We get to pick and choose what actions are IC and what aren't? Does the CN, LDPS, or LDC standing my character built up killing "Kruul"s matter IC? Or can it be ignored as unimportant if I or you choose? At what point are in-game actions IC and when are they not?
Sometimes the player wants to just play a damn game for a little bit, I can't fathom reading this thread what would make a person want to take a break from RP and all the constraints and limitations that come with it (in the form of other people pressuring you to behave as they expect).
If a character is running missions for the CN because they built a huge standing with them and claims to be a Guristas supporter, is it IC or are should it just be ignored as OOC?
Can I claim a character to be in one part of the cluster when finder agents and the active clone are in another?
Can I simultaneously run missions while also RPing in one of the social channels "in the flesh"?
These questions are up to each individual person to answer for themselves. You keep missing the fundamental point that just because you operate a certain way that does not make it the "proper" way. Like in an interpersonal relationship, if the two people's boundaries of comfort are different, it may not work out romantically. However, they can still remain friends and interact with each other and neither person's ideal relationship image is the objectively "correct" one.
As for missions where the "villians" repeat, "Dread Pirate Roberts"? or capsuleer targets? escape pods?
Do you have any official word from CCP on if these are the case or would this be you filling in the blanks with whatever disbelief-suspension mechanism works best for you (while simultaneously denouncing others doing so)?
Because we disagree on what is IC and OOC. This is one of the biggest problems we have as a community, coming to a common definition of the "line" between IC and OOC.
Who gets to determine where that line is?
So claiming IC authority or influence is bad, but claiming OOC authority or influence over what other people do with their leisure time is perfectly valid?
It would seem wise in this case to avoid any interaction that is not directly governed by game mechanics and even then one party may decide it was an OOC action and thus does not have an impact on their character.
I specifically remarked about PvE and static/repeated content not always being taken as having strict continuity with your character, not activities that were a result of two RPers engaging in spontaneous interaction.
I'm not sure how you explain a criminal organization dutifully reporting to the most powerful law-enforcement institution in the cluster its instantaneously updated ranking of your status with them.
There's also plenty of legitimate angles like a Gurista infiltrator/double-agent to the State or even just an elusive outspoken dissident (clearly, more appropriate to some of the factions than others).
I shot anything that wasn't the big 4 before I got into the lore and developed a character and am still patching up Mordu's despite being aligned with them ICly. Should I have sat spinning in the station until I had my concept finalized and read every scrap of lore? Should I have capitulated to the unyielding and almighty standings chart once I had discovered a character bio I latched onto (or, as we all know in RP, latched onto me :9) and made a humble sacrifice upon the altar of the RP gods to abandon that idea? Do you think I'm the only one who has stumbled across this dilemma?
For these and a myriad of other reasons, I consider standings as not always having continuity with IC portrayal and to some degree, even question the validity of seeing them as IC knowledge (but I don't assert it as a superior imperative that others must adopt).
My solution that allows everyone to go forward on that issue: I don't call others out on standings and when called out on it, simply reply something like "I'm amused you place such faith in CONCORD intelligence" and its likely it would only be brought up as one form of red herring fallacy or another which would also get pointed out with a nudge to return to the substance of the topic :9.
Is having what appears to be a single player, playing multiple heads of NPC political parties a net positive or not?
I've had a lot of interesting interaction, it has added to my enjoyment. For the most part, I don't think anyone has really changed their political orientation as a result of this nor felt any mechanical impact from it whatsoever.
So yes, hugely positive.
Here's the kicker, if it isn't positive for you, stop participating. We don't need weeks on end of post after post making up doomsday scenarios that "might happen" and vilifying each other with negative adjectives.
I think it sets a dangerous precedent and legitimatizing such characters provides avenues for abuse I would rather not see.
"He who trades a little freedom for a little security loses both and deserves neither".
If you are so gripped with fear of a negative RP experience resulting from getting involved that you'd demand others conform their behavior to alleviate those fears, then I'd suggest the better solution is, again: don't participate.
Lets look at the alternative. If we really apply your standard equally across all situations, then your proposed "if it can potentially go wrong, it should be unacceptable" means literally just everyone cancel your accounts right now because you can't do anything but spin in station and chat in OOC channels.
I'm not paying $15/mo for a prettier version of YIM and I'm not paying $15/mo for people who have said we appear to be so irreconcilably far from each other in philosophy that they can't see any interaction between us other than conflict to direct how I should conduct myself in a leisure activity.
I think it would be more interesting if it was a group of players, playing characters claiming to support a particular platform/party and not claiming to be leaders of NPC entities, represented those positions.
Key words: "I think". Beyond that, the "more interesting" one will be entirely case-by-case and depend on how well it is pulled off. It would be a false dichotomy to suggest that all <your example> are in all cases better than all <what we're arguing about> just on principle.
So you're suggesting there exists an absolutely objective superiority of one method over the other -regardless of all other variables- on an issue of subjective preference?
So go organize that, build something of your own instead of knocking down what others have made.
If you really think your idea is the "more interesting" way, then run with it and show us...put your money where your mouth is.
Just be prepared for some gadfly to come along and make a post about how your method could potentially turn out badly and unravel the entire RP fabric of the setting and impact their gameplay experience and that such a possibility compels you to cease/modify said activity so that it conforms to their preferences. Hey, fair is fair, right? Never mind the fact they won't show or demonstrate one actual example of such actually having happened, the mere reference to the possibility is justification for launching a campaign against the idea as seen here.
Now
that's a dangerous precedent to set. It is literally the same (fallacious) logic-construct/rationale used for "preemptive war". No real evidence needed, a lot of amplified fear-mongering and labeling sadly seems to remove the need for it.
Finally, just for the record, I'd likely join in on your Fed RP ideas once I saw them in action so I'm open to RP with you other than conflict despite our differences of opinion on this issue :9.