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Hey everyone,
It’s been a few weeks since we announced the return to freeform RP, so we wanted to give you an update on some of the decisions that have been made so you have a sense of where we’re headed with this new (old?) system.
As you may know, we said in the original thread that we decided to keep sub-accounts as a mandatory feature on the site, so anyone who RPs will be using a sub-account. That conversation had a lot of good feedback on both sides, but toward the end it got a bit heated so we do want to stress moving forward to make sure that disagreement isn’t disagreeable. We want to hear all perspectives and then make decisions from there.
Here’s some of the decisions we’ve made that we can announce today:
It’s been a few weeks since we announced the return to freeform RP, so we wanted to give you an update on some of the decisions that have been made so you have a sense of where we’re headed with this new (old?) system.
As you may know, we said in the original thread that we decided to keep sub-accounts as a mandatory feature on the site, so anyone who RPs will be using a sub-account. That conversation had a lot of good feedback on both sides, but toward the end it got a bit heated so we do want to stress moving forward to make sure that disagreement isn’t disagreeable. We want to hear all perspectives and then make decisions from there.
Here’s some of the decisions we’ve made that we can announce today:
- The Plot System is being removed. The current system mandates that plots be approved by staff. This will be completely removed. Plots, whether they be faction plots or individual plots, will no longer be subject to staff approval. There will be basic rules to ensure threads are reasonable, but it'll be largely based on trusting the user to play fair. Staff will only step in when absolutely necessary. Those rules will be announced at a later date.
- What about current plots? Plots already underway will go through the current plot system, and users are encouraged to keep writing what they had planned. But no new plots will be going through a review and approval process. Admins should only be notified of any plots that impact the galaxy or entire planets. Ongoing plots do not need to be submitted for completion.
- Death by permission ONLY. Moving forward, your character cannot die unless you give permission. We are going to continue to heavily deemphasize competitive, death-oriented PvP and continue to emphasize storytelling. That means that if your character is going to die, it’s only when you decide that you’re ready for your character to die. If there’s PvP, we leave it up to individual players to decide whether death makes the most sense as an outcome to that fight.
- Death Enabled threads are allowed. Although death is disabled by default, members can agree ahead of time if a thread carries the risk of death. This must be done by mutual agreement so everyone involved is aware of what type of thread they’re entering.
- Staff won’t rule on PvP. Given that death is disabled by default, we’re not going to accept requests for rulings on PvP or whether a character dies. It’s collaborative, not competitive, so the expectation will be that members are able to resolve issues amongst themselves. We also expect that the need for any review requests would be significantly reduced given the removal of risk toward individual characters. We also won’t accept reviews if you decide to enter a Death Enabled thread. If you accept the risk of death, you assume the responsibility of resolving any disputes with your fellow RPers.
- Espionage rules will be reviewed. Given that death is disabled by default, that means that we won’t be allowing plots around assassination, bombings, etc that would kill other characters without their permission. We’ll be reviewing espionage rules to decide what makes sense given this new setup.
- We’re removing staff approval of characters. Staff review and approval of characters is a relatively new concept on SWRP based on the current system, and was not something we did in our old freeform system. We will be removing staff review and approval of characters. In a freeform system, issues are generally caught by organic community review and moderation. Any violation of our limited character rules can be flagged to staff.
- Faction Leader characters will be PCs. We noted this somewhere in the original thread, but members will now play faction leader characters. We don’t yet know if that means people will assume the current NPCs as PCs or if PCs will ascend to those leadership positions. We also don’t know who those members will be yet or how they will be chosen. More info to come.
- Ranking up will be decided by Faction Leaders. We will be removing the staff review system for character rank ups. As was done in the old freeform system, ranking up within main factions will be at the discretion of the Faction Leaders.
- Character faction changes are at faction leader approval. If you want your Jedi character to fall to the dark side and become a Sith, for example, this does not need staff approval. If you want to switch factions, the faction leader will approve that. If you want to just fall to the dark side or be redeemed, though, that’s up to you. Write your character’s journey in whatever way you think makes the most sense, and ask the faction leader to join whatever faction you want. You will still need to request changes to your character account user banner.
- Tech updates coming soon. We’re going to have another thread soon all about tech and how that will fit into the RP. Largely we’ll be relying on users acting within reason regarding tech. More info to come.
- Staff will focus on events and story. The staff’s time has been taken up by mechanics and approvals. We don’t think that’s the best use of our time. While the beauty of freeform is that the overall direction is ultimately up to members, the staff will still be available to help provide and shape events and site storylines. Remember what we said at the beginning of this timeline about how we’re going to stick to this setting and apply new stories on top of it? That’s still true, and we’ll let what members do be our guide as we introduce new overarching storylines.
