Did the lungfish refuse to play?

[Appetite Ruining Kebab]

I’m not much for mysterious disappearances, so I’ll make my feelings clear for everyone. This is not a spur of the moment post; it's something I've been thinking about writing for weeks. I've been tired, disappointed, and just overall teetering on the edge of disinterest with this server, and the recent appeal has been the catalyst that some part of me has been waiting for.

I’m not known for getting pissy over character deaths - everyone knows that I've taken the death of my previous one on this server very gracefully. I’ve comfortably lost more characters in the Gmod RP medium over the years than maybe most of the staff team combined - a lot of them were voluntary, because I believe in ending a story when it’s run its course. But I care about HOW those stories end, and in the case of one Rojhat Said, I’m not as upset about losing a throwaway-accidentally-turned-real-character like him, so much as I am disappointed with what it says about Lancer.

The myth that anything is possible as long as you work for it IC in this server is just that - a myth. The moment that staff decide you’ve shaken up the status quo enough, you’re done. Take it from someone who's gone through this cycle twice now. It’s just like any other Gmod RP community, except unlike other places, Lancer lies to you as it has its own staff members set up IC loopholes to stop you in your tracks through its absurdly empowered Combine factions, and then pretends you’ve just made an in-character oopsie.

As a player, I find this insulting. For the second time, I’ve been exploited by the owner to act as a semi-gamemaster, to generate server-wide narratives through the characters I play to keep interest during low population periods (something that has been openly admitted to me at one point); just to have those characters be unceremoniously thrown away whenever staff have had enough of it. It’s been severely unrewarding, I’m just not interested in doing it again. And I advise other players not to try to do anything to shake things up ingame until these issues are reflected and addressed by the staff team - you’ll waste your time like I did mine. There is no changing or even mildly altering the dynamic of the server (no, a train crash doesn't count, you can be more creative than the third ration famine of the year) because the staff team aren’t interested in it, and as long as they’re not interested they’ll do everything in their power (and there is a lot they can do with the server and the rulebook at their fingertips) to stop you IC, rather than OOC. At that point, if what I'm doing offends your interpretation of "vanilla lore" that much, I would rather be told to stop OOCly than have a hit squad sent after me ICly.

I wish the server the best and I hope the recent wave of players lasts you a while, I'm sure part of the appeal's decision was fueled by the idea that you no longer needed me to carry the non-existent narrative of the server on its back now that you started getting a solid playercount; but I worry for how long that will go on once those players start taking an interest in any kind of rebelRP, and find it to be the same kind of unwinnable, pointless, story-eating black hole that I have. I'd say try to keep your focus on cityRP, but that will only last you until the tasteless ingame conduct of its faction members (near-ubiquitous HL2RP problem really) drives the ordinary population to stop playing, or use it as a prompt to turn into a rebel (and have a repeat of the same problems I experienced, the same ones experienced by the rebel players who were around earlier this year).

I'd write a feedback form to staff, but I've gotten tired of writing those at this point. Every 3 months you ask yourselves where you've gone wrong, have a moment of reflection, then forget about it the next day and nothing changes. Nah, sorry. I'm not enabling this anymore. Consider this my final feedback until something really changes.

Doubt it will, though.



p.s @Ulti is the worst turk and will be a headache inducing tumor to the best of your staff team until you get rid of him. nothing personal blud you're just a less articulate diet coke version of the same type of instigating cop main i've been dealing with for years in these spaces x

 

[Ulti]

I’m really surprised to read a whole paragraph that directly misleads the community and its members.

Lancer operates democratically and most of our community decisions are made transparently, allowing the community to guide itself.

There is much to clarify here to correct these false claims, but I am not a Public Relations member, so I will keep it short and let PR make an announcement to address the points mentioned in this thread if necessary.

Finally, can I invite you to our upcoming public meeting that was planned at our last staff meeting? The details will be announced soon.

I understand you don’t know me and may have mixed opinions about me, which is very understandable. I’m sure your p.s was not intended to be personal. You have a good heart and probably didn’t mean to reflect anything negative or false.

