I must confess that I feel a temptation to view certain posts here as misconstruing my position. However, I know that my writing can be occasionally opaque, and I perhaps need to clarify both the context in which the thread was started and the details of what I am asserting. I will attempt to do so with a minimum of offense, although that is probably not completely possible.
The first general claim that seems to be being made is that choosing a side in FW is not a means of showing loyalty, or at least not the only means of showing loyalty. I think that the first assertion, if made either implicitly or explicitly, is an impossible declaration. I think that declaring loyalty to the State and signing up for the FDU is probably about as reasonable as someone declaring themselves to be loyal to the U.S. in World War Two and then signing up for the Japanese Imperial Army. At that point, it's probably less a matter of raising an eyebrow and more one of rolling the eyes, in my opinion. Or, to put it another way, it's roughly as tenable as claiming one doesn't use a pod. One can do it, but it's probably not going to be accepted by other RPers. If loyalty means anything, it definitely means not shooting at your own side. That's not to say "you are doing it wrong", but rather "go ahead, but don't expect
me to interact with you or your character". So, to be blunt, that sort of thing doesn't tweak me, I just ignore it. OOC, I always welcome another target.
Can one support one's faction outside of direct participation in FW? Of course. This is strictly necessary for those who are loyal to non-empire factions, and also a good idea for industrial and mining pilots. That said, I'm afraid I can't agree with simple declarations that one should never be railroaded into FW for IC reasons. Vikarion, for instance, is an ardent Patriot, even though he (as with most Patriots, as opposed to Practicals) is not particularly a fan of Hitl...uh, Heth. As such, if the State is under threat, I think that Vikarion had better damn well be in FW, or he's a hypocrite. End of, full stop.
Why? Well, I've explained in my above, long post. But I think it might do well to recall to mind that the inspiration for this thread was taken from a post Vikarion made on the IGS, basically calling on fellow Caldari to show up or shut up. I don't think that that's invalid RP, and it's a claim my character will continue to make. It seems reasonable that a Caldari character who is loyal to the State would seek to avoid having the State conquered and occupied, and Vikarion was pointing out that duty and loyalty imply an obligation to prevent such.
Now, speaking out of character, people can and will RP however they want. I can't make John Revenant or Dex Nederland take their corporations into Black Rise to go up against the Gallente. I'm not sure that it would be a wise player decision to do so. But a loyal Caldari would, I argue. And, incidentally, I do hope that Sansha RPers might occasionally try to wardec an incursion-running corporation, that Blooder RPers would try to help out the Covenant if it makes a move in a Live Event, and so forth.
Ah, IC railroading again. Well, yes and no. Suppose I am a Sansha RPer - does that not mean that doing Incursions is verboten, no matter how much I enjoy them? Vikarion maintains Angel connections, even though that means skipping Angels Extravanganza (which I liked) and going out to Curse and Syndicate for months to grind standings (started before the epic arcs). Railroaded? Well, yes - by my own choices and RP! If RP doesn't constrain your character in some way, what does it mean at all?
For a character to be real, to be personable, to be interesting, I think it needs to be more than a puppet which dances to the desires and game-play preferences of the player. I hated Syndicate, but I lived in it for three months and lost expensive ships there in order to play out the consequences of my character's choices. And in retrospect, it was one of the most satisfying things I did, because it meant that the choices my character made had mattered, and affected not just my character, but also me, and how I played the game.
Now, many of us have little niches in the RP scene. I get that, I really do. After all, I play a Caldari who was a former Sansha sympathizer, had a mental breakdown, and then reasserted his loyalty to the State, but who also personally despises Heth (seriously, get rid of Heth, CCP). I also understand that it's not fair for me to demand that the RP situation (that CCP sets up) conform to my desires. OOC, I really, really, really loathe Heth, as I understand nearly every RPer does, yet I understand that loyalty to the State requires toleration of some of the RP things I dislike about it. I complain about those things OOC, as anyone who reads the Eve Fiction section of the Eve forums can tell you, but I also accept them IC.
So, although I too prefer special snowflake status (tongue in cheek), I think that most of our characters, as RPers, have to understand that it's not really reasonable to demand that CCP create a special event involving just the element of the faction we are loyal to, and I also don't think that it's fair to try to get out of RP obligations by adhering only to, say, the Zainou corporation, and using that particular loyalty to deny an obligation to the larger whole. I could do that with Vik, but I think that that's essentially cheating: trying to get all the benefits of RP without the costs. The fact is that Zainou is loyal to the State, and the State is in a war, and Vikarion is a very skilled combat pilot. And, if I may extend this to one of the posters in the thread, the Sebiestor Tribe is threatened by the Amarr, because the Sebiestor Tribe has chosen to be a part of the Republic.
If I may bring one of my RP enemies into this thread, I'd like to point out that Andreus Ixiris did exactly this: he is a Federation loyalist, his character became peeved with some Sansha loyalists, as a Fed loyalist would, and he declared war on them. And he lost, horribly. But, in my eyes, as much as his character and mine do not get along, and as much as he and I have had conflicts, the fact that his character went out there and
tried was fucking awesome.
That was RP that meant something. It was the worst possible outcome for an RPer, and it was still more entertaining, gutsy, and engaging than any IC argument on the Summit or IGS. Sure, the IGS was involved in the conflict, but it served as accompaniment for the action, not the whole dish. I can't remember anything else that happened around that time, but I'll never forget that.
Nor will I forget engaging my 5-man corporation in a war against a whole Amarrian alliance to secure an assassination contract, or dodging gatecamps in Syndicate to slowly grind standings for the Angels, or when Liandri and EVOKE refused to let the FDU hold all of Black Rise for even a single day.
Ultimately, I cannot tell you how to RP, nor would I desire to dictate the actions of others. But in character, I do think I have a justification for making such claims on the perceived obligations of other loyalists. I do think that actions in Eve should conform to character choices, and that much of the enjoyment of RP comes from watching where our characters go. This is probably playing Eve on Hard, yet I would encourage others to do so. Much more enjoyment, unexpected pleasure, and dramatic tension will come of it, and that's why I RP in the first place.
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Topic: Militia Service and Loyalty (Read 11433 times)