I just came back to the community, excited to see everyone again, only to find that the place has been deserted? I haven't been around in 8 months, so I haven't kept up with recent events, but for crying out loud, this crap was happening back then too, why is it that now everyone gives up?
The main problem I see is that most people don't seem to understand the line between Roleplay, and actual life. Now, the game promotes RP with lots of events, and licenses, and clans are formed around this. We have Mercs, Pirates, Cops, Freelancers, all in one universe. But RPing is not fun *all* the time. I remember back in 1.6 playing with people who could draw a line at some point.
What I intend to say is, we need to stop taking things too seriously. Or rather, we need to be more serious about some things, and less about other things. For instance, we should make a clear separation of RP, and actual life. By that I mean, no matter what you play in game, don't let that get in the way of making friends. And don't let real life issues meld with the game. What happens then is that the actual players behind the pirates, and cops, can't get along. Either because they think the other is holding a grudge against them for shooting them all the time, or they start chasing pirates for the wrong reasons.
If you start to attack a player, rather than his/her character, then you're playing the game wrong. I don't chase a pirate because I hate the player, I chase him because he's a pirate. But there are some who have blurred the line, and they think that because they are playing a character, they can do whatever the hell they want.
We need to start being more mature about this. I fear that 1.8 is not going to see the light of day otherwise.
Of course, actions speak louder than words. So what I propose is that we start to define some boundaries about RP. We should have a time for RP, and a time for fun. And if players don't want to have the RP, then we should not shun them, but rather leave them be Freelancers. Also, something should be done about the creation of clans. Instead of seeing new clans appear when a player ditches their old clan, we should have those people cool off and play as Freelancers.
Me personally, I'd sometimes like to put the badge away and just trade to make some money, instead of chasing every pirate I come across. I'd also like to be able to not get attacked by every damn pirate. Of course, even if it is nothing personal, there is still something annoying about getting blown in mid-space.
I remember doing Hyperspace runs with LPs, and Miles Noxis. Back then I was CFPD, and we got along. They have good players who are also nice people, and they also want peace from all the usual kill-kill-tax-chase-kill-tax... etc.
Even recently, with not many players online, I passed some Fallen members whilst trading between New Berlin and Stuttgart, not once did I get attacked or taxed, just because we put the RP aside for a moment. I think this is what a lot of players want.
So again, maybe have less RP, or more oriented RP, so that we can also have a time for just good fun no matter the license on the ship ahead of you, or the clantag. Heck I feel like we're being racist, except we're talking about players not getting along because of factions. (And by players I mean the actual people behind the characters).
Of course there are people who just want to stir shit up and cause trouble. Those people should be dealt with severly. I don't know how good OP's system is for IP scanning and then banning, but we shouldn't have to put up with those players. Because, like someone said in a thread I read recently: Look at the Discovery mod, they have strict rules, but people take things seriously and any troublemakers get banned almost immediately. And they have a full server.
Whew, that was a mouthful. But hey it's been 8 months, and now's the perfect time to really put the cards on the table and see what we're dealing with. If OP is reading the forums, I hope he sees that there *are* people who want to save the server.
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