I also understand your recent frustrations, but I assure you, I was not involved in most of those issues.

 

[Aspect™]

I was not planning on responding to this, but it is filled with lies and mis/disinformation, so I feel the need to address it; if not for the OP, then for the community reading it.

I’m not known for getting pissy over character deaths - everyone knows that I've taken the death of my previous one on this server very gracefully.

Given every single character death of yours (even major injuries, I believe) on Lancer thus far saw a giant PK appeal and constant back-and-forth between myself and you, or yourself and other staff, I'd say this isn't true. Sure, the previous deaths may have had valid reasons to be disputed, but there was a whole situation that we had to deal with about each of them, every time.

The myth that anything is possible as long as you work for it IC in this server is just that - a myth. The moment that staff decide you’ve shaken up the status quo enough, you’re done. Take it from someone who's gone through this cycle twice now. It’s just like any other Gmod RP community, except unlike other places, Lancer lies to you as it has its own staff members set up IC loopholes to stop you in your tracks through its absurdly empowered Combine factions, and then pretends you’ve just made an in-character oopsie.

It is not a myth. We take the 'IC is IC' phrase further than any other server in the scene does; so much so that oftentimes you have complained about it. The staff team is not a secret shadow cabal that decides what happens in-game, and there is no tangible proof to suggest that. What happens IC is because of IC actions and IC responses of other characters; nothing less, nothing more. There are no loopholes or 'traps' of any kind.

As a player, I find this insulting. For the second time, I’ve been exploited by the owner to act as a semi-gamemaster, to generate server-wide narratives through the characters I play to keep interest during low population periods

You were not 'exploited' in any way, shape, or form, and frankly, calling my compliment of creating good stories toward you and trying to enable you to 'spread your wings' as wide as possible an act of exploiting is seriously insulting, and is making me look like a fool in the eyes of my team, where, during times of bashing behind closed doors, I instead defended you and went against the tide to keep your name clean. Never again.

just to have those characters be unceremoniously thrown away whenever staff have had enough of it.

The staff team does not choose who to keep alive and who to kill; the in-game world decides that based on In-Character actions. Not once has the team discussed or tried to find a way to remove a character from the server with an OOC motive.

There is no changing or even mildly altering the dynamic of the server (no, a train crash doesn't count, you can be more creative than the third ration famine of the year)

We allow players to affect the server far more than any other servers have done in the scene in the last 8 years (strictly speaking about City RP servers, not event servers). This should be evident by the actions you have taken, as well as the actions of others. The destruction of an entire warehouse, the derailment of a train, actions taken by the Chamber of Binders directly affecting server rules IC and OOC, the decisions of CP Command IC, and far more.

because the staff team aren’t interested in it, and as long as they’re not interested they’ll do everything in their power (and there is a lot they can do with the server and the rulebook at their fingertips) to stop you IC, rather than OOC

The staff team does not hold a central opinion about In-Game matters and does not go out of its way to prevent In-Character developments unless they appear as a genuine detriment for the server that would make it unfun for a majority of the active players - see the example below.

At that point, if what I'm doing offends your interpretation of "vanilla lore" that much, I would rather be told to stop OOCly than have a hit squad sent after me ICly.

We have never sent a 'hit squad' of any capacity In-Character. All responses to In-Character actions are conducted completely In-Character, often by ordinary players rather than admins. In fact, in cases where something would be detrimental to the server's health, you were asked to stop OOCly, as in this example:

Although we try to avoid it as best as possible, when things are wrong, we don't hesitate to tell players, ever.

I'm sure part of the appeal's decision was fueled by the idea that you no longer needed me to carry the non-existent narrative of the server on its back now that you started getting a solid playercount

That could not be any further from the truth. That implies that we 'use' players as tools for the narrative of the server, and then toss them away when we no longer need them; something which is fundamentally false. In fact, I was actively expressing how disappointed I was during this whole ordeal because many of us predicted that you would leave the server (or at least take a long break, like last time) after the verdict of the appeal was delivered. Even if by some miracle we started hitting 32 players every day, nobody would be tossed away; let alone someone who was clearly good at shaking up the status quo and making things interesting for the server.

but I worry for how long that will go on once those players start taking an interest in any kind of rebelRP, and find it to be the same kind of unwinnable, pointless, story-eating black hole that I have.

