events and even outside of events. 

[Jagger]

6 hours ago, Fido™ said:

as you say murder mystery that gives me a good idea for an event i cand do ship wide... might do it when i come back from my LOA.... be prepared

Can't wait to see it, sounds exciting! 

[Jagger]

6 hours ago, BlackMamba said:

@Jagger knowing you for a long time I know you're great at RP. I would love to sit with you and think about drills/roleplay situations or just listen to your ideas to help you push it forward.

-212th Batt. Commander Cody/BlackMamba

Roger that, Commander.

[Ccmonty]

We need to start starting passive rp ourselfs! Do check ups chevk weapons I'll even see if I can use event jobs to start some Passive rp (looking at u game makers) but jagger is right we need to fix these problems

[Ccmonty]

Some solutions I came up with:if someone meta games warn them if they do it again kick them if they do it again ban them till end of event. Event jobs just need to stop typing in ooc and come up with creative things instead of /me escapes like this:DAMN this is more then a flesh wound gotta get back to the medics INTILL next time *gets the hell out*

another one is don't complain or be a jerk unless it's lore for your character and last one for now if someone complains about not getting enough action during a event make sure next event they SPECIFICLY get no action

[Jagger]

27 minutes ago, ccmonty said:

Some solutions I came up with:if someone meta games warn them if they do it again kick them if they do it again ban them till end of event. Event jobs just need to stop typing in ooc and come up with creative things instead of /me escapes like this:DAMN this is more then a flesh wound gotta get back to the medics INTILL next time *gets the hell out*

another one is don't complain or be a jerk unless it's lore for your character and last one for now if someone complains about not getting enough action during a event make sure next event they SPECIFICLY get no action

This. These are good solutions. If a battalions isn't getting enough action though, they can request to have more action or even have an event just for that battalion. That way once in awhile, every gets a bit of action. For example, if the 187th says they're not getting action, make a DEF battalion only event where they have to defend a building from a wave of enemies.

About the lore character, especially the RC/Nulls, they were assholes in lore. However, there is a different between throwing an in-character insult thats lore-friendly and isn't personal. Then there's just unnecessary hostility and exaggerated personal attacks. Learn the difference between these. For RC/Null, they can be assholes but try to keep it in character and make it somewhat clear it's a character thing. Honestly, you guys have been fine at this point. As for the players, you can choose to, IN A ROLEPLAY-FRIENDLY MATTER, participate and throw some words back, let your 'characters' have bad blood between each other. If you don't want to deal with it, then choose to ignore it.

[Rolenth]

I have a simple solution to number 2....TELL SOMEONE DAMN IT. GET SOME PROOF TOO 

[Jagger]

19 hours ago, Medic said:

I have a simple solution to number 2....TELL SOMEONE DAMN IT. GET SOME PROOF TOO 

Personally it's a combination of not catching the act and who did it (I can't pull up OBS fast enough to catch it nor do I want to accuse until I know who did it and have proof) and when I did tell another staff member via staff ticket, they said they'll handle it.

[Jagger]

ANOTHER ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED:

TRAINERS

Premise: Too many times I see new people come into the server not being trained properly. They say during tryouts that their trainers never did faces, skipped formations, didn't explain well enough, etc and its getting to the point where the trainers are just missing too many steps. 

Solution: TROs/TRMs need to shadow more often. Trainers are skipping steps and its affect the quality of training. @Reed @Jackson I know you guys personally as TROs, what are your thoughts?

[Rolenth]

10 minutes ago, Jagger said:

Personally it's a combination of not catching the act and who did it (I can't pull up OBS fast enough to catch it nor do I want to accuse until I know who did it and have proof) and when I did tell another staff member via staff ticket, they said they'll handle it.

Get shadowplay 

[Jagger]

Just now, Medic said:

Get shadowplay 

Will do, I'll check it out. This isn't meant to be a "this is my excuse for complaining but not doing anything about it," I'm just addressing it to bring attention and let others know what to do in that situation.

[Venom]

Good post my friend, but unless the community as a whole changes attitudes nothing is going to be fixed anytime soon. 

The one thing I remember about the server is that everyone was very unenthusiastic about alot of stuff, from even basic RP to even getting on the server.  The entire atmosphere on the server just screamed "NOTHING IS FUCKING GOING ON" so alot of people would just be tabbed out/not even on the server because its a waste of time. Its upto the players themselves to find the motivation to encourage RP and create scenarios. 

If you dont have motivation to get on the server, then dont get on. Noone is forcing you to play and be miserable. Ive played a fuckton of gmod in my time and taking a step back and playing SWTOR was probably one of the best things Ive ever done. 

Edited September 15, 2017 by Venom

[Jagger]

2 hours ago, Venom said:

Good post my friend, but unless the community as a whole changes attitudes nothing is going to be fixed anytime soon. 

The one thing I remember about the server is that everyone was very unenthusiastic about alot of stuff, from even basic RP to even getting on the server.  The entire atmosphere on the server just screamed "NOTHING IS FUCKING GOING ON" so alot of people would just be tabbed out/not even on the server because its a waste of time. Its upto the players themselves to find the motivation to encourage RP and create scenarios. 

If you dont have motivation to get on the server, then dont get on. Noone is forcing you to play and be miserable. Ive played a fuckton of gmod in my time and taking a step back and playing SWTOR was probably one of the best things Ive ever done. 

I agree. Honestly I've been meaning to go back to SWTOR, but I want to get a job first so I can get sub. However for the server, I'm just trying to get this addressed and spread awareness. If they fail to recognize and change (not forcing them to, but you know...) then we will have the same issues which will lead to more burnouts and negativity. But hey, who am I to say.

[Dreams-]

@Jagger This is the first I have actually heard of this with the Trainer's. I will be into this a little more for you along with shadowing the TR tryouts. Hopefully by the end of the week we can start fixing someone these issues asap

[Bebo]

It is near impossible to have a serious rp in gmod you always have people who just want to play the game and dont give two shits