Many players who played rebel characters in the past lost their characters in one way or another, and none of them had nearly as many complaints as you did. Many of them had fun playing their characters and wreaking havoc in their own way, and many of them were happy with the way their characters ended. As for the 'unwinnable' part, in truth, that is just how City RP is; and anyone who thinks otherwise is incredibly naive. It is simply not possible to 'win' without the server changing from City RP to Outlands RP or Canals RP or something of that sort. Only small incursions or temporary periods of instability are possible for the most part, and that's simply how it has been for the past 8+ years.

I'd say try to keep your focus on cityRP, but that will only last you until the tasteless ingame conduct of its faction members (near-ubiquitous HL2RP problem really) drives the ordinary population to stop playing, or use it as a prompt to turn into a rebel

It is impossible to maintain the 'IC is IC' deal with players and allow them to do what they want in-game, while also preventing them from taking actions that may be detrimental to themselves or other characters, at the same time. It is simply a side-effect that we cannot work around without actively policing what players can and cannot do like you suggest we already do. Players are allowed to play their characters however they like, and other players have to work with them or around them in order to accomplish their goals; not complain about it pointlessly in OOC channels.

I'd write a feedback form to staff, but I've gotten tired of writing those at this point. Every 3 months you ask yourselves where you've gone wrong, have a moment of reflection, then forget about it the next day and nothing changes. Nah, sorry. I'm not enabling this anymore. Consider this my final feedback until something really changes.

We do not ask ourselves what is wrong every 3 months and forget it the next day; that is straight-up made up. We hold consistent monthly staff meetings where we discuss the state of the server, go over ongoing issues, and consider suggestions, and we actively take action to mitigate or address any points that were brought up. Here are the Staff Meeting notes for February and March, to prove this. The fact that you are refusing to provide feedback in a constructive manner while also claiming you care about the server simply goes to expose the lie in that and how the whole thing was simply a facade for your character to be Un-Permanently-Killed, and now that the appeal was denied, the feedback apparently does not matter anymore.

p.s @Ulti is the worst turk and will be a headache inducing tumor to the best of your staff team until you get rid of him. nothing personal blud you're just a less articulate diet coke version of the same type of instigating cop main i've been dealing with for years in these spaces x

You actively insulting my staff both in public and the private DMs of other staff only serves to paint a worse and worse image for yourself. You do things like this and then wonder and complain that you feel targeted by the team. I've been the main person advocating for you and defending your name behind closed doors (and you knew this, too, because I've told you), and with all this coming out now, I am getting side-eyed and made to look like a fool for my past takes on you and your actions. Hell of a way to repay me, I suppose.

In any case, even after all this, unlike others, I hope to see you again in the future, and I continue to encourage you to actually provide any constructive feedback you may have for the community that you believe would improve the server for the better. If you choose not to return, then I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors and I thank you for your interest in Lancer.

 

[Valeto]

Eh my personal 2 cents here. You're a great story creator and you did great, but I feel like the only reason you've created this rant is because I'd assume you were 🤏 close to achieving whatever goals you had but you apparently fucked up somewhere in the end. Please do stay in this server and give it another chance, maybe you will realise that you were /possibly/ wrong with your views of the entire situation? I'm sure that you'll think it through!

 

[Femvey]

Eh my personal 2 cents here. You're a great story creator and you did great, but I feel like the only reason you've created this rant is because I'd assume you were 🤏 close to achieving whatever goals you had but you apparently fucked up somewhere in the end. Please do stay in this server and give it another chance, maybe you will realise that you were /possibly/ wrong with your views of the entire situation? I'm sure that you'll think it through!

Hes gone

 

[Valeto]

Hes gone

Ah gg